From kindergarten to senior year, my mom would make me eat an Indian dessert called \u201cBarfi\u201d before I jumped on the bus or drove off in my Pontiac Sunfire (with no AC!).\u00a0 It was made with almonds, ghee (butter), coconut, pistachios, cardamon, and a bunch of other delicious spices. She said it would make me smarter (but not as smart as my sis!).\u00a0 Barfi has protein, healthy fats, fiber, sugars and spices (which many are now termed \u201cnootropics\u201d – brain nutrients).\u00a0 As back to school arrives, here is what I\u2019ve learned from my mom and being a formulator\/nutritional biochemist for 20yrs!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A: Yes. Although they contains the same types of ingredients; Vitamin C is Vitamin C. Legally any supplement marketed to children must be in an easy to swallow form (gummy, liquid, etc..), due to risks of choking, the dosages should be lower, and most formulations will stick with only GRAS (Generally Regarded As Safe) ingredients. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
A: You can feel really good about taking supplements for kids over the age of 12 and\/or 100lbs. For ages\/weights less than that, you need to be careful and let your health care practitioner know. Many times you see dosages that are either too high (causing toxicity issues) or too low (basically vitamin candy). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
A: As an adult, your bodies detoxing systems are mature and your buffering abilities are strong. When you\u2019re younger, this is not necessarily the case. So if a child takes too much, they\u2019ll have a quicker and more significant reaction. Being careful of minerals, herbal extracts, and individual nutrient supplements would be prudent. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
A: Macronutrients (Protein-Carbs-Fats) is more important that Micronutrients (vitamins, minerals, etc..). Growth and development is fueled by macro. The right amount and the right type of calories is key, and this only comes from Macronutrients. There is no calories in vitamins\/minerals! Protein is #1, Fat is #2, and Carbs is #3 \u2013 just like when you\u2019re an adult. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
A: Breakfast \u2013 Protein\/Fats, Lunch\/Dinner \u2013 Protein\/Fats\/Carbs. Most kids don\u2019t like to eat breakfast because they are revved up and \u201cnot hungry\u201d, it\u2019s because they have cortisol\/adrenalin running through their system. It\u2019s natural. But sneaking in protein \u2013 whether it\u2019s peanut butter on toast, protein powder in milk\/cereal, scrambled eggs in burrito is key. Keeping the refined carbohydrates (sugars) is key in the morning, once their sugars\/insulin spike, they will tend to stay up and cause them to be hungry or come crashing down 2-3hrs later. Send them off with nuts and fruit. Be careful of granola bars with are more sugars and carbs. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
From kindergarten to senior year, my mom would make me eat an Indian dessert called \u201cBarfi\u201d before I jumped on the bus or drove off in my Pontiac Sunfire (with no AC!).\u00a0 It was made with almonds, ghee (butter), coconut, pistachios, cardamon, and a bunch of other delicious spices. She said it would make me […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25048,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[181,180,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25038","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health-tips","category-higher-education","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.proze.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25038","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.proze.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.proze.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.proze.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.proze.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25038"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.proze.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25038\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.proze.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25048"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.proze.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25038"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.proze.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25038"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.proze.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25038"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}