TummyFriendly Foods – Bioavailable Nutrition

Time to read: 2 minutes

Nutritional labels on food products are great, but they won’t tell us the whole story!

Did you know that the amount of nutrition that gets absorbed into our body could be significantly less than what is mentioned on the “Nutritional Label”?
The absorption of nutrients in the human body depends not only on the amount of nutrients present in food but also on their Bio-availability.

Tummy Friendly Foods - Bioavailable Nutrition

What is Bio-available Nutrition?

Bio-availability is defined as the proportion of the nutrition that gets absorbed into the body.

Bio-available Nutrition is the nutrition that can get absorbed into the body.

All whole grains & pulses contain anti-nutrients such as Phytic Acid and Tannins which bind with micro-nutrients like iron, calcium and zinc in the Gastrointestinal tract, making them inaccessible.

So simply adding whole grains & pulses to our diet will not give us the nutritional benefit.
In fact, long term exposure to these anti-nutrients wrecks our guts resulting in mineral deficiencies and auto-immune diseases.

The good news is Sprouting breaks down these anti-nutrients and increases the quantity & quality of nutrients and their bio-availability significantly.

Sprouting is Mother-Nature’s way of fortifying the food. Sprouting process gives life to the little grains, pulses to grow into big trees. That’s the reason, sprouts are called “Living Food” and “Sattvic Food”.

At TummyFriendly Foods, we sprout all the sproutable whole grains, pulses to achieve maximum possible nutrition from Real food. Check the nutritional info of TummyFriendly Foods to see how the sprouting increases the nutritional values without any chemical fortification.

 

Bio-available Nutrition, the right mix of nutrients for little ones for a healthy start!

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Time to read: 4 minutes

As your baby is growing at a rapid pace, we need to support her/him with something which is easy to digest, energy-rich, a good source of vitamins and minerals and most important of all, gentle on the baby’s tummy.

Infancy is a period of rapid growth. Did you know? your baby’s weight triples within the first year and its length increases by one and half times than at birth. At this stage, all the organs are developing at a rapid pace.  By the end of the second year, the baby’s brain becomes 75 % of the adult brain.  

Hence, the nutritional needs of the baby are very high. We have to make sure that the baby is getting enough energy and protein to sustain growth. There is also a higher demand for iron, zinc and fat-soluble vitamins such as vitamin A and D. Iron is an important mineral for brain growth. It is important to provide iron though complementary feeds as breastmilk does not contain a good amount of iron and by the end of 6 months, baby’s iron stores are almost exhausted.

But at the same time, we have to keep in mind that the baby’s tummy size is small and the digestive system is still not fully matured. Thus, we need a feed that is nutritionally dense and easy to digest and absorb.

At “Tummy friendly”, we employ traditional processes such as sprouting and roasting which makes the food easy to digest and nutrients more bio-available. Sprouting the grains with careful time temperature-controlled dehydration brings biochemical changes in the grain which offer many wonderful benefits to the baby.

Destroys antinutritional factors

Though cereals, millets, and pulses are a great source of nutrition, they also contain certain antinutritional factors that make nutrients unavailable to the body. Antinutrients work in various ways.

    • Some antinutrients make digestive enzymes inactive so they cannot break down carbohydrates or proteins. For example, phytates, trypsin inhibitors, lectins, etc
    • Some antinutrients bind to the nutrients and prevent their absorption. For example, polyphenols, oxalates, and phytic acid
    • Certain antinutrients such as oligosaccharides found in pulses are responsible for flatulence.   

During the process of sprouting, these antinutritional factors get destroyed, making food more digestible and gentler of the stomach. It may also reduce the risk of stomach pain and flatulence.

Improves the digestibility

Biochemical changes occurring in the grain during sprouting increases the amount of the digestive enzymes. These enzymes break down complex carbohydrate molecules into simpler one thus making it easy to digest. Thus, complex starch molecules get broken down into short-chain carbohydrates and sugars.

Increases the availability of vitamins and minerals

During germination, many biochemical changes occur which increases the availability of certain bioactive compounds such as riboflavin, thiamine, biotin, pantothenic acid, niacin, vitamin C and tocopherols. Studies have also shown that after germination of cereals and pulses, iron and zinc bioavailability was increased. These vitamins and minerals are very important for the healthy growth and development of the baby, especially for the brain.

High nutrition in little amount of food

High energy demands and the small tummy size is the main challenge of feeding infants. Hence, we need feeds that are nutritionally dense. Cereals made from germinated flours are less viscous than their regular counterparts. They increase the energy density of the meal at the same time reduces the bulk of the cereal diet.

Improves flavor

Last but not least sprouted flour porridges have better taste and flavor! Germination softens the texture and increases the flavor of the many cereals.  The food is yummy and healthy at the same time!

Given the immense nutritional benefits of Sprouted whole grains and pulses, at TummyFriendly Foods, we sprout all the sproutable grains & pulses to get the maximum possible nutrition from real food without any chemical fortification.

Together, let’s give your baby a happy and healthy start!

References:

Certified Organic Baby Food In India