Is There A Healthy Alternative to Pediasure?

Is There A Healthy Alternative to Pediasure?

Ditch the artificial and embrace the natural! Else Nutrition's dairy-free shakes—a wholesome alternative to PediaSure for your child's well-being.

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By Lauren Panoff
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Edited by Lucia Gcingca

Updated April 16, 2024.

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As a parent, finding the best source of nutrition for your child is incredibly important. Some pediatricians may recommend going beyond filling your child's plate with fruits, veggies, and healthy proteins.

Instead, they might recommend introducing a nutritional supplement into your child’s diet to promote vitality and development.

To that end, if you’re a parent starting your search for the right nutritional supplement, you may begin by walking up and down grocery store aisles, comparing products, trying to decipher long ingredient lists, and “Googling” where each complex-sounding ingredient comes from.

Unfortunately, leading brands like PediaSure aren’t always the best options. 

So, Is There a Healthy Alternative to Pediasure?

Else Nutrition's Plant-Powered Complete Nutrition Shakes for Kids offer a natural alternative to PediaSure packed with organic whole foods to promote healthy growth. Read on to find out more about this alternative to Pediasure.



Three Benefits to Else

Else Nutrition provides a dairy-free Pediasure alternative, Else Kids, packed with natural ingredients rich in vitamins and fiber, one that’s completely plant-based. In other words, it’s vegan. 

The word “vegan” may be intimidating as it’s often synonymous with cutting foods from your diet. However, in this case, less is more.  Else Nutrition’s alternative to Pediasure uses mainly whole food, plant-based ingredients, and 50% less sugar.

With only three key ingredients, Else’s natural alternative to Pediasure is free from harmful substances. Let’s take a look at what can be found in Else Nutrition products:  

1. Almonds

Almonds are brain boosters. Almonds are made of healthy fats, fiber, and vitamin E and are known for their anti-inflammatory properties. Almonds support the immune system and help build strong bones. They also lift energy levels so your child can stay active and attentive throughout the school day. 

2. Tapioca

Rich in calcium, fiber, iron, and vitamin C, tapioca is one of the three main ingredients in Else’s nutritional supplement health drink. Being that it’s a gluten-free carbohydrate, tapioca is also allergen-free. It’s easy to break down and digest, meaning that babies and young kids easily absorb the nutrients found in tapioca.

You can get creative with tapioca as it doesn't have a strong flavor, so it easily absorbs the flavors of foods it’s mixed with.

3. Buckwheat

Like almonds and tapioca, buckwheat is a gluten-free carbohydrate with energy-boosting minerals such as magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, copper, and iron. It contains necessary proteins, fibers, and antioxidants as well. Each ingredient in this healthy alternative to Pediasure is sustainable and natural. 

Else Plant-Powered Complete Nutrition Shakes have 50% less sugar than the leading brands.



Pediasure vs. Else Kids: Difference Between the Supplements

As a parent, your child’s health and safety precede anything else. What your child consumes may determine how they age and develop. In this case, eating a balanced diet and consuming the right nutritional supplement can help bolster their emotional and physical well-being. 

Provide your child with organic supplements. PediaSure's heavy media presence doesn’t guarantee it is the cleanest source of nutrients.

Pediasure’s Ingredients

Before we break down the ingredients found in Pediasure, let’s discuss the best way to read and understand an ingredient list. When reading the processed ingredients on the back of food packaging, it’s important to note foods are listed in order of weight, starting with the processed ingredients that weigh the most.

This means the ingredients listed closer to the top are more prominent in the food item.

  • Analyzing Pediasure’s ingredients: Sugar is the second sugar. About 30% of the calories provided in Pediasure come from sugar. This means your child consumes more processed sugar than whole food ingredients when drinking Pediasure. 
  • Pediasure uses artificial flavoring in their products: If you are trying to avoid artificial flavorings, it is best to choose different products. Else only uses natural flavors in all of their nutritional drink products.
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The Else Nutrition Difference

Else is the dairy-free Pediasure alternative. Unlike milk-based supplements, Else Nutrition's Kids smoothie and shakes:

  • Are made from natural and minimally processed whole-food ingredients
  • Do not contain dairy, egg, soy, corn, wheat, peanut, or fish ingredients.
  • Free of added gums and fillers
  • Contain at least 50% less sugar per serving compared to the leading alternatives while maintaining a great taste that children love
  • Certified kosher, suitable for halal and plant-based diets
  • Use 95% whole-food plant-based ingredients


Benefits of a Plant-Based Diet for Your Kid

Feeding your child milk-based supplements (i.e., Pediasure) may cause greater difficulty digesting the supplement. The potential inability to break down and process milk-based products is omitted with Else.

Else Nutrition's alternatives may soothe sensitive stomachs and provide nutrients for children with lactose intolerance. 

Additionally, providing your child with a predominantly plant-based diet means they’ll be consuming large amounts of vitamins, zinc, and calcium. However, vegetables don’t always appeal to children. Rather than finding creative and obscure ways to mask vegetables in your child’s food,

Else Nutrition supplies your young one with the necessary nutrients while never straying from the plant-based diet.

The all-natural and simple ingredient list means you won’t waste time figuring out each ingredient. Knowing what your child is consuming is the only path forward when mapping a diet promoting their vitality. 

Not only is it one less thing to worry about as a parent, but it’s also easy to create a routine.  



Else Nutrition, the Right Way to Supplement 

As parents, we watch our kids grow up at lightspeed. One second, we’re teaching them to walk, and the next, they’re heading off to college. So before our little ones develop into their bodies, we try to provide them with a nutritional diet full of ingredients we know, consume, and trust.  If you’re looking for milk alternatives that avoid sugar-filled supplements—draw your attention towards the plant-based, clean, all-natural, whole-food-filled Else Plant-Powered Complete Nutrition Shakes for Kids.

Else Nutrition provides your child the nutrients they need to grow, including:

  • Healthy fats
  • Protein
  • Vitamin D
  • Vitamin B-12

Esle's Mission: Healthier Diets, Happier Babies and Toddlers

Else aims to provide a healthier, dairy-free diet for babies and toddlers. Your little one deserves to enjoy a diet made with the same love you shower them with every day. So, if you’re looking for a healthy alternative to PediaSure, you’ve found it!



The content and advice provided in this article are for informational purposes only and are not a substitute for medical diagnosis, treatment, or advice for specific medical conditions. Always consult a pediatrician to understand the individual needs of your child.

Sources

  • Else Nutrition. (0AD). The Else difference.
  • A., By, -, & Arora, M. (2019, June 1). Giving Almonds to Kids: Benefits, Side Effects & Recipes
  • FirstCry Parenting
  • Palvanov, D., Veronica, CATRYNA49, Sabelmouse, Kapusta, K., Dorit, ...margo2blog.site. (2020, January 19). Why PediaSure © Is The Worst Thing You Can Do For Your Picky Eater? 
  • Health Begins With Mom
  • Patel, L. (0AD). Plant-Based Diets: Are They Good for Kids?
  • HealthyChildren.org