Dr. J Sankar

How to maintain Good Health in children?

Hello everyone. I'm Kanchan Patwardhan. I'm a Clinical Dietician and Nutritionist working in this field from last 22yrs. Today, we are going to speak about how to increase health and stamina in children. You know healthy brain begins with smart nutrition. Diet is actually very important because your body's organ and tissues need proper nutrition to work effectively. So, without good nutrition your body is proned to diseases, infection, fatigue etc. If your children's diet is not nutritionally dense then definitely they're prone to infection and diseases. So better is you give your child a good nutrition and you know how you can give it? It's very easy. There are ceratin ways in which we can give it to them, provide them good nutrition.

There are many mothers who come to me and say that my child doesn't eat fruits, my children doesn't eat this and that. So I always ask them, do you eat that fruit, do you eat papaya, apple? If you don't eat that how are you expecting your child to eat that? So first you start that because whatever children learns, they learn it from you only. Children are very fast learner, they grasp very fast, in subconscious mind also they're learning things. So if you eat in front of them they will think my mother must be eating something very good or something very delicious and even if one day they don't look at you, second day they don't look at you but on the third day they will definitely come and try what you're eating and the same thing will become a habit. So it is very easy how to teach them to take up nutritious food. First you eat and subconsciously they will also start liking good food.

How will you see if your child is having proper nutrition or not? If he is having low concentration problem, if he is having frequent cough and cold, if he is having infections, if he is having dull skin, in the teenager if he is having pimples or if he is having mood swings, having tensions, irritation. All these problems if he is having that means your child's diet is not proper. So please look at your child's diet and find out the root cause of your problems. You must give right proteins to your child because right proteins are neccessary for repairing body tissue, development of healthy brain, proper functions of hormone and any wear and tear, if it is there then protein is going to actually help you out and heal any wear and tear. So please include protein in the diet, you can obtain proteins from fish, milk, cheese, eggs, nuts, pulses etc. So proteins are equally important.

At the same time you must give them anti-oxidants, vitamins, minerals through fruits and vegetables. And at the same time you must give them good quality complex carbohydrates also. For the child's growth and development calcium is equally important because if you give enough calcium the child's bones will become strong and they will become tall. So please give them good calcium such as almonds, soya, beans, dairy products, peas, brocolli etc in your child's diet. Please give right quality iron to your children that comes from green leafy vegetables, pomegranate, eggs, cysmic seeds, garden green seeds, beans, rajma, chole, chane etc. These are the very good sources of iron. With it your children should go for physical activities, they can opt for any activity, they can play cricket, they can play tennis, they can play anything but not indoors. They should play outside for proper physical and mental growth.

Thank you very much. Please contact Kanchan's online nutrition through Lybrate.

Health benefits of pickles

Free radical scavenging from antioxidants: pickles can be good source of antioxidants, especially decalepis hamiltonii or swallow root. As the vegetables or unripe fruits are stored fresh without cooking, the antioxidants present in those vegetables or unripe fruits are preserved as it is. Antioxidants are those micronutrients that help in protecting our body against the attacks of free radicals. Free radicals are unstable chemicals that are produced during cellular metabolism. These unstable chemicals react with our cells and damage our dna to become unstable and in the process, create more and more free radicals. We can protect ourselves from free radical attacks by consuming food with high antioxidants. A lot of emphasis these days is put on antioxidants by dieticians and doctors.

Supply of probiotic or gut-friendly bacteria: probiotic bacteria are those friendly bacteria that are present in our digestive system. These bacteria actually help us in the digestion of food. Sometimes, due to the use of antibiotics, along with invading bacteria, these friendly bacteria are also killed. The fall in their numbers can cause digestive problems that can be solved by eating pickles made without the use of vinegar. Naturally fermented salt pickles encourage the growth of these friendly bacteria, which will replenish the numbers in our digestive system and restore our health.

Supply of essential minerals and vitamins: fresh pickles, dips or chutneys are made from leafy vegetables or herbs such as coriander, curry leaves, spinach, parsley, and amaranth. These fresh pickles are interesting and appetizing ways of making children eat their share of leafy vegetables and herbs, which are otherwise boring for children. Eating freshly made pickles not only tastes good, but they also supply essential vitamins such as vitamin c, a, k, folate and minerals like iron, calcium, and potassium. Vitamins and minerals are vital micronutrients which protect us from diseases, help us build immunity, bone strengthening, vision protection, curing anemia, and various other functions.

Diabetes control: studies have shown that consuming vinegar based pickles improves hemoglobin levels in diabetic patients, which in turn helps in controlling diabetes. The acetic acid present in vinegar has been noted to be responsible for this phenomenon. However, care must be taken to avoid the consumption of salted pickles as excess salt increases blood pressure.

Improves digestion: in india, indian gooseberry or amla (phyllanthus emblica) is one of the favourite fruits that are pickled. This fruit is believed to possess several health benefits according to ayurveda treatments and moreover, since amla is a seasonal fruit, unripe amla pickles are prepared. It is customary practice in some indian families to have amla pickle as the first course or an appetizer as it is believed that amla pickle improves digestion.

Liver protection: apart from benefits such as improved digestion, amla or gooseberry pickle also has hepatoprotective properties. Studies have shown that when amla extracts were administered on lab animals with chemical-induced hepatotoxicity or liver damage, the damage was reduced significantly.

Reduces ulcers: ulcers are internal wounds caused due to a failure of mucus membranes and acid interaction on tissues. Particularly, gastric ulcers are caused by a weakening of mucous membrane and hyperacidity. Regular consumption of amla or indian gooseberry pickles also help in reducing ulcers, if any.