By: Dr. Joey Shulman

Every growing child requires a variety of top quality nutritional choices to ensure healthy growth and development. This is why it is so important for every parent and caretaker to become educated on the best super foods to feed a growing little tot.

What are super foods? They are nutritionally superior foods that are filled to the brim with the essential vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals (plant nutrients that fight off disease) and fats necessary for a strong immune system and healthy muscle, bone and brain development.

The top five super foods are:
Blueberries – One of the greatest indicators of a healthy food is the color. Fruits and vegetables that are green, orange, red and purple are those that offer the most nutritional benefits. Blueberries are loaded with fiber, phytochemicals, Vitamin C and are rated #1 in terms of anti-oxidant capacity.

Avocados – Avocados are filled with healthy monounsaturated fat, otherwise known as the “good fat”. In addition, avocados provide more than 25 essential nutrients such as fiber, potassium, Vitamin E, B Vitamins and folic acid.

Certified organic meat such as chicken or beef – The protein found in organic meats such as chicken and beef is important to build your baby’s iron level, and certified organic meats are free of herbicide, pesticide and fungicide residues.

Green foods such as broccoli - Broccoli is a nutritional superstar and is voted the healthiest veggie around because it contains more calcium than a glass of milk and more Vitamin C than an orange!

Orange foods such as carrots and sweet potatoes – It is no secret that the bright orange hue in carrots and sweet potatoes indicates enormous nutritional benefits as they are an excellent source of Vitamin A.

Reprinted with permission from Sweetpea Baby Food
www.sweetpeababyfood.com