After your baby is 6 months old, it’s time to introduce the hard-textured foods  to your child. At this time, Moms certainly wants to provide healthy food that can help optimize their child’s growth, with so much creativity as possible.

Not only carbohydrates and protein, your child also needs vitamins and minerals. It is also recommended by doctors which states that the mom always needs to meet the needs of vitamins and minerals for children since they started taking hard meals.

A number of vitamins and minerals that should be in those foods are mainly vitamin A, iron, and zinc. Breastfeeding alone is no longer able to meet the baby’s needs for the content of vitamins and minerals.

For filling the needs of vitamins and minerals, moms can start giving fresh vegetables, and there are some that could be the important foods for your little kid like vegetables suji upma, carrots, spinach, tomatoes, and many more.

It’s no secret that carrots are important for eye health. Carrots are rich in carotene and vitamin A which are great for building vision function. Especially in infants, the content of carotene and vitamin A plays a role in helping the retinal growth of the eye and keeping it in good condition.

Green vegetables are an important source of nutrients to support the growth of babies. Spinach contains vitamins A, K, and minerals such as iron, calcium, zinc, fiber, folate, and magnesium. As is known, iron plays a role in the development of brain, nerve cells, and red blood cells.

Another green vegetable is Okra. As mentioned in the previous article, this plant could provide a line of useful benefits for pregnant moms by giving enough nutrients to keep them healthy and steady. But, aside from being supportive for the moms, it also has hidden benefits for the baby as well. For those of you who are planning to give Okra to your baby anytime soon, here’s some for you :

Health Benefits of Okra for Baby

1. Strengthens Baby’s Metabolism 

Okra is a vegetable that contains a good source of antioxidants for your child’s health. Its supply of antioxidants is enough to ward off free radicals produced in the body and help facilitate the metabolism of your child’s body.

Antioxidants are compounds that are tasked to neutralize as well as fight the attack of free radicals. Because, it does not close the possibility that too often exposed to free radicals can bring adverse effects to the child’s body.

This combination of free radicals from the outside and inside can cause the child’s body to experience oxidative stress, which is a condition in which the amount of free radicals is greater than that of antioxidants. If left unchecked, the condition could make children more susceptible to disease.

Antioxidants are proven to prevent the formation of plaque in blood vessels. Healthy and smooth blood vessels allow the organs of the child’s body to be well maintained and result in the maximized distribution of oxygen and nutrients to all parts of the child’s body.

2. Smoothens Digestion

It’s not a secret that one of the benefits of fruits and vegetables is to smoothen your digestion. Constipation is a troublesome issue. Some of us have experienced it, and it was certainly not a pleasant feeling. The kids have a worse feeling about this, and fortunately, parents can do something about it.

As a preventive way, try to give your baby some little portion of Okra. Okra that contains a decent amount of fiber is a vegetable that can facilitate the bowel movements of your baby. It supplies essential dietary fiber that allows smoothened movement of the intestine in your baby and reduces the risk of constipation.

3. Increases Blood Production

Consuming okra regularly can increase the amount of blood production of children. A healthy amount of blood needs to be maintained by the body because it serves to transport all nutrients to all parts of the body, especially for babies and children.

Keeping a normal blood production within your baby’s body is always important and should not be neglected. You don’t want your baby to get Anemia.

Anemia is a condition in which hemoglobin levels and red blood cells are below the normal range. The same understanding also applies to anemia in babies. One of the most common types of anemia experienced by babies is anemia due to iron deficiency. Anemia in babies can not be taken lightly. It’s always important to understand this issue, since if it happens, Anemia could interfere with the development and the health of your baby.

4. Treats Diarrhea

Eating vegetables and fruits like tindora is always important to keep the health problems away. Diarrhea has become a common issue in babies, and unfortunately, many parents do not know when their baby has diarrhea. Babies will generally defecate more often depending on their age.

Newborns will have soft stools especially if the baby gets breast milk. The aroma, color and shape of the baby’s stool will correspond to the food eaten by the mother, if the baby gets breast milk.

There are various causes of diarrhea in babies that parents should pay attention to. When new diarrhea symptoms appear, the mother can do how to prevent diarrhea in the baby so that the baby’s condition does not get worse. The sign when the baby has diarrhea is that the baby defecates suddenly out of habit and the stool becomes very fluid.

Fortunately, many vegetables are able to overcome this issue, including Okra. This vegetable is believed to be a natural remedy for the treatment of diarrhea and dysentery for many years by the Indian community. They also believe that regular consumption of okra can prevent other digestive problems.