Complementary feeding: legumes

After reviewing several of the most common food groups we arrived today at legumes. It is a food that is slowly disappearing from our tables and yet it is one of the healthiest we could consume.

Legumes are foods rich in iron, vitamins and fiber and an important source of protein. Lentils, beans, chickpeas, peas, soybeans are legumes ...

When to start

They can start giving themselves to six months and in fact it is recommended to do it because it is, together with meat, foods rich in iron. Ideally, at the beginning it is necessary to remove the skin or buy them without it to avoid the risk of choking and flatulence (the skin is insoluble fiber and produces them).

Legumes also contain soluble fiber, which also causes flatulence, so if even removing the skin our baby is more upset than usual it would be advisable to wait a little to give them back.

Soy is one of the foods considered highly allergenic, so it is recommended to start offering it at 12 months.

The AESAN (Spanish Agency for Food Safety and Nutrition) indicates that the baby with an allergy or at high risk of suffering it should wait two years to start eating legumes.

Best accompanied

Legume proteins are of plant origin and if we take them alone they absorb quite badly. It is preferable to combine them with other foods as a measure so that their nutrients are better assimilated.

It is recommended to take some food that contains vitamin C to favor the absorption of iron from legumes and eat them with cereals or potatoes so that the quality of the protein is higher (the typical dish of lentils with rice is a magnificent example of a good preparation of these foods for proper use).

The proteins obtained from this combination (cereal-legume) are of one quality equivalent to meat or egg with the benefit of dispensing with saturated fats from food of animal origin.

Preparation

They are cooked boiled and can be crushed with the fork or leaving them before them so that they can take them with their hands (basically peas, chickpeas and perhaps beans, although they can be too soft and slippery).

Video: Complimentary Feeding (March 2024).