[Investment Meals] Nurturing Your Child's Body ~Receiving a 'Thank You' from Your Child 10 Years from Now~
“Thank you so much for all your hard work today.”
“What should I make for dinner today?” “Is the nutritional balance okay?” “I went to all the trouble of making this, so why won’t they eat it...?” You, who continue to stand in the kitchen amidst the whirlwind of daily life, earnestly wishing for your child’s healthy growth. Your back, as you stand there, is more noble and filled with love than any professional chef’s.
Nice to meet you, PT Haru Papa here.
I usually work as a physical therapist (PT) at a hospital, standing on the front lines of rehabilitation to restore physical function, and I also work as a seminar instructor. When I return home, I am a father raising two children, serving as the daily “cooking lead (home chef).”
As a professional and as a parent. The philosophy I uphold is “Assisting a child’s potential.”
Rather than parents controlling their child’s life, I want to provide the best “materials (nutrition)” and “tools (body/knowledge)” so that children can carve out their own future with their own strength. I want to aim for this kind of “ultimate assistance” together with mothers all over the country.
Until a child becomes independent and can protect their own mind and body, parents need to “act on their behalf” and prepare the rails for their growth.
This is the concept of “Assisted Medication.” There are three tools to implement this concept:
1: Investment Meals
2: Understanding developmental stages and home health checkups
3: Communication using cognitive characteristics
As an important first step toward that, I practice the concept of “Investment Meals.”
Fact: “Investment Meals” is one of the tools of Assisted Medication
Interpretation: Meals are not mere consumption, but an “investment in the future” just like preparing soil for a home garden, and are essential for forming the foundation of the body and brain
Action: Applying rehabilitation thinking (HOPE, bottlenecks, evaluation) to execute the best assistance through home checkups and chewing techniques.
Let me explain this by comparing it to a “home garden.”
Please imagine a home garden. To harvest fine, delicious vegetables, what do you do first? Just sowing seeds and praying for them to “grow quickly” is not enough, right? The most important thing is “soil preparation” before sowing the seeds.
Soil preparation (Investment Meals): Daily meals that build the foundation for the body and brain 10 years from now.
Watering/Care (Assistance): Observing the body’s condition and finding ways to nurture chewing strength and providing encouragement.
Harvest (Return): The health, concentration, and “power to carve out one’s own life” that your child gains.
1. The dining table is a “home garden” for nurturing the future
Instead of viewing current meals as mere “consumption” just to fill stomachs, let’s reframe them as “soil preparation for a future harvest.”
Have you ever had a home garden? If you want to harvest fine tomatoes or cucumbers, you can’t just sow seeds and pray for them to “grow quickly,” right? The most important thing is “soil preparation” before sowing the seeds.
A child's growth is exactly the same. Sending them to cram school or signing them up for sports is like giving them 'fertilizer.' But if the essential 'soil' (the child's own body) is hard and malnourished, they won't be able to absorb even the best fertilizer.
You can increase your bank savings even after you become an adult, but there are time limits you cannot get back for 'bone density,' 'brain networks,' and 'chewing habits' during the growth period. The 'soil' that you, as a mom, are cultivating in the kitchen right now is the asset called the body that your children will use for the rest of their lives.
2. The '4 Happy Harvests' Brought by Investment Meals
By continuing 'Investment Meals,' you will receive many wonderful harvests (dividends), not only for your child's future but also for the daily life of a mom working hard right now.
① [Physical/Intellectual Dividend] 'Chewing' is the best gift for the brain
The engine of Investment Meals is not expensive ingredients, but actually in the act of chewing (mastication). The act of chewing is not just the task of breaking down food. It is a powerful sensory input to the brain that sends electrical signals through the large nerves in the face (trigeminal nerve) to the brain, saying, 'Wake up! Focus!'
The brain wakes up: When you chew thoroughly, blood flow to the brain increases significantly. This creates concentration for learning and instantaneous power in sports. It is, so to speak, 'brain training' you can do just by eating.
A calm mind: Chewing rhythmically promotes the secretion of 'serotonin (the happiness hormone)'. Your child's 'irritability' and 'tendency to snap' will decrease, and the time spent smiling will increase... This becomes a great joy for the whole family.
Actually, there are really many cases where 'a child's restlessness is not due to discipline, but simply because they are not moving their jaw'.
② [Economic/Functional Dividend] Solving future 'troubles' in advance
Preparing the soil is also a 'defensive investment' that prevents major future problems.
The 'saliva' that overflows when you chew well is the strongest barrier to protect your child from viruses and cavities. This is also a 'risk hedge' that saves on future high-cost orthodontic expenses and medical bills. By just cutting things a little larger now to leave some 'chewiness,' you are protecting your household budget and your child's smile years from now. Don't you think there is no better investment than this?
③ [Mental/Time Dividend] A mom's heart suddenly feels lighter
'Why are you so restless?' 'Why do you get tired so easily?'... When we don't know the reason, we become anxious and end up scolding our children.
However, if you have the perspective of Investment Meals, a mom's frustration turns into 'countermeasures.' If you can watch over them with the perspective of rehabilitation, thinking, 'Right now, their blood sugar is unstable and the soil is dry,' or 'Maybe they didn't get enough chewing stimulation today,' a positive sense of room to think, 'What shall I do next?' will be born in a mom's heart.
A simple checklist is in the second half of the article.
④ [Relationship/Independence Dividend] The lifelong 'power to choose for oneself'
Instead of commanding (controlling) them by saying, 'Eat it!', tell them, 'This is a magical ingredient (assist) to make your "I want to do it!" come true.'
The trust relationship nurtured in this way will become an 'asset called independence' that allows your child to manage their own body with care even after they become an adult and leave home. I believe this is the ultimate inheritance that a parent can give.
3. Gently observe the condition of the seedling (your child) from the perspective of rehabilitation
So, how exactly should you proceed with 'Investment Meals'? There is no need to think about it in a difficult way. Let's incorporate the rehabilitation steps I use at the hospital into your home as a little bit of magic.
STEP 1: [Needs] 'What kind of flower do you want your child to bloom?'
The beginning of rehabilitation is to value the patient's 'HOPE'—what they want to become. Just as you might wish to 'grow a big tomato' in a home garden, first try to imagine with your child, 'What kind of future do you want to welcome?'
'I want to build a body that doesn't get injured in sports,' 'I want the concentration to get 100 on tests,' 'I want to eat delicious food with my own teeth for my whole life.' Such 'wishes' from moms and children are the guideposts that tell us what needs to be supplemented in the soil (the body) right now.
STEP 2: [Home Check-up] 'Mom's Eyes' to Observe the Seedlings
Just as you check the color of a seedling's leaves or the dryness of the soil, gently observe your child while they are eating. This is what I call 'home check-up'.
From the perspective of a physical therapist, the dining table is a treasure trove of information.
'I'm not an expert, so I don't understand my child's body.' No, no, that's not true at all. The eyes of a mom who is with them every day are the best sensors. Tomorrow, try gently watching your child's profile while they are eating.
[Investment Meals Home Check-up Checklist]
[ ] Are they slumped over and exhausted? (Sign of posture)
[ ] Are they washing down their food with drinks? (Sign of insufficient chewing)
[ ] Are they chewing only on one side of their back teeth? (Sign of body imbalance)
[ ] Are their feet dangling and not touching the floor? (Sign that chewing power is escaping)
If even one of these applies, it's a chance to prepare the soil!
You don't need professional tools. The intuition of a mom who sees her child every day—'Is something different today?'—is the most accurate examination in the world.
STEP 3: [Assist] Preparing the 'Soil' with Investment Meals
Prepare the soil (meals) according to what you noticed during the check-up (observation). This cycle of 'awareness → small effort (investment) → watching over the changes' is the secret to rehabilitation that maximizes a child's potential.
For example, if concentration is needed, add 'chewiness.' If you want to support their posture, add 'protein,' which is the building block for muscles. Gently placing what your child needs right now on their plate—this is the 'best assist.'
Designing the dining table with 'rehabilitation thinking'
Practicing investment meals is exactly the same as the rehabilitation process we perform in hospitals.
HOPE (Wishes): The parent and child's desire to 'have more concentration' or 'succeed in sports.'
Bottleneck (Barriers): Identifying the 'nutritional imbalance' or 'lack of sensory input (chewing)' that is hindering those desires.
Assist (Intervention): Investing by introducing the optimal menu or cooking method to solve the issues.
Monitoring (Evaluation): Observing the child's condition after meals and physical changes, and applying them to the next investment.
Thinking about the menu is the same as creating a rehabilitation program. Your kitchen will become the most familiar and effective 'rehabilitation room' in the world.
4. This home garden becomes a true 'home'
Preparing the soil in the kitchen and celebrating the growth of seedlings together at the dining table. As you accumulate such moments, this 'home garden' will become a true 'home' (a place of belonging) for your family, where everyone feels most secure and can grow in their own unique way.
The realization that a parent is working hard to till the soil for their sake becomes the root of self-esteem for a child, the feeling that 'I am cherished.'
Investment meals are not just about 'nutrition.' They become the 'ultimate assist' that allows you to communicate with your child's future through food and deepen the parent-child bond.
Conclusion: For the sake of your child's smile 10 years from now
'Thanks to the meals you made for me back then, I am who I am today.'
So that you may receive those words from your child, who has grown up beautifully 10 years from now. Why not start standing in the kitchen with an 'investment' perspective, just a little bit, starting today?
It is impossible to make a perfect 100-point 'investment meal' every day. Even I have days when I rely on store-bought side dishes, and days when I eat potato chips with my children.
But, what matters is 'knowing' and 'having a perspective'.
The ingredients you choose with the thought, 'This bite today will support this child's back 10 years from now,' contain a mother's deep love, even if it is a store-bought side dish.
From here on in this note, I will deliver deep wisdom that you can put into practice starting today, such as:
'Ingredients chosen by a physical therapist for their own child to build a lifelong body'
'5-minute investment recipes taught by a chef that even busy moms and dads can keep up with'
'The surprising relationship between posture and chewing power'
Why don't we make our children's future brighter with our precious knowledge and a little bit of ingenuity? Let's learn the ultimate assist together!
If you resonate with this even a little, please follow and like. I will support your 'soil preparation' with all my might.
I will be posting daily for a while.
Please feel free to comment with article themes, things you want to know, or your daily worries.
About this note
https://note.com/pt_papa_cook/n/ne5525221bdce
What is Assist-medication?
https://note.com/pt_papa_cook/n/n1562fe5da8e6
What are investment meals?
https://note.com/pt_papa_cook/n/n05582c9792bc
Injury prevention is the ultimate assist
https://note.com/pt_papa_cook/n/n50c29e48ed52
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