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ADHD.
Tummy pains.
Concentration issues.
Learning problems.
Food allergies and sensitivities.
Delayed growth.
Aggressive behavior.
Eczema.
Asthma.
Frequent illnesses.
ARE ALL LINKED TO YOUR KID’S GUT.
This list could be a million pages long, but you get the point.
"All disease begins in the gut.”
Hippocrates, an ancient Greek physician, claimed this over 2,000 years ago, and it is one of the most true things anyone has ever said—for you and your kids.
Your kid’s gut-brain connection.
Tummy issues often accompany neurological concerns. Our bodies are intrinsically connected. Mental health, physical health, and gut health are all completely linked, and it all starts in the gut.
95% of serotonin (your happy, feel-good hormone) is made in the gut.
80% of your immune system lives in your gut.
Brain & Mood Connection
This means that your kid's tummy issues may be caused by stress. Their stress may be from school, but they may not be able to handle it because their gut is damaged and, therefore, can’t produce enough serotonin.
Poor gut health also impacts concentration, learning, and all cognitive abilities. The vagus nerve (learn more about it here) connects the gut and brain, sending sensory information from the gut to the brain and motor signals from the brain to the gut.
When the gut is inflamed, it can leak toxins into the bloodstream, which can affect cognitive function, mood, and memory. This inflammation can also spread to the brain, impairing concentration, decision-making, and memory.
Frequent Illness Connection
The majority of your kid’s immune system (the system that fights off illnesses) lives in their gut. Therefore, a weak gut opens the doors to all sorts of illnesses and diseases, but a strong one stops them from entering.
One of the major causes of gut issues is antibiotics. Of course, occasionally taking antibiotics is essential and even life-saving. (Please follow this protocol after taking them). However, pediatricians these days give them out haphazardly. I recently had a friend tell me that her pediatrician confessed that he gives kids antibiotics because it makes the parents feel like they are doing something, and the visit to the doctor was worthwhile.
What backward thinking?! Giving a sick kid antibiotics (when they do not need them) destroys their immune system—the one thing that can prevent and heal the sickness.
9 ways to smuggle gut health boosters into your kids.
I could go on and on all day about how most of your kid’s problems are linked to their gut, but I’m a man of solutions—so let’s get to it.
I have spent way too much time masterminding ways to get health into the pickiest of kids so you don’t have to.
Here are my top solutions:
- For the littles, turn their opaque bottles/sippy cups into superior gut health cocktails. Learn how via this blog.
- For the bigs, use this brilliant greens hack in smoothies.
- Swap sugar and food-dye-packed popsicles for my gut-healthy option.
- For the bigs, use this brilliant greens hack in smoothies.
- Swap these incredibly toxic and damaging cooking essentials for gut-healthy ones.
- Delight your kids with Alea’s “dessert drink.”
- Swap food dye-filled Gatorade for these hydrating and gut-boosting drinks and this hydration elixir.
- Discover quick, easy, and gut-healthy recipes for the whole family via my gut detox recipe books.
- Take your kids to local Farmer’s Markets and let them pick out their own produce. If they pick it out, they are more likely to eat and enjoy it.
For more tricks, tips, and hacks from a dad, please follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.
