‘Can I have some Jaggery in my Masala Chai instead of Sugar?’
If you’re one of the people asking that of a waiter in a cafe, you probably opted for an ‘Oatmilk’ option, too!
In today’s day and age, more than ever before, we are striving to eat healthier so that we can live long lives free of illnesses. It only becomes natural, then, that we should start our babies with eating only the most nutritious food. Needless to say, jaggery, or ‘gur’, has been considered a healthier alternative to white sugar since time immemorial.
On that note, it must be mentioned here that jaggery should not be given to babies less than one year of age. Even if you do, there are some nuances of giving jaggery to your baby that you need to bear in mind. Luckily for you, we have those covered here, and more!
In this article from the EuroKids stable we have all the information you need to know, pertaining to jaggery for babies. While we might have silently answered the question ‘Is jaggery good for babies’ in the affirmative, there are other things you will find here, like the nutritional value of jaggery and even, the many wonderful benefits of eating jaggery.
Finding that sweet tooth beckon? Let’s start our exploration of jaggery for babies, with a look at the nutritional value of jaggery!
Table of Contents
- Jaggery for Babies: Decoding the Nutritional Value of Jaggery
- The Benefits of Eating Jaggery for Babies
- Jaggery for Babies: Risks of Introducing Jaggery to Babies
- Lip Smacking Jaggery Recipes for Babies
Jaggery for Babies: Decoding the Nutritional Value of Jaggery
Since jaggery is essentially an unrefined sugar derived from raw sugarcane juice, it has some great nutrients that its white sugar counterpart is devoid of!
Presenting the nutritional value of jaggery in a mere 100 grams of gur.
- Energy 383 calories
- Fructose and glucose 11-16 g
- Sucrose 65-85 g
- Protein 1.4 g
- Fat 1.1 g
- Iron 11 mg
- Potassium 1050 mg
- Magnesium 70 – 90 mg
The Benefits of Eating Jaggery for Babies
Before one can firmly answer the question ‘Is jaggery good for babies’, one must first take a foray into the many wonderful benefits of eating jaggery.
Presenting the cool benefits of eating jaggery, that make it an essential part of your child’s diet.
- The Prevention of Anaemia
- Good for Digestion
- Strengthens the Immune System
- Great for Healthy Bones
- Helps to Detoxify the Liver
Anemia is a serious medical condition that is best prevented in babies.
Cool Fact: The high ‘iron’ content in jaggery, goes a long way in staving off anemia.
Tip: Simply adding a little jaggery to their milk is an effective way of getting that iron into their system.
Who ever thought that something sweet could actually help in digestion?
Cool Fact: In India, jaggery is widely consumed post-dinner as a digestive aid. However, you can give your baby jaggery any time, if you’re looking to help treat constipation!
If babies have a strong immune system, they will be able to banish those colds and other infections, well before they wreak havoc on their systems.
Cool Fact: It is the presence of those ‘antioxidants’ in jaggery that makes it a great immunity-booster.
The one thing every developing child needs is strong bones!
Cool Fact: The traces of potassium and even calcium that are found in jaggery, go a long way in strengthening baby’s bones.
Adults are not the only ones who need to be taking care of their liver, after all.
Cool Fact: Through the process of flushing out toxins from your baby’s body, jaggery does a great job of cleansing their liver.
Jaggery for Babies: Risks of Introducing Jaggery to Babies
All good things come with their negatives!
Presenting the risks of introducing jaggery to babies, that will help parents make a calculated decision as to whether they should indeed give jaggery to their children or not.
- Getting used to too much sugar
- An Overload of Calories
- Tooth decay
In Indian households, this risk is intensified, what with the tendency of Indian families to consume too much sugar in general!
Note: Consuming too much ‘sweetened’ food in infancy, doubles their risk of having more sugar when they are more grown up!
There are around 38 calories per 10 g of jaggery. This could only lead to your child becoming obese, if they go crazy eating too much jaggery.
Roughly around 80 percent of jaggery is simple sugar. This can only serve to cause tooth decay in the long run.
Lip Smacking Jaggery Recipes for Babies
Looking for a cool jaggery recipe or two for your little one?
Presenting a couple of cool jaggery recipes, to satisfy baby’s sweet tooth cravings!
Jaggery Recipe 1: Sooji Halwa with Gur
Sooji Halwa is loved by babies and adults alike!
Ingredients
- ½ cup semolina (sooji)
- ¼ cup jaggery – grated
- ½ tsp cardamom powder
- 1 cup water
Instructions
- Boil the jaggery in the water.
- Take the sooji and roast it in a pan till it is golden brown.
- Add the roasted sooji to the boiling jaggery water, and stir continuously until you get a porridge-like consistency.
- Finally, add cardamom powder and voila! Your sooji halwa with jaggery is ready!
Jaggery Recipe 2: Healthy Jaggery Syrup
The great thing about jaggery syrup is, it’s really easy for babies to consume when mixed with their porridge.
Ingredients
- Water
- A block of jaggery
Instructions
- Toss the jaggery block in the water, before melting it in a pan on low flame.
- Sieve the mixture into another pan, ensuring you take out all the lumps.
- Add another cup of water to this mixture, before bringing it to a boil. Then allow it to cool.
- You should have a thick, golden syrup that needs to be stored well in the fridge, before feeding it to your baby via mixing it in their porridge!
At EuroKids we are all for healthy eating, especially when it comes to babies who develop good eating habits at a most tender age. That being said, we are also strong proponents of moderation, too. Get some jaggery to be part of your ‘essential kitchen ingredients’, in case it isn’t already, and feed your baby modest quantities of it every now and then!
