With the winter fast approaching, you are probably wondering what you can do to keep your kids healthy this year. With the extra sugar kids eat, combined with the colder weather, it’s easy to see how your child’s immune system can get depressed. When you or a family member gets sick, it affects the entire family. In many families, it seems that colds go around so that each member gets sick. When your child is sick, you’ll find yourself up all night either listening to them sneeze or cough, or, giving them comfort. Either way, you’ll find yourself getting “run down” and sick yourself. So, what you can you do to keep your family healthy this year?
1. Sugar. Minimize your child’s intake of sugar. The sugar will make your child hyper, difficult to put to bed, which will result in your child getting a less restful sleep and more prone to sickness. The sugar will also feed any bad bacteria or virus your child might be exposed to, also increasing your child’s chance for illness. Remember that there is a lot of sugar in juice, which can also increase the risk of dental cavities, so feed your child water, not juice. If you are going to give your child a holiday treat, make sure it is not right before bedtime so it won’t affect your child’s sleep. And sodas are even worse. Many of them have artificial sweeteners which can cause cancer (in lab rats) and can interfere with the digestive process, whereby your child is not absorbing all the necessary nutrients to keep him or her healthy.
2. Diet. Besides sugar, make sure your child is eating a very healthy diet. Stay away from chemicals commonly found in processed foods and have your child eat as many fruits and vegetables as possible. Plus, taking a good vitamin (not one filled with sugar) will help boost their immune system as well. There are also good “green” drinks filled with the equivalent of 8 – 10 fruits and vegetables. Find one that uses stevia or natural sweeteners and that only uses organic products. My 4 ½ year old loves the green drink that we use and asks for it every day. To make it more filling for you, mix it with almond milk, yogurt, banana, mango and a liquid Omega 3 oil (or freshly ground flaxseeds work well too).
3. Exercise. Make sure your child gets plenty of exercise, even during the winter months. Just make sure that they have lots of layers to keep them warm, but can take off a layer when they begin to warm up. I had a mentor in Chiropractic school who used to say “A body at rest tends to stay at rest, a body in motion tends to stay in motion.” Even if your child is exhibiting signs of a minor cold, it is more likely that they would do better by running around a bit to “kill of the virus”, but increasing their body temperature.
4. Fever/Cough/Sneezing. Our body is intelligent, we have built-in mechanisms so that it can heal itself. For instance, when we get a fever, that’s our body’s way of getting rid of foreign intruders. When we have a low grade fever, for example, we most like have a virus and our body knows that a virus cannot survive at 99 degrees. When we have a higher fever, we most likely have a bacterial infection. Letting our body exhibit that fever will most likely result in it killing the bacterial intruder. But, we think we are smart and take a fever reducer. So, instead of being sick for 24 hours, we might be sick for 10 days until our body can finally kill off the intruder.
The same thing is true for sneezing and coughing. That is another way our body gets rid of the bacteria or viral infection. When we stop it with over-the-counter medications, we might be prolonging the illness. My daughter who is approaching her 5th birthday has never taken any over-the-counter medication or antibiotic for a cold or any other illness. Not that I haven’t been tempted. It’s difficult when you see your child suffering, but, if you trust your instincts and let the body do its own thing, your child’s immune system can get stronger and will fight infection easier. My daughter is extremely healthy now and rarely gets sick. It is true that she will receive a chiropractic adjustment as soon as I notice that she is appearing sick, but it rarely develops into anything that lasts more than a few hours.
While there are many natural things you can do to achieve a healthier body, it is also important to have a medical doctor if and when your child needs medical intervention.
5. Flu Vaccine. Despite what the media and health “officials” say, the flu vaccine is quite controversial. The vaccine is filled with toxins; you have to wonder why this vaccine is pushed on the public. When the vaccine is created, it is far in advance of any knowledge of which strains of the flu will present itself each year. The manufacturers’ of these types of vaccines have to guess which strains will be prevalent that year. They say that they have a 50-50 chance of getting it correct. The government is great at using fear to get people to get vaccinated but not great at presenting ways to prevent the flu instead. It seems that every year they predict that this year will be terrible and use some incredible statistic about the number of flu-related deaths each year. What they don’t tell you is that many flu-related deaths are people whose immune systems are already compromised with other illnesses.
Some of the ingredients commonly found in the flu vaccine are: formaldehyde (a preservative commonly used to embalm), MSG which is a neurotoxin, chicken embryos (some people have allergies to eggs), thimerosol (mercury), gentamisin sulfate & polymyxin B (antibiotics), Go to http://www.flumist.com/Flumist-Side-Effects.aspx for a list of possible side effects and contraindications of the flumist vaccine. One of the big problems I have with the flu vaccine is the lack of informed consent by those administering the vaccine. So, instead of taking a chance with the flu vaccine with its potential serious side effects, try one of the following to boost your immune system.
6. Sleep. I can’t emphasize this enough how important sleep is to keeping your immune system strong. If you think about it, when you’re sick, your body makes you tired so that you will sleep. When you are resting, that is the time when your body repairs itself. It can’t be healing your body while it is focusing on other activities. Toddlers should get about 11 hours per night, especially if they are not taking naps. I have found, not only with my 4 ½ year old, that the earlier I get her to bed, the later she sleeps in the morning.
7. Chiropractic. Take your child to a pediatric chiropractor and see if your child would benefit from chiropractic care. Chiropractic treatments (called an adjustment), release white blood cells into your blood stream and can directly boost your immune system. The philosophy of chiropractic states that the body has an innate ability to heal itself, if you just give it an opportunity. When you receive an adjustment, it works on the neurological system, which controls the functioning of all of your organs in the body. The adjustment will reduce interference to the nervous system which might be causing the lack of health.
You might ask why an infant or toddler might need chiropractic care. Well, the birth process can be very traumatic on a child’s spine plus, infants and toddlers fall frequently when they are learning to walk or just playing at the playground. This can cause misalignments (we call them subluxations) of the spine, and if left untreated, can cause ill health, scoliosis, or other ailments. Every time I see my daughter starting to get sick, I adjust her immediately. I have seen her fever reduce from 103 degrees to 99 degrees within 20 minutes of receiving an adjustment. Most of the patients I have worked with since 1993, found that they don’t get sick as frequently as they used to since beginning chiropractic care. Or, if they do get sick, they recover much quicker. Adjustments are gentle and safe for both children and adults. To find a pediatric chiropractor near you who has received post graduate training in gentle techniques, go to www.icpa4kids.com.
8. Homeopathy. Homeopathic remedies are safe and there are specific remedies great for kids at combating a variety of health problems including colds and flu, sinus infections, etc. You can either go to someone who practices what is called Classical Homeopathy or someone who uses Contemporary Homeopathic Remedies. A Classical Homeopath will spend some time trying to figure out the right remedy for you or your child (a constitutional remedy) and will have you take that remedy to “peel off the layers” to achieve better health. When you get sick, that person might recommend a different remedy for the acute problem, but will usually have you return to your constitutional remedy when you are feeling better.
A person using Contemporary Homeopathic remedies will use muscle testing or something equivalent to find the right formula. These formulas are a combination of homeopathic remedies, herbs and essences and are safe. There are some contemporary homeopathic remedies that are water based in a spray that will allow you to put the remedy in water, spray it on your face or in your mouth. A popular homeopathic remedy specific for the flu is Oscillococcinum, which you take at the first sign of the flu.
9. I’m also a big fan of Acupuncture and Ayurveda, although I haven’t been educated in either of these modalities. Both are extremely safe and like chiropractic and homeopathy, will work on helping the body get back into balance so that it can heal itself.
10. Finding the right practitioner who can treat your child and your family that you feel comfortable with is the most important thing. All of these complimentary health care treatments are excellent, and some are best when blended with each other. While there is a place for prescription medications, most doctors will agree that they are not appropriate for children in most cases of colds, flu and other common childhood ailments. None of the medications have actually been tested on children, so there is no way of knowing exactly how each child will respond. It makes more sense to boost your child’s immune system naturally but to have a doctor who will work with you in the event your child does need either an over-the-counter or prescription medication.
