Nourishing Little Warriors

08/03/2024

Pack a nutritious lunch box with wholegrains, dairy, protein-rich foods, fruit, vegetables and water.

02/03/2024

Before we start going into each component that makes up a great lunchbox, I thought this may be helpful for a jump start.

https://lunchbox.healthyfood.com/winners/ -and-alternatives

The Healthy Food Magazine is a wonderful resource. It is written by Dietitians, has great tips & recipes. Can be found online or in any supermarket or newsagent.

Our dietitian did the hard work for you, analysing hundreds of supermarket brands to find healthy and tasty products that deserve a place in your lunchboxes.

23/02/2024

Ice Bricks

I’m very impressed with this ice-brick from MontiiCo. After 7 hours of being in the insulated lunch bag it still was frozen in the middle.(approx 1/4 of the surface area).
It was a 40 degree day for us today.

This is the medium size, it also comes in a large.

This would be really handy for eskies too

PS No ulterior motives; just a happy customer.

17/02/2024

Intro

14/03/2023

CARBOHYDRATES (CHO)

We are going to spend a few sessions discussing carbohydrates as they are so important in your child's lunchbox.

Carbohydrates should be the main component of your child's lunchbox.

There are two types of carbohydrates: complex and simple.
When looking under a microscope, a chain of carbohydrate looks like a long pearl necklace. The length of the necklace depends on what the carbohydrate is; it varies from many pearls to thousands.
examples include: bread, wraps, potato, sweet potato rice, pasta, grains, lentils, legumes etc

Simple carbohydrates consist of just two pearls.
Examples include: sugar, fruit, dairy, honey, syrups etc

Why are carbohydrates so important?
CHO get broken down into glucose. Glucose is the fuel the muscles, heart (because it's a muscle) and brain uses.

Kids need A LOT of fuel at school, they are constantly on the go & their brains are working constantly.

Complex CHO are digested slowly, provide sustained energy and are a really important choice to include in your child's lunchbox.

Fruit & dairy are wonderful additions to the lunchbox too. The protein in the dairy allows the CHO to be digested more slowly & keeps the tummy fuller for longer. The skin on the fruit provides fibre and therefore, also allows for fruit to be digested more slowly than fruit juice for example.

Have you given your child a fruit juice 'popper' or soft drink & they are bouncing off the walls or get the 'zoomies'? This is because the glucose is immediately released into the bloodstream & they have all this energy, it is very short lasting though. We will discuss fruit & dairy in future sessions

Next we will be looking at carbohydrate (complex) choices to include in the lunchbox. Stay tuned for ideas...