Apart from being a great source of healthy proteins, mussels offer fantastic health benefits for children. Some of the health benefits offered my mussels include ensuring healthy heart, boosting the formation of red blood cells, improving the bone and teeth health of your child, rich in all important Vitamin B12 and Omega 3 to help your child’s nervous system to develop, improving immunity and smoothening the gastronomical tract of your child. In the early developmental stages, your child will indeed require healthy protein sources like mussels which also help in the process of cellular formation. Mussels also are known to have anti-inflammatory properties and hence can actually help your child in fighting asthma.

Giving Mussels to Your Child:

Mussels are a type of clam with a mild and salty flavored flesh and can be cooked with or without the shell. However, if your child is below 7 years old, it is advisable that you shell the seafood first before cooking. Due to its overwhelming health benefits, mussels had been regarded as the best seafood by the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Two types of mussels are a commercially available- blue mussels and green lipped mussels. However, health-wise, the benefits are tilted more towards the more beneficial green lipped mussels. So if you’re planning to add mussels to your child’s regular diet, make sure you choose healthier one.

Health Benefits of Mussels

Rich in essential nutrients like vitamin A, B-vitamins like folate and B12, minerals like phosphorus, zinc and manganese as well as omega-3 fatty acids, this great source of protein for your child can also be compared to t-bone steaks, chicken and turkey.

Healthy Heart Growth: More often than not when you feed your child with various protein sources it brings in with it the risk of burdening the heart with excess calories. However, mussels are that category of protein sources which posses omega-3 fatty acids and also low in total and saturated fats. The protein sources which contain omega-3 fatty acids tend to have cardio-protective potencies and that means that the regular consumption of mussels will enable your child gain a healthy unclogged heart.

Improves Blood Circulation: If you feed your child with the green lipid mussel on a regular basis then it is likely that it will improve his/her blood circulation thereby ensuring proper organ function. During the early growth stages of your child’s life as he/she undergoing constant changes ensuring a regular circulation of blood is very important. Green lipid mussels certainly ensure that and that makes it must-add meal to your child’s diet.

Strengthens Bones & Teeth: The presence of phosphorus in mussels makes sure that it is good for structural strengthening of bones and teeth for your child. Again, in the early stages of development and growth, this kind of food supplements is good for your child.

Boosts Immunity: If you plan to offer your child green lipid mussels on a regular basis it will certainly boost his/her immunity as mussels has this fantastic ability to offer resistance to viral or bacterial infections. Also at the same time as mussels are known to trigger the growth of antibodies, the consumption of the same will certainly help your child to heal wounds and injuries at a much quicker rate.

Red Blood Cell Formation: Green lipid mussels are indeed an excellent source of iron and hence they trigger the growth of red blood cells for your little one. Under normal circumstances, children do not suffer from iron deficiency but at the same time additional nutrient support in the form of green lipped mussels do in fact help in further the growth rate of your child.

Prevents Chances of Asthma: The increasing level of pollution, in the air, often makes us weary about our children’s respiratory health. And there is nothing wrong with that! However, regular consumption of green lipped mussels will make sure that its anti-inflammatory properties will save your child from any sort of respiratory track or lung related disorders like asthma.

Improves Cell Functioning: The proteins found in mussels provide the desired level of structural support to your child’s cell formation. This kind of support is important since your child undergoes constant growth and he/she needs important nutrients. This includes the growth and development of the nervous system.  Also the presence of ome-3 fatty acid and zinc make sure that your child’s skin is protected from any sort of diseases like psoriasis and eczema.

Precautionary Measures

Despite the fact that mussels are healthy food sources, like any other seafood, they are also prone to bacterial contamination. For that reason while buying green lipped mussels for your little one, make sure that you purchase only the live ones because the dead ones are more susceptible to the contamination. Also for safe consumption of mussels it is advisable to soak the mussel for 20 minutes or so in water in order to get rid of the sand.