The profound significance of spirulina powder for children’s health
Children and adolescents are in the stage of rapid growth, must continue to take in a variety of essential nutrients to the outside world, repair old tissues, the proliferation of new tissues, especially as the body’s “building materials” protein as the composition of physiological regulatory substances of various vitamins and as the composition of body tissues and maintain normal physiological functions of the essential inorganic salts and trace elements. These are the material basis of the child’s growth and development, to ensure that the process of assimilation exceeds the process of alienation, so that full development can be achieved.
Spirulina contains relatively comprehensive nutrients suitable for children’s growth and development, and spirulina cell membrane is thin, no cellulose, so it is easy to digest and absorb, suitable for children’s digestive organs are not very perfect, digestion and absorption is not as good as adults. In the overall nutrition of children, spirulina has the following characteristics.
The protein content of spirulina is as high as 70%, the amino acid content is relatively high, and the 8 (or 9) essential amino acids are complete. Its composition is very close to the 8 essential amino acid composition standards formulated by the Protein Advisory Group of the World Health Organization and the World Food and Agriculture Organization for preschool children’s food in 1985, and it can be called a high-quality natural food with high protein. Just the material basis for children to grow up.
Secondly, the more prominent nutrient content of spirulina is carotene, which is as high as 400mg/100g dry powder. The carotene contained in carrots, according to the provinces determined from 1.35(Beijing)-3.70(Tongsu)mg/100g between (food composition Table 1977 edition). Carotene is called the source of vitamin A, which can be converted into vitamin A in the body, and the liver is the main place to store vitamin A, and the amount of vitamin A stored in the liver during childhood is very low, as low as one tenth of the equivalent of adults. Vitamin A requirements are proportional to growth, there is evidence that infants and young children are prone to deficiency age group, and vitamin A, like most vitamins, cannot be synthesized in the human body, must be obtained from food, therefore, children need to regularly get rich in vitamin A or carotene food, Spirulina powder is suitable for providing regular carotene as a supplement to children’s food.
Carotene can promote the growth and bone development of young children, and its mechanism may be to promote protein biosynthesis and bone cell differentiation. In the case of vitamin A deficiency, the body cannot absorb the bone that has been formed in the bones in the past, resulting in thickening of the bones, the reduction of the bone cavity, the excessive proliferation and thickening of the skull, which will interfere with other cranial nerves, and the thickening of the vertebrae, which will make the nerve pore of the spine smaller, thereby pressuring the spinal nerves. The effect of vitamin A deficiency on bone growth is mainly manifested in the outward proliferation of bone in the bone rather than normal growth, which interferes with neighboring organs, especially nerve tissue. Hages believes that normal bone growth requires A very good balance between osteoblasts and osteoclasts. These problems occur when this balance is disrupted or when there is too much osteogenic activity, so vitamin A or carotene is very helpful in children’s rapidly growing bones.
Vitamin A deficiency is most common in children aged 2-5 years. Although it can occur in both adults and children, it is actually difficult to model the deficiency in adult animals. Malnourished children are sometimes difficult to detect the deficiency because the need for vitamin A is relatively reduced due to slower growth, in which case it is necessary to give the full price of the nutrient. The nutritional composition of spirulina is in line with its requirements.
Effects of iron deficiency anemia on children’s health. In fact, iron is not only the raw material of hemoglobin synthesis, but also an indispensable component of many biochemical metabolism and cytochrome. Iron is involved in cellular respiration, oxidative phosphorylation (more than half of the enzymes involved in the tricarboxylic acid cycle are iron-containing and iron-dependent enzymes), porphyrin metabolism, collagen synthesis, nucleic acid, amino acid metabolism, and mitosis. Therefore, the impact of iron deficiency on children’s health, in addition to iron deficiency anemia, also has damage to the function of the following organs:
1. Impact on the nervous system: the brain is extremely sensitive to iron deficiency, which can lead to low IQ, the baby’s lack of interest in the surrounding things, poor response, easy to provoke and do not compete in class inattention, hyperactivity, these symptoms can appear in the iron deficiency stage, do not have anemia characteristics. Some research data show that it is related to the decreased activity of iron-containing monoamine oxidase due to iron deficiency, and it can be significantly improved after iron treatment.
2. Influence on muscle function and skin mucosa: Experiments have shown that abnormal A-glycerol phosphorylase (iron-containing enzyme) in skeletal muscle cell mitochondria is the main reason for the decline in muscle function, and children are manifested as reduced endurance, fatigue, and easy fatigue. Iron isotopes have shown that iron is associated with epithelial cell renewal. In the case of iron deficiency, the nail is brittle and brittle, and there is a longitudinal crest, thinning, flat, or spoon shaped antinail. Glossitis, keratitis, and chronic inflammation of the epithelium and loose connective tissue below the pharynx and the junction of the esophagus may occur, resulting in dysphagia.
3. Impact on digestive system: changes in gastric mucosa atrophy, reduced amylase, trypsin, lipase ellipsis, and reduced gastric acid secretion lead to decreased appetite in children, and abnormal taste leads to pica. The secretory IgA decreases, the digestive barrier function decreases, and children are prone to digestive tract infection.
4, the impact on immune function: It is known that segmentile granulocyte (PMN) breathes during phagocytosis, erupts to produce a series of reactive oxygen species, and has the function of killing pathogens; Studies have shown that the production of reactive oxygen species decreased during PMN respiratory burst in iron-deficient patients. Iron treatment can quickly return to normal.
Especially meaningful for children is calcium, 99% of the body’s calcium in the bones, as the most fundamental pillar of the human body. Bone growth and development in children and adolescents is very rapid, with an average increase of 0.25mm per day and an average increase in dry weight of 1.2g per day. Calcium caused by bone development in childhood remains in the first 10 years of life at less than 150mg per day, in the range of 275-500mg. Adolescent children need 2-4 times more calcium than adults, so the supply of children around 10 years old should be up or down 1000mg, so since childhood, they should supply enough calcium to adapt to their normal growth and development needs. Spirulina contains 160mg/lOOg calcium, which can partially supplement the calcium deficiency.
The content of eurylinolenic acid in spirulina is as high as 7000mg/kg. It can be seen that pregnant women eating spirulina has a positive significance for the normal development of fetal brain tissue. It has also been argued that it is better to consume them before pregnancy because these essential nutrients are stored in the body’s fat for later use as precursors for the synthesis of n-6 and n-3 long carbon chain fatty acids in the placenta and fetus to meet the needs of fetal brain development.
Spirulina is containing high quality protein, and has a very rich variety of special functional micronutrients, can be called a rare natural full nutrition food and high digestion and absorption rate, the most suitable for the comprehensive development of the fetus and children’s intellectual body, if it can be fully used, to promote children’s health, improve the physical quality of our people has immeasurable far-reaching significance.
