When you are looking at first fruits and vegetables to mush up for your baby or toddler, you might usually think of boiling up some root vegetables. However, raw fruits and veg that are easy to mash make food preparation quick and simple, plus they pack the best nutritional punch. So, have you thought about avocado?
The Avocado Baby
John Burningham wrote a great children's story about a baby who ate avocados and became so strong that he could lift weights and even protected the rest of his weakling family from nasty burglars. The real experience might not be quite so miraculous, but the energy and goodness in avocado does have a wonderful effect.
The fat in avocados is mononunsaturated so it is energy giving without all the dodgy effects that come with the fat in processed foods. It is also easy to digest making avocado a good simple first food.
They are a good source of vitamins A, C and E, as well as iron and potassium. This is really worth bearing in mind, as iron deficiency is quite common in a western child's diet - partly because many iron-rich foods have a strong taste not usually tolerated by kids, and partly because you need vitamin C intake to maximise the iron's effect. To have both in one fruit is super efficient!
Avocados are also rich in essential fatty acids, valuable to help keep the body's building blocks growing healthily.
Avocado has an anti-bacterial quality which makes it, like grapes, a good food for children who are feeling unwell. Plus they contain rich sources of nutrients which help maintain healthy skin, which is useful for children and adolescents with skin rashes or spots.
The Avocado Mummy
Many women shun avocados as being a high-fat fruit. However, the calories in an avocado are 'good calories'. That is, their fats have valuable energy and health-giving properties which out-weigh the calorie count, because you don't need to stoke up with other calories to keep yourself going.
Half an avocado contains as much fat as two apples, which is still a lot better than a packet of crisps. And their easy-to-digest form makes them an appealing fruit to add to salads when you're pregnant.
