At the beginning of the article, I would like to ask you a question first:
Who has the highest nutritional value in milk, yogurt and cheese?
The answer is: "cheese"
Cheese has many stage names – cheese, cheese, cheese, cheese... It's all cheese.
Cheese is actually milk in essence, we can think of it as a concentrate of milk, 1 kg of cheese needs almost 10 kg of milk to make.
01
Why give your baby cheese?
Because cheese is definitely the king of calcium supplementation and nutrition!
Looking at the following table, like the content of protein, calcium, fat-soluble vitamins, cheese is far ahead.
Compared with milk, cheese will leave fat, casein, fat-soluble vitamins and other mineral elements such as calcium and phosphorus after separate fermentation, while some of the whey protein, lactose and water-soluble vitamins in milk will be separated with whey.
Cheese is super high in protein and calcium
So from the perspective of nutritional value, milk is after all a raw material, it will certainly be relatively comprehensive, but also because the cheese is highly concentrated, the protein and calcium concentration of cheese is higher, 40 grams of cheese = 250 ml milk = 200 ml yogurt, absolutely worthy of the title of "milk gold".
The casein in cheese is better digested
Moreover, the casein in the cheese will be decomposed to varying degrees during the fermentation process, and the decomposed casein will be easier for the baby to digest and absorb.
The lactose in cheese is less suitable for lactose intolerant babies
The separated ingredients also contain a lot of lactose, so the amount of lactose in the cheese will be very small, and even a small amount of lactose will be partially converted to lactic acid during subsequent maturation, which is very friendly to lactose intolerant babies.
If there are children in the family who do not like to drink milk or do not have enough milk, cheese is also the best choice.
02
How old can my baby eat cheese?
The American Pediatric Association mentions cheese in its recipe recommendations for babies aged 8 to 12 months. In other words, babies after 8 months of age can try cheese. However, although it is the official guide, considering that in terms of drinking milk, we are more different from others, and the sodium content in cheese is relatively high, and the burden on babies under 1 year old may be a little heavy.
I also recommend that we follow the recommendations of the Chinese residents' dietary guidelines, wait for the baby to try to eat after the age of 1, and then try to eat it after the introduction of a small amount of the baby without discomfort.
However, eating a little at a time is enough, and it is not recommended to replace breast milk or formula.
So when can your baby eat it? It is recommended that we are not in a hurry for a while, and wait for the baby to be introduced after 1 year old.
03
How can I choose "healthy" cheese?
What kind of cheese is suitable for babies? And what if you accidentally buy "fake" cheese?
"When I saw the word "child" on the package, I thought it was suitable for children, but it was not healthy."
"Tasted the fruity cheese stick and saw the flavor in the ingredients"
Be sure to polish your eyes when purchasing, although it looks like children's cheese, but when you look closely, you will often see the small print in the corner -
[Applicable people: children and adults over 36 months].
The reason is that it contains a lot of additives, and babies under 3 years old have a burden on digestion!
Therefore, parents choose cheese and remember to avoid pits, babies under 3 years old must not eat this cheese!!!
Although there are many varieties, we don't have to be too entangled, no matter what kind of cheese, in essence, we just need to learn to distinguish between natural cheese and remastered cheese.
Natural cheese is a product made of fermented curd milk and excreting whey and other moisture, mainly containing milk, rennet, fungi and so on.
Reconditioned cheese is based on natural cheese as the main raw material, and then add some other ingredients, such as sugar, flavor, thickener, preservatives, water, etc., which is equivalent to the processed products of natural cheese.
Therefore, natural cheese is relatively simple and pure nutrition, the taste is also light, more suitable for babies to eat; re-making cheese is that the taste will be better, the acceptance will be higher, and it is also the more commercially available species, you can eat less, and you must see clearly the age suitable for the baby.
Overall, the first choice to add to your baby's diet must be natural cheese, especially for babies aged 1-3 years.
So how do you know if it's natural cheese or a remastered cheese when you buy it?
Take a look at the product name logo
Most of the packaging will be clearly stated:
[Product Type: Remastered Cheese/Natural Cheese] The words, and some in English, are directly "100% NATURE CHEESE".
Two look at the ingredient list
For products that are not labeled, we can also look at the first ingredient of the ingredient list to identify.
The state stipulates that the ingredient list ingredients should be arranged according to the amount of addition from more to less, and the amount of addition in the front row is more.
Take out the cheese stick package you bought and take a look, what is the first place on the ingredient list?
(Image from the Internet)
If the first place is cow's milk, goat's milk, pasteurized milk or whatever, it is usually natural cheese.
Also, the shorter the ingredient list, the better, and the fewer ingredients you don't recognize, the better.
If the first place is written with cheese, cheese, water, and the ingredient list is more complicated, it is generally a remade cheese.
If you are re-making cheese, remember to read the logo for babies over 36 months old, 1 to 3 years old is not suitable.
Three looks at the nutrition facts list
In addition to looking at the ingredient list, we also have to learn to look at the nutrition facts list to assess whether the cheese is nutritionally qualified.
Sodium is low and calcium high
The production of cheese may use salt, salt mainly depends on the sodium content, when choosing, choose the relatively lower one!
As for the calcium content, the higher the better.
High in protein and low in fat
Protein content is also one of the important indicators to measure the nutrition of cheese, generally the higher the protein content, the better, while avoiding the intake of too much fat.
So if you can, choose high-calcium, high-protein, low-sodium, low-fat cheese for your baby as much as possible.
According to these points, compare and see, the expensive cheese you buy is not really a good cheese, right?
If you buy "real" cheese according to the above method, then feel free to let your child eat it!
However, although the cheese is good, don't be greedy
Today is Labor Day
All hard work, there is a harvest
Tribute to all the laborers,
Labor is the most glorious [love]
Happy May Day