My daughter joined the ranks of ‘big kids’ as she marched off to her first day of school this September. It was wonderful to see her so excited, utterly happy about going to school and learning new things (she even proclaimed with joy and pride – “and we got a book to read AND homework!”).
To me as a parent, seeing her go off to school was bittersweet. Seeing her so happy and joyful about meeting new friends and learning how to not only use her mind and manners, but also to develop the social skills she will draw upon for the rest of her life brought a huge smile to my face. It was also unbelievable to me that she is already old enough to be in school, and that this is a routine that will play itself out for years (and years) to come.
Her brain isn’t the only thing that will be challenged over the coming days, weeks, months and years; her immune system will be as well as she’s exposed to the hundreds of other kids at her school. Luckily, there are several ways we can prepare our kids for the challenges their immune systems will face as they continue their educational journey:
The Basics
We make sure that our kids have a good foundation for health. This begins with a healthy diet that is high in vegetables and fruit, protein at every meal, whole grains and limits sugar in all its forms (i.e., candy, soda, ice cream, sweets, donuts and fruit juice). There are also a couple supplements we have them take daily, including:
Vitamin D – research shows that children need vitamin D, just like adults to boost their immunity. Our five year old takes 1000 IU/day. We recommend a liquid vitamin D, such as Bio-D-Mulsion Forte – 1 drop every other day (1 drop has 2000 IU vitamin D3).
Probiotics – it’s been estimated that over 70% of a person’s immune function is contained in their gut; therefore, maintaining proper gut health is of utmost importance. We recommend probiotics to help support a healthy gut; our kids use FloraBoost (which is a tasteless powder) – 1 scoop in water daily.
Multi-vitamin/mineral – even though we do our best to try and insure our kids get all the nutrients they need through their diet, they’re still kids and they aren’t going to (and aren’t expected to) eat well all the time. A good multi that isn’t loaded with sugar comes in handy; we use a chewable multi called SuperNutes that has a strawberry flavor that our kids love – in fact, they ask for it every morning!
Covering the basics will get your kids off to school with a solid foundation of immune support that will dramatically reduce the number and severity of illnesses they bring home. Our next post on Back to School will give you some ideas on what to do if your kids need or want extra immune support.
Note, all of the products listed above can be purchased by giving us a call or contacting us; we have them in stock because we use them!
