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Superfoods to the rescue Three easy lunchbox additions to fuel your kid's day W hat your children eat during the school day not only affects their health and wellness, but proper nutrition can benefit them academically as well. Take care to pack lunches and snacks that will serve your children well on both counts. With that goal in mind, think "superfoods." Superfoods are specific foods loaded with unusually high amounts of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. Supermarkets are full of inexpensive, easy-to-pack superfoods that make great additions to your child's more traditional lunchbox favorites. This school year, consider introducing these three to your child's repertoire: Seaweed Seaweed offers the broadest range of minerals of any food on the planet. It contains 10 to 20 times the mineral concentration of land plants, as well as protein, fiber iodine, vitamin K, folate, magnesium, iron, and calcium, and measurable amounts of vitamins 14 Hudson Valley Parent n October 2013 C and E. And a serving has only 25 to 100 calories. "Seaweed is nature's perfect snack. It's easy and fun to eat, gluten-free, vegetarian and naturally low in calories and sodium," says Annie Chun, seaweed fanatic and co-founder of GimMe Health. How do you get kids to try this nutritional powerhouse? Roasted seaweed snacks are available in many health food stores and come in single servings, making them easy to pack in a lunch bag. They make a great substitute for high-fat snacks like potato chips. Nuts A small handful of almonds or walnuts pack a wallop of protein, fiber, vitamins, minerals, and omega-3s. Eating just a serving a day may help lower cholesterol, prevent diabetes, fight cancer, and even boost brain power. Recent studies also suggest that eating nuts helps promote a healthy weight. While peanut butter is certainly delicious and a great source of vitamins, almond butter has different dietary benefits and its own great taste. So if you normally pack a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, send an almond butter and jelly sandwich instead. Almonds can also be a great alternative for kids with peanut allergies. Berries It makes no difference whether they're black, blue or red, berries are a powerhouse of antioxidants and phytochemicals, which are proven cancer fighters. They're also an excellent source of vitamins A, C and E, as well as calcium and folic acid. Mix berries into yogurt or oatmeal to create a nutrition-packed meal. Or add a serving size of dried fruit with no sugar added to your child's lunch bag. Mix with almonds or walnuts to make a healthy trail mix. Between reading, writing and arithmetic, you can impart some great wisdom to your children at lunch time — great taste and great nutrition can go hand in hand! Article provided by Statepoint.net