Although they are very complete foods from the nutritional point of view, in the case of children it is better not to introduce nuts in the diet before two years. In this way it is intended to avoid the risks of choking and allergies, in addition to delaying a food that is difficult to digest due to its high fat content.
The case of choking is due to the fact that before two years (later in some cases, it will depend on the rhythm of each child) the little ones do not coordinate well the movements of chewing and degloption, so there is a risk of swallowing some dried fruit (peanut, almond, hazelnut ...).
It is important to insist that they chew the nuts well once they can taste them, in small quantities, or crushed, or in the form of creams, or mixed with other foods (yogurt, soup, salad ...) to check the acceptance of these new ones. foods.
As for the allergy, it must be taken into account that for children, nuts are one of the most common causes of food allergies, together with milk, fish and eggs. Among the nuts, Peanuts would be the ones that cause the most allergies.
Some alert symptoms Helping to identify nut allergy can be a runny nose, hives all over the body, tingling in the tongue or a feeling of tightness in the throat. If the symptoms get worse, a specialist should be seen immediately to avoid serious consequences.
In any case, once the boy or girl has grown up, he controls the chewing and we have ruled out the allergies, we must not forget the nuts in his diet. These stand out for their high energy content derived from their low water content and their remarkable amount of fats (among them, the essential linolenic and linoleic acid) and varied proteins, vitamins and minerals.
The fatty acids provided by nuts are vital for the formation of cell membranes, particularly nerve cells, which in children are in full growth and development. In addition, these foods do not contain cholesterol, and fiber contributes to proper intestinal transit.
We will also have to take into account that part of the vitamins of the nuts It is destroyed during the roasting process, so it is convenient to take these foods in the most natural and fresh way possible.
