Convincing your teenage child to eat nutritious food is probably one of the toughest things out there. You are constantly left worrying if they have eaten enough, if they are getting the right nutrition. How do you plan out a meal chart that your teen will actually enjoy and at the same time, remain healthy?

If you are facing the same issues, then this blog is just for you. Read on to know about the nutritional needs for teenagers.

1. Protein

Protein is vital for your growing teenager. It helps build, repair and maintain tissues in their body. It also helps the body grow and maintain muscle strength. Your teen requires around 45-60 gm of protein daily. Preparing non-vegetarian meals like fish and chicken can easily fulfil that requirement. Same for vegetarian meals if you include a lot of pulses, beans, soya, or tofu.

2. Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates are crucial for energy for your teen. Simple carbohydrates are naturally available in fruits, vegetables, milk, and milk products. Complex carbohydrates are also good for fiber requirements and provide energy. Some other good sources of carbohydrates also include whole grain food items, legumes, starchy vegetables, and cereals.

3. Iron

If your teen doesn’t consume enough iron, they might encounter fatigue and even anemia. Iron is responsible for oxygen supply to muscles, proper brain functioning and developing immune system for fighting diseases. Foods like green leafy vegetables, whole grain, meat, nuts, are all enriched with iron and essential for your teens.

4. Vitamins And Minerals

Did you know that vitamins and minerals increase your teen’s immunity and protect them from various health conditions like anemia, night blindness, and even weakness? Some of the best sources of vitamins and minerals are milk, yogurt, cheese, carrots, sweet potatoes, papaya, and kiwi. You could also add in nuts, green leafy vegetables, whole grains, avocados, and bananas to their diet.

5. Calcium

Deficiency of calcium as a teenager can lead to weak bones at later stages of life. You should ensure that your teenager gets at least 1200 mg of calcium from the food they eat every day. Don’t forget to add dairy products, cereals, and leafy vegetables in their daily diet.

We have all, at least once in our lives, have tried detoxifying our bodies after a particularly heavy food binge. Apart from the way greasy, fried, junk food wreaks havoc on our waist, the other very important system that it disrupts is our second brain - the digestive system.

With the variety of food products that damage or impair the optimal functioning of our digestive systems these days, it may seem impossible to get it back in balance. But it’s still very important to do so. Restoring the full health of your gastrointestinal system can have major positive effects on your entire body, from mood, to memory, and more. Healing your gut allows the body to build a stronger immune system and produce the right kind of bacteria that helps you feel good.

The health of your gut is usually determined by the levels and types of bacteria in your digestive tract. An imbalance between beneficial and harmful bacteria results in gut troubles.

This imbalance could be the result of too many bad ‘bugs’, as your grandparents probably told you, including bacteria, yeast, and sometimes parasites, and not enough good ones. This imbalance can cause damage to the lining of your intestines, making them permeable, and allowing food proteins to enter into the bloodstream. This then activates your immune system, causing inflammation, food sensitivities, and many other symptoms in the digestive tract and the rest of your body.