Healthy Eating Plan 1

If you plan a healthy eating for teens, then pay utmost importance to balance of food. People are crazy for calorie content of food and other statistics before they can prepare a food list that they will stick forever.

Be practical. Why? Well you may stick to a bookish “healthy diet for teens”, but your child will never. So a free style diet with a few regulations is the best compromise. Do not follow strict dieting, that is in fact not at all suitable for teens. You may retard growth and maturity in a strict diet.

If you expect a list of the vitamins and minerals for teens, then count all the nutrients discovered till date. The fact is teens need everything, every vitamins and minerals including all other nutrients.

Below is a list of nutrients they need most and demand a special mention.

Proteins: The most important nutrition a teen’s body requires. As protein is the building material of the body, they need it the most. Any shortage of this nutrient in the body, both physical and mental growth gets a serious damage.

Do not panic if red meat is not of liking. There are many foods which contain ample amount of protein. Proteins are found to some extent in nearly all foods, since life itself, both plants and animals cannot exist without them.

Both plant and animal proteins are available to us in our diet.40/50 grams of protein should be in our daily diet. Nuts and seeds, soya, and other grains including bread and pasta and legumes provide good amount of plant proteins. Animal proteins are more digestible, milk, egg, yoghurt, cheese, meat provide better value of protein to our body.

Vegetarians should depend on a lacto vegetarian food which includes milk and milk products to meet protein needs.

You can also supplement your food through protein supplements, protein shakes. That along with normal daily food meets the overall requirement of protein in the body.

Calcium: In fact this is more important than protein because protein is more or less available in all foods consumed daily. Bones and teeth require heavy amount of calcium in the body for proper growth. But apart from this common knowledge, calcium is also needed for contraction of heart muscle and other muscles of the body.

Calcium rich foods are cheese, milk, yoghurt, eggs, bread, nuts, pulses, fish with soft bones such as whitebait and tinned sardines, white beans, baked beans, brussel sprouts, sesame seeds, almonds etc.

Phosphorus: It is the main part of the brain and nerves and in its absence they are severely affected. To maintain proper nervous force in the body phosphorous level should be optimal in the body. Milk, cheese, meat, fish, poultry, eggs, whole grains, legumes, nuts are good sources of phosphorous.