Carb loading toddler page 2

[Rueben]

I agree with kids and phases. Kids are also growing at a very rapid rate and so their bodies can put the carbs to excellent use, even if they aren't running a marathon. Watching my 2.5yo though, I think he might come close to running the equivalent of a marathon for his little body every day. He doesn't stop moving while awake! We make sure to offer plenty of fruits and high carb veggies. We provide small portions of each item offered at lunch/dinner and allow seconds/thirds on whatever they choose.

Maybe it's got something to do with the opiate effect of white flour. Can't remember where I read it but I really think it has an effect and why I want more and more if I just have a few bites ( so I just don't)

[jakey]

you're not planning to deny your growing child carbohydrate... right?

[Zach]

you're not planning to deny your growing child carbohydrate... right?

I should hope not. This is why misinformation can be so dangerous. Technically speaking a 17 month old ahould still be having breast milk as their main source of calories. Breast milk is about half sugar, obviosly children need sugar to grow.

Using primal ideas to serve better food to your families is one thing but taking everything as a form of gospal and forcing it on children who cant decide for themselves is another. Paleo is just a theory. There is no doubt that processed food is not as healthy as whole food but there is quite a bit of theory in how humans are supposed to eat, how much fat, carbs, etc. what an overweight sick adult eats to get healthy is not what a healthy growing child should eat.

[The Scientist]

I should hope not. This is why misinformation can be so dangerous. Technically speaking a 17 month old ahould still be having breast milk as their main source of calories. Breast milk is about half sugar, obviosly children need sugar to grow.

Of course you are correct that children don't need to be on a low carb diet, but just be careful with the sugar reference. The lactose (glucose + galactose) in milk is entirely different than the sucrose (glucose + fructose) that most people think of when you say sugar. Children clearly don't require fructose to do anything, and there is very conclusive evidence showing that too much of it can lead to serious problems.

[Dirlot]

I understand children have an instinctive desire for sweet to ensure they latch on to take breast milk. It is also instinctive to avoid bitter as most toxins are bitter. Once past these early stages the tastes will develop to enjoy other healthy foods as they are introduced.

[LauraSB]

Kids are also growing at a very rapid rate and so their bodies can put the carbs to excellent use, even if they aren't running a marathon. Watching my 2.5yo though, I think he might come close to running the equivalent of a marathon for his little body every day. He doesn't stop moving while awake!

Absolutely! Imagine that everything in your world was 2-3x bigger than it is now and you still had to get around in it at your current size. I'm amazed that toddlers don't eat and sleep more than they do.

[Zach]

Of course you are correct that children don't need to be on a low carb diet, but just be careful with the sugar reference. The lactose (glucose + galactose) in milk is entirely different than the sucrose (glucose + fructose) that most people think of when you say sugar. Children clearly don't require fructose to do anything, and there is very conclusive evidence showing that too much of it can lead to serious problems.

Nateal fructose from fruits and some veg is perfectly healthy and has some positive effects that glucose does not. I would never limit childrens consumption of ripe fruit or beets, carrots, etc. even honey and maple syrup have health properties.

[The Scientist]

Nateal fructose from fruits and some veg is perfectly healthy and has some positive effects that glucose does not. I would never limit childrens consumption of ripe fruit or beets, carrots, etc. even honey and maple syrup have health properties.

Of course you would limit it at some point. There are plenty of children that would sit down and eat a giant bowl of pineapple, peaches, etc... for a whole meal if you let them. Aside from the terrible diarrhea, that is just too much fructose for the liver to deal with in a healthy way. A few hundred grams of fruit a day is not a big deal, but there should be a limit. The fruit we eat today has several times the sugar content compared to wild fruits before humans selected them for sweeter taste.

Also, what health benefits are you talking about? I would not be surprised if there was some small benefit to eating small amounts of fructose (similar to the benefits of moderate ethanol consumption), but I just haven't seen the data.

[Dr. Bork Bork]

I wouldn't restrict carbs in a little person. My pediatrician gives the best advice on diet: you control the quality, they (the child) controls the quantity. Some days my 4yo is a vegetarian/fruit-a-tarian, others she's really well rounded. Try not to sweat it.

[zoebird]

We don't restrict our son at all. He eats like a grown man (as in that number of calories per day). I think he gives his dad a run for his money. And always has. He's a good eater.

And lean and muscular and tall and active. He's currently on 3 eggs in butter with frozen berries, raw yogurt and cod liver oil, with chopped raw veg for breakfast; lunch is pumpkin pancakes (savory) with cheese and venison sliders with an apple and cut veggies; for snacks he has whatever is around such as hard boiled eggs, left over meats, veggies, or fruit while at kindy he'll have GF buns with butter or rice balls; for dinner he has whatever we are having which is usually steamed veg, meat, and then we'll make him sweet potato or regular potato some days as well (when he asks for them). And he finishes off with a dessert of frozen berries and yogurt with flax oil and chopped brazil nuts.

It's definitely more than I eat.