Breast milk is the ideal natural food before the age of six months. Without breast milk, artificial feeding may be adopted with milk powder substitutes like milk, goat's milk, naigao (a baby food made of rice-flour, sugar, etc.) and soya-bean milk, of which fresh milk is the first choice.
Children are susceptible to calciprivia. The daily requirement of calcium for normal people is 800 mg. Nevertheless, the ordinary diet contains only 500 mg or so in general. If the children drink a bag of milk a day, the requirement can be met. After the Second World War, the Japanese government has supplied a bag of milk for every middle and primary school student every day free of charge. For many years, one generation of Japanese has surpassed another in height. The Japanese call this "One bag of milk vitalizes a nation". The British experts have been observing for 15 years on end and discovered that the children who drink one bag of milk a day are 2.8 cm taller than those children who do not drink. If children drink two bags of milk, they are 4.8 cm taller. More information, please click to read Cortex Cinnamomi (Rougui).
Children are insufficient in the kidney qi, their teeth, skeleton and cerebral marrow are all under development. Thus, the supply of kidney-tonifying foods should not be ignored such as animal liver, kidney and cerebral marrow as well as Hetaoren (Semen Juglandis), Heizhima (Semen Sesami), Sangshenzi (Fructus Mori) and Heidou (Semen Sojae Nigrum). Warm-natured, tonifying, greasy and fine foods should be less eaten or contraindicated such as mutton, chicken, ham and sea cucumber. The following foods are more suitable for children. More information, please click to read Fructus Evodiae (Wuzhuyu).
1. Fishes
Various fishes promote cerebral development. Fish and shellfish contain more unsaturated fatty acid which is the raw material to produce nervous cells. These foods also contain high content of protein, vitamin and trace elements which can promote intelligent activities.
Fish scales contain a higher content of brain-tonifying substances, of which organic elements are even higher such as calcium and phosphorus. Fish scales have more lecithin which improves memory and controls cerebral cell decline. The method of eating fish scales, scrape the fish scales, wash them clean and pound them into small pieces. Then decoct the scales into colloid state with slow fire and cut the colloid substance into cubes. Add some condiments like vinegar, green Chinese onion and ginger to be stirred with the scales when eating. More information, please click to read Endothelium Corneum Gigeriae Galli (Jineijin).
2. Jinzhen mushroom
It is also called "Jingn" and "Pugu" in Chinese. The mushroom has a long and thin stipe with light yellow color. Accordingly, "Jinzhen" (golden needle) is used to describe it. Jinzhen mushroom is tender in quality, rich in nutrition, high in protein, low in fat and abundant in sugar. It also contains rich trace elements like calcium, iron and phosphorus and vitamin. The lysine and arginine containing in amino acid have the function of improving memory and developing intelligence. Therefore it is called "intelligence-improving mushroom". Jinzhen mushroom can be parched, stewed and used in cold dishes. The food is slippery, tender and delicious. As a result, Jinzhen mushroom is one of the required food for children'' health care and development of intelligence. More information, please click to read Fructus Hordei Germinatus (Maiya).
3. Edible fungus
Fungus is divided into white fungus and black fungus. Shennong Bencao Jing, or Shennong' s Herbal Classic, claims that "it benefits qi and makes people free from hunger, strengthens health and improves intelligence." The main nutritious constituents it contains include protein, lipid, sugar, calcium, phosphorus, iron, carotin, vitamin B1, vitamin B2, nicotinic acid, lecithin, cephalin, sphingomyelin, sterol and so on, of which unsaturated fatty acid like lecithin, vitamin, inorganic elements are the main constituents to strengthen health and benefit intelligence. It is better for children to eat white fungus. More information, please click to read Fructus Crataegi (Shanzha).
4. Oyster
Its shell is used when oyster is used as a drug; its meat is used when oyster is used as a food. Every 100g of the dry meat contains 63.5g of glycogen, 1.3g of various amino acids, as well as vitamin A, vitamin B1, vitamin B2, vitamin D, linolenic acid, linoleic acid, sterol, etc. In particular, oyster contains extremely rich trace elements (copper, zinc, manganese, barium, phosphorus, calcium, iodine, etc.), reaching up to 17.6g/100g. Besides, it also contains 1.3 % of taurine and extremely rich glutathione. More information, please click to read Massa Medicata Fermentata (Shenqu).
The method of eating oyster: wash it clean and put it into a pot with boiling water for a little while. Then scoop it up from the pot. The oyster may be parched with eggs, or cook soup, or be used in cold dishes after ginger is added.
5. Beef
As a food, beef makes people strong. It is most suitable for all children with weak physique and retarded development of intelligence.
Every 100g of beef contains 20.1g of protein, 10.2g of fat, 7 mg of calcium, 170mg of phosphorus, 0.9g of iron, 0.07mg of vitamin B1, 0.15mg of vitamin B2 and 6 mg of nicotinic acid. Of these constituents, protein is the main tonic element. The types of protein constituting beef are various. The composition is reasonable, and it is the complete protein food. Beef is the traditional food to benefiting intelligence. It was believed in ancient times that the heart of cattle had the best function. Click here to read TCM Diagnosis for Infant Epidemic Parotitis.
6. Soybean
Soybean has intelligence-benefiting, anti-ageing and cosmetological actions. TCM classics carry that regular ingestion of soybean "makes people strong, complexion ruddy, permanently free from wan and sallow complexion". Generally speaking, people eat yellow soybean at ordinary times. They eat black less soybean. However, black bean is used more as a drug. In some aspects, black soybean surpasses yellow soybean in making people strong and benefiting intelligence. More information, please click to read Radix et Rhizoma Rhei (Dahuang).
The protein containing in soybean is abundant in quantity and good in quality. The composition of protein is similar to the requirement of the human body, and the composition proportion is similar to animal protein. The amino acid in soybean differs from that of cereal. For example, the lysine scanty in cereal is ample in soybean. Accordingly, children should be advocated to eat rice mixed with soybean or flour mixed with soybean in which the items complement each other.
Soybean fat has the richest linolenic acid. Besides, it also contains 1.64 % lecithin. These are of significant importance for the development of children's brain and nervous system. Soybean has a high content of iron and is easy to be digested and absorbed. It is the suitable intelligence benefiting food for children with anemia. It is more suitable for children to eat when soybean is made into bean curd because the addition of bittern or gypsum increases the content of inorganic elements such as calcium and magnesium. More information, please click to read Fructus Cannabis (Huomaren).
There are many methods to eat soybeans. The bean products include delicate bean curd, tough bean curd, dried bean curd, sheets of bean curd, fermented bean curd, dried bean milk cream in tight rolls, fried bean curd, soya-bean milk, bean sprouts, jellied bean curd, etc. No matter what eating methods are used, bean products should be eaten after they are fully cooked. Otherwise, diarrhea would occur. This is because there exists an anti-trypsin factor in beans which inhibits the digestive function of trypsin to make it difficult for the protein in beans to be docomposed. As a result, digestion is affected. After the bean curd product is done, this factor will be destroyed and protein can be absorbed. More information, please click to read Radix Euphorbiae Kansui (Gansui).
7. Honey
The chief constituents of honey are fructose, glucose, cane sugar, maltose, protein, amino acid as well as enzymes like invertase, reductase, oxidase, catalase and amylase, organic acids, acetylcholine, vitamins A, B1, B2, B6, C, D and K, nicotinic acid, pantothenic acid, folic acid and biotin, trace elements like copper, iron, magnesium and nickel. Honey is a good natural intelligence-benefiting product viewed from the five major nutrients of intelligence-benefiting diet.
The food honey may be drunk by watering it with boiled water or in the form of various beverages. It is the best for children and juveniles not to eat royal jelly, bee milk and their products. These things contain more hormones constituents, of which gonadotropic hormone may result in children's sexual prematurity. Therefore, they are not advisably eaten.
The children's spleen and stomach are not fully developed and they cannot regulate their diet by themselves. Slightly improper feeding may impair the spleen and stomach, affecting the growth and development. Therefore, the children's feeding should aim at protecting the spleen and stomach. Light diet should be selected. This is the principle. The stool should be instantly observed to find out the state of digestion and absorption. Modern children should prevent hypernutrition and regulate the diet accordingly. Namely, "The children should endure thirty percent starvation, be only seventy percent full and knead the belly frequently." More information, please click to read Aloe (Luhui).