We know that supporting your child’s immune system is top of mind. Below are some tips we hope will help you support your child’s immune system and which can be easily incorporated in to every day without fuss.
Diet
Increase your child’s fibre intake (fuel for their beneficial gut bugs), hidden veggies are a great idea for the picky eater – try avocado added to smoothies, grated zucchini into bolognese or sweet potato into home baking.
Limiting refined sugars is hugely important. We know that eating a high-sugar diet fuels the less desirable gut bugs as well as causing big shifts in blood glucose. If your child needs something sweet choose fresh fruit, nut butters or coconut yoghurt. If you have the time to bake, use coconut sugar or manuka or raw honey over refined sugar, you can then over time modify the input amount to the least amount needed for a ‘sweet treat’
We know many children do not enjoy fermented foods but try some simple inclusions such as cooking rice in bone broth or serving dinner with a bowl of miso soup. Try and avoid giving your child some of the many commercial cultured-dairy fermented products on the market as their high sugar content is counter-productive – even the ‘low sugar’ varieties.
Probiotic
Giving your child a daily probiotic will help populate their gut with beneficial bacteria. The microbiota has a role to play in training the immune system to recognise the right pathogens to target.
A probiotic that includes a prebiotic is ideal, look for one that has at least a cfu count over 1 billion (Akesi Probiotic+ powders contain 10 billion good bacteria) and contain multiple probiotic species.
Elderberry
Rich in antioxidants, elderberry has been utilised for many years as a nutritional supplement to reduce the severity of viral symptoms. Try giving your child 1 convenient sachet of our Probiotic+ Elderberry Boost daily.
Fresh Air
Encourage your child to play outside. A sensible amount of exposure to the sun will help them absorb the ‘sunshine’ vitamin – we know that vitamin D has an essential role in the healthy functioning of the immune system.
Movement in nature also does wonders to help support the microbiome and immune system by exposing the human body to trillions of beneficial microbes.
Help them to relax
Children love to have baths, if they’re more stressed or tired than usual try adding some epsom salts in a warm bath along with two drops of an essential oil such as lavender or eucalyptus. Please make sure the salts are fully dissolved before your child hops in and they are aware not to ingest the water. Epsom salts are a great way to absorb magnesium (through the skin), magnesium is a key mineral involved in immune support.
Keep them hydrated
In the busy-ness of the day it is easy to forget to keep the water intake up. Start every day by giving yourself and your children a glass of plain water. For afternoon tea, we recommend they have their daily dose of our delicious Akesi Berry in 250ml of water.
We know that life is hectic so we hope that the tips above are easy wins for you to help your family stay well.