A healthy microbiome depends on the immune system. Boosting the immune system in children is possible through the supervision of lifestyle at an early age. The microbiome is a bunch of microbes in the intestines weighing about 3 pounds. It is the same weight as the brain. Humans have nearly ten thousand microbial species. There are at least one hundred microbes for one human gene. Bacteria are responsible for biochemical activities such as digesting carbohydrates from food or producing vitamins.

How are kids and microbiomes connected?

The period from birth to three years is busy for children’s microbiome. For three years, the child’s microbiome has been continuously changing. By age three, the microbiome will have the same behavior pattern as adults.

Adults have stability and bounce back after challenging the microbiome. The first three years are essential in the toddler’s life — all interactions with food, people, and the environment influence the quality and behavior of the microbiome.

More dirt in a child’s life, more health for the microbiome and immune system

Children who play outside, interact with animals, and have many siblings or friends around develop a robust microbiome and immune system. How does it happen?

It is the same as the training. The child is exposed to various unharmful bacteria, which train the immune system to adjust and deal with multiple intruders.

Our ancestors did not wash their hands with sanitizer or dishes in machines. They hunted, planted, and cultivated soil touching it whenever it was needed.

Good and bad bacteria

Good and bad bacteria are expressions of lifestyle. Bacteria can change behavior according to the environment, food, and immune system. Usually, a healthy immune system keeps bacteria in the right places.  The authors of the book Dirt Is Good said that

some of the bacteria that are considered to be beneficial to your gut when stressed, turn to the dark side and infect your body’s tissues.

Bacteria behave in an excellent or harmful way depending on circumstances. For example, E.Coli usually sits quietly in the gut, but when food changes, stress, or toxins bother us, E. Coli can cause diarrhea or urinary tract infections.

It is fascinating how a robust immune system keeps things in check. Meningitis bacteria reside in the back of the throat and nose. However, just one in a thousand can be infected thanks to close contact with the carrier.

Everything is connected

Parents can boost children’s immune systems by introducing them to new things such as dirt, animals, friends, or various objects. A well-trained immune system would keep the microbiome in good shape, not letting them rebel. Nutritious food, fresh air, plenty of play, and moves around will keep the microbiome and immune system in balance. Microbiome and immune system correlate. The immune system is healthy, microbiome flourishes.

Here is an interesting video about a connection between the gut microbe and the brain. Unfortunately, we forgot many beneficial things. Slowly, we return to the unique and unharmful lifestyle.

Do you have any thoughts about the importance of food to our well-being? It would be great to hear from you. Please leave a comment below.

Help for obese children must be constructive and based on scientific facts. Obese children can have more problems in life compared with tiny peers. First, the appearance is different. Modern clothes do not fit. Big children cannot enjoy activities as much as children who do not have problems with weight.

Obese children do have an unhealthy microbiome that does not provide benefits for food digestion and absorption. Besides, obese children consume processed food that lacks vital nutrients.

Help for obese children

Nutrition

Proper nutrition plays a vital role. Nutritious food gives minerals and other nutrients such as proteins, vitamins, amino acids, and bioflavonoids. Processed food offers empty calories, which are later on converted to fat. Sugary drinks lead to the risk of catching diabetes and weight gain.

Microbiome

There is evidence that children’s microbiome can influence weight gain. Microbes can change the way how the body gets energy from food. Circadian rhythms are affected by microbes too. This way, the body turns how and when the liver works. Liver stores glucose which is converted to energy when it is needed.

Without proper energy, children can become sluggish. It is the same pattern as with adults. When we feel tired, we grasp for coffee and something sweet. Processed foods lift us for a while, but lacking nutrients prompts us to eat more, making us happy.

Children who develop a taste for sweets linger for more of them. It is better to offer them food rich in fiber, vitamins, minerals, and amino acids. In this way, children will be fulfilled and will not crave sweets.

Think about the time when they were born. Babies do not know what sweets are. They crave them when candies and cakes are always around and introduced to them.

A diet full of processed and fatty foods triggers the growth of different bacteria. These microbes do not have a day-and-night rhythm. They are less diverse than germs from the healthy gut with nutritious food. Besides it, when these microbes change a liver’s rhythm, it becomes incompatible with the rhythm of the brain. The perception of time differs for the liver and brain. It creates turmoil as the body is not balanced anymore. One of the results is the increased storage of fat.

Do you see how everything is connected? Processed food changes the quality and quality of microbes in the gut. Later on, it affects the circadian rhythm in the liver. The liver, which stores glucose, does not work together with the brain. These systems interpret time differently. I call systems because it is the more complicated process involving not just organs but tissues, nerves, vessels, etc.

How can you help?

Providing nutritious food would help the gut microbiome to be happy and healthy. Researchers found out that there is a constant interaction between the microbiome, immune system, and brain. When the microbiome changes, neurotransmitters produced by bacteria start to behave in a harmful way.  It means that children can feel not real hunger but increased cravings instead of it. The satiety feeling changes. Children do not think about limits when they eat. Processed food is high in calories. It means that children can gain weight faster.

You can protect children against obesity by introducing them to healthy foods. Everybody would be happy: children, microbes, and you.

What to do when a child is obese?

The authors of the book Dirt Is Well advised changing the microbiome using fecal transplant, severe changes in the diet, or probiotic therapy.

There are reports that fecal transplants make positive changes in individuals’ microbiomes. Maybe it sounds gross, but this procedure can be a savior if somebody does not have the strong will to keep up with the diet. Fecal transplants are from healthy individuals and are carefully inspected.

Probiotic therapy works for animals in a significant way. Mice, after probiotics, got better insulin production.

The dietary approach works best. However, to see changes and diet take at least nine months. Maybe with children, diets would work better compared with adults. You can divert the child’s attention to games or play outside. Adults are different. They cling to old habits and later complain about why their weight increased more than before the diet.

How does the diet work for the microbiome?

When introducing healthy products, harmful bacteria do not get sugar and other junk from processed food. Bacteria starve to death, and good bacteria change it.

Good bacteria restore a healthy relationship with the liver and brain. Circadian rhythm works as Nature created: in the balance.

Conclusion

Obesity hurts self-esteem and opens gates for disorders. The best way to avoid weight gain is to have a healthy diet and control the amounts of children’s food. The microbiome changes when sugary and processed food is introduced. The move prompts weight gain and inflammation. A healthy diet and watching how much one eats prevents obesity.

Disclaimer

You would think about what is disgusting. Not for me because I saw plenty of animal guts. Besides it, I experienced the benefits of a well-behaving microbiome, and  I was punished when I spoiled them.

What do I mean? Trader Joe’s Belgian chocolate, croissants, and plenty of bread from the bakery do not feel cozy in my gut. Why? Until now, I learned that enjoying these goodies in moderation is better, with very little restraint.

You would think, who cares about this bacteria? You would watch if you dug into this fascinating world.

I think about bacteria in the gut of individuals with character and the need to be told how to behave. If we did not control what we eat and care for our bodies, we would experience rebelling and turmoil from the microbiome.

Gut bacteria help digest and absorb food, keep the brain happy, lose weight, keep the immune system in shape, reverse allergies, and help with children’s growth and development

Foods’s influence

I knew that we are what we eat. It is right in every area of interaction with food. Researchers found out that gut bacteria can ferment fiber. From fiber, metabolites called short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) are produced.

Interestingly, insulin-producing cells can sense SCFAs in the gut. It seems that these cells like it. Insulin secretion increases when SCFAs are abundant in the body.

What has it shared with the food? Oral probiotics such as Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG and fiber intake nourish SCFAs-producing bacteria. The fermentation increases, and it leads to SCFA production.

According to scientists Jack Gilbert, Ph.D. and Rob Knight, Ph.D., the adaptation of diet and the usage of probiotics can make a difference in insulin secretion. It means less diabetes and more happy individuals.

The impact of beneficial bacteria on the human body

Microbes in the gut are responsible for our well-being. It means that  beneficial bacteria can

•    affect mental health
•   help lose weight
•  boost  and shape the immune system
•   affect growth and development in children
•  improve digestion and absorption of food
•  reverse allergies
•  reduce ear infections
•  help with diarrhea
•  control the child’s weight after changing the microbiome
•  lower levels of  chemical bisphenol A called BPA
• help deal with depression

These benefits are just a part of the bigger picture. Why? Because scientists continuously find something exciting about gut bacteria. They see connections between the gut and the brain. They see microbiome involvement in celiac disease and diabetes.

Conclusion

It is okay to be exposed to the dirt. It is especially essential for babies and children. Microbes allow the body to strengthen the immune system and be healthy inside the gut.  The sterile environment is harmful because we do not learn how to protect ourselves from invaders. The body becomes resistant to foes and invaders due to contact with dirt. Children who have contact with dogs, play outside, and roll in the meadow or dig the soil do not become sick.

According to Jack Gilbert and Rob Knight, both are Ph.D., the dirt is good.

Do you have any thoughts? Please leave a comment below. I would be glad to answer.

Update from the source of McGill University

There is some excellent news about the benefits of bacteria in the gut. Scientists made the study with fruit flies. Do you know these disappointing creatures which pop from nowhere and quadruple every minute? These flies were fed with a combination of probiotics and an herbal supplement called Triphala. They found out that flies longevity increased by sixty percent, and protection from chronic diseases associated with aging was remarkable.

Satya Prakash, the professor of biomedical engineering in McGill’s Faculty of Medicine and senior author of the study, emphasizes the importance of microbiome health to the whole human body. Foods are metabolized better and more efficiently in the gut, thanks to the influence of probiotics.

You know that there is a connection between the gut and the brain. It is called the gut-brain axis. Brain activity depends on the quality of the microbiome. If we have healthy bacteria in the stomach, we do not experience irritable bowel syndrome, neurodegeneration, or depression.

Fruit flies have similarities with mammals at seventy percent regarding their biochemical pathways. There is a suggestion that a diet with antibiotics can benefit from a healthy and long life. Sounds nice.

The best magnesium for children is ReMag, the liquid pico-ionic magnesium. Children are sensitive in the same ways as adults are. They are stressed in school, interacting with peers, feeling the pressure growing up, and thinking about body image.

The emotional tension for children

There are so many requirements for children and not so much support. Children can be more sensitive because their hormones fluctuate and react to everything more sharply.

Children react to adverse events such as violence, divorce, or bullying in school. Stressful situations deplete magnesium for children in the same way as for adults.

Besides that,  children are exposed to junk food extensively. Most of the parents do not have time to prepare food. Pizza, soda drinks, and fast food are familiar dishes. Sweets accompany this diet. In this way, magnesium disappears or exists in small quantities.

Magnesium deficiency consequences

According to Dr. Carolyn Dean, M.D., N.D., the author of The Magnesium Miracle, autism, childhood depression, juvenile delinquency, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder ( ADHD) happen when magnesium is deficient.

She mentions the words of Dr.Sharna Olfman, the author of the book No Child Left Different, that over 10 million children are on antidepressants, and about 5 million children take stimulants such as Ritalin.

What do you think about these facts? Do children in the best, innocent years of their lives must take chemicals? Of course, there are some cases when drugs are necessary. However, millions of children taking depressants are staggering numbers.

When children are miserable at the best period of their lives, what will be later?

Magnesium deficiency leads to various disorders. Doctors and scientists provide opinions and warnings that the lack of magnesium for children can have consequences such as depression, autism, ADHD, etc

How could magnesium be helpful?

Magnesium is a simple but vital to our bodies mineral. We do not get enough magnesium from the diet. Individuals who consume plenty of magnesium-rich food can not take the total dosage for one day. Why? The soil was depleted. Plants and animals do not get minerals from the land. Human beings suffer from a lack of minerals.

ReMag, created by Dr. Carolyn Dean, is organic, the pico-ionic, stabilized liquid formula. ReMag goes straight to cells thanks to proprietary technologies. ReMag is manufactured uniquely when magnesium ions do not cluster together. These ions stabilized.

ReMag ions are 86 picometers in size. Gateways in the cells are 400-500 picometers wide. ReMag goes straight to cells without any trouble, as other magnesium supplements do. The absorption is 100 percent.

ReMag does not have a laxative effect. The body benefits from saving energy used for digestion and transportation.

Magnesium is important for serotonin

Serotonin is the brain chemical responsible for happiness. Magnesium plays a role in the activity of serotonin. It is responsible for serotonin uptake and is released by brain cells. When magnesium is deficient, the brain can not function properly.

You see that when there is no magnesium, there is no happiness.

How about dosage?

According to Dr.Carolyn Dean, recommendations from Dr. Leo Galland, author of Supperimunity for Kids, are  240 mg for 40 lbs child.

Most of all, magnesium supplements have a laxative effect. It differentiates depending on the brand. However, ReMag does not have any laxative effect.

Let wrap up

Magnesium is an essential mineral. Magnesium deficiency leads to various disorders. Doctors and scientists provide opinions and warnings that the lack of magnesium for children can have consequences such as depression, autism, ADHD, etc. The best magnesium for children is ReMag because it is the only formula that goes to the cell and does not have a laxative effect. ReMag brings benefits to children and adults, giving health and support.

Disclaimer