After a long day, when your kid is making yet another fuss about eating their vegetables, you as a parent can get very tired. You do not have the energy sometimes to trick them into eating their vegetables and at that point, you are willing to even feed them anything as long as they are healthy and fed. Here are some nutritional foods that your children might enjoy but that are usually overlooked.

Edamame

These little green pods are fun to pop and packed with protein and fibre. They're a great meat-free alternative and keep tummies full for longer. They make for a mean salad that even your kids will enjoy. Add a bunch of seasoning that fits your child’s palate toss the beans in them and feed it to them while they are playing and distracted by something.

Sweet Potato

You kids will love eating this fun superfood. Sweet potatoes are full of Vitamin A, important for healthy eyes and growth. They're also naturally sweet, making them a tastier alternative to regular potatoes. To make your children more susceptible to eating it you can ask them to help you roast it and play indoor camping.

Lentils

If made in the perfect way, this easy dish might be your way out of the food worries. Tiny but mighty, lentils are a budget-friendly source of protein and iron. They can be added to soups, stews, or even pasta sauce for a hidden veggie boost. Make different types of dal that your child can enjoy along with rice and other condiments like Papad.

Eggs

Not just for breakfast! Eggs are a complete protein source, meaning they have all the essential amino acids for building strong bodies. They're also packed with choline, which are important for brain development. Eggs are a mighty source is nutrients that your kids must have. And the best part is, you can make it in various forms like boiled, scrambled fried etc.

Greek Yogurt

This creamy yoghurt is a protein powerhouse with less sugar than regular yoghurt. Top it with berries, granola, or honey for a delicious and nutritious snack. Now you may have a little difficulty introducing this to your kids as the taste is something you must get used to. Slowly start with giving it to them as snacks and encourage them to eat it.

Bananas

This fruit is not just a tasty and healthy fruit, but it is rich in potassium and pectin — a prebiotic fibre known to help improve digestion. Not only this but unripe bananas can help reduce the frequency of diarrhoea. a great source of energy and essential for healthy muscles and nerves. They're portable, perfect for lunchboxes, and come in their own fun packaging!

Peanuts

This creamy spread is rich in protein and healthy fats, keeping kids satisfied. It's also a good source of Vitamin E and Magnesium. Pair it with banana slices, or whole-wheat crackers, or even spread it on apple slices for a fun and nutritious snack. This dish is a kid's favourite. PB&J (peanut butter and jelly) is a famous American breakfast that you must try!

If you're making a smoothie for a health boost, especially for your brain and heart, you might want to leave out bananas. New research suggests that adding a banana to your drink can actually block your body from absorbing key healthy compounds.

Bananas have always been a big favorite for healthy drinks and desserts. You may have seen many healthy smoothie recipes like banana and coffee smoothie, or bananas and berries, being listed along with other healthy food recipes. While it does have many health benefits, how healthy it is with other nutrients involved has been questioned.

Researchers at the University of California-Davis found that bananas interfere with the absorption of powerful nutrients called flavanols. These compounds are fantastic for health, but if you blend them with a banana, you might not get the benefit you're looking for.

Should You Add Bananas In Health Smoothies?

The researchers found that bananas block how well we absorb flavanol. Flavanols are beneficial natural chemicals found in foods like berries, apples, grapes, and cocoa. When you eat enough of them regularly, they are known to help your memory, reduce swelling inside your body, which is called inflammation, and make your blood flow better.

So, why does the banana stop this? The culprit is a specific enzyme, a kind of protein, that is found in high amounts in bananas. It's called polyphenol oxidase (PPO). This is the same enzyme that makes a peeled banana or apple slice turn brown quickly. The researchers found that when PPO mixes with flavanols in the blender, it somehow stops your body from being able to use them. Lead researcher Javier Ottaviani said it was surprising to see how quickly even just one banana dropped the levels of flavanols your body could absorb.

Why Do Bananas Block Nutrients?

The scientists conducted a very clear experiment to figure this out. They had people drink three different things and then measured the flavanols in their bodies, by testing their blood and urine:

The Banana Test

A smoothie made with banana, which is high in the PPO enzyme.

The Berry Test

A smoothie made with mixed berries, which are low in the PPO enzyme.

The Control Test

A plain capsule of pure flavanols, just to see what 100% absorption looked like.

The results were impossible to ignore, the people who drank the banana smoothie had 84% less flavanols show up in their system compared to the people who took the pure flavanol capsule. This clearly proved that the banana was the reason the healthy compounds weren't getting absorbed.

How to Get Your Daily Flavanols?

If you're trying to meet the daily recommendation of flavanols, which is about 400 to 600 milligrams, to help your heart and overall health, you need to be smart about your smoothies.

The main takeaway is to skip the bananas if you're mixing it with high-flavanol foods like berries. If your smoothie already contains ingredients that are low in the PPO enzyme—like berries, pineapple, oranges, mango, or yogurt—then you are maximizing the amount of healthy flavanols your body will actually get. This finding opens the door for more research into how simple acts of cooking or preparing food, like how you brew tea (a major flavanol source), can change the nutrients you absorb.

Intermittent fasting is an eating plan that alternates between periods of eating and fasting on a set schedule. Studies show that intermittent fasting can help manage weight and even reduce the risk of certain diseases. But some people worry whether fasting could harm the brain or lead to cognitive decline.

Researchers addressed this concern in a paper published in Psychological Bulletin, reporting that short-term fasting of less than 24 hours does not appear to affect the mental performance of adults.

What Is Intermittent Fasting?

Intermittent fasting is an eating pattern that involves alternating between times when you don’t eat and times when you do, sometimes with calorie restrictions on specific days.

This practice dates back thousands of years and is woven into several cultural and religious traditions. Scientists began studying it for weight control in the early 1900s, and recent research has expanded to explore its broader health effects.

There are three widely followed types of intermittent fasting, as per Healthline:

• Time-restricted eating: You eat within a fixed time window and fast during the remaining hours. The 16/8 pattern is the most popular, where you eat during an 8-hour window and fast for 16 hours (including sleep). Other variations include 14/10 and 20/4.
• Alternate-day fasting: You rotate between normal eating days and fasting days, when you consume very few calories, around 500 on average. Some prefer spreading this limited intake across the day, while others eat one small meal.
• 5:2 fasting: Instead of alternating daily, this plan limits calorie intake to 500–800 calories on two chosen days each week, while the rest of the week follows a regular eating routine.

Intermittent Fasting and Brain Health: How Are They Related?

Only recently have scientists started exploring how intermittent fasting influences the brain. Early findings suggest it might offer certain cognitive benefits as we age and even help reduce symptoms of anxiety or depression.

“Many people assume fasting will make it hard to focus or perform well at work or school,” said David Moreau, PhD, a neuroscientist at the University of Auckland and senior author of the study. “Our findings show that for most healthy adults, short-term fasting doesn’t significantly impact mental sharpness.”

The research did note that children and teenagers experienced slight declines in attention and memory while fasting, emphasizing the need for a balanced breakfast before school. Adults, meanwhile, tended to perform a little worse later in the day while fasting, possibly because hunger can heighten natural dips in alertness due to circadian rhythm.

“Humans evolved with periods of limited food, so it makes sense our brains can function well without constant eating,” Dr. Moreau added. “Still, younger people seem more affected, which aligns with their higher energy demands.”

Intermittent Fasting Unlikely to Cause Cognitive Decline

According to recent studies, as per Healthline, intermittent fasting is unlikely to cause cognitive decline. Experts who reviewed the findings say it reinforces the safety and benefits of fasting. “The key takeaway is that fasting doesn’t harm mental performance,” said Dr. Mir Ali, bariatric surgeon and medical director at the MemorialCare Surgical Weight Loss Center, California.

The meta-analysis reviewed 63 studies across the world, including over 3,400 participants. Most individuals fasted between 8 and 24 hours, with a median duration of 12 hours.

Researchers concluded that fasting “neither enhances nor impairs mental performance.” They identified three main factors that influence cognitive function:

• Fasting duration
• Type and timing of the cognitive test
• Individual characteristics, such as age or body composition

They also noted that glycogen—the body’s stored form of glucose provides energy during normal eating. When glycogen levels fall during fasting, the body shifts to using ketones derived from fat as an alternate energy source.

How To Practise Intermittent Fasting?

Intermittent fasting is not suitable for everyone, particularly those with a history of eating disorders or women who are pregnant or breastfeeding. However, for most healthy adults, it offers flexibility in timing and approach.

During fasting hours, you can still drink water, black coffee, or unsweetened tea. Light exercise is also permitted. Healthline advises focusing on nutrient-rich meals during eating periods, staying hydrated, and maintaining good sleep habits.

For beginners, it’s best to start slowly, perhaps by fasting for 6 to 8 hours at first, then gradually extending to 8–10 hours, and eventually to the more balanced 12–14-hour fasting window.

Coffee is almost everyone's favorite, whether it is to get you up and moving in the mornings, especially when the winter comes in, or to ensure your productivity is at best, or for when you hit the gym. And, if you are wondering to drink it or not with heart disease, the good news is, you can! A new study published in JAMA Network says so.

Traditionally, coffee has been associated with being a troublemaker, however, this thing could soon be put in past, as scientists are now asking people to drink coffee, because it might actually be good for their heart.

In a first-of-its-kind clinical trial, researchers found that a daily cup of caffeinated coffee could actually protect the heart.

What Was The Study?

The study is led by researchers from UC San Francisco and the University of Adelaide. The study noted that drinking coffee every day may reduce the risk of Atrial fibrillation or A-Fib. Published in JAMA Network, the study said that coffee worked best against the condition, which is an irregular and often rapid heart rhythm that causes symptoms like palpitations, fatigue, and breathlessness. All of these could significantly increase the risk of stroke and heart failure.

It is caused by chaotic electrical signals in the upper chambers of the heart – known as atria, which leads to ineffective blood pumping and can cause blood clots to form.

Till now, those with A-Fib were advised not to drink caffeine out of fear that it may trigger symptoms. However, this trial – named DECAF - concluded that drinking a cup of caffeinated coffee a day reduced the deadly condition by 39%.

What Are The Experts Saying?

As per the researchers, and other scientists, coffee increases physical activity and reduces atrial fibrillation. Since caffeine is a diuretic, it potentially reduces blood pressure and, in turn, lowers the risk of A-Fib.

“There are many other ingredients in coffee that also have anti-inflammatory properties with positive effects,” said senior author Dr Gregory M. Marcus, who holds the Endowed Professorship in Atrial Fibrillation Research and is an electrophysiologist at UCSF Health.

How Was The Study Conducted?

Researchers wanted to understand how coffee affects people with A-Fib, so they enrolled 200 coffee drinkers who had persistent atrial fibrillation or atrial flutter. All of them were already scheduled for electrical cardioversion, a procedure that uses a controlled electric shock to reset the heart’s rhythm.

Participants were randomly split into two groups. One group had to drink at least one cup of caffeinated coffee or an espresso shot every day. The other group had to avoid all coffee and caffeine for six months. By the end of the study, the coffee group had a 39 percent lower risk of A-Fib coming back. They also showed signs of reduced inflammation.

The researchers suggested that coffee might help simply because it replaces less healthy drinks. “The results were astounding. Doctors have long told patients with A-Fib to cut back on coffee, but this trial suggests coffee is not only safe but may actually protect the heart,” said lead author Dr Christopher X. Wong of UCSF and the University of Adelaide and Royal Adelaide Hospital.