I know a lot about nutrition, but I’m not a nutritionist. I also know a lot about health and wellness, but I’m not a doctor. But you know what I am? A responsible mom who believes in real food. Oh, and a nurse.
And yet somehow I forgot all of that at Valley’s four year old well child visit last month.
What’s with the self doubt?? I think it mainly has to do with the fact that people (myself included) see MDs as figures of authority. That’s an appropriate view most of the time, but doctors don’t always know all that much about nutrition. Some might, due to personal interest, but it’s definitely not a major part of their training. And so when V’s pediatrician drilled me a bit after I said she doesn’t consume cow’s milk on a regular basis, I was caught off guard…
Do you know how much calcium my kids get on a daily basis? PLENTY.
Did you know that the recommended calcium requirements for children are ~800 mg/day. Pediatricians suggest this is accomplished by having three servings of dairy a day (but let’s be real, it’s not the pediatricians who are recommending this, it’s the federally regulated governing body that is likely backed by big dairy).
THREE 8 oz glasses of milk (or cheese or yogurt) EVERY day?!?! That’s literally the main option you will read about almost anywhere you look. WTF America?!?! Now, I know my kiddo’s MD is awesome, so this isn’t on her. When I pushed back a bit and told her my kids eat heaps of greens – kale, bok choy, collards, chard, broccoli, etc – she looked skeptical, but admitted she wasn’t too sure of the amounts of calcium those had in them.
So we looked it up. And guess what.
There are SO MANY WAYS to get 800 mg of calcium that don’t involve dairy.
One serving of tofu can meet 70-80% of your recommended daily intake alone!
Edamame, white beans, and lentils are also good sources of calcium.
Also, the cruciferous family is PACKED with calcium…so all the broccoli and Brussels sprouts…all those collard wraps…all those tofu and bok choy stir fries…it’s helping them hit their daily goals no prob.
We can thank the UC Davis student farm CSA for the endless supply of dark leafy greens coming into our home!
Also sweet potatoes and seeds!
Meaning a salad with roasted sweet potatoes and tahini dressing and sunflower seeds would probably help do the trick… 😉
I wish I’d been as confident in the moment as I am being here, because I KNOW this stuff…so by writing it out here, I’m hoping you will recognize if you do this as well when confronted by others who you may deem “authorities” in a given field.
Later on, I’ll post a recipe for the quinoa pasta with chard, white beans, and sunflower seeds below. Triple threat!
The best thing to come out of the whole interaction though, was the fact that our MD learned something that she will likely apply to her own practice going forward.
Aren’t we all just trying to learn? Let’s hope we are never too old or stubborn to receive knowledge. New evidence based research is always coming out, though, so you definitely have to be proactive to keep up!!
And now since we are on the subject of lentils…how about I give you the deets for this taco salad?
I actually wanted to make “meat” out of crumbled tempeh, but the store was all out of tempeh and I didn’t have time to go to another store. I was annoyed, but figured I’d make it work at home. Which is why I turned to lentils! I cooked them in the instant pot with Mexican spices while prepping the rest of the stuff.
And since I knew Kyle was going to need lunch the next day, I just packed up his lunch at the same time.
This guy had:
- leaf lettuce
- tomatoes
- green onion
- cilantro
- pepitas
- black olives
- lime vinaigrette (see below)
- TORTILLA CHIPS!!!
For the lime vinaigrette, I whisked together: 2 tbsp fresh lime juice, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper, 1 tbsp sugar, 1 tsp dijon mustard, and 1/3 cup olive oil until the sugar was dissolved and the dressing had emulsified.
Other optional toppings include: avocado, cotija cheese (or a cashew crema to keep it vegan).
To tell you the truth, we’ve been doing a lot of vegan meals around here lately.
I didn’t realize it until I looked back at the photos, so it’s not purposeful, but it’s nice nonetheless to be focusing on filling our plates with plants.
Kyle grilled us some Beyond Meat burgers for the first time recently and I’m not sure the kids even noticed (if they did, they didn’t say anything).
I rarely buy faux meat products, but I had these in the freezer from a buy one get one free sale last month and Kyle was in the mood to grill, so…
I made a slaw on the side (you KNOW we had cabbage in that CSA) and served it with SK’s mayo, a tomato slice, and a Little Northern Bakehouse GF bun.
We were all really big fans, so while I’d prefer to make my own veggie burgers from whole foods – like nuts, beans and grains – this is a fantastic option if you’re short on time. Honestly, is there anything more labor intensive than a home made veggies burger?? No. There truly is not.
I’ve managed to solve that problem simply by taking everything I would form into a veggie patty, and serving it in a bowl.
Like this quinoa hippie bowl.
Standing ovation!! YES. As a vegan I get nagged by my doctor annually about calcium. It’s maddening how backwards physicians are about nutrition. You’re absolutely right about the dairy lobby.
I can SO relate to this…and I’m a dietitian. MDs still hold that authority over me, even when it comes to nutrition. Caleb doesn’t really like meat, so we had a similar conversation about protein at our last visit. He eats plenty of nuts, cheese, and beans so I’m not really worried, but in the moment I kind of panicked.
YES!!! Right? I dont know what it is, but you got this girl.
fist pump!!!
Pediatric Dietitian here… Kids can definitely meet their calcium requirements without heaps of dairy! Annnd let’s not forget cow’s milk is NOT needed- lots of fortified milks like almond, soy, cashew, coconut etc are fortified with equivalent amounts of calcium as cow’s milk. I’m also from Canada- our food guide recently changed to reflect “protein” (including meat and plant based sources like beans, tofu) and does emphasize dairy/milk at all.. all evidenced based 🙂 Keep on doing a fab job!
The new Canadian food guide is SO AWESOME. Well done you for being in the know and a great advocate for meeting nutrient goals in a variety of ways!!
Ugh….! The “dairy is the answer” story is getting OLD. And if one was theoretically giving their kid 3 x 8oz of milk a day it would be cost prohibitive for that milk to be organic or of high quality.
Too bad our government doesn’t subsidize vegetables.
Those beyond burgers are too realistic for me! Haha, they seriously taste like what i remember of meat. Interesting the kids didn’t even notice.
So weird. The meat didn’t taste like meat to me, but it was different than any other veggie burger.
I love making my own veggies burgers too but like the Beyond Meat ones too. I bought their bratwursts on sale but haven’t tried them yet. I didn’t realize there’s That much calcium in veggies. Good to know. I offer my kids milk but they don’t like drinking it at every meal and too much cheese and yogurt causes other issues!