10 Easy Ways to Increase Your Vitamins Without Taking a Supplement

You may have read in my Kids Need Vitamins post that the NHS recommend all young children take a vitamin supplement, which you could get for free with a Healthy Start Card.

But by following these simple steps you can also maximise the amount of vitamins and minerals you get from your food and help support your child’s optimal growth and development.  

A drizzle of oil and a squeeze of lemon

1.  A squeeze of lemon on your green leafy veg

Adding vitamin C from lemon or juice to your spinach, greens, kale, lettuce, rocket, salad etc. aids in the absorption of Iron. Especially important if your child doesn’t eat red meat. Iron deficiency symptoms – pale skin, irritable and fussy, lack energy, tire easily.  

2. Add butter or olive oil to your vegetables

By adding fat to your veg, you absorb more of the fat soluble vitamins – A, D, E and K. So, dress salad with olive oil, put a knob of butter on cooked vegetables or a dollop of natural yoghurt in soup.

3. Scrub, don’t peel

Most of the time there’s no need to peel fruit like apples, pears and plums and vegetables including potatoes, parsnips and carrots. In fact, doing so may remove the best part! As most of the vitamins and minerals lie just below the surface, and the skin contains lots of soluble fibre to aid digestion.

In fact, an apple with skin contains  300% more vitamin K, 100% more vitamin A, 100% more vitamin C, 20% more calcium, than a peeled apple.

Similarly, a potato with skin can contain up to 175% more vitamin C, 100% more folate, and 100% more magnesium and phosphorus than a peeled one.

So get your child used to eating the skin, and buy a good scrubbing brush instead!

Vitamin D Rich Foods

4) Get some sunlight

We get 90% of our vitamin D from sunlight. Through the summer months, make sure your child gets 15 minutes of morning sunlight BEFORE you slap on the sunscreen. Increase foods that contain vitamin D – mushrooms, fatty fish, egg yolk, cheese and butter.

FUN FACT – if you put your mushrooms gill side up in the sunshine for 30 minutes, they will absorb vitamin D just like our skin does!

In the autumn and winter months when there is little sunshine, all children should take 10mcg vitamin D supplement as recommended.

5) Steam rather than boil

Steaming vegetables results in a more nutritious food, because fewer nutrients are leached away into the water.

6) Juice with breakfast

Including a small glass (50-100ml) of fresh orange juice (high in vitamin C) with your child’s breakfast cereal will increase the amount of iron absorbed. Always water juice down to reduce sugar. Alternatively, adding fruit to porridge with do the same thing.

7) Cook meat on the bone

When cooking a stew or roast, make sure you use meat on the bone. The minerals from the bones leach into the stew making it extra nutritious and tasty. In fact, bone broth is fantastically nourishing. In the past we all used to eat every part of the animal, but now it’s so easy to just buy the meaty parts of an animal and miss out on all the goodness. I understand that kids don’t want to eat some of the more gory bits, but even a chicken thigh is better than a breast.

8) Cook your Carrots

Beta carotene (the orange pigment in carrots that makes vitamin A) is more available to the body when cooked. Other vegetables that are more nutritious when cooked include – tomatoes, broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables like Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, kale and cabbage. Back to point 2, remember to serve with a little butter or olive oil.

9) Chew your food thoroughly

Making sure your child chews their food thoroughly aids in digestion, so they’ll end up absorbing more nutrients.

10) Unrefined sugar sources

Try unprocessed sources of sugar to bake with as they are high in mineral content. For example use molasses, dried fruit, honey or maple syrup instead of your regular caster or granulated sugar. Even better, try using sweet fruit and vegetables. Banana loaf is the obvious one to think of, but sweet potato makes chocolate brownies really moist and squidgy, and a parsnip is a lovely addition or substitute in a carrot cake.

Kids love a science experiment

Finally, have you ever sprouted beans? It’s super easy and a fun experiment to do at home. Sprouting, makes beans a powerhouse of vitamins - here's how!