10 Tips for Keeping your Child’s Gut Healthy

Prioritizing your child’s gut health from the get-go can set them up for a lifetime of good health. In-fact it is believed that the key to a healthy mind is a healthy gut. The foremost function of the gut is digestion and absorption of nutrients from food, as well as the excretion of waste. It also has a major influence on the immune system helping children to fight off any bugs kids get exposed to. An unhappy gut in a child can lead to stomach aches, issues with nutrient absorption, irregular bowel habits, poor immunity, or may even influence their mood.

Hence, it becomes an important aspect to maintain a healthy gut for your child. Above all, a healthy child is a happy one. Here’s how to improve your child’s gut health:

• Include Probiotic foods – Probiotics are basically the live bacteria that are good for health. Probiotic foods include yogurt, kefir etc. should be taken.
• Drink water – Water keeps one hydrated, aids in digestion by helping move foods along and helps prevent constipation
• Increase intake of fruits and vegetables – Fruits and vegetables are high in fibre. Citrus fruits, Apples, beans or fruits with skin aid in healthy digestion, and berries and tomatoes contain antioxidants.
• Avoid refined sugar – Sugar suppresses the immune system for several hours and feeds the bad bacteria in the intestinal tract.
• Go for small and frequent meals – Small and frequent means give continuous energy to sustain for children throughout the day which further keeps the digestive system working, refreshing the gut at the same time.
• Ensure adequate Protein – Protein is the building block for the antibodies that fight infection. So good quality protein should be incorporated.
• Avoid Intolerant foods – Look out for foods that may be irritating the gut – common culprits are wheat or gluten and dairy
• Exercise – Frequent activity encourages the intestines to speed up a sluggish digestive system and offers stimulation to get waste moving through the body
• Cut back on Processed foods – A diet packed with chips, fast food and processed meat can lead to constipation and may prevent beneficial gut bugs from thriving.
• Avoid unnecessary antibiotics –Parents insist on antibiotics at the first sign of watery stools, not realizing that they’re harming their child’s gut health in the long term. It is perhaps best to avoid them as far as possible.

Over to you:

Centralising in your child’s gut health in their early years will not only improve their overall health in the short term but will also set them up for good health later in life!