Although when talking about the introduction of the first porridge we usually talk about vegetables, it would be more accurate to talk about vegetables, which is a more general term. Vegetables are a set of plants generally grown in orchards that are consumed as food.
After six months, vegetables are an essential part of the baby's diet, complementing milk.
The term vegetable includes green and tender vegetables and legumes, such as beans, green beans and peas. Vegetables are vegetables whose edible part is the green organs of the plant and that are part of our diet.
As we see, the term "vegetables" includes a great diversity of foods. Different parts of the vegetables and vegetables can be consumed, preferably the leaves (spinach), the roots (carrot), the bulbs (onion), the stems (leek), the fruits (zucchini), the tubers ( potato) or even flowers (cauliflower).
In subsequent entries we will stop at the most suitable vegetables for babies and its introduction in complementary feeding. Let's see what are the nutritional characteristics, the ideal preparation and the ages of introduction of these foods.
When to introduce the vegetables in the baby's diet
Vegetables can be introduced in the form of porridge as a complementary diet from six months of the baby. There are some vegetables more suitable than others for their introduction in the diet of the little ones. These are the most followed recommendations, which we will address carefully:
- At 6 months: tubers (potato and sweet potato or sweet potato), green seeds of legumes (peas, green beans), zucchini, leek, squash, celery, broccoli
- At 6-7 months: carrot, tomato, cauliflower, onion
- At 12 months: spinach, cabbage, beet, turnip, asparagus, chard
These ages are generally accepted, although as we saw in the supplementary feeding summary guide there may be discrepancies according to different specialists.
It is the case of tomato or onion: there are those who recommend them already after 6 months and who prefers to wait at 12. If we want to offer these foods before the year, it is best that we do it separately and observe the reaction of baby. If you accept them without problems, we can continue to include them in your diet.
Nutritional characteristics of vegetables
Vegetables provide important plant fiber for good intestinal transit and provide vitamins (usually A and C), minerals and trace elements. They have few calories (from 20 Kcal / 100 g of asparagus to 60 Kcal / 100 g of beans) and are recommended accompanied by other foods such as legumes, rice, and / or meat, fish.
Vegetables also have a low protein and fat content and lots of water. Most vegetables contain a lot of potassium and little sodium.
These foods are very healthy, because they provide many micronutrients that act as antioxidants and protect against various chronic diseases and help maintain the health of tissues such as skin and mucous membranes of the body. Therefore, vegetables are at the second fundamental level of the food pyramid.
Preparation of the vegetables
Vegetables will be offered cooked after 6 months in the form of mash, and from 8-9 months leaving some larger pieces to start chewing and try new textures differentiating the different vegetables. Salt will not be added to vegetables until 12 months. You can add some oil (better olive) cold to the porridge ready to drink.
Before boiling them, the vegetables must be washed, peeled or brushed carefully, depending on whether they are leaves, roots or tubers. By cleaning them well we eliminate substances that may be on the skin, because vegetables are sometimes irrigated with non-potable water that can contain numerous bacteria and come into contact with the skin.
Vegetable vitamins are destroyed if they are open or cut with exposure to light, air and heat. Mineral salts dissolve greatly in water when cooking vegetables. The vegetables have to be cooked until they are soft to be easily crushed.
The cooking water can be used to prepare cereals and thus take advantage of the substance, vitamins and concentrated minerals. Cooked vegetables that are not going to be consumed at the moment, should be cooled, covered and stored in the refrigerator. Then they can be reheated but for a short time because overheating increases the level of nitrites in vegetables.
Processed porridge can be stored in the refrigerator tightly covered if consumed the next day. They can also be frozen for later consumption, defrosting them in the refrigerator 24 hours before and heating them when it is offered to the baby.
Following these tips for preparing and introducing these foods in the baby's diet we will be offering you all the benefits of vegetables in infant feeding as part of healthy and balanced dishes.
