Components of the diet

Before talking about the daily eating of a child, we need to remember which of the most important elements are the food and for what these elements are used by the body.

In a sense, the child's body can be compared with the building under construction. In order to build a house and keep it in order, you need a variety of building materials. But the human body is also an operating machine. It requires fuel for energy and other substances to work normally, just like a car needs gasoline, oil, grease and water.

Proteins

Proteins are the main building material of the body. For example, muscles, heart, brain, kidneys consist mainly of protein( except for water).Bones consist of a protein, rich in minerals, like starched for the stiffness of the shirt collar. The child needs good food proteins to constantly increase the size of all the organs of the body and to compensate for energy costs.

Almost all natural products contain proteins - some more, others less. Meat, poultry, fish, eggs, milk are the most abundant in proteins. These are the only types of food that contain "high-grade protein," that is, a protein that contains all the elements necessary for the body. Therefore, a child should drink at least 750 grams of milk daily and receive meat( or poultry, or fish) or eggs daily, preferably both. The second most important source of proteins are cereals from coarse grits, nuts and mealy vegetables( soybeans and other beans, peas).Grain and vegetable protein is many, but it is defective. For example, wheat contains some very important components of protein, and in beans - others. If a child eats a variety of cereals and vegetables, it supplements the proteins of meat, eggs, fish and milk, but can not replace them.

Mineral salts

Various mineral salts play an important role in the structure and activity of each organ of the body. Strength of bones and teeth depends on calcium and phosphorus. The substance in the red blood balls, which carries oxygen throughout the body, consists partly of iron and copper. Iodine is necessary for normal functioning of the thyroid gland.

All natural raw foods( fruits, vegetables, meat, unmilled grain, eggs, milk) contain a wide variety of mineral salts. But the processing of grain and the prolonged cooking of vegetables in large quantities of water, most of these salts destroy. Most often, the diet lacks calcium, iron and, in some areas, iodine. Calcium in small amounts is found in vegetables and fruits, but in abundance in milk( and in cheese).Iron supplies leafy green vegetables, meat, fruits, whole grains, but most of it in the egg yolk and in the liver. Iodine is low in some internal areas, where it is not enough in drinking water, vegetables and fruits, and marine products are hard to reach. In these areas, iodized edible salt is sold, which prevents Graves' disease.

Vitamins

Vitamins are special substances that the body needs in small amounts, as the machine needs a few drops of oil or as a gasoline engine depends on a tiny electric spark.

Vitamin A is necessary for the normal condition of the internal surface of the bronchi, for the functioning of the urethra and for various parts of the eye, including those that allow us to see in the semi-darkness. The body receives vitamin A from milk fat, egg yolk, green and yellow vegetables and special vitamin concentrates. Probably, only those who have a really unhealthy diet, or those who are not able to absorb it because of a serious intestinal disease, are not enough of vitamin A.Because of the lack of vitamin A, such people are constantly suffering from colds. But there is no reason for

to believe that a person who is eating normally will be less likely to catch cold if he takes more vitamin A.

Complex vitamin B. Previously, scientists believed that there is one vitamin B that performs various functions in the body. However, when we studied it closely, it turned out that there are as many as ten different vitamins. But most of them are found in the same and the same types of products. Since the composition and effect of vitamin B has not been fully studied, it is preferable to eat natural foods in which it is contained, rather than taking special concentrates. The three elements that make up vitamin B are now considered to be the most important for the body and are called thiamine, riboflavin and niacin. They need all the tissues of the body.

Thiamine( B1) is found in large quantities in whole grains, milk, eggs, liver, and meat of some vegetables and fruits. Long cooking destroys it, especially when soda is used. When a person eats a lot of purified starch and sugar, he gets an insufficient amount of thiamine. The lack of thiamine causes poor appetite, slow growth, fatigue, trouble with digestion and neuroses.(However, all these symptoms have many other causes, and thiamine deficiency is not the most common.)

Riboflavin ( also known as B2 or vitamin G) is abundant in liver, meat, milk, eggs, green vegetables,whole grain, yeast, so a reasonable diet supplies the body with the necessary amount. The disadvantage is the appearance of cracks in the corners of the mouth and lips and other troubles associated with the lips, skin, mouth and eyes.

Niacin ( nicotinic acid) is abundantly contained in the same products as Riboflavin( excluding milk).The drawback is caused by diseases of the mouth, intestines and skin, which are part of the disease called pellagra.

Vitamin C ( ascorbic acid) is found in very large quantities in oranges, lemons, grapefruits, fresh and properly cooked canned tomatoes and in raw cabbage. In significant quantities - in some other fruits and vegetables, including potatoes. It is found in many vitamin concentrates. It is necessary for the development of bones, teeth, blood vessels and other tissues and plays a role in the life of all cells of the body. The deficiency of this vitamin is found in children, feeding exclusively on cow's milk, without orange or tomato juice and without concentrates of vitamin C, and manifests itself in painful hemorrhages in the periosteum and in swollen bleeding gums. Such a disease is called scurvy.

Vitamin D is needed in large quantities for growth, especially for the growth of bones and teeth. It helps to extract calcium and phosphorus from food that has entered the intestines, transfers them to the blood, and with the help of blood these elements disperse throughout the body. That's why it should be added to food, especially in childhood during a period of rapid growth. In ordinary food is contained in small quantities. The sun's rays cause the formation of vitamin D directly in the skin, if a lot of time spend in the fresh air and walk without clothes. People living in a cold climate cover the body with clothing and spend a lot of time indoors. The sun's rays in such areas fall more obliquely and are also absorbed by soot and dust in the air and window panes. The best sources of vitamin D are fish oil and specially synthesized preparations.(Fish stores vitamin D in their liver when they eat plankton - tiny plants floating on the surface of the ocean.) In these plants, vitamin D appeared under the sun.) The result of vitamin D deficiency is soft, curved bones, bad teeth, weak muscles and tendons. Such a disease is called rickets.

Adults are likely to receive a sufficient amount of vitamin D from eggs, butter and fish and from a small amount of sunlight. But a child who does not have enough sunshine should, in summer and winter, receive specially prepared vitamin D until it stops growing. Mothers need vitamin D during pregnancy and lactation.

Water and fiber

Water does not give calories or vitamins, but it is very important for growth and activity of the body( the body of the child consists of 60 percent water).The child should be able to drink once or twice between the feedings and even more often in hot weather. Most of the products are mostly water, and that's how people satisfy most of their needs in it.

Fiber is the tissue of vegetables, fruits and grains( such as bran), which our insides can not digest and assimilate. Fiber leaves the intestine undigested, but in one respect it is very useful. It is the part of the contents of the intestine that stimulates its functioning. If a person eats food in which there is almost no fiber( for example, eggs, broth and milk), he will begin constipation.

Fat, starch and sugar

Fuel. So far we have considered the building materials of the body and other substances necessary for normal functioning. But so far we have not talked about fuel. The body, which is a kind of motor, needs a lot of fuel, as the car needs gasoline. When a person sleeps, his heart continues to beat, the insides contract, the liver, kidneys and other organs work. It looks like a car, standing on a neutral gear, but with a running motor. When a person wakes up, starts walking, running, running, he burns more fuel, like a moving car. Most of the baby's food is fuel, even when it grows rapidly.

Fuel supplies starch, sugar, fats( and to a small extent proteins).Starch consists of a chemical combination of sugars. In the intestine, it breaks down into sugars, then absorbed by the body. Since starch and sugar are closely related, they are united under the general name of carbohydrates.

Subcutaneous fat. When a person eats more fat, starch, sugar and protein than is needed as fuel, the excess turns into fat and is stored under the skin. When a person consumes too little "fuel", part of the hypodermic stocks goes to fuel and the person grows thin. This fat layer, which to some extent has everyone, serves not only as a fuel warehouse, but, like a blanket, protects the body from the cold.

Calories. The value of food as fuel is measured in calories. Water and mineral salts do not have calories, that is, they are not a fuel and an energy supplier. Fats are very rich in calories: in 30 grams of fat calories twice as much as in the same amount of starch, sugar or protein. Therefore, animal and vegetable oil and margarine, which are almost entirely made up of fat, cream, mayonnaise and other seasonings for salads have a very high calorie content.

There are also a lot of calories in sugar and syrups, because it is carbohydrates and does not contain water or vegetable fiber.

Cereals( which we eat in the form of cereals, bread, crackers, macaroni, puddings, etc.) and starchy vegetables( for example, potatoes, peas, corn) also contain many calories because of the large amount of starch in them.

In meat, poultry, fish, eggs, cheese, there are many calories, because they consist of carbohydrates and fats. But the main daily portion of calories we do not get from them( because we eat them in small amounts), but from cereals and starchy vegetables. Milk is a rich source of calories, because it contains sugar, fat and protein and because it is easy to take in large quantities.

Fresh and boiled fruits also give calories, because they have sugar. Especially rich in calories are bananas and dried fruits( compared, for example, with potatoes).

There are few calories in vegetables, and quite a lot( depending on the sugar and starch content).Many calories in ordinary and sweet potatoes, corn and legumes such as soy, beans and lima beans. Quite a lot in peas, beets, carrots, onions, parsnips, squash and pumpkin. There are few calories in string beans, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, eggplants, spinach, tomatoes, lettuce, beetroot, broccoli and asparagus.