We’re well into winter in Australia and the past week has been wet and cold in Sydney. Perfect conditions for catching colds, coughs and flu!
School aged children and little ones at day care are prime candidates for these viruses. You don’t have to sit back and wait for them to strike. We’re always hearing that prevention is better than cure so lets boost your child’s immune system and prevent them from getting sick this winter.
Immune boosting treatments often include herbal medicines such as Echinacea, Elderberry, Olive Leaf and Ginger. As well as vitamins and minerals such as Vitamin C and Zinc. These can be prescribed in liquid, tablet of powder form and children are usually very good at taking their naturopathic medicines (often better than adults!).
As well as herbs and nutrients, there are also things you can do at home to ensure your children have the best natural defences. Here are my 5 tips for children’s immune health:
1. Enjoy a nutrient dense diet – It is best to go for seasonal fruit and vegetables because you have the best chance of them being fresh and richer in nutrients. If you’re buying produce that is out of season it has most likely been in cold storage and hanging around for quite some time so a lot of the nutrients will be depleted. If you can, go for organic or local farmers markets to get the best quality, nutrient dense food. Autumn and winter seasonal fruits include pears, mandarins, apple, tangelo, orange and kiwifruit. Vegetables include broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce, spinach, broad beans, peas, avocado, pumpkin, carrot, parsnip, sweet potato.
2. Get adequate sleep – A healthy immune system requires proper rest and
rejuvenation so make sure your little one gets plenty of sleep. Stress (even from lack of sleep) will lower the immune system so ensure your child has a regular bed time even in school holidays.
3. Remember hygiene – Washing hands before eating food is a must as children love to touch and feel everything they see. Minimise risk of infection by ensuring your child washes their hands before touching something that’s about to go in their mouth. But try not to be too paranoid about washing them constantly, disinfecting everything and using hand sanitiser. Little bodies need to come in to contact with some dirt to help build the immune system but proper hygiene is essential.
4. Freshen up your home – Let fresh air into the house during the day. Open windows and doors to allow the air and sunlight to naturally clean and disinfect your home.
5 Play outside – Make sure you child gets out in the sunlight and fresh air to play. Vitamin D is essential for immune health and running around will increase circulation and oxygen supply to increase vitality, energy and immunity.
And last but not least please please please Don’t send your kids to day care or school when they’re sick. This is for the greater good of everyone! If adults stop going to work sick and children stop going to school sick we can really reduce the spread of germs. Unfortunately we’ve been marketed this idea of popping pills to dry up our runny noses so we can keep going with our daily tasks but this really doesn’t help anyone. If you or your child catch a cold its because your immune system is low and you really need to stay at home and rest.
