The summer of 2012 is sneaking up on my household quickly. With
the first official summer break since I was in school, ahem over 15 years ago,
I am looking forward to the freedom from packing lunches and shuffling
schedules. I have had many parents ask me about what children should drink and
eat in the summer when they may get away from their school day routines. There
are three tips that I suggest keeping your kids hydrated, healthy and strong in
the summer.
Staying hydrated is most important in soaring temperatures.
Most kids need 6-8 cups of fluid per day. If they are active more than 45
minutes then a drink other than water is a good way to replenish some of the
electrolytes and other losses. Most parents are confused when they look at the
packaged drinks aisle. A question that comes to mind is whether to include Sports
drinks or energy drinks in their child’s diet. Most children do not need to be
stimulated by caffeine and other chemicals that you find in energy drinks nor
the high amounts of sugar and chemicals you may find in sports drinks. There
are four alternatives to sports drinks that I recommend. The first drink is Coconut
water (who knew that this nature given fruit could provide such an amazing way
to replenish electrolytes!). The second recommendation is to make your own sports drink with 50% juice and
50% water with a pinch of salt (really that is all that is needed 1/16 of a
teaspoon to replenish the amount of salt a child would normally lose during exertion).
For older kids consider 2 pinches of salt. Thirdly, thinly slice up 1 medium
cucumber and add it to iced water. One last idea is a spruced up citrus drink: ½
cup orange juice, 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, 2 tablespoons honey or agave
nectar, 1/8 teaspoon salt and 4 cups of water.
How about a healthy snack? Keeping fruits and vegetables
stocked in the refrigerator is a great alternative to packaged snacks that are
high in sugar and salt. A quick and fun recipe that I like to provide my kids
in the heat is a fruit sorbet. It sounds fancy but secretly it is so easy which
I love. There are two ways to make the
fruit sorbet and I have included both ideas below.
Take 1 pound of frozen fruit, ½-3/4 cup water, 1/8 teaspoon
xanthum gum and 1 tablespoon of honey. Blend up all of you ingredients in a food
processor or if you have a really good blender. The xanthum gum is a thickener
that although it is a little bit pricey ($10 for a bag which I found at Whole
Foods) it is versatile and lasts awhile.
Another option to xanthum gum is to mix the one pound of
frozen fruit with ½ cup plain yogurt (which would add protein), only 1-2
tablespoons water or lemon juice, and honey to sweeten.
Depending on the fruit you may need to add more sweeteners.
Peaches seemed to be the sweetest and some of the berries were pretty tart.
Adding a ripe banana will also help to thicken up the sorbet without the
xanthum gum.
Last but not least….Keep moving! Some activities like
swimming, basketball, indoor ice skating, bowling and other indoor games are a
good way to keep the activity going in the hot days of summer. Don’t forget about staying hydrated and eating
healthy to keep that energy level up. Have a great start to the summer!
Join the conversation and learn new tips about eating
healthy and staying active: www.abcdeatright.blogspot.com
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