Some of the health benefits of marrow veggie for your baby include improving eye health, overcoming flu, curing very high fever, boosts immune system, treats asthma, and also has the power to help prevent some diseases, like, certain types of cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases. Marrow veggie also helps your baby’s kidneys to function better. It also provides a boost to your child’s energy level and helps fight against anemia and weakness.
When Can I introduce Marrow in my child’s diet?
Marrow, also called the cucurbita, is a type gourd that is cultivated and widely used around the world. It looks like a zucchini squash, but has a slightly thicker skin than that of zucchini and thus stores for a longer period of time. It is very tender, has soft flesh and tastes sweet and nutty.
You can safely introduce marrow into your child’s diet when he or she is 6-8 months old and you have introduced solids. At this stage babies can be fed marrow veggie in mashes and purees along with other vegetables, liver, whole yogurt, bone broth, and raw mashed fruits. For older children you can steam, bake, boil, fry, or roast marrow and include in his or her meals. Substitute carrots with freshly grated and drained marrow and bake a cake for a delicious alternative for your child. You can store the veggie for longer periods by freezing small slices or cubes which can be later on steamed and added to soups, stews or roasted.
Health Benefits of Marrow for your Child
Your child’s body needs veggies and other foods to help in the process of proper growth and development after the first 5-6 months after birth. Infants can subsists with only breast milk and soy formula for the first half year of life. From 6-8 months you need to start introducing vegetables, fruits, breads, and protein rich foods. Among vegetables marrow is one that is filled with rich benefits for your child. Let us look at a few of them.
Rich in nutrients: Marrow is a vegetable that is rich in vitamin C, vitamin A, iron, calcium, antioxidants, and beta carotene. Vitamin C helps in removing the free radicals from your child’s system and acting as an antioxidant. It also helps in creating collagen that makes up your baby’s cells, muscles, and blood vessels. Marrow veggie is therefore an excellent promoter of your child’s cellular growth.
Aids in digestion: Like all other species of gourd, marrow is loaded with dietary fiber. The high amount of dietary fiber helps in facilitating your baby’s digestion and helps in the ease of movement of food through his or her digestive tract. This in turn helps reduce symptoms of gas and constipation and also helps soften hardened and dry stool. Marrow vegetable, thus, has definite gastrointestinal benefits for your child.
Promotes Bone Health in your child: Marrow vegetable has abundant supply of vitamin C and calcium both of which are known to promote bone health. Calcium is the mineral that helps to build strong and healthy bones in your baby’s body and vitamin C helps absorb calcium. These minerals also help increase the bone density. Regular inclusion of marrow vegetable in your child’s diet will definitely help protect your babies from possible bone diseases at later stages of life.
Strong Kidney: Marrow vegetable helps in the proper functioning of the kidneys in your child. It also helps in the prevention of formation of kidney stones in your child. Inclusion of this vegetable in your child’s daily diet can effectively help in the proper functioning of his or her kidneys and also decreases those elements that may help to grow stones in the kidney.
Helps fight anemia: Iron is found in abundance in marrow vegetable. This mineral helps to protect your baby from the possibility of anemia and helps to reduce anemia. If your child has anemic tendencies and suffers from fatigue, weakness, and any other complications related to anemia then inclusion of this vegetable in his or her daily diet is a good way to reverse the effects.
Healthy Heart: The dietary fiber present in the marrow vegetable is very good for building a strong heart in your baby. It also helps eliminate bad cholesterol from your child’s body. Vitamin C present in marrow also helps in the creation of collagen which in turn helps to make your baby’s heart healthy.
Rich in Protein: Along with being a rich source of minerals like iron and calcium, marrow vegetable is also a fantastic source of vegetable protein. It is low in calorie and high in protein. It helps in providing energy to your child without adding calories. It will fulfill your baby’s protein needs and also give him or her the energy that they need.
Helps fight childhood obesity: Marrow veggie is loaded with dietary fiber that helps keep your baby feeling fuller for longer. This eliminates or decreases his or her wish to snack between meals and helps reduce eating habits. By keeping your child feeling full marrow assists in fighting childhood obesity which has become a common problem in today’s children. Including this fiber rich vegetable will discourage unhealthy snacking habits and help in reducing weight.
Any precautions I should be aware of before giving marrow to my child?
Even though marrow can be stored for up to a week, the vitamin content will degrade the longer you keep it. Vitamin C content of the vegetable is particularly susceptible to heat, light, and air exposure. For the best result and maintain its nutrient content cut the vegetable right before cooking.
Marrow vegetable is also known to contain cucurbitacins which are chemically classified as steroids. These give a bitter taste to the human palette. These toxins, if present, is not destroyed by cooking and can lead to gastrointestinal infection in your baby. It is best to taste the vegetable yourself before feeding to infants who do not have the ability to express about the bitter taste of the vegetable.
