Lean meats and proteins, fibers, fermented dairy, orange foods, cruciferous foods, bell peppers and citruses, nuts and seeds, mushrooms, pineapples, papaya and green vegetables are some of the foods that help your child in healing.
Children get difficult to handle sometimes, especially when they are out playing with their friends. Most of the time, you may find little scratches or sometimes even deep wounds on their knees and elbows when they come home. Healing in kids is relatively faster than adults, but sometimes when they hurt themselves too badly, they might require stitches or land themselves a wound that is too deep to heal in a couple of days. It is at a time like this that you might find yourself looking for other ways to speed up the healing process in your child.
7 Foods that Help your Child in Healing
We are here to help! We have compiled a list of foods that naturally aid in healing faster:
Lean meats and proteins
Lean meats are excellent sources of collagen which knit the injured tissues back together. These are therefore an excellent diet choice when you want your child to recover from a particularly nasty wound. Lean proteins and meats aid in faster healing of the wound because the body’s demand for protein is higher when it is trying to recover from a wound and they provide exactly that to the body.
Sources of lean proteins are eggs, legumes, turkey, fish, beans, soy and almonds. Incorporate these into your child’s food for a faster recovery.
Fibers
Sometimes, some wounds can be too deep. Apart from causing pain, itching and discomfort in the affected area can cause other issues too, such as fever or improper digestion. As a result, some of the body’s resources are diverted to looking after these problems, thus slowing down the healing process of the wound. Therefore, consumption of fiber can aid in digestion and repair the way the gut works. This leaves the body free to continue its repair of the wound, effectively speeding up its healing process.
Rich sources of fiber include apples, bran, wheat, okra, carrots, kiwis, cabbage, soybeans, strawberries, prunes, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, and chickpeas.
Fermented dairy
Antibiotics and other pain meds kill the bacteria in the wound but end up killing the good bacteria living inside the body as well. This is precisely the reason why taking too many antibiotics tend to weaken you up. Eating fermented dairy helps because these products contain lots of “good bacteria” which go into the body and help replenish the natural balance of microbes living inside. Repopulate your child’s gut with fermented dairy products like kefir and yogurt. Kefir is ideal because a small serving provides upwards of 8 to 12 species with over 10 billion live and active cultures. Yogurt provides fewer species and a lower bacterial count. Also, these foods are absolutely delicious so you should not have trouble getting your child to eat these (read: cheese!).
Orange foods
Sweet potatoes are a superb source of beta-carotene or pro-vitamin a which the body converts into vitamin a as needed. Vitamin A is needed for the repair and maintenance of soft tissue, mucus membranes, and skin so significantly boosting your child’s intake will noticeably speed up the healing process. These foods have beta-carotene, provide a lot of fiber and are extremely nutritious.
Other sources are butternut squash, pumpkins, oranges, peaches, pears, carrots and dark green leafy vegetables.
Cruciferous foods
Okay, we have a feeling that this might not go down so well with your kids. Reason? This category consists of Brussels sprouts and cauliflower. But these vegetables are very important to aid quick healing. This is because they are extremely beneficial to the immune system of the body. These vegetables contain indoles and phytonutrients boost immune health. Having a robust immune system ensures that your child’s body wards off infection.
If your child isn’t very keen on the flavor, try roasting cauliflower and brussels sprouts, and broccoli too, that will taste amazing. Also if you really want to take it to the next level, you can substitute potato mash with cauliflower mash.
Bell peppers and citruses
Bell peppers and citrus fruits have one thing in common: vitamin c. Vitamin c is an extremely beneficial, water-soluble nutrient which helps the functioning of collagen. High levels of vitamin C in the body are linked with quick healing, even from surgeries. If your child has had to get some stitches, bell peppers are a must have in his or her diet. Other sources of vitamin c include kale, lime, lemon, grapefruit, oranges, guava and broccoli.
Nuts and seeds
Pumpkin, squash and sesame seeds are an excellent source of zinc. Zinc is necessary for proper immune system function. The body requires zinc to develop and activate cells that are involved in immunity. Zinc is also important to wound healing as this mineral is necessary for protein synthesis and cell growth. oysters have the highest concentration of zinc and red meats especially beef, lamb and liver have some of the highest concentrations of zinc in food. Try to incorporate these foods into your child’s diet to help him or her recover faster from an injury or a wound.
Mushrooms
Mushrooms support the immune system. They promote better functioning of the gamma delta-t cells and reduce inflammatory activity in the body. Additionally, they are absolutely delicious to eat, so you can add these to your child’s diet to help him or her recover faster. Shitake mushrooms and reishi mushrooms are the best for this purpose. Roasted and grilled mushrooms are really great to eat, or you could prepare a mushroom soup as well, the dish is up to you.
Deeply coloured fruits and vegetables
These foods are extremely high in their anti-oxidant count, which helps to cut through and balance the oxidative overload your child’s body may be facing from any medication that he or she may be on.
Sources include bell peppers, apples, apricots, peaches, tomatoes, fresh berries, avocadoes, purple cabbages, aubergines, plums, chilies, leeks and asparagus.
Pineapple and papaya
Pineapple and papaya contain protease enzymes that the body uses to break down and digest proteins. As it turns out, these enzymes (bromelain and papain) also help reduce swelling and inflammation. Adding these fruits to your child’s diet will make it easy for his body to perform its digestive functions and increase better nutrient absorption.
Green vegetables
Green vegetables are extremely nutritious and provide the body with the vitamins and minerals that it needs in order to run properly. Nutrients from these can be used in the repair and healing of wounds. The real struggle here would be to get your child to agree to eat his green veggies!
Probitics
Probiotics help in gut function and increase the number of “good” bacteria in the gut. They also protect the body by warding off diseases and infections that might manifest as a result of wounds. Therefore, try to include probiotics rich food in your kid’s diet, such as Greek yogurt, kefir, gherkins, etc. These are some foods you can incorporate into your child’s diet in order to help him or her make a complete recovery.
References
https://www.healthline.com/health/foods-that-help-you-heal
10 Power Foods for Healing Wounds
