6 Ways To Improve Your Child's Digestion
Digestion Is More Than Just Digestion
In my book, Raising Resilience, I discuss strategies that help parents improve the health of their kids. Improving digestion is one of them.
Supporting digestion is a core strategy because what goes on in the digestive system influences the entire body.
Yes, the entire body.
When we work on digestion, kids...
- Start to feel and function better
- Often become less picky with food,
- Sleep better,
- Manage their stress better,
- Become less irritable,
- Focus better
- Experience more sustained and balanced energy
Of course, it depends on exactly what's going on, but in general, things look up when the gut is functioning better.
Why do things get better? Here's why....
Digestive Problems Give A One-Two Punch To Resilience
Digestion has two main roles:
1) Break food into nutrients that cells can use as fuel
2) Eliminate waste the body doesn't want or need
If either of those two functions is "off," the body has an increased stress load to manage while at the same time becomes malnourished - a double whammy that leads to reduced function and generally feeling unwell.
If food is not broken into nutrients that cells can use as fuel, here's what happens...
- Partially broken down food starts to cause irritation and inflammation in the intestine, leading to pain, bloat, constipation and general discomfort
- In some cases, this inflammation stimulates the gut immune cells, which then signal for inflammation in other areas beyond the gut itself, which is when you get the diversity of non-gut symptoms like moodiness, headaches, joint pain and focus problems
- Cells lose their source of fuel and become malnourished, so body systems stop working well
If the body can't efficiently eliminate waste, here's what happens...
- Hormones, metabolites and chemicals that should be leaving the body through the stool and urine are instead reabsorbed back into circulation, where they cause extra stress and interference
- Bacteria in the gut feed on the stagnant waste, causing gas, digestive upset and more inflammation
Your child is not going to feel or function their best if all this is going on!
Beyond Digestoin: There's More Going On In The Gut
There’s also a heck of a lot more going on in the digestive tract than digestion itself.
About 5 to 10 pounds of at least 1000 different species of bugs live in your digestive tract making up what is called "the gut microbiome". For the most part, these bugs are our friends.
Aside from helping to digest food, gut microbes:
- Regulate metabolism,
- Educate immune cells,
- Aid detoxification,
- Regulate appetite,
- Protect against pathogens,
- Create certain vitamins, hormones and neurotransmitters.
Those supportive bugs are basically master regulators - like Oz behind the curtain or the puppet master pulling the strings.
They're big players in our health for sure, and when microbial balance is "off," a vicious cycle of instability is set in motion - it's called "dysbiosis".
So, focusing attention on establishing a healthy gut yields big “bang for your buck”. And for busy parents who are short on time, energy, and resources, that kind of efficiency is important.
So let's get into action steps.
6 Ways To Support Your Child's Digestion
Supporting your child's digestion involves more than giving them a probiotic. It involves supporting the delicate balance of microbiota while also keeping all the digestive organs, pathways and mucosa happy and well-nourished.
Stool testing is helpful to figure out exactly what's going on in there, but here are 6 general strategies you can start with now to support the system.
1. Set a Calm Tone for Meals
Finding ways to help your child sit for meals and chew their food helps improve digestion a great deal.
Anxiety, worry, and eating on the run, activate the sympathetic arm of the nervous system and stimulate the release of our main stress hormone, cortisol. Cortisol slows digestion, contributes to the destruction of beneficial gut flora and increases permeability of the intestinal lining.
When you relieve tension, breathe, chew and slow down you prompt the release of the “rest, digest, and grow” hormones and improve digestion in general.
Some families like to use music, simple table games or essential oils to promote less stressful mealtimes.
2. Include Probiotic Supplements and/or Fermented Food
Probiotics are all the rage these days for good reason – they reinforce the helpful microbiota in the gut, helping to prevent pathogenic microbes from becoming too powerful.
Recall that a healthy gut houses about 5 to 10 lb. of microbes, whose jobs range from digesting food to regulating immune function, metabolism and gene expression.
Including fermented food and probiotics in your child’s diet is generally a great way to keep the inner ecosystem of the gut healthy, but if they lead to gas, bloat or increase irritability, it's time to run some functional gut tests to see what's going on in there. You still have options, but you'll need ones that are targeted to your particular situation.
(==> More HERE on gut testing for kids)
3. Include Foods Known to Heal, Soothe, and Nourish
I almost always suggest that families add foods into the diet before they consider taking anything out. There are many foods which help to heal, soothe, and nourish the gut lining, stimulate digestive juices, and reduce gut inflammation.
Here are a few:
- Garlic and onions stimulate the production of bile
- Lemon and raw apple cider vinegar help normalize stomach acid
- Peppermint, ginger, raspberry leaf, and chamomile teas soothe and tone the stomach lining
- Papaya and pineapple contain protein-digesting enzymes
- Okra, leeks, mushrooms, slippery elm can be helpful for healing a damaged lining
- Berries (particularly blueberries), turmeric, ginger, wild fish, cold-pressed virgin olive oil, cruciferous vegetables (like broccoli or kale), and garlic can decrease inflammation
You’ll find many of these foods incorporated into recipes in my book. If they cause pain or discomfort like probiotics (which sometimes happens when the ecosystem is very out of balance), you'll need a more targeted plan.
4. Avoid digestion trouble-makers
It’s not difficult to destabilize the ecosystem of the gut.
Some of the things that throw off digestive enzymes, microbial balance, and pH levels of the digestive tract are:
- Sugar,
- Stress,
- Smoke (any source),
- Chemicals,
- Plastics,
- Antibiotics and anti-inflammatory medication
- Gums like Carageenan
Also, though we always nourish before we restrict, hard-to-digest foods like gluten and non-fermented cow's dairy tend to destabilize the environment, particularly if it's not so healthy to begin with. Avoiding these while you get the microbiome in better shape eases stress on the system.
5. Focus on Flavonoid-Rich Foods
Flavonoids are plant chemicals found in fresh fruits and vegetables, particularly those that have a rich colour.
Some great Flavanoid-rich foods include:
- Red grapes,
- Blueberries,
- Blackberries,
- Citrus (though be careful as lots of kids are sensitive to citrus),
- Kiwi (especially gold kiwis)
- Pomogranate
- Purple potatoes,
- Onions,
- Purple cabbage
Flavonoids have a protective effect on the tight junctions of the digestive lining, can reduce gut inflammation, and help regulate probiotic bacterial colonies.
When foods are stored, cooked, and processed, flavonoid content is dramatically reduced. So eating some fresh raw foods and including a rainbow of colours in your child's diet will help ensure good flavonoid intake. There are also some good flavonoid-rich supplements available.
6. Add More Fabulous Fibre
Adequate fibre in the diet is critical for optimal digestive function. Not only does fibre act as a "magnetic broom" to clean the intestine of waste, but it also provides food for our gut bacteria to ensure they stay healthy and in good balance.
Whole foods like beans, pumpkin, cauliflower, nuts, coconut, seeds, and high fibre fruits like apples and apricots supply helpful fibre.
Most of us don’t get nearly enough dietary fibre. Consider how you can get it in at each meal.
If your child has a lot of digestive distress, increase dietary fibre slowly as it can be irritating to a damaged digestive tract. If your child starts experiencing gas, bloat, pain, constipation, or diarrhea, or if their mood, sleep or behavior get worse as you increase fibre, you need to hold off on this strategy while you work on the others. Consider functional testing to see what microbes are out of balance.
The Bottom Line
A healthy digestive system is critical to health. I know you’re busy and you need to be efficient. That’s why I teach parents to focus on simple things they can do that bring a massive return on investment. Focusing some attention on digestive health - a little every day - is one of those things.
If you're still not getting anywhere with these strategies, functional gut testing can help shed some light.
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Related Posts:
Microbiome Testing For kids - which, when, how
Why Probiotics Are Not The Answer To Healthy Digestion
Is a FODMAP diet right for your child?
The Microbiome: The House Of Health
Top Mistake Parent's Make When Changing Their Child's Diet
How To Ferment Food For Your Kids
Healthy Homemade Apple Sauce For Intestinal (& Overall) Health
More on the gut brain connection
The gut's connection to depression
