At Amara, we're a bunch of food nerds on a mission to bring better baby food to you and your family. We strongly believe that if you change the way our babies eat and expose them to REAL food, real nutrients, real textures and real tastes - we can radically change the way our future generations eat... and think!

Every Friday over on our Instagram, we bring you food fact Fridays, a place for us to do a deep dive into food facts (also what we know how to do best!). If you're looking for what baby food to try for your baby, or if you are looking to be a bit more informed about what is actually in your food and the process behind what you eat - this is the place for you. Without further ado, here is our food fact Friday round up from around the time of Natural Products Expo West:

🥕🥕FOOD FACT FRIDAY 🥕🥕⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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You are what you eat.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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I can't tell you how many moms reach out to us to talk about how much their baby's poop changes when they eat @amarababyfood vs other brands. So much so, that we decided to do a little guide about baby poop. This will change depending on what your baby eats and if you're doing breastmilk or formula but here's a little guide to the common colors you'll see in baby poop:⠀⠀

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GREEN: Dark green may be because of iron in formula⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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YELLOW: Yellow to mustard yellow is usually normal for infants⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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RED: If you haven't eaten beets recently, bright red may mean infection or allergy - talk to your doctor to be sure⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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ORANGE: Can be your baby adjusting to solid foods⠀

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WHITE: white or gray may be a digestive issue - check with doctor to be sure⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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One of the telltale signs of eating good, healthy whole foods is a healthy digestive system. Giving your baby wholesome foodsis great for your baby's digestion as they transitioning to solid foods - make sure you're checking their poop!

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🥕🥕FOOD FACT FRIDAY 🥕🥕⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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I discovered sweet potato because it's one of the most common veggies to start solids with. I'll admit, I loved it the second I tried this savory, sweet veggie. Here are some of my favorite facts about the festive sweet potato:⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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🍠Promotes a Healthy Immune System: Did you know that one sweet potato has about half of the daily recommended Vitamin C?⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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🍠Beta Carotene: one of the highest sources one of beta-carotene in vegetables, which your body uses to make Vitamin A.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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🍠Baby's Digestion: the fiber in sweet potato helps make the transition to solid foods smooth for your baby. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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So whether you make your sweet potato puree or can't go without Amara's Sweet Potato Raspberry flavor - here's the little guide to why sweet potato is so popular!⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Join @amarababyfood for #foodfactfridays because together, we can raise the next generation of #foodnerds.

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I always start off my meetings by asking what's the #1 thing parents avoid when giving food to their babies. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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The answer is always the same....SUGAR. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Traditional baby food is overly processed, concentrating the sugars and cooking out the nutrients. Amara is the only brand that gives you the taste, texture and nutrients of FRESH - without having to worry about keeping it cold. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Bye, bye overly-processed, sugary baby food - Welcome to the future of baby, FOOD. @amarababyfood

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🥕🥕FOOD FACT FRIDAY 🥕🥕⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Viruses, heath, immunity... it’s been on all of our minds lately hasn’t it? It can be especially scary for you as a new mom so we wanted to share a bit more about our superfruit star – the maqui berry. Known to help boost immunity, here are the top 3 reasons why we love it:
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. 🥦ANTIOXIDANTS: reported to have more than 3x more antioxidants than blueberries, eating maqui berry daily is a powerful way to help keep disease away.
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🥦GUT HEALTH: your gut is directly related to your immune system and studies suggest that plant compounds in maqui and other berries may help reshape your gut microbiota, increasing the number of good bacteria.
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🥦ANTI INFLAMMATORY: test tube studies have shown than the maqui berry may reduce inflammation in blood vessels and can ameliorate the effects of oxidative stress.
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This berry holds a special spot in our heart. At @amarababyfood, we source the maqui berry in our Applesauce with Maqui Berry directly from the farms in the Patagonian region of Chile. We get them at peak harvest so they get the best flavor and our technology locks in the original nutrients and antioxidants from the fresh berry (second best only to fresh).
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With all this focus on staying healthy… you can bet that we’re stocking up on Applesauce with Maqui Berries ;)

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🥦FOOD FACT FRIDAY🥦
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Did you know your gut health is directly linked to your immunity? The better you eat, the better you’ll feel and the better you and your baby will be equipped to fight off any infections. Today, we’re talking about the superfood of all superfoods – KALE! Here are the top reasons why we love Kale:
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🥬IRON: Did you know that per calorie, kale has more iron than beef? Iron is critical for the cellular processes in your baby’s brain development.
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🥬MINERALS: Kale contains most of the every day minerals we need like potassium, calcium and selenium (which supports your baby’s immune system)
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🥬FIBER: A leafy green that is great for aiding in digestion for your baby
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🥬PROTEIN: Kale actually contains vitamin K2, which has been shown to activate 17 proteins. That’s one of the reasons why this vegetable is so nutrient dense.
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Kale is packed full of nutrients, vitamins and antioxidants – a lot of which are heat sensitive. That’s why @Amarababyfood, we use a pressure protected technology that doesn’t use that high level of repeated heat. Our kale is picked fresh and still has the taste, texture and NUTRIENTS that it did when it comes from the ground. All with the convenience of a tiny little pouch, so you can get fresh, where and when you need it.

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🥦FOOD FACT FRIDAY🥦In times like these where fresh food isn’t always easy to access, we want to make sure we are thinking about the PROCESS behind the food you’re eating. Not all shelf stable products are made the same. Here are the top things to watch out for when buying shelf stable products:⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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PROCESS: Most shelf stable products have to be zapped at really high temperatures, repeatedly, to keep them from going bad on the grocery stores shelves. They often become shelf stable with high heat that sacrifices all the nutrients and fiber (aka – the reason you’re eating the food in the first place!). If the product is ready to eat without you having to do anything but squeeze it out… think twice.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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TEXTURE and TASTE: Does the food still have the taste and texture of fresh food? Taste, texture and color are often heat sensitive – make sure your food looks and tastes like the food you would buy at home. It’s a great way to quickly gauge the quality.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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ADDITIVES: Top additives to watch out for when buying shelf stable products: Maltodextrin, ascorbic acid; Sunflower Lecithin; Citric acid; silicon dioxide, ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
sugar; salt/sodium. Can you name more?⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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That being said…we’re all doing the best we can throughout these crazy times …so sometimes you may reach for that easy, squeezy solution. But, as Sonia, our nutritionist says, your body is like a car – the better fuel you give the engine, the better your body/car preforms and the longer it lasts. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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It’s SO important in times like this that we give our body and your babies body the food it needs to be strong and healthy. Let’s get our bodies the FUEL it needs to be able to be strong and healthy. Let’s eat REAL FOOD.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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ps. In case you haven’t noticed at Amara, we love to talk about food (#foodnerds to be exact). If you have any questions, ways we can help out – please, please reach out. Stay safe out there mamas, lots of love and hugs. xoxo

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Like these Food Facts? Come join us every Friday on Instagram where we dive into food facts related to your baby's diet, gut health and so much more! 

At Amara, we truly believe that if we feed our babies real tastes, textures and nutrients of whole foods - we can change the way our future generations eat (and think!). Come try our organic baby food meals, full of rich tastes and nutrition. Amara, making homemade, possible.