PROBIOTICS FOR KIDS

 PROBIOTICS FOR KIDS: WHY THEY SUPPORT IMMUNITY

A view from the back of a classroom as a young child raises their hand.

As more kids are returning to school buildings or other “in-person” activities where they will mix and mingle with more than just other students, you may be wondering what you can do to support their immune systems.

Of course, you need to ensure they eat a healthy diet, encourage them to wear a mask when appropriate, wash their hands and avoid touching their face. But you also should think about their digestive system.

Immunity and the digestive system

That may sound strange, but the digestive system is the hub of your body’s immune health. In fact, 70 percent of your immunity cells are located in the lining of your gut, which is also home to trillions of tiny good and bad bacteria. (You may have heard this called your microbiome.)

The balance between those good and bad bacteria is a key part of the immune system. But it can easily get out of balance thanks to processed foods, occasional stress and environmental factors.

An illustration of the digestive system with a shield in front depicting 70 percent. That's the amount of your immune system located in your gut.

Benefits of probiotics

This is where probiotics come in. Probiotics help restore the balance between good and bad bacteria.

“The bacteria population in your gut is where immune and digestive function intersect,” said Kristin Morris, senior research scientist for the Nutrilite™ brand of vitamins and dietary supplements. “The gut does so much, including teaching your immune system how to behave.”

There are things we can do to support the healthy function of our gut, Kristen continued, one of which includes regularly taking a probiotic.”

A man gives Nutrilite vitamins to two children seated on the edge of a kitchen counter.

Probiotic-rich foods and supplements

There are two ways you can increase your child’s probiotic intake. One is by feeding them foods that are naturally rich in probiotics, like yogurt, kefir, kombucha, sauerkraut or other fermented items. Outside of yogurt, however, those items are not on many children’s preferred foods list.

The other way is to give them a supplement. Nutrilite™ Kids Complete Immunity Fast-Melt Powder contains probiotics specifically designed for children as well as acerola cherry concentrate for an extra dose of vitamin C zinc and vitamin D,Contains 30 mg vitamin C, 1 billion CFU Probiotics, 1 mcg vitamin D and 2.

It delivers 1 billion colony forming units (CFUs), which means they are live microorganisms – the good kind! Not all probiotics survive the journey through the digestive system to your gut, so the large number helps ensure that enough of them will succeed to make a home in your microbiome and help maintain that needed balance.†

Learn more

Whether you choose to give your children their probiotics through food or a supplement, adding a daily dose to their diet will naturally help support both a healthy digestive system and immune system through every season.

You can read more about your immune system in other blogs at Amway Connections. To learn more about  Nutrilite™ Kids Complete Immunity Fast-Melt Powder or other Nutrilite™ products that support the immune system, visit Amway.com or Amway.ca.


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