New-gen Parents: Care for family. Pass on Goodness with Nestlé | Nestlé Thailand

New-gen Parents Caring for Family

New-generation parents take care of every family member, making sure they are happy. Apart from work, fathers and mothers also have to divide time for their family day and night, between cooking, doing chores, as well as raising their children, parents, and pets, among many other things. Living between the grandparents and grandchildren, new-gen parents have to also foster familial relationship to bridge age gaps, adding love and warmth in the household. For all these many responsibilities, people in this age group need to take care of their body and mind well so that they have the strength to pass on love and goodness to everyone in the family.

Nestlé: Pass on Goodness to All

Good Health of Whole Family Starts with Foods

• Eat a variety of foods from all food groups: Stay-at-home mothers prepare meals for the family every day, whether home-cooked or purchase. Therefore, they set the dietary habits of the family. It is recommended that they include the complete five food groups, with fruits and vegetables, in every meal while also offering a variety for the family members.
• Choose healthy proteins: Prioritize fish, lean meat, egg, tofu, and bean. These are sources of healthy and easily digestible proteins. Avoid meat with high fat content like fatty cuts, pork belly, chicken skin, pig's trotter, and so on, because these can lead to dyslipidemia. Adults are also advised to eat no more than 2-3 eggs a week, but just the egg white for those with high cholesterol. Children can have one egg per day.
• Balanced eating :
  o Include fruits and vegetables of varied colors in every meal. They are sources of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and fiber, which promotes bowel movement but often found to be lacking in every age group. A person should eat about five fistfuls of fruits and vegetables a day.
  o Drink sufficient water daily. This can do a lot for your body, including increasing metabolism and controlling weight. Each day we should drink approximately eight glasses of water. Or calculate the proper amount by multiplying your weight with 30.
• Choose nutritious snacks: Between meals, you can fill your stomach with low-sugar fruits, for example, one apple, two medium tangerines, four mangosteens, two large rose apples, one medium Pisang Awak banana, or six pieces of bite-size ripe papaya. Instant whole grain cereal beverage like Nesvita is also another choice. Easy and quick to make, Nesvita can satisfy your stomach for its high-fiber content, which is beneficial to your digestive system and stimulates bowel movement.

Smart Grocery Shopping: Read Nutrition Labels Before Purchase.

We recommend that you choose nutritious products; understand the proper ratio of nutrients you should be receiving; and follow recommended daily intakes to prevent excess nutrients or calories. You can rest assured that the 100 Nestlé products that have received the “Healthier Choice” nutritional logo, the highest number in Thailand, are suitably nourishing and contain moderate amounts of sugar, fat, and sodium.

Apart from nutrition labels, an advanced daily meal plan can also make grocery shopping easier and reduce food waste. It can also ensure that every food group is included, with an emphasis on seasonal fruits and vegetables, and avoid eating the same dishes over and over. To spark your ideas for family meal planning, we list below some of the dishes made from dynamic food duos that are even more beneficial when paired together:

• Steamed fish with ginger: Affordable Thai fishes like sea bass, Spanish mackerel, pomfret, and Bleeker's sheatfish are high in omega-3, beneficial fatty acids that help control triglycerides in blood. Ginger, with its fiery taste, is good for the digestive system and reducing body fat.
• Leaf-wrapped grilled fish with chili paste: This is a homey dish packed full of nutrients. It has muscle-building protein and low fat, while being rich in vitamins and minerals from side vegetables. In addition, chili pepper also contains capsaicin, which boosts metabolism and stimulates blood flow, as well as beta-carotene, an antioxidant that helps prevent macular degeneration.
• “Tom Yum” (Thai spicy and sour soup) with chicken or chicken feet spicy soup: The two dishes are abundant in collagen, which improves elasticity of bones, skin, tendons, cartilage, muscles, and blood vessel wall. Moreover, vitamin C from lime or tamarind in the soups helps with absorption and slows down loss of collagen. For stay-at-home mothers and the elderly, Nestlé Boost — complete nutrition with whey protein and containing the five food groups in one glass — can also supplement a meal.

Passing on Goodness through Meals, Generation to Generation, to Foster Familial Bond

• Stay-at-home mothers passing on secret recipes: Tell the children how to make their favorite dishes and let them help prep by bringing, washing, cutting, or peeling ingredients, for example. You can also start a conversation on ideas for the next meal, which is a great way to bring the family closer.
• Elders passing on regard to other generations: The elderly can hand down tips for a balanced lifestyle, with they themselves as a living proof, for the younger to follow. Examples are: regulate bowel movement by frequently having fruits and vegetables; regulate blood lipid levels by not eating too much high-fat food; or maintain agility by exercising three times a week.
• Passing on care: To take care of the elderly who start to have dietary issues, such as loss of appetite, habitual additional sodium intake, or opposition to reducing sweetness, fat, and saltiness in meals, etc., you can prepare high-calcium foods to help maintain and slow down loss of calcium, which will help prevent osteoporosis. Ingredients like ivy gourd, Chinese kale, mustard greens, rice fish, or tofu are rich in calcium. Another easy way is for the senior family members to drink one to two cartons of UHT milk daily. It contains protein, vitamin B2, and calcium that strengthen bones and teeth. In addition, decrease the amount of salt, soy sauce, and fish sauce in dishes or choose the uniquely aromatic Maggi sauce made through natural fermentation of soybean. Elders should also avoid pickled foods like salted duck egg, salted fish, and pickled fruits, since high sodium intake can lead to risks of hypertension and dropsy.

Be mindful of your health by maintaining a balanced diet and pass on care by tending to each other, just as Nestlé has been keeping up with changing needs of Thai people in every generation for over 130 years. We will continue to develop our products to have flavors you love and proper nutrition, corresponding with every ever-changing lifestyle.