Making sure your toddlers are getting the Vitamin E they need!

Looking at specific vitamins and trying to include them in your toddler’s diet can be daunting. Here is a brief look at some of the details. Vitamin E…

• is a fat soluble vitamin (find out more about this here)
• is actually a family of vitamins
• prevents oxidative stress
• supports healthy skin
• provides UV Protection
• protects against some cancers and heart disease
• can be damaged by exposure to air and factory processing
• depends on vitamin C, glutathione, selenium and vitamin B3 to remain active
• is better to get in your diet than through supplements
  

The recommended daily requirement (RDA) for vitamin E in our toddlers (ages 1-3) is 6 mg/day, however it is better to watch how much they are getting over a 3-5 day period rather than stressing over each day.

Ehow tells us some great ways to help us get vitamin E into our little ones. Check out some of these equivalents…

• 1 T. wheat germ = 2 mg
• ½ c. blueberries = 1.5 mg
• 1 T. peanut butter = 1mg
• 1 sweet potato = 5 mg
• ½ c. broccoli = 1 mg
• 1 avocado = 2-4 mg
  

Here are some tips from my kitchen:

• add wheat germ to his oatmeal in the mornings
• include olives (another good source of vitamin E) in his diet as snacks and with meals (I slice them up as finger food or put them on pizza… he loves them)
• incorporate many of the above foods in our menus throughout the week

Take a look over the next few days at how much vitamin E your little ones are getting. Most likely they are already getting what they need, but rest assured that if they aren’t, it’s easy to add some in without stressing over it!

Labels: Nutrition for Toddlers

posted by ~Babychaser~ @ 9:27 PM