To give my dd Innocent smoothies?

[Dancergirl]

Dd2 is 12 and has dyspraxia and sensory issues which makes eating very difficult for her. She eats no fruit or veg other than a small piece of broccoli and/or apple or cucumber which I insist on but it's difficult for her.

She does like the individual Innocent smoothies so I buy those for her, she might have one or two a day certainly no more.

But then I start to worry about the sugar and how we are supposed to be cutting down on fruit juice etc.

So good or bad in these circumstances? I give her vitamin tablets too btw.

I've a son with the same issues, though he has the smoothies that I make. He has to take loads of supplements as he eats so poorly and they have to be hidden in the smoothies. I hide grated carrot and corgette in burgers and meatballs but it's not nearly enough. Had him at the GP recently as he suffers with faceal impaction mainly due to the poor diet, he told the doc he eats everything and the problem is I don't give it to him, she believed him .

Whats wrong with Innocent smoothies? It doesn't say there are any added sugars on the cartons?

Not sure.... Guessing it's new guidelines or packaging info. ITan gave a thread looking for a family to work with

Can't imagine any 'good' news coming out about sugar. It's on a serious downward spiral right now.

Ken, it's not that there's sugar added, it's just that fruit is already full of sugar and in processed smoothie format its more quickly absorbed into the blood stream (bad for blood sugar levels) and lacking the fibre that whole fruit has. So nutrition is seriously undermined.

OP, in your particular circs though, I see that you feel it's better than nothing at all. Sounds like a difficult situation, you have my sympathy.

What does your DD eat btw?

laurie she eats:

-dry cereal (normally choc chip mini weetabix, I know I know but at least she's getting some nutrients)

-toast/bread with butter

-sandwiches with plain chicken or cheese

-plain roast chicken

-rice, pasta, noodles

-fresh salmon (I bake it in the oven with a little butter)

-pasta with grated cheese, cheese sauce or a little pesto

-occasionally other meats like lamb or beef

-small piece of pizza if not too tomato-y

-macaroni cheese

Been in a similar boat OP. I managed to get some Ella's kitchen pouches (essentially baby food, but had some veg in as well as fruit) and pass them off as smoothies too. Just let them suck it out the pouch. Worked a treat. I'd say smoothie better than nothing!

Sounds tough OP. The only thing i can suggest is trying to get some pureed veg into a cheese sauce/macaroni cheese - but appreciate that wouldn't be easy.

She's not eating a lot of sugar generally, so I'd just go for the smoothies.

She's 12. If she was 2 I would agree that there might be a problem, but at 12, an Innocent Smoothie a day's absolutely fine.

God, your daughter's diet is 10 x better than my child's.

We are down to toast, olive spread, grated cheese, tinned pasta, chips, bananas, French toast, pancakes, yogurts, peanut butter...and smoothies.

I do actually have children who eat properly, I feel the need to state that every time I present the tricky child .

I have a child with SN and sensory processing disorder, he has a real problem with texture, so I know it can be very difficult.

I honestly think it's fine, if you had said she was having 6 a day and that's all she was having, that would be different. But sometimes making it a big deal could cause even more problems, so I think you are doing fine

You have to understand what you are giving her. The process will leave them full of sugar and low in fibre. Additionally lots of the main nutrients are destroyed with chopping/processing. Certain vitamins and minerals don't survive the process so it's not like 'an apple in a carton'. I think regardless of the issues your child has, you are bot doing the good you think you might be with these drinks. I would say one or two a week is more appropriate. But your daughter so your choice.

Cherryblossominspring - while I agree with you in normal circs, I think the OP's situation means that what little nutrition is left in the smoothie is still worth pursuing.

I can't think of a better way to get fruit/veg into the diet - can you?

seems like the best option given the circumstances - I wouldn't sweat it tbh.

I have teenagers that drink smoothie and fruit juice etc - mainly at meal times to be fair - neither has ever had any dental treatment - DS2 is a bit better brusher than DS1 who also has "ishoos" with food - he will eat fruit but it has to be perfect and unblemished and bananas have to be a certain level of firmness - I know the whole "5 a day" thing has been debunked etc but he only gets there via fruit, fruit juice and smoothies - just tuned 15 and almost 6'1 and no fillings and not overweight despite his attempts to be entirely sedentary.

Would she have the little pouches of compote you get? Seems to help dd stay 'regular'

Just an idea, do you think she would eat muffins? You can make them with crushed pineapple or carrot and it might not be noticed as it is still essentially a dry food?

I don't think she would wipe only chocolate muffins

googie amazingly she doesn't seem to have any problems such as constipation and is actually very healthy, rarely ill etc.

But her diet is a constant source of worry for me. In addition she has a tiny appetite.

It's fine - especially as there seems to be so little sugar in the other things she eats.

I have to say I haven't made these, but i googled healthy chocolate muffins and a few options came up, this being one of them:

veggieandthebeastfeast.com/2014/11/13/double-chocolate-black-bean-muffins/

You could make chocolate courgette muffins? Or chocolate beetroot? Or carrot with apple and cinnamon?

Better to make your own with very little fruit but more green veg

Yes, because a "fussy" child is going to drink a green veg smoothie.

It is amazing though how some people are seemingly relatively unaffected by diet. I know anecdotal evidence can be very annoying but my 90-yr old aunt has never knowingly eaten any fruit and veg, in her entire life, and is fit as a fiddle (well, for a 90-yr old ;)). My grandparents seem to eat nothing but Cup-a-Soups, reheated stew and Ski yoghurts, and they're absolutely fine.

they are a huge con. Solid sugar.

Blend up veg or fruit (not both, yuk!) in a ten quid blender for her. That way you know what is going in. Cheaper too!

no need for nutribullet and NEVER buy commercial smoothies.

Why exactly does a smoothie not have fibre? You take the whole fruit and whizz it up, it does not destroy the fibre. It is different from juice, where you are just squeezing the liquid from all the pulp. A smoothie is essentially a thinned fruit puree. A smoothie has just as much fibre as eating the whole fruit.

My DD doesn't really like fruit or vegetables in there regular form and has a number of strange eating problems we have had to work through. We still let her have little pouches of the Ella's Kitchen fruit purees, even though she's 3., she likes that better. We also let her have those Innocent smoothies. I have tried making smoothies myself, but she isn't as interested in them, so I relent and just let her have that as it's better than not drinking.

Something I found that she does like is if I puree fruit, normally I do watermelon, and then I freeze it into ice cubes. When it's frozen I whizz it up and get lovey shaved ice. She really enjoys it and calls it her special slushee.

I also take pureed avocados and add a little honey and a big spoonful of cocoa powder and mix it together. It makes a really rich and delicious dessert.

If you freeze bananas in chunks and then blend it makes a nice frozen banana flavoured "ice cream".

Wow, I'm feeling guilty now for not being inventive, some of these ideas are good. Whether she'll eat/drink them is another story.

Honestly, I would do anything I could to avoid those, especially because of the damage they can do to teeth over the long term.

Keep experimenting with other alternatives, I'm sure there will be something a little better that she will drink.