How to Feed Your Child Enough Vitamin B
You know you needed folate before and during pregnancy to help prevent birth defects. Now that you have a child, this B vitamin is important in his diet too. Folate is linked to the prevention of colon cancer, depression and heart disease. Use these tips to make sure your child gets plenty of folate.
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Things You'll Need
- Dried Beans
- Fortified Grains Products
- Orange Juice
- Romaine Lettuce
- Spinach And Other Leafy Greens
Instructions
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1
Go for grains. Since 1998, all fortified grain products, like bread, pasta and cornmeal, have had folate added to them.
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2
Sprinkle berries onto morning cereal. One cup of raspberries or strawberries has 30mcg of folate.
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3
Drink orange juice not just for the vitamin C, but for the folate. Each cup has 109mcg.
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4
Spread hummus on crackers or dip veggies into it. It's made with garbanzo beans, which have 160mcg folate per cup.
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5
Indulge in another peanut butter sandwich. Two tablespoons of chunky peanut butter has 30mcg folate.
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6
Chomp on lettuce. Each cup of romaine lettuce has 98mcg. Don't forget that perennial kids' favorite - ranch dressing.
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Bake those beans. Or toss them into soups and salads. Kidney beans, black beans, lentils and other cooked beans average 175mcg folate per cup.
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Follow Popeye's lead. One-half cup of cooked spinach has 125mcg.
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Tips & Warnings
The new Dietary Reference Intakes (DRI) for folate, in micrograms (mcg), are: infants 0 to 6 months, 65mcg; infants 6 to 12 months, 80mcg; children 1 to 3 years, 150mcg; children 4 to 8 years, 200mcg; children 9 to 13 years, 300mcg.
The new DRIs have more than doubled from the old Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDA). That's because scientists better understand the importance of folate.
Folate is found in lots of vegetables, especially leafy greens and legumes (beans).
