 deficiency for years without knowing it because many doctors don’t test for vitamin D or don’t understand the importance of checking for this deficiency.
Children are even less likely to be tested than adults.
Many medical professionals have believed for many years that vitamin D deficiencies or insufficiencies are at least partially to blame for frequent colds and flus, and there is now some research to back that up.
One analysis of clinical trials in 14 countries found that supplementing with vitamin D daily or weekly significantly lowered the number of upper respiratory infections suffered by patients, including colds and flus.
Participants in the study were deficient in vitamin D before they started the supplementation protocol.
This means that people who aren’t deficient don’t necessarily need to take a daily vitamin D supplement.
If you don’t know your child’s vitamin D level, simply allowing them to spend more time outdoors will provide more of this vitamin naturally.
As a general rule of thumb, make sure that your little one spends at least 30 minutes outdoors in the sunlight each day.
When this isn’t possible or if you believe that your child just isn’t getting enough sunlight for other reasons, there are vitamin D drops and kid-friendly multivitamins that include vitamin D.
You can buy vitamin-fortified products at the grocery store, so start checking labels.
You can also include salmon, tuna and other fatty fish into your child’s diet for the vitamins and the omega-3 fatty acids. It could be one of the best natural flu remedies for kids around.
2. Immunostimulant Essential Oils
There’s an essential oil for most health and wellness concerns, and boosting the immune system to prevent the common cold and flu is no exception.
Research into the use of essential oils for this purpose is limited, but many people have success when using essential oils classified as immunostimulants.
This means that they support the immune system at the hormonal or cellular level and is one of the great natural flu remedies for kids.
The most commonly recommended essential oil for flu prevention is echinacea. It has been used for hundreds of years to treat a variety of minor medical conditions, and it’s well known for boosting the immune system to fight bacteria and infection.
You have to mix echinacea essential oil with other oils if you want to diffuse it because echinacea plants don’t have a scent.
There are echinacea supplements in pill or liquid drop form. The drops contain carrier oils or other ingredients to dilute the oil so that it’s safe for internal use.
It’s not safe to use this oil internally if you have an autoimmune disease, and it can cause nausea and other mild side effects in some cases. It is considered safe for children.
Other immunostimulant essential oils that you might consider using include bergamot, eucalyptus and niaouli and rosemary.
There are also some powerful flu-fighting essential oil mixes that may deliver more preventative power than a single oil.
They verified that the oil did reduce infection within the cells, and it decreased the amount of infection spreading to other cells.
This doTERRA blend isn’t marketed for use by children, but it is sold as an immune booster and internal cleanser that can help prevent infection, illness and damage from contaminants in the environment.
You can diffuse it in your home or use it to keep the adults in your household healthy.
Even with excellent hand-washing skills, mastery of personal space and top-notch avoidance of door knobs and shared spaces, most children will pick up a mild cold or even the flu at least once during the cold season.
If you use the right natural flu remedies within 24 hours of contracting the illness, you can limit the severity of the symptoms or decrease the length of illness.
You may need to experiment with some of these options until you find the remedies that work for each of your children.
1. Elderberry Extract or Syrup
The blue and black elderberry plants have established medicinal benefits, but the red berries don’t have these beneficia