Got zinc? Easy steps to boost your vegan child's zinc intake on a plant based diet

Hi there, it's Gen. Welcome to this week's podcast. We're going to be talking about what I feel is the most important vegan nutrient that is zinc. Now, before I tell you why it's so important, I just wanted to remind you that I have my brand new kids snacks recipe book coming out. It's called, Super Boosted Vegan Snacks, that will be out in April or May this year. And the recipes inside it are going to be lots of recipes, things like muesli bars, muffins, protein balls, brownies, all sorts of things. 

But they have been specifically designed to be really high in the nutrients that your vegan kids need. So, they're going to be really high in iron, high in zinc, high in calcium protein. And they're going to have things like extra veggies in them and beans in them and stuff like that as well. So, I'm really excited, it's going to be an awesome recipe book, it's going to be a physical book, not an ebook.

So yeah, there's a waitlist down below that you can sign up for. So, you get all the updates and know as soon as it's been released. So make sure you do that, I also am doing one on one nutrition sessions as well. So, if you're listening to this and worried about your kids, zinc, or even iron or anything else like that, then make sure you check out the package down below. 

It's a month long package, you get a one on one session with me. I do a full analysis of your kids nutrition to see what they're missing out on. And then we work together to come up with a plan with food that your kids will actually eat. That's going to make sure they're getting all the nutrition they need. So, the link for that is down below. Check it out if you're interested in that. 

All right, so let's talk about zinc. Now, zinc is actually, I think, the most important nutrient for us to be focusing on for our vegan kids. Especially for boys, it's more important than protein. And it's more important than iron as well. This is because it's actually harder to get zinc from a vegan diet, than it is iron or protein or any of the other ones. So zinc, is really important for reproductive health, especially in boys and men. 

Iron, is kind of the one for women, whereas zinc is the one for older boys and for men as well. So, it's really important that older boys and men are getting enough. It's also really important for our immune system, and also for hormones and for learning and development. So, if you're finding that your kids are having any trouble with learning, and development and stuff. 

One of the factors now there are obviously many factors that come into learning difficulties and developmental difficulties and stuff like that. But one thing, one factor in there can actually be low zinc. So, it's really important that we're making sure that our kids are getting enough zinc in their diet. Now, younger children don't need a huge amount. But, it's harder for our bodies to absorb zinc from vegan foods than it is from meat and dairy and things like that. 

This is because they plant based foods that are really high in zinc are also really high in phytates. Which are often they're called sort of anti nutrients and stuff. They're basically things that plants have in place to defend themselves pretty much. And so they can make getting zinc from foods harder. Now, in the past, we have been told to soak our foods, soaking grains, and legumes and nuts and seeds and everything. In order to get rid of the phytates in them. 

But, recent research is actually finding that the phytates have got anti cancer properties, and they're actually really good for us. So, it's better to actually work to have more zinc to make sure that we're absorbing enough than it used to soak out those phytates and everything. Because then we benefit not only from the zinc in the foods, but we also benefit from the phytates as well. 

So, how much do your kids actually need? So, younger kids as I said they don't need a huge amount. Kids up to three years need about three milligrams a day. Older kids four to eight need about four milligrams, and then preteens nine to 13 year olds need around six milligrams. Teenage girls need about seven milligrams, but teenage boys need about 13. So, it really jumps high for boys as they get older into the higher teens. 

Now, the Australian dietary guidelines do actually recommend, that people who are trying to get their zinc from just plant based foods. So vegans really, that they actually aim for one and a half times the amount. So, if you think about that, that really jumps your 13 milligrams up to 19, which is quite a high amount for teenage boys. Men also have really high needs as well. 

So, if you have your partner, if they're vegan, then they definitely need to be having quite a high amount of zinc as well. So, you do really need to be focusing on zinc and making an effort to make sure that your kids are getting enough zinc in their diet. A piece of good news for you though, is I'm going to give you some examples of high zinc foods in a second. And you'll see that the majority of them have a real crossover with iron. 

So, a lot of the high zinc foods are also quite high iron foods. And what actually happens is as long as your kids are getting enough zinc, because there tends to be less than in these foods, and that is iron. Your kids will actually automatically be getting enough iron. So, you don't actually need to worry about iron for your kids, you just need to worry about zinc. I think that's quite contrary to what we hear a lot where everyone focuses so much on iron. But, every time I've done a meal plan, every time I've done a sort of day plan and stuff for food. 

When you're putting together and making sure that the kids are getting enough zinc, they automatically get enough iron. Now this is even for teenage girls. So in order to get that seven milligrams a day that teenage girls need of zinc. It actually automatically gives them the 15 milligrams a day of the iron that they need. So, that's a good piece of news, you need to be shifting your focus from iron to zinc. So, what are some really high rising kid friendly foods? Tofu is really good, it has around 1.7 milligrams per 100 grams, and zinc tends to be in nuts and seeds and legumes. 

It's not as high unfortunately, in whole grains. If you go back and listen to my podcasts on iron, you'll see that I tell you to do whole grains for iron. But, whole grains aren't as good a source of zinc, as they are of iron. So, you really need to be focusing on bringing in nuts and seeds and legumes into your kid's diet each day. Pumpkin seeds are a great source, they have nearly one milligram per tablespoon. 

So, you'll hear me talk about pumpkin seeds a lot. They're absolutely my favorite foods, different things for iron protein. And think I tend to grind them up and just put them into muffins into protein balls. If you see any of my recipes, especially my recipe book, but also in any of the lunchbox recipes I have as well. They're all packed really high in pumpkin seeds, which makes them really good sources for both iron and zinc. 

Cashews are another really good one, so a quarter of a cup of cashews will give 1.7 milligrams of zinc, tahini again. So, basically any of the nuts and seeds are a really good source. Legumes are also really good, they tend to have about one milligram of zinc per half cup. So they're quite good. Black beans are the highest. So they're a really good one to get in. And I have actually just put black bean brownies on the blog. So, I'll post a link for that recipe that you can check out as well, it's a really good one.

And I think recently I had someone tell me that it's so good. It's actually better than ordinary brownies, which is, I think quite a compliment for black bean brownies. And then of course, there's my favorite as long as you're here in Australia of Cheerios, which are really good. So, most breakfast cereals are actually fortified with zinc. So, even Coco Pops has thinking that as well. 

But I particularly love Cheerios because they're a lot lower in sugar, and they have a lot less ingredients sort of thing. They're just basically whole grains and some sweetener and then the minerals and stuff in them. Especially if you get the low sugar, vanilla ones, they're really good. 

And as I've said in the past, they're great for fussy kids because they have that thing texture that kids get from other things like chips and stuff like that. So, if you've got kids who really liked crunchy foods. Cheerios are such a good one, they're 1.8 milligrams per half a cup. So, I normally give my son about half a cup of Cheerios in his lunchbox. And so it gives him a really good thing that he can have for lunch. 

And because they're not free to which obviously finding that free stuff is always fun, so, school lunches. I know that nuts and seeds and beans aren't always the easiest thing to get your kids to eat straight. What I tend to do with them is really add them into smoothies. White beans work really well in smoothies, and cashews work really well in smoothies too, because they're really creamy. 

I also do put pumpkin seeds in smoothies, too. I love smoothies, because he does blend everything up. And it's all in there, and it's really good. You can also even just blend cashews just through your kids milk as well, because cashews are really soft. So they blend really easily. So that works really well to to just add some extra zinc in, and of course, also bake goods. So, I always bake in pumpkin seeds, as I said, I'm always adding those in. 

If you see any of my recipes, you'll always see pumpkin seeds in them for the kids snacks and things. But, also beans are a really great one to put into snacks as well. And the really great thing about putting beans into things that your kids like like brownies and muffins and stuff is that it just gets your kids used to the idea of beans. I mean, they might not be anywhere near being able to eat beans in a savory dish for dinner. 

But what you can do is get them really comfortable with the idea of beans, actually in foods that they like. And then that will mean that when you start to bring in beans in other foods in savory dishes. When they're going to be more accustomed to the idea of them, and it'll be less scary for them as well. So yeah, that's basically zinc for you. 

As I said, it is a really important nutrient, because it is harder for vegans to get. It's less available in vegan food than iron is and definitely less available than protein. So, what I generally recommend, is really focusing on making sure that you're getting nuts and seeds and beans into your kids meals. And for older kids, older boys and men, who need the higher amounts, I definitely recommend giving them a extra serve of nuts and seeds each day which will be a really good way to make sure that they're getting enough. 

Now, if you need help with coming up with recipes and things don't forget. I have my recipe book coming out really soon, which all of the recipes are going to be quite high in zinc. And if you'd like some one on one help with me to go through your kids diet and really work out how much of everything that they're getting. And then how to actually switch up their diet in a way that works with food that they're actually going to eat, to make sure they're getting all the nutrition they need. Then check out those one on one sessions below as well. All right, I will talk to you again next week.