Meal time can be a dreaded affair for a lot of parents, especially if you are someone who has to deal with extremely picky toddlers. A lot of kids refuse to eat certain vegetables or even drink milk, often failing to even finish what’s on their plate. As a result they end up falling behind in height or weight metrics due to a significant nutritional imbalance. In such cases, it is often a good idea to start substituting your toddler’s nutritional intake with kids’ protein.
A significant portion of the Indian population tends to follow specific diets such as vegetarianism and veganism for several reasons. In such cases, it is often difficult for them to consume the recommended daily allowance for several essential micronutrients such as Vitamin D, Vitamin A, phosphorus, and important food groups such as carbohydrates, fats, and proteins.
With nearly 400 million people following these diets, it was observed that seven out of ten children under the age of six were suffering from severe health complications such as osteoporosis and anemia. Consuming nutritional supplements such as protein powder for children can help prevent such conditions.
Let us understand the kind of benefits that consuming kids protein can have for toddlers.
Benefits Of Consuming Protein Powder
The protein requirements of growing children differ according to the height, weight, and age of the individual consuming them. A good rule of thumb to determine how much kids protein your child needs would be to substitute up to one gram of protein per pound of your toddler’s body weight.
Including a healthy and sustainable source of protein in your child’s daily food intake can have several important health benefits, such as
Boosts Muscle Mass and Strength
Protein is one of the essential building blocks for your toddler’s body. Consuming the right amount of kids protein can help your child build a healthy muscle mass while promoting growth and development. Additional protein intake can be beneficial for your child especially if they are physically active and engage in sports by boosting their body’s energy levels.
Helps The Body Repair Itself
Most children tend to play around a lot and wear themselves out. In this process they often end up injuring themselves. Ensuring that your child gets enough kids protein in such cases can be beneficial to repairing their body, especially after injuries. Being the primary component of several tissues and organs, protein helps the body repair them by launching white blood cells. One of the primary amino acids – glutamine, which is primarily acquired through protein intake is essential for stimulating collagen synthesis, which boosts the rate of healing and skin reformation. Without enough protein, your child’s body will fail to launch itself into this mode, causing ineffective healing.
Apart from this, protein also helps fight infections caused by pathogens, balancing bodily fluids, and transporting oxygen to different parts of the body.
Reduces Unhealthy Cravings
Toddlers often have the unhealthy habit of snacking at odd times. This can lead to them consuming a lot of junk food and getting sick. A primary advantage of consuming kids protein is that it helps in satiating these hunger pangs by keeping your child’s hunger hormones and blood sugar levels in check, making them feel full all the way until dinner. In case your toddler does end up feeling hungry, swap out the sugary, carb filled treats that they usually for and instead opt for snacks that are healthy and rich in protein, such as mixed nuts or dried fruit.
Not only is this helpful for preventing illness and unhealthy cravings, it is also beneficial in protecting your child from obesity, which can lead to several health complications in the long run.
Good Source of Amino Acids
Another important component of the human body are amino acids. They are vital to your child’s nutrition and cannot be naturally produced by their bodies. This is why you have to ensure that your toddler’s nutrition contains several good sources of amino acids in order to carry out essential bodily functions such as aiding muscle growth and development, boosting the production of neurotransmitters, and regulating intestinal health by promoting the growth of good microbacteria.
Kids protein is needed to form nine essential amino acids. Individual acids such as arginine and lysine are also responsible for the healthy release of growth hormone in developing children, and have been observed to be responsible for a lower fat mass index in pre-pubertal girls.
Protein Improves the Immune System
Protein powder for children has a positive impact on both innate and adaptive immunity of the human body, especially among kids. Growing children are often prone to several illnesses such as the cold and flu which can have a severe toll on their health. Supplementing your toddler’s diet with kids’ protein ensures that their immune systems function properly by boosting the production of pathogen-fighting white blood cells which prevents them from falling sick. Proteins also help in boosting cell formation and the synthesis of DNA in growing children.
Boosts Metabolic Activity
Protein plays a primary role in boosting the metabolic activity of growing children. Consuming kids’ protein can help your toddler’s body absorb essential nutrients such as fats and carbs from their nutritional intake and convert them into units of energy at a faster rate. Protein intake is especially beneficial to children who engage in a lot of physical activity as it not only boosts their energy levels via metabolism but also controls their body fat content.
With so many kinds of supplements and health aids in the market these days, it is important for you to choose the right type of protein powder for children as excess protein consumption can have severe health complications in the long run such as unhealthy weight gain, nausea, and an increased risk of developing kidney stones. Always make sure to consult your child’s medical health practitioner before supplementing their diet with nutritional supplements of any kind.