Simple Steps to Boost your Child’s Immunity

All kids are exposed to a ton of viruses from each other, especially when they first start day care or school. Why are some kids able to get through colds without severe symptoms while some go on to develop more serious or prolonged illnesses? How can we help our kids’ immune systems do their job well?

“My 13-month-old son just started day care and keeps getting sick. He was on antibiotics for an ear infection 3 months ago and since then, he just keeps catching colds that last for weeks. What can I do to help prevent this or get him through these colds faster?”

-Lorene, Charlie’s mama

There are so many things you can do! Here I included some of the simplest, most effective ways of strengthening their immunity by focusing on:

Gut health
Nutrients needed by their immune system
Foods and herbs with strong antimicrobial properties and
Essential habits to optimize your child’s immunity

Gut health

Did you know that 80% of our immune cells are in our gut? That means that our immune health is very dependent on our gut health and the health of our microbiome (the bacteria living in our gut and regulating our immune function as well as many other bodily functions). Important components of keeping your gut healthy are supporting the gut lining and supporting a healthy balance of bacteria in the gut microbiome.

Include the following in your child’s diet to optimize their gut health:

Bone broth is an incredibly healing food for your gut. So many traditionally healing foods were relied on for generations because they actually work, and chicken soup is one of them! Bone broth is rich in gelatin, glycine, and glutamine, which have been shown in animal and human studies to modulate the gut microbiome as well as support the gut lining and the mucus layer that protects the inner gut wall. [1,2,3]
Prebiotics are food substances that are not digested by us, but they nourish and promote growth of beneficial bacteria in our gut microbiome [9 ,10].. This makes them an important part of cultivating gut health in your child (unless your child has been diagnosed with bacterial overgrowth). Prebiotic sources include raw honey, blueberries, blackberries, garlic, onion, beets, nectarines, white peaches, grapefruit, dried dates, cashews and breast milk [12.13].
Probiotics are live microorganisms (such as bacteria and fungi) that are associated with specific health benefits. They help to maintain a healthy gut microbiome and help repair gut lining. They are also antibacterial and antifungal, which is one reason why some infections are treated with probiotics.

Probiotic foods such as sauerkraut, beet kvass, raw milk kefir, and yogurt provide the richest sources of probiotics with much greater diversity of bacteria within them than in probiotic supplements. However, probiotic supplements can be helpful as an alternative if necessary. If you are not using homemade fermented foods, be sure to choose a reputable brand (or reputable farm for raw dairy products) to ensure ideal probiotic quality. [8 ,9,10]

As far as supplements, the one I usually recommend for infants and children under 3 years old is Klaire Labs’ Ther-biotic, which I have found to be very effective. For children over 3 years old and above, Seed makes an effective probiotic. Both are in powder form that can be mixed into yogurts, smoothies or other food. For infants, you can also place a tiny bit of (Ther-biotic) powder on breast or bottle nipples.

Nutrients

Proper nutrition is so essential in optimizing our children’s immunity. While there are many important nutrients, the following are really critical for immune health:

Zinc is an essential trace element for immune cells to function properly, including activation of T cells. It also has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. [11,12, 13] Many of us are deficient in zinc due to low zinc intake in our diets. Although it is more common in the developing world, mild zinc deficiency is becoming increasingly common among children in the United States as well. [14]

Rich sources of zinc include oysters and beef such as chuck roast or beef brisket and ground beef (though not as much as in the previous cuts mentioned). You can get zinc from plant-based foods such as pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, cashews, pecans and lentils as well. However, they are less bioavailable (less easily used by our bodies) because of the relatively high content of phytate, which inhibits zinc absorption. You can soak or sprout the nuts, seeds and legumes to decrease the phytate in them and increase zinc absorption.

Vitamin C is an essential micronutrient for immune function and a powerful antioxidant. It affects almost every part of our immune system, especially the function of our neutrophils, which are immune cells that kill bacteria and other microbes. Maintaining adequate levels of vitamin C is important in supporting our immune system, but during active infections, we need even more Vitamin C. [15]

People often think of citrus, which is a great source of Vitamin C, but there are plenty of other rich sources. One of the best sources of Vitamin C is actually red bell peppers; others include strawberries, kiwis, papaya, guava, leafy greens and sauerkraut (live, fermented sauerkraut). Due to production of vitamin C by bacteria in the fermentation process, sauerkraut contains more vitamin C that than the same amount of cabbage!

In terms of doses of Vitamin C to aim for, the recommended dietary allowance (RDA) only gives minimal amounts to avoid disease, but when trying to optimize the immune system, higher amounts are necessary. You don’t want to exceed the recommended upper intake though as that can cause gastrointestinal symptoms like diarrhea. Here is the recommended upper intake of Vitamin C per day by age:

1-3 years old: 400mg
4-8 years old: 650 mg
9-13 years old: 1200 mg
14-18 years old: 2000 mg

Vitamins A and D work together in many functions in our bodies but especially in immune health. They directly support function of our immune cells and also support immunity by promoting a healthy gut microbiome and preventing leaky gut (also known as increased intestinal permeability). [16, 17]

Because most of us do not effectively convert beta-carotene to active Vitamin A, plant-based sources of beta-carotene (a vitamin A precursor) are unlikely to maintain adequate levels of active vitamin A. Best food sources of preformed vitamin A (retinol) are liver and egg yolks. Other sources include butter and shellfish.

If you are unable to incorporate those into your child’s diet, a safe supplement to give is high quality cod liver oil (I recommend Rosita’s cold-extracted, raw extra virgin cod liver oil). It provides both Vitamin A and Vitamin D. Especially if you start when your child is very young, most babies and toddlers don’t mind the taste.

As for Vitamin D, the best way to maintain healthy levels is sunlight exposure. Our bodies make Vitamin D when our skin is exposed to ultraviolet light from the sun. Allowing your child to play outside in all weather (dressed appropriately, of course!) helps maintain their Vitamin D levels. However, they do need to have skin exposed (for at least 15-30 minutes for paler kids and longer for kids with darker skin) to really increase their vitamin D. In our New Jersey climate, that is not always possible in the winter.

During months where your child does not get a lot of sun, dietary sources will be especially important. These include salmon (ideally wild caught), trout, mackerel, oysters, beef liver, fish eggs (like salmon roe), and egg yolks (from pasture-raised chickens because all that sunshine gives them much higher levels of vitamin D).

The only plant-based source is mushrooms, but mushrooms alone will not contain enough vitamin D to achieve optimal vitamin D levels in your child. Again, high quality cod liver oil is a safe supplement for both vitamins A and D. Vitamin K2 is another important fat-soluble vitamin that works synergistically with Vitamins A and D. While it may not be directly involved in boosting immune health, it is important to supplement to prevent vitamin D toxicity. [18]

Antimicrobials

In addition to consuming foods that benefit our gut and our immune cells, there are foods and bee products with direct antimicrobial effects that have the ability to kill bacteria, viruses and other pathogens. Here are some of the ones that have been studied and are commonly found:

Garlic has many compounds in it that enhance our immune system by stimulating specific immune cells and modulating antibody (immunoglobuilin) production. One of the main compounds that makes fresh garlic such a powerful antibacterial, antiviral and antifungal agent is allicin. It is formed by chopping or mashing fresh garlic, which activates an enzyme alliinase, which converts the alliin in garlic to allicin. [19,20] This process takes about 10 minutes, so when using garlic for its antimicrobial effect, after mincing or crushing, let it sit at least 10 minutes (but no more than a couple hours) before using it in food preparation.

Raw garlic is best: 1 teaspoon of minced garlic with a lot of honey mixed in for kids five years of age or older chased with water or tea, but that is only for children old enough to understand how to swallow it without chewing it. You may want to divide it into two half-teaspoons to make it easier to swallow. You can also incorporate it in raw form into hummus or pesto. Otherwise, cooked garlic works, too, but the more it’s cooked, the more it loses its potency, so try to only lightly cook it when using it as an antimicrobial.

Ginger, which has been used for centuries in food preparation to ward off foodborne disease, has been found to have direct antimicrobial properties. It has mainly been studied in its antimicrobial effects on specific bacteria and retains its antimicrobial properties once cooked or boiled (for example, in ginger tea). [21 ,22]

Raw honey has strong antimicrobial properties (in addition to including both prebiotics and probiotics). One of many components that create honey’s antimicrobial power is natural production of hydrogen peroxide within honey. [23,24] If you are mixing raw honey into tea, please make sure the tea is cooled to 98F or below to preserve its healing properties. Above that temperature, it is no longer raw honey, and its antimicrobial enzymes start to become inactivated.

Propolis is another bee product very helpful in boosting your immunity. Use of propolis goes back to at least 300BC and has been used more commonly in Europe. It has many uses but is most commonly used for its immune-boosting and antioxidant properties. Propolis is known as nature’s antibiotic and like honey, it has strong antimicrobial properties against bacteria, viruses and fungi. [25,26] Most kids like this naturally sweet throat spray.

Exactly how it boosts the immune system is not completely understood yet, but studies have shown that it increases antibody production and phagocyte activity (allowing immune cells to engulf microbes). One recent article suggested specific mechanisms against COVID [27].

Supplemental herbs/ plants

There are several immune-boosting herbs and plants, but two that are easily found and well-studied include Echinacea and elderberry:

Echinacea is native to North America and has been used by Native Americans for many centuries to treat infections. Several studies have found that Echinacea modulates our immune system in various ways including T cell production, phagocytosis (engulfment of pathogens by immune cells), activation of many immune cells (natural killer cells, macrophages and polymorphonuclear leukocytes) and antibody binding. [28]

When looking at studies on its efficacy, it is hard to draw conclusions from some studies since there are so many differences in the Echinacea used because there are 3 different species of Echinacea, different parts of the plant (roots, herb, flower or whole plant), different extraction methods and sometimes additional things added to the Echinacea. Overall, the data does show a trend toward Echinacea shortening colds and decreasing number and severity of symptoms when taken at first onset of symptoms. [29,30,31 ,32,33,34,35,36,37]

The part that is considered more effective in boosting immunity is the above-ground part of the plant: the leaves and flowers. For children, the most palatable preparation is to prepare it as a tea with or without honey added to sweeten it (remember to let tea cool to below 98 degrees before adding honey).

You can easily brew your own or purchase tea bags. Many brands of Echinacea products have been found to have no echinacea, so make sure to use a reputable brand. [38]

When Echinacea is ineffective, it is usually because the product either doesn’t contain the active components of the Echinacea plant, or it is not given in sufficient dosing. Echinacea tincture is more effective than Echinacea tea, so you can also add Echinacea tincture to hot tea; the hot tea evaporates the small volume of alcohol in the tincture dose. This can be used for children over 2 with the dose of 1 drop per 1 to 2 lb of the child’s body weight.

Elderberry has been used to treat infections in folk medicine for centuries, and Hippocrates referred to this plant as his medicine chest due to its many medicinal benefits. Regarding immunity, elderberry contains Vitamin C and has been found to modulate our immune system and to have antiviral activity against influenza. [39] The exact mechanisms that give it these properties have not been fully discovered yet. It has been studied most in regards to influenza and has been found to suppress entry of the virus into cells.

It may reduce the length of cold and flu symptoms, but data from several studies is inconclusive. Studies suggest it may also reduce severity of symptoms of upper respiratory infections. According to a recently published review of the literature on elderberry, when compared with Tamiflu, it may be associated with lower risk of complications from influenza and lower risk of side effects. There is no evidence that it overstimulates an inflammatory response, which has been a concern raised elsewhere. [40,41,42]

It is easiest to administer to kids as a syrup. You can get a high-quality syrup or make your own, which is more affordable by using dried berries. Of course, when making it for your kids, omit the alcohol that is included in some recipes. If making your own for kids under one, substitute maple syrup in the recipe as they cannot consume raw honey at that age.

The dosage to prevent infection is once a day dosing of 1/2 teaspoon for kids under 1, one teaspoon for kids 1 to 2 years old, 1 tablespoon for kids over 2 years old, two tablespoons for kids over 12 years old. If your child is ill with an active infection, you can increase it to two times a day.

Lifestyle factors

Although people tend to focus only on food and supplements when it comes to natural ways of boosting immunity, there are some key lifestyle factors that we can also modify to really get our immune system working at its best!

Sleep is essential for us to overcome infections, which is thy when your child gets sick, one of the first things you may notice is that they seem more tired than usual and need to sleep more. That’s one of their body’s most important ways of ensuring that their immune system is working at its best.

There’s a well-established connection between sleep and immunity [43]. Sleep affects both branches of our immune system – our adaptive immunity and our innate immunity. There are several mechanisms by which sleep affects immunity.

Some include increased cortisol levels in sleep deprivation and decreased cortisol levels during night-time sleep. High cortisol levels impair our immune system, especially in its fight against viruses.

Sleep deprivation also impairs function of many of our important immune cells, like natural killer cells and T cells, as well as our cells’ expression of antiviral immune response genes [44]. This is why sleep deprivation is associated with increased susceptibility to infection such as influenza and pneumonia.

Circadian rhythm (or our 24-hour biological clock) modulates our immune system. For example, cytokines which are chemicals that mediate inflammation and immunity are released in different amounts at different times of day. When our circadian rhythm is off, this decreases overall activity of our immune cells. [45]

In a fantastic book highlighting the importance of sleep, Why We Sleep, Berkeley neuroscientist and sleep scientist Matthew Walker explains we actually produce many immune factors during night-time sleep and increase our sensitivity to these factors by sleeping at night. In a sense, we wake up with a more robust immune system after a full night’s sleep, as he eloquently sums it up.

Things you can do to improve your child’s sleep include:

Keep a consistent bedtime routine for your child each night at a consistent time each night.
Make sure their bedroom is cool enough at night (less than 65 degrees) because a drop in core temperature is one of the main factors letting our bodies know it’s time to sleep.
Avoid artificial lights, especially blue lights (e.g. from screens and LED lights) at least 2 hours before bedtime because blue light really diminishes melatonin production, which we need in order to sleep well. Dim any lights that are on.
When possible, use amber lights in the evening, which cause minimal disruption in melatonin production and red night lights, which do not disrupt melatonin production at all.
Get blackout curtains to keep your room dark at night, especially if there is a lot of light pollution in your neighborhood.
Maximize exposure to sunlight during the day to help set your child’s circadian rhythm.
Earthing/ grounding (bodily contact with the Earth’s natural electric charge) may stabilize physiology and help with sleep. You can purchase grounding mats for sleep, or just encourage barefoot play outdoors, which promotes contact with natural conductive surfaces [46]. Plus, spending time outdoors also stabilizes our circadian rhythm and strengthens our immune system.

Stress management is a critical part of maintaining our immune health. Have you ever noticed that you tend to get more infections during periods of stress? Chronic stress (meaning stress lasting more than a few hours) can really compromise the immune system by suppressing numbers, movement, and function of immune cells. [47] Some effective ways of reducing stress in kids include:
- Spending time in nature,
- Free unstructured play,
- Creating art,
- Reading books, telling stories,
- Doing yoga for (there are a lot of great resources out there like board books for young kids) and
- Practicing mindfulness (check out this great book on mindfulness activities for children by Thich Nhat Hanh).
Exercise is an immune-boosting lifestyle component that is sometimes forgotten in discussions on immunity. Just like with other aspects of our overall health, it is important to stay active to maintain our immune function. Moderate physical activity (not during the illness itself but as a preventative measure) is associated with lower risk of infections because it enhances our immune system. [48]

This isn’t particularly relevant for our toddlers and young kids who are running around and hopefully not sedentary in front of screens often. However, for older kids and teens, many of them become more sedentary. It’s important to encourage activity, especially outdoor activities, and minimize time with screens (computer, television, video games, social media, etcetera).

Of course, many children require computer time for school work and educational activities, but its recreational use should be limited in order to promote more physical activity. You can check out articles on this whole website devoted to the importance of play and ways to include more activity in our lives: https://www.primalplay.com/blog/seven-benefits-of-outdoor-play-for-children.

Spending time outdoors has many health benefits that we all know about, and it is also known to improve our immune function. Recently, studies have been done to try to figure out some of the mechanisms by which outdoor exposure benefits our immune system. Some of the ways it helps our immune system include:
- improved immune cell (natural killer cell) activity [49],
- benefits of soil exposure on our gut microbiome,
- exposure to bacteria, parasites and natural compounds in the environment that help modulate our immune system in addition to
- Vitamin D from sunlight.

Combining this knowledge with the importance of activity, you can see how outdoor activities are particularly helpful for keeping your child’s immune system healthy!

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References:

Simple Steps to Boost your Child’s Immunity

Gut health

Nutrients

Antimicrobials

Supplemental herbs/ plants

Lifestyle factors

Dr. Charlotte Nussbaum

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Gut health

Nutrients

Antimicrobials

Supplemental herbs/ plants

Lifestyle factors

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Dr. Charlotte Nussbaum

Hours

Contact

Specialties