5 Easy Ways to Help Your Child’s Body Absorb all the Nutrients in their Balanced Diet

As parents, we take immense pride in providing our children with a balanced, nutritious diet that aids their growth and development. But, is it enough?

While a balanced diet is key for young bodies that are growing, it’s isn’t enough. You have to ensure that all the nutrients are absorbed by the body.

If you want to know more about the factors that aid in nutrient absorption, read on.

Include Different Food Types in Your Meals

By ensuring that you include several coloured foods in each meal, you not only win over fussy eaters but also keep your children healthy in the long run. For instance, serving a glass of milk along with regular breakfast (idli, upma, or poha) or vegetable salads with fruit juices helps your children get plenty of different vitamins and minerals at the same time. This helps all the vital nutrients be absorbed effectively into the bloodstream.

Make the Right Food Pairings

Studies state that some nutrients are better absorbed with the presence of other nutrients. For instance, calcium absorption is boosted by nearly 65% when you increase your Vitamin D intake. Similarly, while consuming foods rich in vitamins A, D, E, K along with fat-rich foods like flaxseed, avocado, helps in better absorption of these fat-soluble vitamins.

If consuming iron-rich foods make sure to include citrus fruit juices along with the meal. The citric acid in fruit juices like lemons and oranges help in absorbing iron.

Consider Fortified Drinks and Foods

Sometimes, irrespective of your balanced diet, your children may miss out on essential nutrients. The best way to rectify this is by providing them with nutrient-fortified drinks and foods. Iron-enriched breakfast cereals, as well as calcium and vitamin D fortified milk help to boost the amount of nutrients available to the body.

This helps in boosting the overall absorption of nutrients in the body, thereby aiding growth and development. Try to include these nutrient-enhanced drinks and foods along with regular meals, as they are most absorbent and effective at such times.

Encourage your Children to be Active

Sadly, teenagers and pre-teens today are becoming more and more sedentary. Homework and screens take up a large portion of their evenings, leaving them no time to participate in physical activities.

When children lack physical activity, it takes a huge toll on their overall health. Digestion gets impacted negatively, which in turn, affects nutrient absorption. By encouraging your children to stay active, you are not only aiding nutrient absorption, but also helping them cultivate a healthy lifestyle. Kids who are active during their growing years are likely to engage in physical activities all through life, thereby keeping unnecessary weight gain, high blood pressure, diabetes and cardiac diseases at bay during their adult life.

Focus on Hydration

This is one of the most important factors that help in nutrient absorption. Your body needs adequate water content to function efficiently. When dehydrated, the first effect is on the digestive system. So, make sure that your children drink plenty of water and other nutritious beverages like milk, buttermilk, and smoothies to stay hydrated throughout the day.

To boost gut health and improve digestion provide your children with probiotic-rich foods. Most South Indian dishes like idli, dosa, are probiotic and contain gut-friendly bacteria that boost digestion and increase nutrient absorption. Other probiotic-rich foods in Indian diet include dahi (curd), buttermilk, and homemade pickles.

Don’t let your Child miss out on Essential Nutrients

You may be providing your children with a healthy diet. But, to reap all the nutritional benefits of the food they eat, you need to ensure that their body is ready to absorb all the nutrients in their meals. Nutrient absorption works in-sync with several factors, and until you get all these factors right, the body will not absorb all essential nutrients in a balanced manner.

When the body fails to absorb nutrients, your child suffers from nutrient deficiencies, which can impact their day-to-day functioning. So, make sure that you provide your children with a healthy diet along with nutrient-fortified add-ons to help them grow strong mentally and physically.