It is now cold and flu season! Nobody wants their child to be sick and have to miss work. Since younger children under four cannot get relief with cough and cold medicine. Try these tricks to boost your child's immunity:
Offer more fruits and vegetables. Fruits and veggies are high in vitamin C and antioxidants, and both of these natural nutrients boost the immune system. Antioxidants travel through the bloodstream and protect tissue from damage. They are like the anti-rust protection in an automobile, helping reduce the wear and tear on the engine. The less wear and tear on the body, the less susceptible it is to infection. Good immune-boosting fruits include strawberries, papaya, cantaloupe, guava, pink grapefruit, and blueberries. Good veggies are tomatoes, broccoli, and sweet potatoes, as well as soy products. When I see children in the office who are sick a lot, I prescribe Dr. Bill's immune-boosting smoothie: one cup of plain yogurt, one-half cup each of the above-mentioned fruits, a multivitamin / multimineral formula that contains at least ten milligrams of zinc (an immune booster), and a quarter cup of flaxseed meal. Mix these immune boosters in milk or juice. Also, feed your child lots of yellow vegetables, which contain carotenoids -- a natural substance that increases the production of infection-fighting white blood cells (or "natural killer cells"). Yellow-orange fruits and dark green vegetables, such as apricots, carrots, pumpkin, kale, spinach, squash and mango, are also particularly healthful.
Feed your child immune-boosting fats. Omega 3 fats, particularly those found in coldwater fish (such as wild salmon) are valuable immune boosters and maintain the overall health of just about every organ of the body. They increase the activity of macrophages, the white cells that eat up bacteria. Grandmothers knew this fact years ago in the pre-antibiotic era when they prescribed that awful tasting cod liver oil. Feed your child at least three ounces of wild salmon three times a week. If coldwater fish is not available to you, give your child a high-quality fish oil capsule. One capsule a day (open the capsule and squirt it into juice or oatmeal) should be enough. Two or three teaspoons of flax oil a day is another immune-boosting source of omega 3 fats, but not as good as a seafood source.
Feed your child less sugar and other sweeteners. Studies have shown that drinking the equivalent of two and a half 12-ounce cans of soda can reduce the ability of immune-fighting white blood cells by 40 percent.
Keep your child lean. Obesity can depress the immune system by interfering with the ability of white blood cells to produce antibodies. Research shows that overweight babies get twice as many infections as lean babies.
Get your child moving. Exercise both increases the white blood cells' ability to fight off infection and increases the number of those killer cells mentioned above.
Lessen exposure to germs. If your child is in part- or full-time daycare, insist on careful hand washing when caregivers handle your infant. (Which we do!)As much as possible, keep your child away from those who are coughing and sneezing, especially other children.
Protect those precious lungs. Be vigilant in keeping your baby away from smokers. Smoking damages the protective lining of babies' immature respiratory passages, making them more susceptible to infection. Also, be sure your baby is up-to-date on all the necessary immunizations. As your child grows, so will his immature immune system. In the meantime, the above home remedies can help boost his immunity.
-Article taken from Dr Sears
Germ Warfare
Wipe down the handle of your shopping cart, the doorknobs of public bathrooms, even your kid's menu (just think how many tots have licked the photo of that ice cream sundae).
Bring your own books, toys, or a portable video game to play with at the doctor's office. Yes, offices clean their toys, but the odds are huge that a sick kid had his hands on them not long before you arrived.
Use your own pen at the doctor's office, pharmacy, and checkout counter (adults carry germs, too!).
Spray down the bathroom with a household disinfectant such as Lysol or Clorox Clean-Up if a family member has been sick. Other germ magnets that could use a spritz: phones, remote controls, microwaves, and refrigerator door handles. You can also spray down toys at the end of the day -- once the disinfectant dries, it's no longer hazardous.
Try not to hug soiled linens close to you to avoid spreading germs from dirty laundry to your body. Wash your hands afterward.
Sanitize like crazy if you go to an indoor play space!
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