Is baby food nutritious
Is Your Baby's Food As Healthy As You Think It Is?
Why you can’t always trust trendy baby foods
Trendy health foods, like quinoa, kale, lentils and others, have made their way into baby pouches and jars. But they’re often nothing more than applesauce with a few added ingredients. When the applesauce or other sweet fruit covers up the taste of veggies, meat and whole grains, your baby can’t learn to enjoy their natural taste.
Keep food marketers honest:
- Read the ingredients so you know you're actually getting what you pay for.
- Choose baby meals that are just meat, veggies and whole grains.
- Buy several single-ingredient foods and make your own combos.
Why you should limit food pouches
While pouches can be convenient and sometimes healthy, they aren’t always the best choice for your baby.
If your baby is still on purees, spoon-feeding them the contents of a pouch is no different from a jar of stage 1 baby food. But between 6 and 9 months, your baby should progress from purees to strained and mashed foods, to chunky foods, to finger foods. That’s a lot to learn in 3 months!
Babies need to practice chewing food and feeding themselves with their hands so they can meet these important milestones, and pouches don't help with that development. Your baby will also benefit from learning what real fruits and veggies look, feel and taste like.
Relying too much on pouches can lead to:
- Picky eating
- Overeating
- Tooth decay
Why real snacks are better than “baby snacks”
Some baby snacks mimic adult junk foods, like cheese puffs, yogurt drops, meat sticks, cookies and baby dessert. Their added sugar and salt train your baby’s taste buds to prefer unhealthy foods, which can lead them down the path to picky eating.
Even if the nutrition facts look fine (and they often don’t), serving these foods teaches your baby that cheese puffs are what snacks are supposed to look like.
Instead, choose snacks that are (and look) healthy, such as cooked peas, whole-milk yogurt or banana.
Why you don’t want to give your baby “baby juice”
There’s nothing special about baby juice. Even juice labeled for babies can have as much sugar as soda! Even when watered down, juice can decay your baby’s brand-new (or nonexistent) teeth.
Instead of offering your baby juice, stick to breastmilk or infant formula to drink, and teach your baby to choose real fruit. At this age, your baby can have a few small sips of water from an open cup (preferably not a sippy) at meals for practice.
Where to find the healthiest baby food
Sometimes the healthiest food for babies isn’t on the baby aisle. Think “outside the baby aisle” for the healthiest finger foods for your baby.
Why Adults Shouldn't Eat Baby Food
Celebrities may give this diet fad more credit than it's due, but adults should steer clear of a baby food diet for several reasons.
By Kimberly Holland February 07, 2017
Credit: Credit: Vstock LLC/Getty
Celebrities have quite the knack for causing a stir when they release their "diet secrets," and this week is no different. Today, Girls writer and star Lena Dunham posted on Instagram her "Trump Diet." Dunham, a liberal stalwart, was facetiously remarking on how difficult she's found eating since the November election. Her tone is clearly joking, but tucked in the third entry is a shout out to baby food, an infamous celebrity diet trend.
Credit: Photo: Lena Dunham/Instagram
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Indeed, several celebrities tout baby food as their secret elixir for shedding pounds. Last summer, Camila Alves credited her flat stomach to two meals of baby food each day. She eats a more sensible dinner—a protein, black beans, and vegetables —but the actress and co-founder of baby food company Yummy Spoonfuls says she supplements her nutritional needs all day with pouches of squeezable food.
Designer Hedi Slimane admitted to living on a diet of baby food to keep his super-slim physique, too.
What is the baby food diet? Why is it popular?
The idea is simple: replace two meals each day with several jars (or pouches) of baby food. A jar of baby food contains between 20 and 90 calories, so sticking to a low-calorie diet will still require downing several jars of pureed goo.
Celebrity trainer Tracy Anderson gets a lot of the internet-(in)famous credit for this fad, but research reveals it's been around since the 1980s. Some advocates suggest eating about 14 jars of baby food throughout the day, then a dinner at night. Other "plans" suggest you only eat baby food. Truthfully, you won't find any hard and fast rules for the baby food diet because it's more of a myth than a medical regimen.
Can you lose weight with the baby food diet?
Absolutely. You can lose weight with just about any "diet" though, so don't give the baby food diet too much credit.
In fact, it's easy to understand why the baby food diet would be successful. You will need to eat a lot of baby food to maintain a normal calorie count each day, so if you can't keep up, you may miss your daily calorie goal. Eating fewer calories than needed for weight maintenance means you will start seeing pounds slip off. Each jar is small, so portion control isn't very difficult. And if you can stomach all the flavors (turkey and "gravy," anyone?), you also get a wide variety of flavorful options.
But with those "benefits" come a few harsh realities. You'll have to train your palate to find baby food tolerable. Many brands don't season their foods at all. A more mature palate is accustomed to salt, sugar, and fat, so removing those entirely will be quite a shock to your tongue. Likewise, adults are made to eat real food. Unlike babies, we have teeth and digestive systems that can handle chewable food.
A balance of fiber, protein, fat, and carbohydrates is essential to keeping your body running at optimal levels.
If you exercise too, a diet of pureed produce is unlikely to meet your body's needs. You could soon find yourself feeling weak or worse, hangry. Meeting your daily nutritional requirements while eating two meals of pureed fruits and vegetables will be difficult, if not nearly impossible. If you use it for quick slim down prior to a big day (like a wedding or a party), know that you'll likely gain back all the weight you lost quickly once you return to solid food.
"Baby food is lacking adequate amounts of fiber, fat, and protein to sustain a healthy adult. This puréed, and often strained, food is created for babies with underdeveloped digestive systems," says Cooking Light assistant nutrition editor Jamie Vespa, MS, RD. "Keeping our digestive systems active by eating whole, nutrient-dense food is healthy for both our gut and our immune system. The 'baby food diet' is a gimmicky, unsustainable diet that should not be utilized by adults wishing for long-term results.
"
Bottom line: Like Dunham's advice to not follow her Trump Diet, we do not recommend you try the baby food diet. "It's nutritionally inadequate. I can't think of a single pro for an adult to eat baby food, unless their jaws are wired shut," Vespa says. Healthy adults should instead look to fill their plates with fiber, protein, fat, and carbohydrates and leave the jars of colorful glop to the young ones.
Is it possible for adults to eat baby food: benefits and harms
- Photo
- Natalia Kurzova / Adobe Stock
Now we will talk about the benefits and harms of products made specifically for children. These include fruit and vegetable purees, juices and nectars, yoghurts and curds, cereals and various snacks for the little ones.
Pluses of baby food
No harmful ingredients
It is clear that baby food is made specifically for babies.
Therefore, they do not add harmful additives, dyes, flavors, a lot of sugar and salt. Not a single ingredient in the composition should cause an allergy or any disorder in a baby - which means that such food is safe for an adult. Moreover, manufacturers are strictly looked after - all children's products undergo a thorough check, and only then they get on the shelves in stores.
Tasty and convenient
Children's curds, cereals and purees with a sweet fruity taste can easily replace high-calorie cakes and other "adult" desserts. Some may also like cookies in cute little packages.
Speaking of packaging. Kids are not physically able to eat a lot, so for them everything is laid out in small portions. And these jars and packaging are very convenient to take with you for a walk, to school or university.
Low Calorie
Children's fruit and vegetable purees, and in such tiny portions, are very, very few calories! Some stars even specifically switch to only baby food in order to lose weight.
So, for example, did Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon.
Ready to follow suit? Well, slow down. Now let's talk about why you shouldn't do this.
Disadvantages of baby food
Few essential nutrients
Yes, these tasty purees contain only useful things and nothing harmful. But do not forget that this is still baby food. That is, it is made specifically for babies - taking into account the peculiarities of digestion of young children. And the body of an adult, you know, is very different. An adult needs a lot more fiber and dietary fiber - otherwise problems with the intestines will begin.
Sometimes it's not so tasty
Taste is both a plus and a minus of baby food. Sweet foods really look like a delicious dessert, but mashed vegetables and meat? We are used to cooking with all sorts of spices, which will definitely not be in the composition of dishes from a jar. In general, "adult" and "children's" food is very different in taste. You can, of course, get used to eating baby food all the time .
.. But why?
Is it useful or not?
There is nothing wrong with snacking on baby food occasionally. It can be quite healthy, tasty and without extra calories. But you definitely can’t replace all breakfasts, lunches and dinners with them - in this way you will deprive yourself of important components and harm your health.
Ekaterina Migacheva, Elena Bugay
Tags
- food
- healthy food
the truth about what is in the ingredients.
- Ekaterina Borisovna, there is a lot of debate about the benefits of baby food from a jar. Let's try to confirm or dispel the myths and tell parents the whole truth about children's canned products.
Myth #1. Baby food in jars is made from vegetables and fruits that are unsuitable for sale in their natural form. Raw materials of poor quality underlie it.
- Not true.
The production of canned baby food is a complex technological process consisting of several mandatory steps, including a careful selection of raw materials. The quality and safety of baby food initially depends on this.
When sorting , all vegetables and fruits with any defects are utilized, and a batch of raw materials of uniform quality is formed.
Sorting includes:
- visual assessment of raw materials;
- removal of non-standard, immature, moldy and broken fruits. Grouping by size and weight is not carried out: these indicators do not affect the quality of finished baby food.
When cleaning raw materials , all inedible and low-nutrient parts are removed from fruits and vegetables - the skin, seeds, stalks, the core is removed from apples and pears. Parents can be sure that their baby will receive only the most useful and nutritious.
Myth No. 2: The quality of baby food in jars is doubtful - it contains a lot of preservatives that are dangerous for babies.
- The inclusion of preservatives in baby food is prohibited by law , at least in our country. But the use of vitamin D or ascorbic acid is allowed. They do not harm babies, but significantly increase the benefits of the product.
- Ekaterina Borisovna, however, it is known that without preservatives, the shelf life of products is reduced.
— The long shelf life of baby food without preservatives is ensured by aseptic production technology, product sterilization and vacuum packaging, which protects it from harmful microorganisms. The cotton that we hear when opening the jar is an indicator of the correct packaging and safety of the product.
Myth #3. There are other unnatural ingredients in canned food without preservatives that can be harmful to a child's health.
- The complete composition of baby food must be clearly stated by the manufacturer on the packaging. Corn starch or rice flour can be added as safe thickeners to give the desired consistency.
But the range of children's canned food allows you to choose products without these additives. The presence of spices is not forbidden, but their list is limited and strictly regulated.
It is forbidden to include technological substances to impart aroma and enhance color and taste.
Myth #4. Flavor enhancers are added to canned food, otherwise children refuse to eat it.
- Production technologies allow extracting the maximum of useful elements from raw materials and at the same time preserving its taste. For example, , in order not to destroy biologically active substances, raw materials for baby puree are not boiled , but in order to obtain a delicate texture and not spoil the taste, it is wiped in special mashing machines in an atmosphere of steam or inert gases. Such subtleties of production explain the unique taste of canned puree, which you cannot get at home on your own.
See also
- how to introduce puree into complementary foods
Myth #5.
Canned baby food is expensive and costs parents more than homemade purees. — Seasonal harvest is inexpensive, making mashed potatoes seems like an elementary task. But there are few fruits of our own in our country. Harvesting a year in advance is a difficult and costly business (you will need a capacious freezer). Preserving vegetables is even more difficult, you need at least a basement. In addition, the amount of vitamins with this method of harvesting decreases in proportion to the storage time (autumn apples lose most of their useful properties by spring).
— Fruit and vegetable sections are filled in stores all year round.
Yes, but children need variety in their diet. Today an apple, tomorrow a pear, the day after tomorrow an apricot. For example, to prepare 100 g of apricot puree, you will need at least 300 g of apricots without peel and stone. For the price, this is comparable to the price of a jar, but you still need time to buy and cook.
And the most important thing is safety. At the plant, raw materials for baby food are thoroughly tested for the content of toxic substances. The standards for the content of pesticides, nitrates and other chemical additives for sale in the store are different, and no one guarantees that the zucchini bought from the grandmother on the market did not grow in the zone of increased radiation or was not fed with nitrogenous fertilizers. Therefore industrial canned puree is safer than , and at a price that's about what it comes out to be.
Myth #6. There are few vitamins and nutrients in a jar of complementary foods, as they are destroyed during the conservation process.
— Vegetables and fruits are full of healthy nutrients during the harvest season. But during long-term storage, they lose almost everything except fiber and starch. In addition to this, the fruits are irrevocably destroyed during heat treatment at home - for example, during cooking, up to 20% of vitamin B and more than 50% of ascorbic acid are lost.
The picture is quite different in the factory production of complementary foods, when the useful properties of the raw materials are preserved to the maximum. In addition, complementary foods can be additionally saturated with vitamins and trace elements. Food packaging always indicates their presence and the percentage of the daily dose.
Myth #7. Food from a jar provokes the development of allergies.
- The risk of developing an allergic reaction to food in a jar is no higher than to food prepared by oneself. If a child is allergic to pumpkin, then boiled, steamed and canned, there will be a reaction to it. Another question is that an auxiliary component of canned puree (for example, starch or ascorbic acid) can cause allergies. In this case, it is safer to choose products without such additives.
Often confused with allergies food intolerance . The symptoms are similar, but the reasons for the latter lie in non-compliance with the rules of complementary foods (for example, they gave a new product ahead of schedule or immediately in large quantities).
Without knowing it, mothers expose the child's body to excessive stress when the baby's enzyme system is not yet ready to process the edible "gift". For this reason, the child's body becomes covered with a rash, problems with the tummy, regurgitation and other delights appear.
Complementary foods: what you need to know
- It's worth trying a new product in small quantities.
- The daily dose is increased gradually.
- Red cheeks, rashes on the arms and under the knees - a reason to exclude the product from the child's diet and consult a doctor.
Myth #8. There are many counterfeits of baby food on the market, and products of well-known brands are more often counterfeited. Parents in the store will not be able to distinguish a fake from the original.
— Control over the quality of nutrition for children is multifaceted and is carried out at all stages - from the procurement of raw materials to the sale in the store.
Compliance with safety standards during production and storage, the usefulness of the product in terms of protein, carbohydrate and fat components, the concentration of vitamin elements and other components declared on the package are monitored. Organoleptic testing determines the quality of products by taste, aroma, appearance, consistency.
Unfortunately, despite the rather strict control, information about reviews from the sale of low-quality baby food periodically pops up. Probably, this cannot be avoided, as well as the falsification of medicines and other goods. But you can protect yourself as much as possible from acquiring fakes.
How to choose quality baby food in jars
- It is better to buy food in large specialized stores, pharmacies.
- Consider value for money. If the price is significantly lower than usual, do not rush to buy an annual supply, study the composition and the certificate of conformity for the product.
- Inspect the packaging carefully. Do not take a damaged package with traces of worn paint, smeared or blurry letters, a swollen or crumpled jar.
- Always try a new product before giving it to a child. You can easily distinguish changes in taste, smell, texture.
Myth #9. Manufacturers add starch to thickening canned food, but they do not always report this on the packaging. This is true? And will the iodine test show the presence of starch?
— In stores, a wide range of baby purees with and without starch is quite wide. A significant component of starch is glucose , the main source of our vital energy. Starch is often a natural product. In nature, there are many plants and products from which starch can be extracted: potato, corn, rice and wheat are widely known.
The debate about the dangers or benefits of starch can go on forever. Children are able to absorb starch from birth, it's all about its volume.
A small amount of thickener in baby food will be absorbed by the child. Harmful daily proportion of starch - from 30 g.
Starch is included in 90% of the food that a person consumes in everyday life. You should not be afraid of it, but you need to be careful, because starch:
- with excessive use and individual tendency causes constipation;
- is capable of provoking an allergic reaction;
- increases the calorie content of food and promotes weight gain;
- contains a lot of carbohydrates, but is useless as a source of vitamins.
Therefore, if a child has a tendency to allergic reactions, overweight or constipation, you should not use food with the addition of starch. Children with underweight or unstable stools may well try it.
Reaction with iodine - a qualitative reaction to starch with the formation of a dark blue spot. This is a really affordable method of checking baby food.
But before using it, you should study which products contain starch. It is possible that a positive reaction will not be on an artificially added component, but on natural starch. A lot of natural starch in potatoes, corn, legumes, carrots, zucchini, pumpkin, banana and unripe apples. And it is natural that the reaction with iodine in the puree of these products will be positive. But in the composition of mashed broccoli or white cabbage, starch should not be, unless the manufacturer specifically added it.
Myth #10. The child gets used to eating from a jar and for a long time refuses the "adult" table.
- Opposite. Children in infancy and under 18 months are not allowed to give sugar, salt, seasonings and spices. Therefore, until the mother has included these “adult” supplements in her child’s diet, purchased food will remain his favorite food. But having tried salty or sweet once, the baby begins to demand a new product and refuse fresh canned food.
A child and an adult have a different perception of tastes. Therefore, you can not give the baby a dish that you like to taste, sweeten and add salt to food. When the time comes and the child is ready to receive products close to the common table, he himself will gladly refuse fresh jars, trying more and more new tastes.
— Ekaterina Borisovna, can canned baby food completely replace homemade baby food?
— Of course, and quite successfully. Regardless of the season, it is possible to provide the baby with a complete and varied diet only with the help of canned food. Yes, and it is impossible to repeat the taste of factory food on your own due to the special manufacturing technology. In addition, despite the fact that the assortment of fruits and vegetables in the store is quite large even in winter, their taste and useful properties, and most importantly, safety, are very doubtful. Of course, it is worth remembering about the time that a mother can devote to a baby, instead of puzzling over the variety of menus and cooking.
— Why are MAMAKO ® baby purees good for children? What are their advantages?
— Very often, kids get bored with the taste of monocomponent puree, and not everyone eats cottage cheese willingly either. Puree MAMAKO ® consists of fruits and tender goat curd without thickeners, preservatives or other artificial additives. Such a puree with a delicate creamy taste can be introduced into the diet from 6 months, it is more nutritious and serves as an additional source of calcium, which is necessary during the period of intensive growth. Therefore, along with monocomponent purees, I always recommend including such interesting, and most importantly - without sugar and thickeners, healthy products in the child's diet.
I would like to once again appeal to young parents - be above prejudice.
