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Saturday, February 20, 2010

Incorporate nonmeat sources of protein into your child's diet.

Giving your child a combination of protein sources is the optimal way to raise a healthy eater. Your children need to consume 10% to 15% of their daily calories from protein sources to ensure adequate growth and tissue repair, but the typical child's diet provides twice the amount of protein needed. Regardless if your child eats too many calories from protein, carbohydrate, or fat, extra calories are stored as fat by his body. The key to healthy eating is understanding that protein is available from sources other than meat, which, in addition to being high in protein, is often high in fat.
So what's the difference between animal-derived protein and plant-derived protein? Both are made up of the same set of twenty amino acids. Animal-derived proteins are called complete because they contain all of the needed amino acids in each bite. Plant-derived proteins are incomplete because they do not. However, by combining plant protein sources, such as rice and beans, you are providing your child with all of the needed amino acids!
As parents struggle to lower cholesterol and improve their families' cardiovascular health, they are faced with the challenge of meeting their children's protein needs while at the same time reducing saturated fat and cholesterol in their diets. Natural and convenient alternatives are readily available in the form of beans and soy protein. The American Heart Association has proclaimed that dietary soy protein can lower LDL, or so-called "bad" cholesterol. Not only are beans affordable and great sources of protein, but they also contain needed B Vitamins, iron, and calcium. Furthermore they are rich in fiber and cholesterol-free

Feed your kids healthy, well rounded diet centered on the principles of variety and moderation and obtain the benefits from both meat and nonmeat sources of proteins.

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