Top Ways to Boost Your Child’s Immune System
With children back in school, making sure their immune systems are supercharged is on every parent’s minds!
Every parent that sends their children to daycare, nursery or school for the first time knows how much they struggle with supporting their children from frequently falling ill!
I get asked often, what can we do to help boost our children’s immune system?
FOOD IS MEDICINE. Focus on eating whole foods that are nutrient dense. Vegetables are the foundation of a nourishing diet, and they provide so many immune-supporting nutrients like vitamin C, carotenoids and antioxidants.
Daily focus on eating 8-10 different servings of vegetables and 2-3 servings of fruit, making sure to add variety throughout the week. Each color of fruits and vegetables provide different antioxidant power – so be sure to eat a rainbow every day!
USE SPICES AND HERBS for an increased boost of immune support. Nutritional powerhouses like ginger and turmeric, coriander etc. being very beneficial.
MAKE SURE TO GET ENOUGH PROTEIN. Protein is critical for immune function. Our daily requirement is to eat approximately 1 gram/kg, or about half your body weight in grams of protein a day. Make sure to eat organic, clean animal protein (like grass-fed beef, pasture-raised eggs, organic free-range chicken or wild-caught salmon).
Plant-based proteins (legumes, nuts/seeds) are adequate if consumed in enough quantity. Try gluten-free tofu and tempeh from non-GMO soy for the highest protein concentrations.
AVOID SUGAR AND PROCESSED/JUNK FOOD. This tip is super important! Studies show that eating 1 teaspoon of sugar reduces immune function by 50%, and that state of decreased immune function lasts up to 5 hours!
Processed foods are laden with sugars, fillers, vegetable oils etc. that all suppress our immune system! Reading labels, cooking at home routinely and eating a whole-foods, nutrient dense diet can really help catapult your family’s health.
DRINK BONE BROTH. Bone broth has amazing immune-supporting properties. It is so versatile in how it can be consumed. It is great as a nice warming drink or added to soups and stews!
EAT FERMENTED FOODS. The probiotics contained in fermented foods have tremendous immune boosting powers. It is great at supporting gut health and your microbiome. Examples include Kimchi, Sauerkraut, Kombucha, Kefir etc.
REDUCE YOUR TOXIC LOAD. Clean eating and clean living should be a process your family aims to do over a gradual period of time. These lifestyle changes include:
Better air quality
Pure filtered water
Non-toxic cleaning products
Organic foods
Cotton clothing
Non-toxic hygiene and personal-care products
No microwave usage
Avoiding aluminum cookware and products
Avoiding non-stick cookware
No tobacco exposure
No chemical pesticides
No plastic containers
Eliminating toxic building materials
Removing rugs and carpets
Eliminating all electromagnetic frequencies (EMFs), including WiFi
GET IN THE SUN. Getting 10-15 minutes per day of sunlight without sunscreen can boost the immune system because the sun’s rays kill bacteria, fungi and viruses.
Bright sunlight also activates melatonin production. Not only does melatonin control our sleep rhythms, but it also regulates immunity, perhaps in large part because of its anti-inflammatory properties.
Because grounding energy can improve sleep and normalize cortisol production, it can reduce the stress response by lowering inflammation. The best way to ground yourself is to go barefooted outside on wet grass, sand or dirt.
HYDRATE. Make water your family’s drink of choice and make sure to get plenty of water. Divide your body weight in half and drink that number in ounces! Do you come close? Water is necessary for proper elimination of toxins and acidic waste.
BE REGULAR. Having regular bowel movements and up to 2-3 times a day is a good sign that the body is eliminating toxins. Constipation is a typical sign of dehydration, as sufficient water is needed to push waste through the body. If you’re constipated, then the immune system, of which most resides in the gastrointestinal tract, gets backed up and is not able to do its job properly.
REGULAR EXERCISE. Mild to moderate exercise (for approximately 30 to 45 minutes) helps support the immune system. Moderate exercise can boost the production of macrophages, the kind of white blood cells that “eat” bacteria and viruses.
PRIORITIZE SLEEP. Sleep is critically important for the immune system. Sleep deficit can put the body into a state of high alert, increasing the production of stress hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline and lowering the body’s ability to fight off infection. Sleep is also a time for rest and repair for the body, so making sure to get enough sleep on a consistent basis is important. Bonus tip: try to keep the same sleep-awake times consistently.
PRACTICE GRATITUDE. Gratitude is an emotion expressing appreciation for what one has. Teaching our children the power and importance of gratitude early on in life is a great life skill.
Being thankful helps create a subconscious world of positivity that governs 90% of our thoughts and actions. The positive energy boosts optimism, which in turn helps prevent disease and improves our immune system, well-being, and sense of happiness.
Optimism helps lower inflammatory markers, influences epigenetics, and even helps the heart, adding years to life.
REDUCE STRESS and emphasize some mindfulness in your household. Emotional stress creates physiological stress in our bodies that lowers our immune defenses and makes us more vulnerable to illness. Try to take the time to do activities that make you and your child happy. Try to incorporate daily breathing exercises are a great way to teach your child a lifelong skill to help them in stressful situations.
USE ESSENTIAL OILS. Essential oils with their anti-bacterial, anti-microbial and anti-viral properties, can be powerful tools in combating viral infections which has been supported by research. Essential oils have also been recognized for their immune modulating properties.
SUPPLEMENTATION. Make sure to support the body by maintaining to optimal nutrient levels through diet and supplementation.
