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!

The mukbangs, it a giant burrito in 5 bites, rock–paper–scissors “run and eat” challenge may look like harmless fun on Instagram, but medically, it’s a messy combination of speed, adrenaline and food. Your body simply isn’t built to sprint one second and swallow food the next, and that’s exactly why doctors are raising alarms.

When Running And Eating Collide

When you suddenly take off running, your system shifts into “performance mode.” Blood flow is pushed toward your muscles, your breathing gets heavier, and your heart rate shoots up. In that state, the body is not prioritising digestion, it’s prioritising oxygen and movement. If you try to eat immediately afterwards, your swallowing reflex is out of sync, your breathing is irregular, and your diaphragm is still working overtime. That makes choking far more likely than people realise, even with small bites.

What Happens To Your Digestion After Intense Exercise

Then there’s the digestive side. Eating right after a sprint forces the stomach to start working while the body is still in high-alert mode. This can lead to sudden acidity, cramps, indigestion, or even vomiting. Some people experience a sharp head rush or dizziness because the nervous system gets confused between “cool down” and “start digesting.” It’s a physiologically chaotic moment and food doesn’t belong in it.

Also read: Can Drinking Coffee Make You Leaner, Healthier? Study Decodes The Link

Another concern is behavioural. These challenges make speed-eating and chaotic eating patterns look entertaining. Young people often imitate trends without understanding the risks, and this normalises the idea that food is something to be shoved in quickly or eaten competitively. Over time, this can dull the body’s natural hunger and fullness cues.

The Social Media Trend May Be Fun, But Your Body Pays The Price

By Dr Chetan Kalal, DM Hepatologist and Liver Transplant Specialist, Saifee Hospital, Mumbai

Coffee is one of the world’s most widely consumed beverages and has been linked to various health benefits, including a lower risk of conditions such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. However, the biological mechanisms behind these benefits remain unclear.

Now, a Finnish study suggests that people who regularly drink coffee may have healthier body composition and metabolic markers.

The study, published in the European Journal of Nutrition, also found distinct associations between coffee consumption and sex hormones in men and women.

What Did The Study Find?

Researchers from the University of Oulu in Finland analyzed data from 2,264 participants, all aged 46, from the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966. They examined how coffee consumption was associated with circulating metabolites, cardiometabolic risk markers and sex hormones.

Coffee Linked To Leaner Body Profiles

Compared with people who drank less coffee, those who consumed more had:

• Lower total body fat
• Lower visceral fat
• Greater skeletal muscle mass

These biomarkers have previously been linked to insulin resistance and an increased risk of type 2 diabetes when chronically elevated.

Coffee And Sex Hormones

The strongest sex-specific associations were observed in men. Among men, higher coffee consumption was linked to:

• A more favorable glucose-insulin profile
• Higher concentrations of total and bioavailable testosterone
• Increased levels of sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG)
• At the same time, free testosterone and the free androgen index were modestly lower.

What Could Explain The Link?

The researchers stated that hormonal pathways may partly explain the relationship between coffee consumption and metabolic health.

“What stood out in our findings was a distinct hormonal signature that didn't disappear even after we took into account BMI and lifestyle factors, with several of these associations differing between men and women,” said lead author Luca Verroest, a doctoral researcher at the University of Oulu.

More Research Is Needed

However, the findings do not prove that drinking coffee directly makes people leaner or healthier. The study was observational, meaning it identified associations between coffee consumption and metabolic measures rather than establishing cause and effect.

Further research is needed to determine whether coffee itself contributes to these differences in body composition and metabolic health.

How Much Coffee Is Good For You?

According to a recent scientific statement from the American Heart Association (AHA), published in the peer-reviewed journal Circulation, for most healthy adults, drinking up to five cups of black caffeinated coffee a day — providing up to 400 mg of caffeine — is considered safe and may even benefit heart health.

However, the statement noted that how coffee is brewed could make a difference, not just for its taste but also for cholesterol levels.

A review of the latest evidence on caffeine and cardiovascular health found that brewing methods matter because some types of coffee contain compounds that can raise LDL, or “bad,” cholesterol.

The review also found that drinking three to five 8-ounce cups of regular black coffee daily was associated with a lower risk of:

Heart disease

Stroke

Heart failure

Type 2 diabetes

Some abnormal heart rhythms.

For decades, people have been advised to avoid full-fat dairy over concerns that it could contribute to weight gain and higher cholesterol levels. Now, a new, albeit small, study challenges that view. It found that three daily servings of full-fat dairy did not worsen weight or cholesterol and may even offer some health benefits.

The study, led by researchers at the University of Toronto, found that adults who consumed three servings of full-fat dairy each day did not experience adverse changes in blood cholesterol, blood lipids or insulin resistance. The findings were published in The Journal of Nutrition.

"Those that had three servings of dairy didn't have adverse levels of blood cholesterol or lipids or evidence of insulin resistance," said Professor Harvey Anderson of the University of Toronto.

Why Full-Fat Dairy Has Long Raised Concerns

Dairy foods contain saturated fat, which has traditionally been associated with higher cholesterol and an increased risk of cardiovascular disease.

As a result, dietary recommendations in Canada and many other countries have generally encouraged people to choose fat-free or low-fat dairy products to reduce saturated fat intake.

However, Anderson, a professor of nutritional sciences at the University of Toronto's Temerty Faculty of Medicine, said human research has not always supported these concerns.

Numerous human studies have found no link between full-fat dairy consumption and harmful health outcomes.

What Did the Study Find?

To examine the link, the 12-week study included 74 adults with overweight or obesity who were randomly assigned to one of three dietary groups:

• A low-dairy, calorie-restricted diet
• An energy-neutral diet that included three servings of dairy each day
• An unrestricted diet that also included three daily servings of dairy

After 12 weeks, researchers found no meaningful differences in weight gain, body composition or cholesterol levels between people following the low-dairy diet and those consuming three servings of dairy each day.

On the other hand, people consuming more dairy showed improvements in blood pressure and consumed more calcium, protein, and vitamin D.

The reason may be the "dairy matrix hypothesis," the researchers said. This suggests that the health effects of a food may depend on how its components interact rather than simply on the amount of one nutrient it contains.

"With dairy products, it's got two proteins -- casein and whey -- that are bound together with fat and with nutrients mixed in," Anderson said.

According to Anderson, this complex structure allows nutrients in dairy foods to be delivered to the body gradually. That may help explain why the effects of eating dairy can differ from what would be predicted by looking at saturated fat or other individual nutrients in isolation.

Why This May Be Helpful for Older Adults

Anderson said the findings may be particularly relevant for older adults. As people age, they generally require less energy and may struggle to consume enough protein and other essential nutrients while maintaining an appropriate calorie intake.

Dairy is already a familiar food for many older adults and provides energy, protein and other nutrients. Anderson said it could therefore offer a practical way to help meet nutritional needs without increasing the risk of diabetes or other chronic diseases.

More broadly, the findings support an approach to nutrition research and dietary guidance that considers whole foods rather than focusing primarily on individual nutrients.

With nutrition trends constantly changing and dietary advice sometimes appearing contradictory, Anderson offered a simple message: "Keep it simple, eat a variety of foods and not too much of anything."