A Guide to Nutrition

Feeding Ethan Bear has meant I have developed a keen interest in nutrition.  So I thought I would find out about all the things we need to make our bodies work and compile it in one place.  It makes the thought of him getting all the stuff he needs seem a little less scary.  I choose not to give him vitamin drops as I believe he can get everything he needs from a healthy diet and trust him to choose the right foods when he needs them.  I have never really been a big fan of popping vitamin pills as the science is debatable on whether non-dietary sources of a lot of things achieve the same result.  So I remain a sceptic and Ethan Bear seems just fine. 


Macronutrients 

Carbohydrates provide energy for the body = starchy foods like bread, rice, pasta, potatoes, cereals, starchy vegetables (like parsnips), milk and milk products, sugar, preserves and confectionary.

Protein provides amino acids which are building blocks needed for growth and repair plus energy = meat, fish, eggs, dairy foods, cereal products like bread, soya, nuts and pulses.

Fat provides essential fatty acids that the body can't produce but need in small amounts to allow cells to obtain nutrition and expel harmful waste products.  Babies need efas for brain development and to mature the  senses = fats, oils, meat and meat products, oily fish, dairy foods, nuts, chocolate, cakes, biscuits, pastry products, crisps and other snacks.     

Micronutrients

Water soluble nutrients that cannot be stored in the body. 

Vitamin B1 or thiamin - needed to release energy from carbs it is also important for heart and nervous system to function.  Found in wholegrains, nuts, meat (especially pork), fruit and vegetables.

Vitamin B2 or riboflavin - releases energy from carbs, protein and fat as well as transport and metabolism of iron and is needed for skin to be healthy.  Found in milk, eggs, rice, liver, beans, lentils, peanuts, peas, mushrooms and green vegetables.

Vitamin B3 or niacin - involved in use of protein and helps haemoglobin to form and carry oxygen around the body.  Found in poultry, white fish, milk, eggs, whole grains, soya beans, peanuts and some veg.

Vitamin B12 - used in making of red blood cells, important for keeping the nervous system ticking and releases energy from food.  Found in meat, fish, milk, eggs, and marmite.

Folate (or in tablet form folic acid) - needed for formation of healthy red blood cells and nervous system (especially in nervous system formation of unborn babies.  Found in green leafy veg, brown rice, peas, oranges and bananas.

Vitamin C - an antioxidant (which help protect your body from damage by free radicals) and important for normal structure and functioning of body tissues and helps absorption of iron from vegetarian sources and helps the healing process.  Found in fresh fruits (esp. citrus and berries), green veg, peppers, tomatoes and potatoes (esp new).

Vitamin D - important for the normal structure and functioning of the skin and body linings, e.g. in lungs and keeps immune system healthy.  Found in liver, whole milk, cheese, butter, margarine, carrots, dark green leafy vegtables and orange-coloured fruits, e.g. mangoes and apricots.         

Vitamin E - antioxident and protects skin against damage.  Found in vegetable oils, nuts and seeds.  

Vitamin K- vital for normal clotting of blood and is required for normal bone structure.  Found in green leafy vegetables, meat and dairy products.

Minerals

Calcium - important for healthy bones and teeth plus functioning of neves and muscle.  Found in milk, cheese and other dairy products, some green leafy vegetables such as broccoli.

Fluroide - helps with the formation of strong teeth and protects against dental decay (caries).  Found in fluoridated water, tea, fish and toothpaste.

Iodine - needed to make thyroid hormones, which control many metabolic processes, and keep our bodies healthy.  Found in milk, sea fish, shellfish, seaweed.

Iron - required for making red blood cells, which transport oxygen around the body. Also needed for normal metabolism and the functioning of enzymes that remove unwanted substances from the body.  Found in liver, red meat, pulses, nuts, eggs, dried fruits, poultry, fish, whole grains and dark green leafy vegetables.

Phosphorous - needed for the formation of healthy bones and teeth, and for the use of energy from food.  Found in red meat, dairy products, fish, poultry, bread, rice and oats.

Potassium  - helps maintain a healthy blood pressure. It is also involved in the normal functioning of nerves.  Found in fruit (esp bananas), meat, shellfish, veg, milk, nuts, seeds.pulses.

Selenium - important component of the body’s defence system that protects our bodies against damage. It is also necessary for the use of iodine in thyroid hormone production, as well as the normal functioning of the reproductive system. Found in brazil nuts, bread, fish, meat and eggs.

Zinc - required for the use of carbohydrate, protein and fat. Needed for cell division, growth and tissue repair. Also necessary for normal reproductive development, the immune system and healing of wounds.  Found in meat, milk, cheese, eggs, shellfish, wholegrain cereals, nuts and pulses.

Two other very imporant components of a healthy diet... 
Water - essential for our bodies to work correctly.  Breastfed babies get all the water they need from breastmilk (it is 88 percent water and baby can control whether they are getting mainly watery or fatty milk from the length they choose to feed) even during the weaning period so although you can offer water from a cup you don't need to worry too much about baby taking it.  Formula fed babies should be offered water regularly.

Fibre - needed for movement of waste products and to prevent constipation.  Found in cereals, beans, pulses, lentils, fruit and vegetables.

Stevo's Gorgeous Curry

Swede is a great source of vitamin C, B6, potassium, maganese, thiamin, folate, calcium, magnesium and phosphorus.

Like all curry, this tastes great on the day but ten times better the next day (as you can see from the photo of Ethan Bear literally smearing it all over himself cos of how good it tasted!).  You can get 3 to 4 adult portions and a baby portion out of this.  Serve with rice and or naan or just on its own.  I gave Ethan a few spoons to play with but he soon abandoned them for the method which is much easier for him at present of diving in with his fingers.

Ingredients: 350 grams red lentils, 175g cauliflower cut into trees or florets if you want to be posh about it, 110g dessicated coconut, One large onion diced (175g), 200g swede cubed, 3 teaspoons curry powder, 2 teaspoons ginger (fresh or ground), 2 teaspoons cumin, olive oil (or ghee or any other vegetable oil) for frying and 1750ml (7 cups) of water, 2 low salt stock cubes crumbled.

Method: Fry onion until clear in large saucepan.  Add water and all other ingredients.  Bring to the boil and then simmer, stirring regularly until fully reduced.  If you don't stir regularly, this will stick by the way!  

Ethan's Favourite Teething Foods

Al dente (firm, just cooked) pasta

Cucumber sticks

Apple slices or whole to gnaw on whilst I hold

Orange slices with peel still on

Breadsticks dunked in hummus or just as they are

Bananas

Baby Watching

Ethan Bear is so good with feeding himself now and manages some tricky textures much better than I think I would.  I can't get over how much he has been eating in the past few days.  He seemed to go off his food a bit before the teething kicked in but how he can't get enough!  I had a funsize (whatever that means!) apple from Aldi earlier and took a bite out then offered it to him.  He's still quite little for handling something that size well (it kept tumbling out his hand when I gave it to him) so I held it in front of him and he ate most of it pretty quickly.  He is also loving oranges at the moment.  The first time I gave him one (with peel still attached, chopped into a slice) he tried to eat the peel but he has worked out that's not good and chomps very skillfully on the fruit now before dropping the remains over the high chair.  This is the start of the deliberate dropping, I hope it doesn't become too much of a nightmare!
   

Loaded Spoon

Ethan has always been fascinated with spoons...plus any other cutlery for that matter but today is the first day he has really used one well.  I found some baby rice in the cupboard and so I thought I would give him a bit with some sultanas in to practice his spoon skills with.  It's a great consistency for self feeding with a loaded spoon as it's so sticky (I put more rice to less milk than stated on pack to make it like rice pudding). I didn't give him much but he shovelled it in well before abandoning the spoon in favour of his trusty fingers which are much less hassle! Seeing how much he has come on with his hand to eye coordination has made me think I should be trying Ethan with spoons at most meals now.  I'm very proud of little bear today.  Poor litle mite was screaming in the middle of the night with his teething but you wouldn't know it today and he's passed another developmental milestone.  He's a clever little cookie.    

Macaroni Cheese

I love macaroni cheese but felt it was missing something...so I bunged a load of vegetables in there too.  Ethan loves the creamy cheese sauce and picking different coloured vegetables out.  The whole milk is a great source of calcium, Vitamin D, B12, riboflavin or B2 (which is responsible for red cell growth and promotes a healthy immune system)  and phosphorus (which helps with bone formation, digestion, energy extraction and protein formation) .  Babies need full fat milk as they need more calories for all the energy they burn off and the fat helps their brain development but it should only be used in cooking after 6 months and can be given as a drink after a year.  

Makes 3 Adult portions and a baby one.

Ingredients: 300ml of Whole (Full Fat) Milk, 100g Mature Cheddar Cheese grated, 25g butter, 25g Plain (All Purpose) Flour, 300g Macaroni (or failing that any pasta shapes you have in the house), 2 Carrots (100g), 100g Frozen Peas and 100g Cauliflower.

Method: Make pasta as per instructions on pack put peas in towards end, drain and set aside.  Steam vegetables (you can do this using a metal colinder overing a saucepan of boiling water with a lid on top or in the microwave in a container with the lid slightly open and a few drops of water).   Heat butter in a saucepan, gradually add flour, mixing together to form a paste.  Gradually add milk and keep stirring and turn up heat to high.  Add cheese and keep on stirring until a thick sauce forms.  Take off heat, stir in pasta and steamed vegetables.  If you like a crispy top you can take a portion out now for baby and cool and then put macaroni cheese in a casserole dish and place under the grill until cheese bubbles. 

Doidy Cup

Since Ethan had his eight month check a few weeks ago I have been trying to get him to drink a bit of water.  As anyone who's ever tried to get a baby to drink water will know...it's a messy process!  I tried  him on a cup with a spout first but found my health visitors advice (about them not being very good) to be so true.  Have you ever tried drinking out of one of those things?  Well I did and found it nigh on impossible so God knows what Ethan is meant to do with it.  Granted it stops annoying spillages but it also stops Ethan being able to drink very much water at all without a lot of effort and frustration so the spout cup is out.  So I ordered the doidy cup off Ebay.  This futuristic looking plastic marvel looks like it fell right out of a Dali surrealist painting but there are some excellent reasons for this...the slanted design means babies learn to drink from the rim of the cup and they can see all of the contents without having to tilt their heads too much.  At first I would hold the cup to allow Ethan to sip from it but I've decided to give him free reign now as holding it for him means he is not learning how to drink by himself.  It means lots of mess (he still can't resist tipping it upside down to see what happens!) but as we all know, if you don't want mess then you shouldn't have a baby!