Parents Protein? Vitamins?

[3LittleGymmies]

I am just beginning to research this, so I would love to benefit from the knowledge of those of you who know more about this than me. Do athletes, even child athletics, need 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight, per day? Is it really more or less? This is what I have been reading, and I have been trying to get my daughter's intake up (she is very into eating healthily, so that helps!).. but it's hard! My daughter is almost 60 pounds, so that would be 60 grams.. which sounds like a lot. We can get there, or close, but we have to be super intentional about what she is eating. We try to do eggs, chicken, milk, deli meat, protein bars, granola w/ nuts, greek yogurt, etc. It gets tricky with limited time in the morning, her being at school for lunch, and rushing all night because of practice. She does get to bring a snack to gym (no peanut butter though, so that kind of limits the types of protein-filled snacks we can send that are easy and fast to eat) and she eats a protein-filled snack on the way there, but doesn't like to eat dinner before practice (so when she does eat, it's about 9:00). Is there ANY protein powder/shake that is "okay" for child athletes to have? I am just thinking that it would be a good way to get protein in her really quickly when we're rushing around. I am not sure if any of them taste good, and I am sure that some have ingredients that aren't that great.. but maybe there is something out there that has "good" ingredients and I just don't know what it is. I am not worried about building MORE muscle more quickly or anything (she is already as hard as a rock!), I just want to make sure that her body has what it needs to recover, keep doing what it does, etc.

Also, do you give your gymnast any vitamins (other than a multi-vitamin) due to the extra wear and tear they put on their body.. bones, muscles, etc?

 

[kaloss]

Have you tried pediasure? They're pricey but the kids ones have added protein (more than the toddler ones)

 

[kandkfunk]

I know that several parents on here have commented on different threads about giving their kids chocolate milk as a recovery/protein drink. I saw a brand at my local store (Safeway) that had 30% more protein added. My kids hate milk (even chocolate milk) so that wasn't an option for us.

 

[ollieblueeyes]

My pediatrician has told me adult protein powders are a big no-no for children. She said it was too concentrated for them to process. I have a 72 lb 12 yr old that I push protien at non-stop. She likes homemade smoothie with full fat yogurt bananas and natural peanut butter. Also like egg whites and protien bars.

She tiring if these things so I will be watching this thread closely!

 

[wallinbl]

Lots of milk & chicken!

Also, do you give your gymnast any vitamins (other than a multi-vitamin) due to the extra wear and tear they put on their body.. bones, muscles, etc?

Just a multivitamin and fish oil.
Lots of milk & chicken!
Lots of milk & chicken!

 

[Uglybetty]

Stick no natural proteins if you can. My DD also hates milkshakes.

Eggs contain 6g each in the whites. DD sometimes has them scrambled for breakfast and usually has a boiled one in the magic 30 mins post exercise. Yogurt is another good source.

 

[skschlag]

I am learning that by letting my ds listen to his body, he is making the choices he needs to recover and build. It is amazing to me what they do. I keep the house stocked with the good foods for everyone. I will see him, sometimes after practice, grab a yogurt, hard boiled egg, and banana. the next day, it might be crackers and hummus. Sometimes, he really just wants carbs! (and sometimes, he wants a candy bar! )

I think what you are doign is great, and she is going to start making choices as her body is telling her what she needs! (and I have to let it be that candy bar sometimes )

 

[GymMom&Coach]

Im a coach and my DD is a level 3 (she is 6 years old) When I train the girls harder in the uptraining season, I usually put her on a paleo diet (not to strict though, I like her to have oatmeal for one snack and homemade granola bars, and wheat crackers with hummus, or baked potatoes...
Once comp season hits, so does the holidays, so we are more relaxed on the meal planning, but I still try and keep it healthy. Smoothies are a every day thing (with fruits, veggies (carrot, spinach, avocado, cucumber...) greek yogurt, raw egg (from our chickens), almonds.

 

[MaryA]

I recently bought this book... http://www.amazon.com/Feeding-Young...099&sr=8-1&keywords=feeding+the+young+athlete
It is written for both parents and kids (I'd say maybe kids 10 and up, but possibly younger if they are good readers and interested in the subject). It talks a lot about eating whole foods (and what that means), what you should be eating on a daily basis while you're training (and how that differs from what you should be eating in the "off-season." I do not know this word... "off-season" but it sounds like I might like it. ), what you should eat the day before a "game", 3 hours before, 1 hour before, during, after, etc. It has a recipe section in the back. I haven't spent a ton of time reading it yet, but it seems like it has some good stuff on it. I'm trying to convince DD to do her end-of-year project on this topic. I think that middle school kids in her class would be interested in learning about how eating affects how well they perform in sports. But I don't think she's buying it as a presentation topic. She usually chooses some sort of creepy crawly creature for her topic. Last year it was "The Spiders Around Us" and I spent lots of time holding water glasses over spiders and yelling, "honey! I got one!" Sports nutrition might be a nice change. Right up there with "off-season."

 

[emorymom]

We keep Bluebonnet Whey Protein Isolate around because DH uses it in his smoothies. I will put some in DD's smoothies (just turned 10, 5', 90#) and have for some time, and was unaware of a problem. I'll use maybe a third of a scoop so that's about 9 grams of protein. Any more than that, and the stevia taste is too strong. The peanut butter chocolate Kind bars are 7g protein. I serve eggs a lot in the morning and often put various cheeses (cheddar, string, cottage) in her snack bag. She swims about 6 hours a week and does gym 6 to about 8 hours a week.

 

[Gymdaddio]

I think that's more protein than you need. FDA recommends about .36g/lb. For athletes, I normally see recommendations of .63g/lb to .9g/lb. A chicken breast before bed is good to feed the muscles through the night. I believe caseine protein is slow release and good for night, but someone above said powders not recommended for kids.

 

[JoyAvenueMom]

My sister-in-law is a registered dietitian and specializes in clinical pediatric nutrition. She recommended milk as a recovery drink as well, best within a short time after working out. She referenced a recent study that showed increase in muscle tissue when done regularly. I also give Kipper Isagenix shakes on occasion. They do not use artificial sweetners at all, and do not contain "extra" protein. LOTS of vitamins and probiotics. She gets half the adult size. They are pricey, so I don't do it often, but Kipper loves them and swears they helped her conquer the dreaded front hip circle.

 

[BlairBob]

There are many that would state that no ergogenics before puberty or until their teens. That means no protein powders, supplements of any kind like Creatine ( very common in HS football program ). I know someone who runs a Supplement company and even though he is a big Powerlifter besides trainer he is pretty adamant about that it's just an alternative to food most of the time that can be convenient ( in regards to protein powder instead of something like branched chain amino acids, creatine, L-Citrulline, HMB, etc )

Ideally they should get all their bases covered via whole foods rather than supplements.

As for powders for not being digestible...what do you think baby formula is? Derr. It's generally whey or soy protein.

Whey is very digestible for most people unless they don't like the taste or cannot process milk proteins. Lactose is sometimes an issue but a good isolate/hydrosalate solves this most of the time. Some people cannot digest casein or egg protein either which really limits your options. Yes, you can get something like pea, hemp, beef, potato, etc as well.

FDA is pretty low. General recommendations you see for athletes are 3/4g per lb of lean mass to 1.5g per lb of LBM ( 2.7g/kg ). Bodybuilders are known to use extremely high ratios but this tends to be bro-science and it seems you are risking liver function above that 2.7g/kg of LBM.

Many don't taste good to children. I might think they taste good but kids won't touch them. Some kids don't care if you tell they will get strong like bear though.

Whey+Orange Juice can taste like Orange Julius's though and it tastes pretty good. Ideally I'd find a protein powder without sweetners and artificial stuff. You can just order Whey in bulk like I prefer but it tastes pretty bleh. Chocolate almost always tastes better than Vanilla which sometimes isn't strong enough and so it tastes like Vanilla flavored chalk.

 

[leotardmakermum]

Not all protein is equal. Some are harder for the body to extract what they need from. 6g of protein from one source is not necessarily equal to 6g of protein from another source.

 

[BlairBob]

Except that whey protein is more bioavailable than egg protein which is the standard. And absorbs three times as fast as egg protein and just a little less than 3x than milk which is whey and casein.

Amino acid profiles or proteins vary, yes. Spirulina doesnt hold a candle to whey or egg or soy but is still considered a complete protein. Hemp is the same way and potato is the same. Rice and pea are equal to whey when combined.

 

[wallinbl]

If you're interested in protein powders, there are some available that are unflavored whey isolates with no artificial ingredients. Essentially, it's milk protein in a powder. It has a slight hint of milk flavor, and if you mix it into milk, there's no discernible difference in taste. It also works in OJ, though in a lower quantity.

I get a lot of the arguments against supplementing kids, especially with many of the products in "nutrition" stores, which can often be mostly gimmick. A partial scoop of a whey isolate isn't going to harm a child athlete, and will be digestible (it's milk protein, something they're already consuming).

 

[ollieblueeyes]

Interesting. My husband didn't agree with the dr. She recommended pediasure and we both agreed no way, to much sugar and junk! We basically just tried to served calorie dense foods (eggs, meat, cheese, yogurt) and hoped for the best. She is on medication that kills appetite from bfast until after dinner and trains about 16hrs a week. She's not growing or gaining and i don't like it. She also seems to catch every bug that passes thru. I think a trip to Whole Foods is in order.

 

[Iwannabemargo]

Just remember that whole foods are significantly harder to digest and a lot of the calories contained in them pass through undigested (hence the success of the F plan diet). P&F had to go the paediatrician as a small child as she was not gaining weight and I was told full fat milk and meat, as much as she will eat and then anything else is fine too - just get the calories in. Mind you I make everything fresh from scratch anyway. But good "normal" food was the way to go. In the end she is now average weight, although looks skinny as its all muscle.

 

[l.c.o]

From what I remember as a biology major, the general rule of thumb is to divide the kid's weight in half, and that's a decent guide to how many grams of protein they require. But this depends on age. I think it's slightly less as they get bigger, and adults and kids over 15 or so need like 35(ish)% I think.

My DD is a child. She's smallish for her age and weighs ~60 pounds. She does NOT like meat much (though we make her eat it a few times per week). We supplement with Boost High Protein on practice days - it's got something like 12 or 14 grams of protein per 8oz (milk has 8 grams per 8oz). I mentioned it to her doctor beforehand, and while he wasn't thrilled (would prefer the protein coming from a natural food source), he said it was ok. We typically shoot for about 35 grams of protein per day. Our doc agreed that she likely needs a little more than "normal" but emphasized that she doesn't need MUCH more.

Occasionally my DD will eat a protein bar, but am very careful about their ingredients. I'd probably avoid excessive soy (hormonal reasons) or "woman's bars" until after puberty. Maybe even then.

My DD also (usually) takes a daily vitamin + iron. OK so maybe more like 4-5 days per week.

I am near vegetarian myself (I eat enough meat to keep my iron up or I become anemic), so I have a very tough time "forcing" my kids to eat meat or poultry. I pick my battles, and personally, I'd rather "force" the fruits and veggies and supplement on occasion. Some day they'll be adults and need to reason out their diets on their own.

If you're concerned, ask the physician next visit. He/she would probably love to discuss it (ours did).

And on protein powders vs. infant formulas, the proteins in infant formulas are typically more broken down. This is for ease of digestion not just by the stomach but by the other organs, too (like the liver). I'd say play it by ear and be reasonable about it. As an actual supplement and not their primary diet, I think it's probably ok (I say probably as most scientists would say "probably" meaning very likely and in most cases).

I do believe that it's still best to eat the whole, original food source when possible. BUT - when not possible, it's better to supplement than be undernourished, in my limited, nonphysician opinion.

 

[l.c.o]

As a funny aside, my cousin is extremely athletic and has been doing Crossfit for some time. He'd been eating Luna bars (he says one per day as a snack), and didn't realize until a week ago that they're "woman's". He is so not a woman. He said, "No wonder I've been so emotional!" He was joking, of course.

So read labels, lol.