Children don’t need a lot to survive. Food, water, shelter and most importantly, love. Every parent’s dream for their child is that they thrive in all areas of their life. What if there was a supplement that you could give your child daily that could help? Most parents do give their child a daily multivitamin which is important to fill the holes that exist in every kid’s diet. But it doesn’t end with multivitamins, every child could benefit from taking a daily probiotic for good digestive health.

Some people avoid the germ world at all costs, but the fact is that we are walking, talking petri dishes. The human gut alone contains on average: 40,000 bacterial species, 9 million unique bacterial genes and trillions of microbial cells. Bacteria are involved in many processes in the body including digesting food, protecting you from illness, and absorbing and manufacturing nutrients. In fact, they are vital to good health.

Many things can decrease the population of good bacteria in our bodies such as medications, poor diet, nutrient deficiencies and stress. Drugs such as broad spectrum antibiotics not only kill the bad bacteria we want to get rid of, but also the good bacteria in the digestive tract. With many children on antibiotics for issues such as sinus and ear infections, it is especially important to replenish the bacteria balance with probiotics during antibiotic use (2-3 hours away from taking an antibiotic).

If you think yogurt is enough, think again. You would need to eat at least 10 canisters of yogurt daily to obtain the amount of beneficial probiotics in a single dose of Ultimate Flora Kids Probiotic. It is a delicious chewable probiotic for kids. Each tablet contains 10 billion beneficial bacteria from 9 strains. They can help to support your child’s digestion, ease constipation/diarrhea and boost immunity.

For kids who already have great digestive health, it’s important to keep it that way. FloraBEAR is a billion culture, 4 strain chewable tablet with a citrus flavour from real orange and orange peel for a taste that children will enjoy.

For those with infants, there is FloraBABY, a clinically studied, 4 billion, 5 strain probiotic formula specifically designed for the intestinal tract and colon of infants. Don’t let the name fool you, FloraBABY is good for older children as well. It is a flavourless powder which can easily be mixed into warm or cool drinks such as infant formula, water, juice and milk, or soft foods such as yogurt and apple sauce. This allows parents to provide probiotics to children who do not like, or have a difficult time, taking supplements. It is safe to be taken from birth and is utilized by over 40 hospitals across the country including Sick Kids Hospital, McMaster Children’s Hospital, Children’s and Women’s Health Centre of BC and Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario.

The simple addition of a daily probiotic is one way to ensure a healthy gut and a healthy child!

By Caroline Farquhar RHN, BA, EMP

About the Author: Caroline Farquhar RHN, BA

Specializing in digestive care and cleansing, Caroline has been educating audiences through seminars, TV and radio appearances across the country on the topic of how to achieve better health naturally. Caroline has written and published articles for magazines and websites, has created educational programs and taught at the Canadian School of Natural Nutrition. Learn more about Caroline at renewlife.ca