Tip of the Week July 7, 2009

Savvy moms helping their child's immune system.

The immune system is just develop9ng in young children. That's why they are so susceptible to colds and allergies.

Did you know that those colds are good things, to a certain extent. They create the "immune memory" that they will need to fight off colds and infections in the future.

It is also means that children are particularly susceptible when something really nasty comes along. It is no coincidence that many of the recent victims of the Swine Flu were small children.

When we talk about immunity we need to also talk about intestinal health. It turns out that 80% of the immune system originates in cells lining the intestine. And when bad bacteria populate the intestine, those intestinal immune cells are so busy fending off the bad bacteria that the rest of the immune system can't function optimally. That's why it is important to make sure that our intestines are populated by friendly bacteria.

If children have frequent colds or infections they are often given lots of antiobiotics. Unfortunately, antibiotics wipe out the good guys in their intestines and leave the door wide open for bad guys like yeast.

Now that we understand why your child's immune system is so important and the role that friendly intestinal bacteria play in keeping their immune system operating optimally, it's time to turn our attention to oligofructose-enriched inulin.

We'll start with inulin, which is a complex carbohydrate that comes from foods like the Jerusalem artichoke and chickory root. It is poorly digested - so foods that are rich in inulin tend to be low in calories and high in fiber. Oligofructose-enriched inulin is simply obtained by a partial enzymatic digestion of the inulin.

This is all very medical stuff, right? How easy is it to purchase Jersualem artichoke or chickory root and will your children/family eat them? These are available in supplements made by Shaklee. Click here and find out how you can get the good guys into your child's intestines easy.

The above information was provided by Dr. Stephen Chaney.