Take a look at your child. What do you see? Underneath the sugar and spice cute-as-can-be exterior is an essential structure that enables your child to stand, walk, support herself, grow, breathe, circulate blood, and digest food. That structure is made of protein, one of three major classes of nutrients that provide calories to the body (the other two are carbohydrates and fats). Proteins are part of every cell in your body—they’re in your muscles, your bones, your blood, your organs, your skin, and your hair; they’re in your antibodies, enzymes, and hormones. They are used to build, repair, and replace every tissue in your body.
Proteins differ from carbohydrates and fats in one very important way: You don’t have to spend time worrying about proteins that are bad for you. There are no unhealthy proteins. When we warn against eating too much red meat, for instance, it’s not the protein portion we’re concerned about. It’s the carbohydrates (remember that most of the beef produced today is full of corn) and the fat (saturated), which is why we recommend choosing lean organic meat. You can’t really eat too much protein.
Why Do Your Kids Need Protein?
Proteins are fundamental components of all living cells. That pretty much says it all. Every part and system of our body needs proteins to function. Besides building, repairing, and replacing tissue, protein helps to stabilize blood sugar, enabling us to burn more sugar between meals. It also keeps us full longer (and more likely to stay away from the munchies).
Children who don’t get enough protein do not grow and develop as they should. Protein helps the body to produce a number of important chemicals use to create antibodies, enzymes, and hormones. Your body needs protein to regenerate hair and nails. All of the body’s responses require that your body makes protein, whether it’s protein to rebuild tissue, to heal wounds, or to fight infection.
Variety Is the Source of Life
Not too long ago, when nutritionists advised that complementary proteins needed to be eaten together, they meant together at the same meal. Current wisdom, however, has revised that theory. The good news is that you don’t have to provide your child with all nine essentials acids at every meal. As long as he eats a variety of proteins throughout the day, the amino acids will combine to give him what he needs. So if you want to serve him oatmeal at breakfast and black eyed peas with dinner, feel free. You’ve got your family covered as far as proteins are concerned.
Here are some sample combinations that form a complete protein:
- Legumes (edible seeds or pods such as beans, lentils, and peas) with grains
- Legumes with Nuts
- Legumes with Seeds
- Grains with Dairy
- Nuts/Seeds with Dairy
- Legumes with Dairy
- Dairy with Nuts/Seeds and Legumes
Choosing Healthy Proteins
Parents are often worried because they think their children are not getting enough protein. That’s because they usually equate protein with chicken and beef. But many foods besides poultry and red meat are high in protein, which means that your kids are likely getting much more protein in their diet than you think. Proteins are in abundance around us. They are found in the following foods:
- Meat (beef, pork, venison, and other game animals)
- Poultry
- Fish
- Legumes
- Eggs
- Nuts and seeds
- Milk, yogurt, and cheese
- Grains
We advocate for more animal protein for children, such as from fish, yogurt, eggs, lean cuts of meat, organic chicken, and organic turkey. Making things a little more complicated, protein requirements also depend on the ‘quality’ of protein your child eats and how easily digestible it is.
The best foods to eat for protein are not necessarily those that are highest in grams of protein, but those that are highest in quality. In general, animal proteins are considered highly digestible and higher quality than plant sources of protein, in part because plant sources also have a lot more fiber, which is indigestible. It’s not that plant protein is not as good, per se, it’s just that you’d have to eat so much of it. You’d have to consume humongous amounts of kale or broccoli, for instance, to get the same amount of protein as you’d find in a small serving of steak. You don’t have to worry about this though, as long as you vary the protein foods your child eats.
Here are some tips about choosing quality proteins:
- Choose the leanest cuts of meat you can find. Look for the words “loin” or “round” in the name. The seven leanest cuts are: eye round, top round, round tip, top sirloin, bottom round, top loin, and tenderloin. If you’re buying ground beef, look for ground sirloin or ground round, and choose packages labeled lean or extra lean. Of course, these cuts of meat, especially if you’re buying organic, are the most expensive. So buy the best cut of meat you can afford.
Packaged meat will also contain a grade on the label. The most common grades are prime, choice, and select. The highest grade is prime, which means that the meat has the most marbling, or streaks of fat, and is therefore very tender. Select has the least amount of marbling and is consequently less tender. A good way to tenderize a lean cut of meat is to marinate it for at least 6 hours in a blend of an acidic ingredient such as vinegar, wine, or citrus juice with a little bit of olive oil, herbs, and spices. - Chicken and turkey are always good choices. Cutting off the excess fat and removing the skin are the healthiest ways to go. But don’t forget that there are many ways to serve poultry. You can get lean ground chicken and ground turkey for healthy alternative-style burgers, meat loaf, or meat sauce. Chicken and turkey can also be used in chili, tacos, and most other dishes that are traditionally made with ground beef.
- Fish is a naturally lean source of protein. Seafood is especially good because of the relationship between omega-3 fatty acids that are found in fish and seafood and the development of children’s brains and immune systems. However, children don’t usually gobble down a salmon fillet at first taste; they often have to be coaxed into eating fish at all. The easiest way to help them learn to enjoy fish is for them to watch you enjoying it, too. It’s best to start your kids on a mild tasting fish first. Although fish like salmon have the highest omega 3 fatty acids, they also have the strongest flavor. Start eating white fish like grouper or Vietnamese basa fillets and gradually work your way up to salmon.
There are some caveats about feeding fish to children, however. The American College of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology puts fish on its list of most common food allergens, and recommends that you introduce fish only after your child’s first birthday, when his immune and digestive systems are more developed. And there’s always the question of mercury overload (see page XX), which is why the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommends that you avoid feeding your child large predatory fish, including shark, swordfish, king mackerel, and tilefish, which contain the highest levels of mercury. You should also stick to light tuna, and limit your child’s intake to about 1 ounce of tuna per week for kids weighing up to 20 pounds, and about 3 ounces (half a can of tuna) for kids weighing between 20 and 60 pounds. The American Academy of Pediatrics also warns that children shouldn’t eat raw or undercooked fish, which may contain bacteria and viruses that can be tolerated by healthy adults but can make young children seriously ill. - Eggs are an almost perfect food. They are rich in nutrients, both in amino acids as well as key vitamins and minerals. Egg whites are almost pure protein. Your kids can eat as many egg whites per week as they like, but because egg yolks contain cholesterol, the standard recommendation is to limit whole eggs to three per week. Also remember that eggs should always be cooked thoroughly. Raw eggs are breeding places for salmonella. Federal researchers estimated that more than 130,000 people are sickened every year and 30 die as a result of contaminated eggs.
- Lentils are a particularly good choice because 1 cup has 17 grams of protein with only .75 grams of fat. A two-ounce extra lean sirloin steak has the same amount of protein but six times the fat. Some other healthy beans include black beans, chick peas, kidney beans, garbanzo beans, and legumes, to name a few. It’s best to soak dried beans overnight before preparing them in any dish because beans can cause your kids to have digestive problems. For children 12 years and older, you can also try products like Beano, a natural food enzyme dietary supplement that can help prevent gas before it starts.
- Quinoa (kee-nwa), a South American grain, is one of the few complete plant proteins. Although it is usually categorized as a grain, technically it is a seed that is rich in essential fats, vitamins, and minerals and an excellent source of calcium, iron, and vitamins B and E.
You cook quinoa much as you cook rice: Bring two cups of water to a boil with one cup of quinoa; cover at a low simmer and cook for 14–18 minutes or until the germ separates from the seed. The cooked germ looks like a tiny curl and should have a slight bite to it (like al dente pasta). Quinoa has a slightly nutty flavor and can be a great breakfast treat for you and your kids, especially when you add some fresh berries, a small amount of rice or almond milk, and sweeten with honey. Delicious.
The whole idea is to eat as much of a variety of proteins as possible. If you eat only one protein source, you limit the number of amino acids you will consume. If you were to feed your child three meals a day made up entirely of convenient processed fast foods, they might get the full range of calories they should have for the day, but you would not be providing them with the essential proteins and other nutrients they require for healthy growth and development. If you want to get the most effective performance out of your child, she needs to be exposed to a complete pool of amino acids on a regular basis. Every organ and organ system, every hormone, every brain, muscle, and bone cell pivots on the introduction and rotation of all the different amino acids that are found in proteins.
