Parents often wonder: What can I do to keep my child healthy? Sadly, there are no magic wands or magic supplements. The best way to keep the immune system healthy is to stick with the foundations. Here are some tried and true ways to stay healthy as we slide into the school year.
Whole foods diet
Aim for less processed food. Food being in packages are a sign something is more processed. Whole foods are closest to the form they are found in nature (think apple sauce versus an actual apple. The apple wins). When you do grab packaged foods, look for fewer ingredients.
A quick google search compares Mott’s Applesauce ingredients: apples, high fructose corn syrup, water and ascorbic acid (vitamin C) versus Santa Cruz Organic Apple Sauce ingredients: organic apples and ascorbic acid. Grab the Santa Cruz for less ingredients and the organic apples.
Get plenty of fruits and veggies
If your kids don’t love vegetables, it’s ok to add dips or spreads (like ranch or hummus) to help them learn to like the flavor. Veggies have fiber, minerals and vitamins. Fruit also has a lot of beneficial vitamins and minerals as well, so don’t stress too much if your kid pushes veggies to the side and favors the fruit. If they do this, don’t be afraid to keep feeding them fruit, but do keep offering a variety of veggies even if they don’t often eat them.
Fresh air/ nature
Ever heard of forest bathing? It’s basically time in nature away from screens and distractions. It’s incredible for your health and boosts our immune systems! Phytoncides have antibacterial and antifungal qualities which help plants fight disease. When people breathe in these chemicals, our bodies respond by increasing the number and activity of a type of white blood cell called natural killer cells or NK.
Click here for a link to a study on the benefits of spending time in nature.
Sleep
Sleep helps to restore our energy for the next day as well as vital immune processes in the body! Aim for good quality sleep by limiting screen time after dinner, taking an epsom salt bath and sleeping in a dark, cool environment.
Physical Movement
Moving our bodies is good for us in many ways. For our immune system, movement gets our lungs and blood pumping. Our immune system lives in our blood stream, so movement literally helps to move the immune system to every corner of the body.
Keep Stress in Check
We know when we are more stressed our bodies become susceptible to infection. This is often overlooked but I see this on a daily basis. Stressed patients get worn out and get sick more often. This goes for adults and kids.
Wash. Those. Hands.
It’s a great practice to wash hands when getting home for the day and especially eating or preparing food. This goes for babies as well. I’ve been surprised at how washing a 9 month’s old hands has helped decrease colds throughout the winter.
Elderberry Syrup
Elderberry is very safe and effective for immune support! Many brands will use sugar in their formulas, so make sure to opt for an Elderberry syrup made with honey or vegetable glycerin. Only use honey formulas for kids over a year old! When sick, elderberry needs to be taken frequently but can sometimes cause a stomachache so decrease dose if this occurs.
- Elderberry Dosing:
- Younger kids 20-35lbs: 1/8 tsp daily for prevention, when sick take every 2-3 hours.
- School aged kids 35-50lbs: 1/4 tsp daily for prevention, when sick take every 2-3 hours.
- School aged kids: 50-75lbs: 1/2 tsp daily for prevention, when sick take every 2-3 hours.
- Older kids: 75-100lbs: 3/4 tsp daily for prevention, when sick take every 2-3 hours.
- Adults: 1 tsp daily for prevention, when sick take every 2-3 hours.
Vitamin D3
Vitamin D isn’t something you take when you get sick, it’s best to make sure you get healthy blood levels now! I start supplementing babies around 2 months old, make sure you are using a supplement with basic ingredients without a lot of preservatives. The vitamin D supplement I use for babies is very simple, just vitamin D3 in olive oil.
Zinc
Zinc lozenges are great for cold and flu season. Make sure to use liquid zinc for toddlers who cannot reliably chew hard foods without the risk of choking. I have my patients use this from October through March to help decrease the severity of a cough, cold or flu.
Remember, the goal isn’t to never get sick, the goal is to support your body to move through an illness and get back to 100% afterward. When you get sick, take it as a sign to SLOW DOWN, rest, eat some soup, stew, drink tea and curl up with a pet to read a book.
To schedule a visit for you or your child with our Naturopathic Pediatrician, Dr. Kendra Featherman, please contact our front desk at 406-317-1965.
For more on Dr. Featherman, click here.