So little Johnny and little Susie have started back to school!! Especially if this is their first year this is a huge milestone for them and a lot of change to undergo.  You took them to Wal-Mart and got all their school supplies: pencils, eraser, ruler, protractor, notebook paper.  But what’s this?!? Little Susie brought home home more than a report card after the first few weeks…..

The rates of sickness for school children when they go back to school are mind blowing.  We’re getting close to starting into “flu season” again.  I see all of the CVS Pharmacies advertising “Flu Shots Here” on their billboards.  Every blog or info page you get on for places like the Mayo Clinic have instructions on how to help prevent your child from contracting illnesses from their fellow students.  But all the hand washing, antimicrobial wash, and “hands to yourself” in the world aren’t going to save your kids from the different sicknesses floating around at school.  The best way to help your children is to boost their immunity and allow their bodies to naturally fight off infection and sickness.

So what supplements should I give them??

There are some key supplements and vitamins that we carry and recommend for your children to help boost their immunity.

1. Colloidal Silver:  I just finished writing the post about this yesterday so you can read about that here.  This is your natural antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, and anti yeast product.  You can use this topically, orally, or in their ears and nose to help fight off and kill different bacteria that they will inevitably come into contact with.   I would start them on a teaspoon 2x/day just as maintenance, but if they start showing signs of any type of illness, up that drastically to at least a teaspoon every other hour or so (if they’re with you).

2. Thymex:  This is an overall immune booster.  It supplies the thymus gland with the nutrients it needs to produce the helper T cells like it needs to to help your child fight on foreign invaders.  This is a great product that really jump starts your child’s immune system and gives it the boost it needs to fight back.  A maintenance dose for this product would be 1-2 tablets with each meal.  When ill or feeling under the weather, give them 1 every hour.

3. Congaplex:  We use this product for kids in the office almost more than any other!! It is another immune booster that focuses on assisting the respiratory tract and helping with cold, flu, and congestion.  This is a great way to keep your child’s air pathways clear during this part of their school year and help them breathe easier.  For maintenance, give them 1 with each meal.  During times of congestion and respiratory irritation, give them at least 3 per meal with another in between meals if needed.

4. Probiotic Sufficiency:  This is our probiotic we carry from Innate Choice.  This is the best probiotic we’ve found on the market.  It has over 15 Billion (that’s right, with a “B”!!) units of helpful bacteria per capsule!!  It is also non-dairy based so it is the best one for your child.  This one is an adult probiotic in capsule form so with this product, give your kids 1/4 capsule for every 40 lbs of body weight.  This product is even more important if your child has had to go on an antibiotic for any reason recently or is currently on one.  This will help to keep them from becoming deficient in their normal flora (good bacteria) that are so important for immune function.

5.  Omega Sufficiency:  An essential part of your child’s daily supplements should include omega-3 fats.  You can get them in a variety of ways, we use this particular omega 3 fat from Innate Choice.  This company cleans their product very well, distills it the best, uses the best product, and doesn’t use temperatures too high that denature the enzymes in the oil.  Omega-3 fats are essential for production of optimal levels of cholesterol in their little bodies.   This cholesterol is used to heal damaged areas in the body.

6. Organic Sufficiency:  So I get asked all the time what I like the best for a multivitamin for kids.  This is a new product we’ve really fell in love with because it is SOOOO GOOD!!!  It has incredible ingredients and is again made my Innate Choice.  Their goal is all whole-food based supplements so you get the best quality nutrients you possibly can out of your supplements.  This one is in tablet form so your kids can either swallow it (if they’re old enough) or chew it, or you can crush it up and put it in their food.  Maintenance on this one is 2-3/day for the kiddos.

7. Essential Oils:  Since respiratory infections are pretty much the number one reason why kids get sick going back to school in the fall, essential oils are a great choice to help open up the breathing pathways.  You can use Eukalyptus on their chest (works like Vicks) and that will open their lungs up to help them breathe more.  Lavender oil on the bottoms of their feet at night also helps to open the breathing pathways and get them to taking in more oxygen.

There are many other immune boosters out there, like: echinacea (immunity), fenugreek (decongestant), grape seed extract (immunity), Vitamin C, Vitamin A, Zinc, and Elderberry.   The list is pretty long.

Ok, blah blah blah, what’s the bottom line….what do they NEED?

What I recommend for parents in the office for everyday supplementation for the kids is: 1. Fish Oil (I prefer ours because of the purity, but anything is better than nothing)  2: Probiotics (again, I like the Innate Choice ones the best here)  3. Multivitamin (Organic Sufficiency is great, but you can also do a greens drink like “Greens First”. )

If your kids start to exhibit signs of getting sick, then I’d add in the following: 1. Thymex: 1 every hour or so until symptoms go away  2. Congaplex: 2-3 with every meal to help ease pressure in sinuses and help with congestion  3. Colloidal Silver: 1 teaspoon every other hour to help kill bad bacteria and viruses.  If this doesn’t seem to make a dent on them, then start adding in some extras.  Start with Echinacea and Zinc to help support the immune system and if they’re really congested, add in Fenugreek to assist the body in getting rid of congestion.

The great thing about children is that they respond so quickly to supplementation and treatment.  Now, if your child’s immune system has been down for a long time due to repetitive infection/medication cycle, then you might keep them on this for at least 3 months.  You’ll be amazed at how well their immune system will do and how much better they will feel overall by giving their body what it needs to fight off these different bugs.

Does my child’s diet have anything to do with all of this??

Aside from the supplements to help give them a boost, you need to make some dietary changes with your kids to prevent sickness and to treat it if it does happen.  Here are some tips for their diet:

1. Take out as much sugar as you can! A teaspoon of sugar will cause the immune system to go down for over a half hour.  This is really hard because during the “back to school craze” there is usually more sugar available!!  I’m not saying you have to be the mean bad parent and not let them have anything, but it will help them fight off sickness easier if they don’t have all the sugar in their system.  So this means limiting breads, candy and cokes (for sure!!), and pastas.  If you can at least try to take out candy and cokes, they’ll do much better.

2. Encourage more water.  Water is responsible for flushing the toxins out of your child’s kidneys and lymphatic system.  If they become dehydrated, these toxins will remain in their system and won’t be cleared by the body, causing more insult to their immune system.  Your child needs to be drinking at least half their body weight in ounces of water a day to stay hydrated and probably double that if they aren’t feeling good.  And NO, cokes, teas, lemonade, and juices do not count in this measurement!!  Add lemon or lime into the water to help balance their pH and give them some flavor if you want.

3. More fruits and veggies! This one is a no-brainer and is a little redundant, but they need more fruits and vegetables to give them the fiber to clear their intestines of toxic waste and enzymes to help with immune function.  Add in more berries like blueberries and raspberries to get more antioxidants in their system.  Organic is much better here due to the pesticides on the produce, but again, anything is better than nothing. If you’re having problems getting the right amount of fruits and vegetables into your child, there are products you can add in to boost it up.  These are not replacements for good food, but they are a bonus.  Greens First (we have this in the office) is a greens drink that actually tastes good!! It has 10 servings of vegetables per scoop and you can just put it in water and let them drink it.  Aloe Xtra is an aloe drink that has goji berry, acai berry, blue berries and on and on in it for a major antioxidant kick.  Tastes great and gives them a ton of nutrients in it at the same time.  We carry both of those at the office so if you’re interested, just call the office for pricing.

Other things to give your child the best head start: a good nights sleep, chiropractic adjustments (boost the immune system and increase circulation), cold laser treatments (to help with lymphatic circulation and congestion), Ionic Foot Baths (increase detox) and less TV time.

So not an all inclusive list of everything to do for your child, but this will get you started.  Contact me if you have specific questions about your kids and I can help you figure out what to do.  The bottom line is this, your child is created with everything they need physically to fight off sickness and disease, you just have to feed their body with what it needs to help them fight to the best of their ability.  Every time you give them a medication to stop a symptom, it stops what the body was trying to naturally do to fight sickness.  This delays the worst of it until later, but it will eventually surface.

Hopefully this gave you some tips to help start off the school year right and keep your kids as healthy as possible.

Dr. JB

Tags: back to school, colloidal silver, congaplex, fish oil, immune boosting, probiotics