Is it seasoned when cooking baby food for 6 months?

Spice up your 6-month-old baby - should or shouldn't? In every meal, seasoning is an indispensable thing, but mothers always have to struggle to know whether to use spices in the six-month-old baby's weaning menu and if seasoning should choose what kind. How much is enough to not affect the baby's taste and health?

Correct understanding of baby's taste

Many mothers are often concerned about whether to season babies for 6-month-old weaning babies without really understanding their child's taste buds to find the right answer. In fact, the number of taste buds between children under 3 years old and adults is very different. In other words, children's taste buds are many times more sensitive than adults. If babies have about 10,000 taste buds, adults only have about 5,000.

Saying so to make mothers understand that, it is impossible to take adult taste as a standard measure and convert equivalent to taste for children. The mother tasting it will taste the baby and vice versa, if she feels it, it will be very salty for the baby.

Therefore, tasting spices for babies 6 months old or babies under 2 years old need to follow certain rules about dosage of each type and what food should be used for.

Why must seasoning baby food properly?

As recommended by nutritionists, children under 1 year, especially babies 5 to 7 months old, should not taste any salt, fish sauce or spices in baby food. At this stage, the baby's taste buds are in the developing stage, so the baby cannot distinguish between salty, pale, sweet, bitter and bitter.

However, mothers often wonder if cooking porridge for 6-month-old babies is not seasoned because they worry that not adding salt to food can make children lack quality. That is because mothers do not know that meat, fish, vegetables are available in certain spices including sodium for the development of the baby's brain.

Moreover, instead of fooling the child's taste with salted fish sauce, mothers should let their children feel the natural and pure flavor from the food. Seasoning for a 6-month-old baby is also considered too early can lead to taste disorders, make children less absorb zinc, cause anorexia, even affect health and ability to function. of the secretory system.

Tell mothers about some spices that should and should not taste for 6-month-old babies

Salt is essential, but not a seasoning

From 6 months to 1 year old, baby's body only needs less than 1g of salt / day and has been fully provided in breast milk, formula as well as naturally occurring in food. Therefore, adding salt or fish sauce to your child's weaning foods is not recommended when the baby enters the first stage of weaning.

Salt-based seasoning seeds should also not appear in a child's snack menu. Only use this spice in appropriate doses when children are 1 year old or older.

Moreover, because the kidneys of young children are not yet fully developed, the active addition of salt to children's food causes this organ to overload, which can cause serious illnesses such as liver and kidney failure, edema. , high blood pressure, heart rhythm disturbances, even brain damage. Instead, mothers should supplement their natural salt intake through foods such as meat, fish, milk, and cheese.

Main noodles, seasoning powder can deceive the child's taste buds

Can MSG be considered a spice for babies at 6 months of age? The main ingredient of MSG is glutamic acid which is one of the most abundant amino acids in nature, plays an important role in metabolism and nerve activity, helping to stimulate signal transmission between neurons.

However, if mothers abuse MSG, seasoning powder to put in baby food can inhibit the child's nerves, cause convulsions, headaches, not to mention that there are many kinds of noodles on the market today. It is the fake goods, the fake goods, the poor quality goods that the mother can not distinguish, but buy mistakenly and cause harm to the child. MSG can add a rich flavor to a child's dish, but it also causes poor calcium absorption leading to osteoporosis.

You can completely replace the sweetness of MSG by making snacks that incorporate ingredients such as milk, mushrooms, meat, fish, cheese and many other vegetables. These are also foods high in glutamic acid similar to MSG.

Sugar should be added appropriately

Young children often start weaning with monosodium glutamate so they often like foods with sweet and fragrant flavors. So mom is often worried that the dish may be too bland, not delicious, so she hastily uses more spices by adding refined sugar to the dish.

Unlike the natural sugars found in foods, refined sugar is not a nutrient-dense condiment. They provide energy but lack vitamins, minerals and fiber. That is why mothers should not overdo the sugar in the snack menu, but only add to their baby's food when absolutely necessary as a way to help children get used to the taste.

In addition, giving children sugar can cause children to feel flat, loss of appetite, eat less at meals. Children who eat a lot of sugary foods will also lead to dental problems and suppress the immune system in young children. Mom can use the natural sweetness from vegetable broths, dashi broths, soups, and soups to change the taste of the baby and add flavor to the food.

Cooking oil is indispensable in children's snacks

Cooking oil is also considered a spice, but mothers fear that using cooking oil can cause children to absorb too many unhealthy fats. However, this is a major source of energy for human activities of all ages, is the necessary environment to metabolize proteins.

Therefore, the mother using the appropriate cooking oils as a spice for the 6-month-old baby means that the mother is providing extremely important micronutrients such as Omega 3,6,9; antioxidants, minerals like zinc, magnesium, and calcium for you. For each porridge, baby powder for 6 months, mothers use 1 teaspoon of walnut oil, olive oil, sunflower oil, sesame oil, Gac oil…. to add appropriate nutrients for the mother!

The secret to helping mothers prepare delicious snacks without using spices

If the mother belongs to the natural school, regardless of seasoning, there are still secrets to help her prepare delicious and attractive snacks for her baby:

Using new ingredients and transforming into many different ways of processing makes a difference in the taste and eye-catching of the food, making children change their taste and discover new delicious dishes.

With some snacks, mothers can replace salt with cheese because there is a certain salt content in cheese. More than that, nutritious cheese is very good for your baby's development

Natural plant-based spices that are found in vegetables can be used to add a juicy flavor to dishes. You can absolutely try to familiarize 6-month-old children with these spices right from the start of weaning because they are beneficial for the development of baby's sense of taste. In addition, the alternate introduction of some spices such as herbs, onions, garlic, ginger, cinnamon, and cloves in very small quantities, suitable for each weaning dish also allows children to experience a variety of smells. taste, not merely focusing on nutrition.

Epilogue

In Vietnamese meals, spices always play an important role, used to marinate and tasting to contribute to complete the flavor of the dish. There are many different types of spices and each has its own characteristics, suitable for each cooking method, but not all spices can be used for babies at least 6 months old. mile.

Therefore, instead of answering no to the question of whether to cook porridge for a 6-month-old baby with seasoning, wise mothers will know that using the right spices at the right age is the right choice for the menu. miles of children. Wish your babies always enjoy each meal!

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