Formula is at home

If you are a parent who have kid/kids below 15 years, if you are confused what to feed them, how to feed and when to feed, if you are scared of nutrition deficit and want to know what's good for your baby, you should definitely read " Notes for healthy kids" by Rujutha Diwekar.

Why this book?

What if all the answer for your question is at home and what if you don't have to spend lots of money and time to make sure your kid is eating something? Then this book is gold! actually more than gold... It is priceless! Because 'formula is at home'.

Rujutha diwekar is one of the India's top most nutritionists. What attracts me the most towards her work is her philosophies like "think local, act global", "eat local, think global", "local.seasonal.traditional", and it is endless quotes of supporting local small framers to small businesses. I love when a well learned nutritionist tells us to eat rice at night and tells us that we can loose weight by having three course meal and above all, tells us that what our mothers prepare at home is a deit in itself! Yes, Rujutha is one among them. So that justifies my title "formula is at home".

I will tell you the story how i discovered her. I am a big fan of kareena kapoor, in 'Jab We Met' she was zero size and I was astonished how one can reduce in the size and still be happy?! If you take food away from me, I will be a monster for sure. So I started to research who's Kareen's dietician? It was none other than Rujutha Diwekar and later found that she gives rice for dinner as a diet! That was "Love at first diet 💓 ". I was truly intrigued by her methodology and started to learn more about her philosophy. I also read her book "pregnancy notes". She tells you to have home-cooked food and suggests good local food according to the season and everything based on the science of nutrition. Now won't you agree "formula is at home"?

Now coming back to the book, 'Notes for healthy kids'

is not only a book it is notes to which I will keep go back and forth. My kid is 1.6 years young and ever since I introduced him to solids my mother guided me well. She gave him good food and made my baby relish the goodness of food. My son's relationship with food is pretty good since then (touchwood). But what made me read this book is my worry about screen time and also the fear of biscuits! Whatever or whoever might have led him to this habit there is only his mother to be blamed. I don't mind taking the blame, but once I take it I want the solution, hence this book.

10 pointers About the book:

1.She talks about the basics of food and nutrition which she calls basic 'fundas'.

2. She gives notes to parents as well as kids. So you can also ask your kid (obviously a school-going kid) to read chapters that are made for them, enables them develop a reading habit, and learn on their own.

3. The book breaks so many myths about milk, dal, and vegetables. That means there are alternatives for these at home.

4. The book has special notes, anectodes and incidents that keeps you interested and also helps you learn.

5. It gives insights not only on the food but also about sports, activites, lifestyle ( which helps both parents and kids stay away from screens) . All the above aspects are not only for kids but also for parents. Hence incorporating the idea, kids do what we do, they don't do what we say.

6. The emphasises on local food and seasonal food (fruits, vegetables, pluses, cereals etc) not making diet/ nutrition expensive or not affordable instead makes it easy, happy and healthy ( both on tummy and wallet).

7. She gives three important foods for every age group ( 0- 2 yrs, 2-5 yrs, 5-8 yrs, 8-12 yrs 12-15 yrs) and tells you how to prepare, how to feed and when to feed. In this age of dieticians suggesting sprouts, raw vegetables, exotic fruits and what not?! she breaks the "rules" just by the simplicity of recipes found by our grandmothers!

8. The very basic questions mothers of this age and time have are answered here. How does my kid get calcium, protein and other vitamins. ( spoil alter: ragi and drumsticks/ moringa/ nuggekai are the rich source of calcium! After reading this fact my eyes teared up out of happiness and joy. Couldn't resist but share this with you).

9. Every chapter tells the extreme conditions faced due to the exposure of our kids to technology, packaged food and not having an active lifestyle! Yes when I read about these health issues/ NCDs (non communicable diseases) I was scared like hell. But it pushed me more to avoid my kid from screen time and packaged food to a large extent.

10. The worth is in every chapter, especially for school-going kids and at the end, she has given summarised notes on foods that should be eaten daily, weekly, and monthly.

My review:

The book is a 10/10, I believe knowledge is power. If I want to learn about something let me learn from a resourceful person who has spent their time to master the topic. If you want to be a smart parent this book will take you a step ahead. Yes of course an elderly in your home like a grandmother or your mother who has learned from your grandmom is the best resource of all, But a little touch of modern-day science of nutrition is what you miss out on, which is covered in this book. I am not someone who blindly follows anything that I learn, I try to apply my instincts to it and a motherly instinct is the strongest one! So even after gaining knowledge from this book I may not follow ditto but have it in the back of my mind and apply it whenever necessary. Finally what I would suggest to any of us parents is that, in this age of technology better read such books (I mean real hard bind and paperback books, not ebooks!) rather than spending time scrolling on our phones, then we can say less to our kids " Do what I say. Don't do what I do".

Finally, the reason behind my title is when I delivered my baby from the very beginning up to 4 to 5 days after his birth he was fed with formula along with my feeding. Breastfeeding is everything and anything that a baby needs for the first 6 months of his birth but we will be convinced to feed them with formula letting us into the fear of "baby will not be full". Also, pediatricians nowadays are against cow milk. All these confusions have been put to an end in this book. So let's prepare "formula which is at home" and see a beautiful generation bloom into wonderful flowers.

Link to purchase book:

Notes for Healthy Kids https://amzn.eu/d/02kfNje

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Lots of love,

Deeksha