At what age can garlic be given to a child and why are there restrictions?
To add new products to the diet should be very careful.This article will help you to understand at what age you can give garlic to a child, why there are restrictions on its use.
Benefit
The fact that garlic helps to fight the adverse symptoms of a cold, almost every mother knows. That is why parents want to introduce this fragrant vegetable into their kids ’diet early. However, children's doctors advise parents not to rush. Aromatic garlic cloves contain a whole complex of mineral components, namely:
- sodium;
- calcium;
- potassium;
- sulfur.
These substances are actively involved in cellular processes. So, they support the normal work of almost all organs in the body. Some of the components of the children's body needs especially. Garlic pulp also contains unique specific substances - phytoncides. The peculiarity of the action of these components is that they help the body to fight against various pathogenic microbes. Phytoncides help protect the body from various infections transmitted by airborne droplets.
Garlic is rich and specific components that can affect the immune system. The immune system works intensively during the cold and acute respiratory season. If the immunity for some reason is reduced, then this significantly increases the possible risk of contracting such diseases. Garlic is one of the products that gently affect the immune system, causing it to work somewhat more intensively.
Eating garlic during infections helps reduce the risk of infection. Such prevention is quite widely used by the people.
In the aromatic garlic mass is also present a lot of extractives. They cause the specific taste of the vegetable. The more such components are contained, the more spicy taste garlic cloves have. Fresh garlic contains such substances quite a lot. During heat treatment, part of the extractive substances disappears, which contributes to the fact that the taste of boiled or roasted garlic, as a rule, is somewhat softer than fresh.
Flavonoids are also present in the fragrant pulp, as well as a complex of organic acids. These substances can affect the digestive system. This should be remembered by all parents, but especially those who have babies, infants. Digestion in the first year baby has a number of features. So, the mucous membranes of the digestive organs in a child are very tender and easily visible.
Garlic pulp contains quite a lot of extractive substances, which can, if they get on the mucous membranes, lead to their irritation. That is why children's doctors recommend not to immediately enter into the diet of kids fresh garlic. Initially, it is better to enter this vegetable into the menu only after it has “passed” heat treatment. Vegetable is rich in substances that can have a strong effect on the elimination of bile. This effect contributes to the revitalization of the processes of digestion. As well as regular removal of bile from the gallbladder helps reduce the risk of developing a number of diseases that are accompanied by stagnation of bile secretions.
Fresh garlic cloves, like green garlic, are rich in natural vitamin C. This component plays an important role in the prevention of various infectious diseases. A maximum of ascorbic acid is contained in a fresh vegetable, which was recently dug out of the ground. Garlic lobules also contain anti-inflammatory components. It is no coincidence that this vegetable is used to prepare a variety of folk remedies that are used for inflammation. The use of such natural medicines helps to combat the adverse symptoms of many diseases of both internal organs and the musculoskeletal system.
Harm
The pulp of garlic cloves contains a huge variety of components that contribute to the improvement of the body.It is worth noting that the children's body is significantly different from an adult. Garlic has a pronounced effect on the digestive system. That is why it is necessary to introduce this vegetable into the diet of crumbs of the youngest age with the necessary caution. For babies with chronic diseases of the digestive system, garlic should be injected into the diet only after consulting with a pediatrician. With some pathologies of the gastrointestinal tract, babies cannot eat garlic. So, if a child had a peptic ulcer or erosive gastritis, then garlic dishes should not be included in his diet.
Enteritis of any etiology is another contraindication for garlic. This disease is recorded in children of different ages. This pathology gradually leads to disruption of the proper functioning of the small intestine. Any errors in the diet can lead to the fact that the child will have pain in the abdomen or a violation of the chair.
In order not to provoke the occurrence of such unpleasant symptoms, you should not add garlic in the menu to a kid suffering from chronic enteritis.
Garlic cloves are also contraindicated for babies with epilepsy. There are substances in garlic that can trigger a new attack. To avoid the appearance of adverse symptoms, eating garlic to a baby suffering from this pathology should not be done either fresh or thermally processed. This hot vegetable is also not suitable for children who are individually intolerant or allergic to it. If such a pathology in a child has been identified, then he cannot eat garlic cloves. The use of even a small amount of this vegetable in such pathologies can lead to the appearance of extremely dangerous conditions, some of which may require even hospitalization in the hospital.
Garlic, of course, can not be attributed to vegetables, which can be safely introduced into the diet of crumbs. This vegetable contains too many strong extractive substances that affect the functioning of all organs in the body. Before the first introduction of this vegetable into the baby’s diet, it is better to consult with the pediatrician’s doctor about it. The doctor will conduct a clinical examination of the child and be able to identify and assess the presence of contraindications (if any) to add to the children's menu of garlic.
When to enter the diet?
Garlic cloves are first introduced into the diet of crumbs by the year. Some parents introduce this vegetable into the children's menu a little earlier - by 9 months after birth. However, pediatricians advise not to rush. Garlic is not an important vegetable that needs a child's body. Nutrition year old baby should be balanced. Vegetables in the children's menu must be included, but only those that are easily digested and cannot harm the children's organism are selected. Garlic is only a supplement to the diet.
"Introduce" the child's body with a new vegetable should be careful. A child aged 1–1.5 years should consume garlic, which has been heat treated. The amount of vegetable in the daily diet should be small. So, for one day, half a garlic clove is enough. Add this vegetable is better in hot dishes. So, a small amount of garlic can be added to meatballs, meatballs or vegetable puree, while you should always monitor the health of the baby. So, if against the background of eating dishes containing garlic, the baby began to complain of pain in the abdomen, then garlic should be abandoned for a while and shown to the crumbs by a pediatrician.
Gradualism is an important rule when adding new vegetables to the diet of very young children. So, initially only 1 / 8–1 / 10 cloves of garlic are enough. When adding an aromatic vegetable to dishes, it is necessary to chop and then add. It is very important that the garlic is well boiled soft during cooking. Fresh garlic cloves are introduced into the diet of kids only after three years.You shouldn't offer a crumbs immediately a clove of garlic, it is better to rub a small piece of bread with garlic and give it to the baby. This bread is better to use with soup or some hot dish. You should not eat it yourself to reduce the risk of possible adverse symptoms.
Not only garlic cloves are beneficial for the body, but also garlic greens. Green garlic contains a whole range of different components with antibacterial and immunomodulatory effects. However, rush with the addition to the diet crumbs of fragrant greens is not worth it. Add a small amount of green garlic is better after the baby is 3 years old. If parents want to add fragrant garlic greens to the nutrition of their baby earlier, then they should coordinate this with the pediatrician.
Not all kids love garlic. Taste addictions of the child must be taken into account. If the crumbly refuses to eat garlic, then his parents should not force him to do so. It is better to try to add garlic pulp when cooking some dishes. If in this case the crumb refuses, then it is quite likely that the time has not yet come to introduce garlic into his diet.
Tastes of babies change. If the introduction of garlic cloves in the diet of a three-year-old crumbs did not succeed, then you can try again a year or a little later. Garlic cloves can be used not only for the preparation of delicious and fragrant dishes. They are also widely used in traditional medicine for the preparation of natural medicines. So, on the basis of milk and garlic, you can prepare an effective tool for the treatment of helminthiasis. Aromatic garlic cloves help to prevent colds. This vegetable can also be used for the preparation of decoctions that are used for inhalation.
On whether children can have garlic for colds, see the following video.