The Importance of Organic and Additive-Free Nutrition for Your Baby

Healthy nutrition for children from the first months of life is a very important topic that many parents are not aware of, but every day there are more studies confirming a direct connection between baby’s nutrition and health problems that appear in adulthood.

Our goal is to raise awareness among these moms and dads about the relationship between infant nutrition and a long life free of health problems. For this reason, at Smileat we work hard to offer you only quality products, born from the study and search for the best ingredients and the best seasonal organic raw materials.

We want to give you an organic infant feeding alternative from the start of complementary feeding. There are many topics we could cover in this post, but we will focus on the ingredients that should NEVER be in a baby’s diet.

The main ingredients we should reject, and unfortunately are present in most baby products, are added salt and sugar.

Salt should not be consumed by a baby, at least during the first 12 months of life. Besides being harmful to little kidneys, salt can increase the risk of weight control problems, hypertension, and blood circulation issues. After 12 months, a very small amount could be used during meal preparation for little ones, but at Smileat we recommend that you DO NOT do this. Vegetables and meat already contain salt, which is enough for the body; they don’t need more. Don’t worry if you think you’re giving something bland; if they have never tasted salt, they won’t miss it.

On the other hand, added sugars are harmful to babies’ health, as they can lead to the formation of fat clusters that will be very difficult to eliminate in later stages of life. For all these reasons, pediatricians and infant nutritionists recommend that during the first stage of complementary feeding only foods containing natural sugars from fruits and vegetables be introduced.

The sugars contained in these foods are much less dense than industrial sugars, so blood sugar levels will rise less. Also, unlike foods with industrial sugars, fruits and vegetables are rich in fiber which helps regulate blood sugar spikes. Of course, experts recommend eating products made with natural fruits and not those produced from fruit concentrates.

For this reason, all Smileat baby purees are made only with fresh, organic, seasonal raw materials. Besides added sugar and salt, many baby foods also contain corn starch, which gives the product a homogeneous texture.

But have you ever wondered if this ingredient is good for little ones? Considering that babies’ digestive systems are still developing during the first months of life, it will be very difficult for their small stomachs to digest such a complex compound.

Moreover, starch is a reserve carbohydrate that will be broken down into simple sugars by the digestive system and provides no nutritional benefit. For this reason, we do not add starches to our organic baby purees, made only with the best seasonal raw materials and NOTHING ELSE.

Vegetable oils, such as palm oil, are another ingredient that should not be found in baby foods. At Smileat, we ONLY use organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Why? Extra virgin olive oil is rich in oleic acid, a component beneficial for the health of both adults and children. It supports proper vasodilation and helps lower blood pressure. It also contains Vitamin E, which along with other phenolic compounds, provides greater protection against DNA oxidation, thus preventing the formation of free radicals. Free radicals are linked to the development of various diseases such as diabetes, Alzheimer’s, atherosclerosis, cancer… ⠀

Another very important point to highlight is the use of 100% organic raw materials. This topic deserves a dedicated post, which we will publish in a few days, but here are some questions to consider:

• Do you know how many pesticides and contaminants are in the fruits and vegetables we eat?
• Do you buy organic fruits and vegetables to prepare your baby’s food at home?⠀
• Why do we use organic fruit, vegetables, meat, and fish for our Smileat jars? Organic farming does not allow the use of synthetic chemicals (neither for fertilization nor pest control). This way, we get healthier foods with higher nutritional quality, free of chemical substances, and of course, produced through sustainable methods.⠀

By using exclusively organic ingredients, we ensure that our products are 100% FREE of synthetic chemical substances (neither from origin nor processing). These, among many other factors, are what we consider when developing our products. All of them are made exclusively with the best raw materials from certified organic farming, without added salts or sugars, without starches, without thickeners...

Also, as many of you know, we offer options for little ones with intolerances or allergies. Products WITHOUT gluten, WITHOUT egg, WITHOUT cow’s milk protein. If you haven’t discovered them yet, check out our organic baby purees on our website, which stand out for their quality and properties, as well as their incredible homemade texture, making them almost as delicious as the ones you make yourself at home.