Animal liver is rich in protein, vitamin A, heme iron and B vitamins, and has a very long tradition as food materials. It not only has delicious taste such as marinated liver, fried liver and sauce liver, but also can be made into liver mud for babies to eat as supplementary food.
However, some people say that the liver is an organ that metabolizes poisons, and there will be toxic residues that cannot be eaten by babies. Others said that the content of vitamin A in the liver is too high, and eating too much is easy to cause vitamin A poisoning.
In the face of all kinds of statements about the liver, many parents may be confused. Can the liver be eaten by the baby?
There is some truth in these statements, but they all lack one condition, that is, dosage. Dr. Clove often said that regardless of dosage, the effect/toxicity is…
The liver is rich in nutrition, and the baby can eat it, but it is also right not to eat too much. Today, Dr. Clove will talk about how to eat the liver for the child.
Nutritional Analysis of Liver
In order to prevent the baby from iron deficiency, when the baby starts to add supplementary foods, it should give priority to the introduction of iron-rich ingredients. Animal liver is rich in heme iron, which is one of the ideal supplementary foods for infants.
The recommended intake of iron by the Chinese Nutrition Society for babies aged 7-12 months is 10 mg/d, the recommended intake of iron for babies aged 1-3 years is 9 mg/d, and the recommended intake of iron for babies aged 4-6 years is 10 mg/d.
Take pig liver as an example, every 100 g pig liver contains 22.6 mg of iron, that is to say, children under 7 years old can meet the body’s iron demand all day by eating 40 ~ 44 g pig liver every day.
At the same time, the absorption rate of iron in different foods varies greatly. The iron in meat, animal viscera and other foods is heme iron, and its absorption rate is relatively high, while the iron in vegetables and fruits is non-heme iron, and its absorption rate is relatively low. The recommended intake given by the Nutrition Society is formulated by comprehensively considering the absorption rate of iron in various foods.
In other words, if iron is ingested only through liver and other meat, the body’s demand for iron can be met without eating so much.
Liver ingredients are also rich in vitamin A, for example, 20972 g of vitamin A per 100 g of sheep liver, 10414 g of vitamin A per 100 g of chicken liver and 4972 g of vitamin A per 100 g of pig liver.
The recommended intake of vitamin A by the Chinese Nutrition Society for babies aged 7-12 months is 350 g/d, that for babies aged 1-3 years is 310 g/d, and that for babies aged 4-6 years is 360 g/d.
Continue to take pig liver as an example. Children under 7 years old can meet the body’s demand for vitamin A all day by taking 6 ~ 7 g of pig liver (a thin piece) every day.
Hidden Risks in Animal Liver
The highest tolerable intake of vitamin A is 600 g/d under 1 year old, 700 g/d for 1 ~ 3 years old and 900 g/d for 4 ~ 6 years old, which is equivalent to 12 ~ 18 g of pig liver.
If the vitamin A intake is only occasionally slightly higher than the maximum tolerable intake, it is generally no problem, because the extra vitamin A will be consumed in the following daily activities. However, if the vitamin A is taken in excess for a long time, the vitamin A will accumulate in the liver, which will increase the risk of poisoning to some extent.
In addition, liver, as an important metabolic organ in animals, has higher residues of heavy metals, drugs (antibiotics) and environmental pollutants than other meat.
Some studies have shown that the relative values of heavy metals and drugs residues in animal liver are higher than those in meat. However, the specific content is affected by animal feed, drinking water, environment and so on, and there are great differences between different batches.
When buying pork liver, parents should choose regular shopping malls and supermarkets and buy fresh pork liver that passes inspection and quarantine, which can reduce this risk as much as possible.
How eats animal liver healthily?
Liver is rich in nutrition, but excessive also does increase health risks. Therefore, when eating liver, it is necessary to limit it. On the basis of controlling risks, it is recommended that babies eat liver no more than 2 times a week and no more than 20 g each time.
If you are particularly worried about the problem of toxin residue in the liver, you can choose the liver of animals with short growth cycle, and the accumulation of pollutants will be relatively small, such as chicken liver and duck liver, and the taste will be relatively more delicate.
There are also some parents who may worry that their babies cannot accept the blood smell of the liver. In fact, this is mostly the prejudice of our adults. Most babies are not so sensitive to the fishy smell.
In addition, the rich iron element in the liver also comes from the animal blood accumulated in it. If it is completely removed, the smell of blood will be less, but the iron in it will also be lost in large quantities.
Fresh pork liver contains 22.6 mg of iron per 100g, but marinated pork liver contains only 2 mg of iron per 100g, which is due to the loss of iron caused by blood loss after long-term marinating of marinated pork liver.
If the baby cares more about the taste, he can add a proper amount of scallion, ginger, garlic and other ingredients to cover it up, but he does not need to use salt, cooking wine, vinegar and other seasonings to flavor it. The food for the baby should still be light.
Some babies may not like to eat liver, so there is no need to force him to eat it. Other foods can be used to meet the baby’s nutritional needs.
Foods rich in iron include iron fortified rice flour, livestock and poultry meat, other viscera, animal blood products, black fungus, bean curd skin, mushrooms, beans and other foods, which may be used to meet children’s demand for iron.
Vitamin A can also be supplemented by eating egg yolk, whole milk and dark fruits and vegetables such as carrots, sweet potatoes, spinach, pumpkins and persimmons. Carotenoids contained in fruits and vegetables can be converted into vitamin A in the body. However, excessive amount will not cause poisoning. It can be said that using vegetables and fruits to meet the demand for vitamin A and making full use of other health-promoting effects of vegetables and fruits can achieve more at one stroke.
Summary
1. The liver is rich in nutrition and the baby can eat it, but it should be in an appropriate amount, not more than 2 times a week and not more than 20 g each time.
2. If you are worried about poison accumulation, you can eat the liver of animals with relatively short growth cycle, such as chicken liver and duck liver.
3. The baby does not like to eat liver. There is no need to insist. Choosing other alternative ingredients can meet the nutritional needs of the baby’s growth.