How Does Indian Baby Food Unlock Nutrients?

If a vegetarian diet carries a bit more risk for nutritional deficiencies, how do long-time vegetarians like Indians grow healthy and smart babies? Also, a lot of the Indian diet is based on less pricey and less fancy ingredients like rice and chickpeas. It turns out the way Indians prepare baby food makes the nutrients from plant food easy-to-absorb by a human body. The key is increasing bioavailability through their cooking process.

Common infant deficiencies in India and worldwide

  • Iron: vital to brain development
  • Zinc:  involved in metabolism and DNA synthesis
  • Vitamin A: Leading cause of child blindness
  • Iodine: caused by 1) not enough intake of iodine rich food, or 2) too much cyanogenic foods (cabbage, cauliflower, radish, etc.)

Indian Baby Food Recipe 1) Chapatti/roti based recipe

Steps to make:

  1. Prepare cereals, green gram lentils, and popped chickpeas by moistening or mild toasting
  2. Produce a flour by grinding ingredients together (70% cereal, 20% green gram, 10% chickpeas)
  3. Blend flour with water to make dough
  4. Roll out dough and bake to a roti
  5. Dry and grind roti to produce weaning mix
  6. Mix with warm water or breast milk to serve to infant

Bioavailability changes:

  • Grinding loosens up food matrix to free more nutrients for absorption
  • Moistening filters out some water-soluble nutrients (thiamin, riboflavin, Vitamin C, etc.), but also fibers that inhibit nutrient absorption
  • Baking increases digestibility, reduces fibers that inhibit absorption which increases availability of vitamin B6, niacin, protein, starch, and iron, but lowers for water soluble nutrients
  • Addition of breast milk adds to nutritional value of mix

Indian Baby Food Recipe 2) Popped cereal/rice flake based recipe

Due to its relative abundance in India, popped cereals and rice flakes are commonly used in weaning recipes. As seen in the figure, weaning mixes can be made in a variety of ways.

Steps to make:

  1. Prepare Cereals by moistening, tempering, and popping (or buy pre-popped)
  2. Prepare rice flakes and green gram lentil by mild toasting
  3. Produce a flour by grinding ingredients together with popped chickpeas (20% green gram, 10% chickpeas, 70% other)
  4. Blend flour with water and cook mix
  5. Mix with breast milk to serve to infant

Bioavailability changes:

  • Addition of amchur, which has acids, increases zinc and iron bioavailability
  • Moistening filters out some water-soluble nutrients (thiamin, riboflavin, Vitamin C, etc.), but also fibers that inhibit nutrient absorption
  • Heating increases digestibility, reduces fibers that inhibit absorption, and increases the availability of certain nutrients (vitamin B6, niacin, protein, starch, and iron). The heating process decreases the availability of water soluble nutrients.
  • Grinding loosens up food matrix to free more nutrients for absorption
  • Addition of breast milk adds to nutritional value and increases digestibility as the baby is familiar with it

Indian Baby Food Recipe 3) Pumpkin, Carrot, and Spinach puree

Steps to make:

  1. Steam vegetables in equal ratios till they’re soft
  2. Add a pinch of black pepper and few drops of lime juice
  3. Blend ingredients to a smooth puree
  4. Pass puree through strainer (optional)
  5. Add breastmilk/formula to thin if needed

Bioavailability changes:

  • Addition of black pepper (piperine) and lime juice increase beta-carotene, calcium, zinc and iron availability
  • Steaming increases digestibility, reduces fibers that inhibit absorption, increase availability of certain nutrients (vitamin B6, niacin, protein, starch, and iron)
  • Blending loosens up food matrix to free more nutrients for absorption
  • Addition of breast milk adds to nutritional value of mix

References

  1. Sajilata, G., Singhal, R. S., & Kulkarni, P. R. (2002). Weaning Foods: A Review of the Indian Experience. Food and Nutrition Bulletin, 23(2), 208-226. doi:10.1177/1564826502023002
  2. https://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/Pages/vegetarian-vegan-children.aspx
  3. Merwe, J. V., Kluyts, M., Bowley, N., & Marais, D. (2007). Optimizing the introduction of complementary foods in the infants diet: a unique challenge in developing countries. Maternal & Child Nutrition, 3(4), 259-270. doi:10.1111/j.1740-8709.2007.00111.x
  4. http://www.shishuworld.com/recipes-7to9/
  5. http://www.beinghappymom.com/indian-food-chart-6-months-baby/
  6. http://www.tandfonline.com.myaccess.library.utoronto.ca/doi/full/10.1080/10408398.2013.781011