A 7 Day MIND Diet Plan to Boost and Improve Your Child's Brain Health

For your child to flourish and live a healthy and productive life, you need to ensure that they are healthy physically, mentally, and emotionally. Several health aspects determine the proper growth and development of your child. One key aspect is their diet which is why we offer quality food catering for children in Calgary.

Believe it or not, your child’s diet also affects their brain health. Many times, emphasis has been put on heart health, forgetting that brain health is just as crucial as it determines how your child, plays, learns, interacts, coordinates, and even grows.

As food caterers in Calgary, we love to emphasize brain health, and therefore we structure our menu and meal plan based on the healthy MIND diet plan.

So, what is a MIND diet plan? Let’s look at what this diet plan involves and how it could improve and transform the quality of your child’s life and future .

What Is a MIND Diet Plan?

In a nutshell, MIND is an abbreviation for Mediterranean-Dash Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay.

Essentially it focuses on combining or fusing both the Mediterranean and Dash diet plans that are both well-known and ranked as among the best healthy diet plans currently.

The Mediterranean diet is derived from the Mediterranean parts of the world, specifically during the 1960 era when individuals in this part of the world were recorded to have long life spans. On the other hand, the Dash diet was designed and developed explicitly to treat high blood pressure.

The primary purpose of the MIND diet plan is to sustain and maintain your child’s brain development throughout the various growth stages and prevent or delay the occurrence of any future degenerative issues that may affect their brain health.

The healthy MIND diet plan utilizes mainly essential oils such as olive oil, plenty of fruits and vegetables, nuts, chicken, and an assortment of whole grains. It’s also important to note that this diet plan is a low sodium intake diet plan.

What Should Your Child Eat Based on the MIND Diet Plan?

According to the MIND diet plan, your child’s weekly food intake should revolve around the following food items:

• An assortment of nuts served at least five times a week
• Berries – your child should have a minimum of two servings of berries per week
• Green leafy vegetables; not less than six servings per week
• Poultry at least twice a week
• Fish served at least once a week
• Olive oil
• Whole grains served three times every day
• Beans and legumes three times a week
• Vegetables – one serving per day
• Grapefruit juice rich in antioxidants

It is also recommended that you cut back your child’s red meat consumption to under four times per week. You should also ensure that they consume less than a tablespoon of butter or margarine daily and have less than five servings of sweets or pastries every week.

Fast food should be limited to once a week and cheese to one serving per week.

Our food catering for children in Calgary is structured on this diet plan, focusing on utilizing whole grains, nuts, beans and legumes, fresh and organic fruits and vegetables, and toxicity-free chicken and fish.

A 7 Day Sample Menu of the MIND Diet Plan

Here is a sample menu of what your child’s week will look like if you opt for this diet plan:
 

Monday

• Breakfast: oatmeal with berries and some almonds
• Lunch: whole grain pasta with tomato pasta sauce and spinach
• Snack: apple slices and whole-grain crackers
• Dinner: white fish with brown rice and a cup of veggies and grape juice

Tuesday

• Breakfast: plain Greek yogurt and oatmeal pancakes
• Lunch: dark green salad with olive oil and lemon dressing and ½ a cup of chickpeas
• Snack: dried fruit and nuts and whole-grain crackers
• Dinner: chicken served with sautéed snap peas, a dark green salad, and grape juice

Wednesday

• Breakfast: whole-wheat toast with peanut butter some sliced bananas
• Lunch: lentil and kale soup with some whole wheat bread and some fresh fruit
• Snack: blueberries and walnuts
• Dinner: pork tenderloin served with some whole wheat couscous, asparagus, and some grape juice

Thursday

• Breakfast: chocolate blueberry smoothie whole wheat toast
• Lunch: creamy zucchini noodles and lentil sauce
• Snack: whole wheat bread with peanut butter and banana slices
• Dinner: chicken, quinoa, and a Greek salad with some grape juice

Friday

• Breakfast: 2 scrambled eggs, whole-wheat toast, and ½ a cup of berries
• Lunch: a kale salad with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, some beans, and pecans
• Snack: cheese and whole-grain crackers
• Dinner: lentil whole wheat tacos, some fresh fruit, and grape juice

Saturday

• Breakfast: a slice of whole-wheat French toast and some apple slices and berries
• Lunch: whole grain pasta with a tomato sauce and dark green salad
• Snack: dried fruit and some roasted nuts
• Dinner: a beef burger served with some sweet potato wedges and grape juice

Sunday

• Breakfast: oatmeal and berry pancake with some plain Greek yogurt
• Lunch: a lentil and kale salad with some cherry tomatoes, almonds, and lemon vinaigrette
• Snack: a boiled egg and some whole-grain crackers
• Dinner: white fish served with brown rice, steamed vegetables, and grape juice

 
Contact us today at Fueling Minds for food catering for children in Calgary.