How to get vitamin k into teen boy

[DifficultProblem2]

Hi,

I wondered if you might know any ways to cook leaves to make them appetising for a teen boy?

We saw a paediatrician who said my son is vitamin K deficient. He has started eating lettuce and found that the "growing" pain in his rapidly growing bones has quickly reduced, but he's finding it a bit of a grind to eat a whole little gem lettuce every day.

My son doesn't eat mixed up things like spaghetti bolognaise but will eat sandwiches.

He generally has wild reactions to supplements so we are reluctant to try one.

I wondered if any of you might have some great ideas about how to make leaves nice?

I attached a screenshot of the foods that have vitamin k in them. From here https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/VitaminK-HealthProfessional/#h3

Did the paediatrician advise a supplement or just to manage it via diet alone? Was the Dr aware of your sons limited diet? Did you ask for a referral to a dietician for advice?

Other than sandwiches, what does he eat? I was going to suggest sang chow bow which uses lettuce leaves as cups, but I assume minced meat is a 'mixed up food' he wouldn't eat?
Does he eat stir fries?
Kale leaves, washed then sprayed with oil then oven baked till crispy. A sprinkle of sesame seeds on top is delicious.
Crispy kalettes https://whippeditup.com/crispy-roasted-kalettes/

I'd say just give him a supplement. Obviously it's going to be hard to get a teen boy to eat loads of veg.

Make a pesto from soya bean oil and pine nuts? Cashews as a snack? Broccoli soup?

@@JC03745 kale sprayed with oil and baked sounds like it might work. We will try that. Do you buy a sprayer and put oil in it, or do you buy the oil in a sprayer?

The paediatrician is a qualified nutritionist in private practice, but was also an NHS paediatrician for 20+ years before. She said we should work on diet first for a few weeks to see if we could sort things that way.

We have to be super-careful with supplements because he often has a bad reaction, but it is usually mild and builds up over a number of weeks until it is intolerable. The reaction can be behavioural or mood change, so it can really be difficult. He's already out of school with anxiety so we really don't want to do anything risky.

@MollyRover how do you make pesto from soya bean oil and pine nuts? That sounds nice. Would it be dairy free. He is off dairy and wheat.

Its not just about the vitamin K content it's how much is in a serving and bio-available.

Pesto made with spinach/broccoli/kale would be a good shout. Just blitz the leaves with oil and garlic/salt + pepper in a blender or mash by hand.

Don't add any dairy, and serve on meat/fish/tofu/ as a dressing, or on wheat-free pasta or noodles

@OMGsamesame that sounds lovely, but DS doesn't eat sauces unfortunatly. I just asked.

Also kale is too crinkly apparently. This is going to be tricky I think.

What does he like to eat and then we can suggest things.

Would he eat raw baby spinach or the spinach/rocket/watercress salad you get in bags? Could you put small amounts into his sandwiches?

Smoothies?

This is the type of spray oil I use to crisp up kale and kalettes. You can buy other brands, other oils too though.

Maybe toddler recipes where greens are hidden in food? I've made brownies with grated courgettes inside.

I agree- what DOES he eat? We might suggest adaptions to those.

I thought edamane beans were soya beans, but anway, I'd look at snacking on those - plain or with flavors, hot, cold, roasted.
And a glass of pomegranate juice?
A handful of blueberries.

I just remembered a sandwich boots used to sell-
Houmous, grated carrot and rocket. Simple, but delicious 😋

You can get vitamin K sprays. Would he accept that?
https://betteryou.com/collections/vitamin-k-supplements/products/vitamin-d-k2-kids-oral-spray

https://betteryou.com/collections/vitamin-k-supplements/products/vitamin-k2-oral-spray

Thank you for all the suggestions. I think we might think about the kale crisps. That sounds like something we could work on. I think that's probably enough for us to work on here.

I see grapes on the list, does he eat those?
My preteen loved frozen grapes and still has a handful as a teenager with his other snacks. (He or I cut them in half before freezing)
No advice on leaves, but it is another little thing to add variety.

Replace the olive oil with soya oil. Kale instead of basil. You can leave the Parmesan out?

You can make pesto from anything, you just need either a grinder or pestle and mortar. Put whatever herbs and leaves you want to use ally's some oil, grind, add seasoning (eg garlic, salt, pepper) and grind until desired consistency, add a little more oil, pine nuts. You can also add sundried tomatoes, roasted peppers, artichoke, kale works well.

You can add it to pasta made from rice flour to make it green rather than as a sauce

Would he drink a smoothie? Cashews and blueberries are a good combination. As are blueberries and spinach though you may want to add a drop of food colour

Black kale is far less crinkly than curly kale. And is slightly higher in vit K.

https://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/pasta/super-green-spaghetti/

DS says he's thought about it and lettuce is the way forward. Thanks for this helpful discussion.

I keep frozen kale in the freezer. Break it up and stir in pasta sauces and sprinkle on pizza when out of the oven. It doesn't taste.

A nutritionist isn't the best person to ask though. I believe a dietician is more of an expert.

Will he drink smoothies. This one is based on tomato juice and is spicy so the greens aren't noticeable but you could adjust the chilli. 1 a day would give a good way to get some greens into him nutritionfacts.org/video/dr-greger-in-the-kitchen-my-new-favorite-beverage/

does he like cottage pie?
A bit of turnip in the mash and a bit of spinach in the base
Also spinach through curries

These are in Lidl at the moment, otherwise I think sainsburys sell them. Crispy and yummy IMO.

www.lidl.co.uk/p/nori-snack/p10020104?pageId=10058701&tabCode=Current_Sales_Week