Wise up for the new term
Kids’ health can be mere childsplay if you take the right action now
MOST of us know that prevention is better than cure and while you can’t realistically prevent your child catching chickenpox it is possible to minimise the duration of many childhood ailments.
This means being prepared for what the autumn and winter months may throw at you; ie stocking up on herbal remedies like echinacea, olive leaf extract and child-formulated spice oils. With these to hand, you’ll catch the early sniffle, the first wheeze of winter asthma; you can treat spots, rashes and fungal attacks before they become entrenched.
My recommendations for the winter kids’ package begin with the traditional immune-boosting favourite, echinacea, despite headlines in the newspapers recently. The Swiss company Bioforce (www.Bioforce.com) started formulating children’s Echinacea remedies in 2002 and both the tincture and the tablets (pictured) are invaluable for kids to take at the first sign of colds and flu. Bioforce is available in Cyprus healthfood outlets or you can mail-order from www.nutriglow.com.
The Kid-e-Kare range from North American Herb and Spice (NAH&S) – the experts who manufacture pure oil remedies from wild high mountain-grown herbs – has only recently become available in UK from Tigon (see below). It includes Cold and Flu softgel capsules to boost children’s immune systems; an all-natural Throat Spray in a wild cherry juice base, containing potent oregano, sage and cinnamon oils; and Rubbing Oil which can be used topically to combat colds, flu, congestion and wheezing – equally suitable for the smallest tot or the child who can’t/won’t swallow capsules.
Tigon also offers Eden Extract Junior, made from fresh-picked olive leaves from selected groves. Eden’s compound is most effective against fungus, ENT (ear/nose/throat) problems as well as gastric infections from heavyweight bugs like E-Coli and Salmonella. I also recommend NAH&S Germa-Clenz spray for topical uses to kill fungus, moulds; sterilise sickrooms and help with winter asthma. Finally Kid-e-Kare Oweez – essential oils of rosemary, lavender and oregano – which not only eases pain of minor injuries but also kills infections. Great in the car for those small accidents that inevitably happen on family outings.
The car; that’s another problem! Recent research into car cleanliness found the average car contains up to 21 billion bacteria, making it grimier than an average loo seat! Discarded crisp packets and drink cans, plus allowing your pet to sit on the back seat, all contribute to ill health. The solutions? Regularly vacuum and fabric-clean seats and carpets, air the car well after treatment and then spray liberally with Germa-Clenz.
That crisps and sugary drinks have no real place in your children’s diet is probably another bone of contention: child obesity expert Dr Paul Sacher of UK’s Great Ormond Street hospital has published a book ‘From Kid to Superkid’ (Vermilion) aimed, he says, at all children and parents. It tackles various eating problems (both fatties and skinnies) and gives tips and advice.
The most important factors in keeping your family fit and healthy this term are to ensure they have a nutritious, balanced diet – starting with a healthy breakfast – and then fit in 60 minutes of intense physical activity every day. This may sound as equally hard for parents as for kids, but it’s essential to build immunity to support those cases of illness over which you have no control. And then it IS childsplay!
For all Tigon products: call Derek on 0044 116 235 5020 with any queries, visit www.oliveleaf.co.uk for information or e-mail me on [email protected] for advice and protocols.
Recently I read that new research into echinacea proves it’s ineffective. What are your thoughts?
Mr PE, Nicosia
I was in UK when this hit media headlines, so unravelled the history of this ‘report’ with help from my friends, the experts at Viridian Nutrition. Viridian produce probably the best organic echinacea tincture from English-grown herbs (mail order www.nutriglow.com) so they know!
Essentially the clinical trial concluded that echinacea preparations did not prevent or help treat symptoms of a specific virus applied to their 437 test subjects. In rebuttal, nonprofit American Botanical Council (ABC) commented that the extracts used were made in a university laboratory and did not correlate with commercial echinacea products and that the dosages used were too low by as much as 300 per cent.
Cheryl Thallon, MD of Viridian Nutrition, told me: “Unfortunately, the conclusion drawn by media, on the basis of this study, that ‘echinacea is ineffective’ is totally incorrect, based both on the design of the study and the evidence in existing literature.”
Echinacea is, without doubt, the international herbal remedy of choice; from world-renowned herbalist Dr Alfred Vogel – who selected it from 300 remedies available to him – through to thousands of people who regularly rely on it as a natural ‘antibiotic’ and for boosting their immune systems. Those thousands of people cannot be wrong: if it works for you, no amount of ill-founded ‘studies’ can make that untrue.
My belief in the efficacy of Echinacea is undiminished: do keep using it for those winter ills!
? Nikki’s column appears every four weeks. Please address your questions to [email protected], PO Box 21144, Nicosia. Tel: 22 818585
