When the young members of your family ask “what’s for dinner?”, they’ve already got a few things on their wish list.
And it probably won’t be grilled fish, and a pile of steamed veggies, like these!
Instead, they’ll most likely be thinking of 
with something like this 
washed down with 
These choices taste nice, so you can understand why children want them. And they’re quick to prepare, which is a real boon for Moms who work outside the home all day.
But the convenient choices don’t have enough of the vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and roughage from mixed vegetables and fruits, as well as lipids and sterols from whole grains, that more or less every health organisation on the planet recommends.
Population surveys, and scientific studies, suggest 1 in 3 children’s diets are often deficient in:
* vitamin A
* niacin
* folic acid
* vitamin B6
* vitamin C
* vitamin E
* carotenoids
* flavonoids
* fibre
* calcium
* iron
* magnesium
* zinc
Nowadays, nutritional gaps are the rule, rather than the exception. And these nutrient deficiencies hamper your children’s ability to meet the enormous demands of physical activity, growth, and cognitive development.
The nutritional deficits can also weaken their immune systems, leaving youngsters vulnerable to a variety of health challenges.
Just look around you, at the enormous number of chemicals children are exposed to, in and outside the home. Tobacco smoke, aerosol sprays, paint fumes, pesticides, preservatives, and vehicle exhaust gases are just a few of the thousands of chemicals in the air all of us breathe, in the food we eat, and in the water we drink.
Children’s delicate lungs and immune systems are exposed daily to free radicals generated by all these pollutants.
And as we all know, children can’t sit still for long. They’re always on the go, burning energetic calories, which contributes to the production of even more free radicals.
Antioxidants go a long way towards nullifying the detrimental effects of all those free radicals. Nutrients like vitamin C, vitamin E, and the mineral selenium; the special protectors – flavonoids, found in the watery parts of colourful fruits and vegetables – and carotenoids, their fat-soluble counterparts. All these nutrient groups work together, keeping our immune systems strong, and protecting us from disease.
The snag with a sugary cereal for breakfast, and sausage and chips for lunch, is that there aren’t any colourful vegetables or fruits on the plate. And if colourful plants aren’t being eaten, there’s an unhealthy lack of protective nutrients.
If you’re going to encourage your children to eat plant foods, you might as well max the benefit and encourage them to eat the fruits and vegetables packed with the most antioxidants from this list.
When can children start supplements?
Of course, it’s never too early to assure your children receive the building blocks they need to achieve their physical, mental and emotional best. Good nutrition during childhood helps lay the protective groundwork for their well-being now, and way into their future lives.
Which supplements are best?
For your children to gain maximum benefit from your investment in supplements, the supplements should…
- provide the nutrients found in real, human food. For example, carotenoids that protect the fatty parts of cells, are found in tomatoes, spinach, apricots, and strawberries, as well as many other fruits and vegetables. They’re also found in marigold flowers, and some tree barks. Which carotenoid sources do you think give your children the most benefit?
- be made from carefully-controlled, pesticide-free fruits and vegetables
- be preservative free
- be colourant free
- be flavourant free
- have no added sucrose
- be guaranteed to contain exactly what is written on the label
- be guaranteed to contain nothing that’s not on the label
GNLD Vita Squares, and GNLD Vita Guard (coming soon, in the next post) fulfill all these criteria.
You can trust GNLD to benefit your children.
