Colds In Children - How Can We Fight The Disease?

The season of colds has come, and with it the constant fear of colds, rhinitis, coughs in children. The question of how to prevent the frequent illness of the child is always relevant in the cold half of the year. However, before reaching for the first aid kit and "heavy artillery remedies", at the first sign of the body's susceptibility to a viral infection, in the name of the child's long-term health, it is good to try more harmless means.

What are the effective tools in this category?

We will talk about the effective measures for strengthening the protective forces of the child's body against viral infections and colds at the Children's Health Forum, organized by Puls.bg on Saturday, October 11 , at the Inter Expo Center , from 10.00. are leading Bulgarian specialists who, in addition to ready experience in the fight against common diseases of the child and building a healthy body in the form of presentations, will answer your questions . You can learn more about the topics, speakers and the program from the event website.

Here are some suggestions that work in this regard from our study:

1. It is extremely important to take measures at the first signs of a decline in the child's body's defenses. This advice is hardly foreign to parents, but it often happens in the burden of ignoring the first indications of infection. After the child has turned pale, loses tone, is sleepy or, conversely, unusually irritable, with glamorous eyes , shadows , it is right to turn our attention to his health, if we want to stay away from work for longer.

At this glance, seemingly common measures can help : the child should be given more time to rest , not to be burdened with unnecessary activities and divorce from one place to another, to let him sleep more, to make sure he is keep warm and not be left in sweat-soaked clothes.

The child should not be deprived of going out at this stage, on the contrary, he should be taken out into the fresh air for a walk for at least half an hour a day, preferably twice a day. Sleeping and exercise rooms should be ventilated frequently, every 5 minutes or every 2 hours for ten minutes.

2. Try to organize a healthier menu for the child at this stage. Eliminate harmful packaged foods altogether, limit sugar as much as possible , as it suppresses immunity and provide a rich menu of fruits and vegetables - dishes and raw. Increase his fluid intake - water and herbal tea. Ensure regular eating of meat, fish and yogurt. In this way, his body will not be hampered by the release of harmful substances from food, and at the same time will provide the necessary nutrients to build antibodies and cells with which to "fight" infections and toxins.

3. Let the child play actively if he wants to, even at the risk of sweating, but be prepared for aftercare. Once sweating has occurred , remove damp clothes from it quickly. The warm bath has a beneficial effect, prolonging its duration in this case. In this way it also allows the body to get rid of some toxins. To benefit from a warm bath, quickly dry and dress the child. Leave him in bed wrapped up and serve him fragrant hot tea with honey. Rubbing in these cases always helps, so don't forget it!

4. To strengthen the body to fight viruses can increase the intake of vitamin C . It is preferable to be provided by eating raw fruits or vegetables. Rich in it are the peppers that are currently available on the market, tomatoes, kiwis and all citrus fruits: lemon, grapefruit, orange, tangerine. Grapes are also a good option at the moment.
Keep in mind that vitamin C can stop colds only if taken at its first signs. Then it makes sense to take in the form of food supplements - preferably in liquid form, extracted from natural plant sources. Adopted later only strengthens the body. Its deficiency should not be allowed during illness.

5. The role that vitamin C has been prescribed in "fighting viruses" is played by zinc , as evidenced by recent research. It is involved in protein synthesis and production of cells of the immune system , in addition to being useful for vision and mind and other body systems.
It is found in the following products: egg yolk, beef and lamb, liver, wheat germ, pumpkin seeds , legumes, yogurt, cheese, cocoa, and nuts (after 2-3 years of age), garlic. Mushrooms and seafood are rich in zinc, but they are not a recommended product for young children and the sick.
Both zinc and vitamin C can perform their functions in the body when other nutrients are available to work with. For this it is necessary to provide in sufficient quantities, in particular, iron, magnesium, calcium, folic acid, B vitamins . All of them can be obtained from the recommended foods: meat, eggs, raw fruits and vegetables and whole grains such as natural muesli.

6. Probiotics - bifidobacteria and lactobacilli are needed to maintain the intestinal microflora, and the fact is that a large percentage of our immunity is built by these microorganisms, which can be seriously affected by any infections, colds, medications . Therefore, it is necessary to constantly, especially in children, take care of the balance of the intestinal microflora. For this purpose - the most suitable is yogurt, which contains these beneficial bacteria.

7. Cocoa - do not deprive children of chocolate when you are afraid of getting sick. But the right form in this case is to serve chocolate as a hot drink without overdoing it with sugar. As amazing as it sounds, cocoa has a soothing effect on the throat and is useful even for coughs, in addition to being rich in valuable trace elements and polyphenols, which are only useful for maintaining good health.

8. Honey and bee products - as a substitute for sugar in the child's diet, it is generally recommended to use honey. It and bee products are a particularly suitable natural product for strengthening the health of the child's body. Their properties in the fight against bacterial and viral infections are controversial for the scientific community, but the fact is that sugars in honey are natural and do not harm like sugar, and that in general these products contain valuable minerals and nutrients such as zinc, iron, copper , cobalt, magnesium, folic acid and B vitamins. In addition, they promote alkalization of the body, even contain beneficial bifidobacteria and lactobacilli. Thanks to a specific protein, defensin-1, have bactericidal action. Honey also has the property to soothe the throat when coughing.