|
The Kids’ Whole Food Multivitamin
We Have Been Waiting For
by Melissa Lynn Block – Healthy Living Article
 As
a health-conscious parent, I do all I can to feed my eight-year-old
daughter and five-year-old son the foods I know will best nourish
them. I’m proud to say that they love the tang of plain organic yogurt
and think the sweetened kind is “gross”; they think white bread is a
rare treat that’s as much of an indulgence as an ice cream cone; and
they are willing to try new foods, even if they grew on a plant.
Despite the fact that we’re doing better than a lot
of families in this regard, my brood still does not come close, on
most days, to getting their “five a day” in servings of fruits and
vegetables as recommended by the United States Department of
Agriculture (USDA). I have to admit that on some days, I fall far
short of this requirement myself.
We aren’t alone in this. Of American children
aged 2 to 19, only 33 percent consume the daily minimum of fruits (two
daily servings) and vegetables (three daily servings) required for
good health. And even those children who are doing pretty well in
this regard are consuming their fruits and veggies in
less-than-optimal forms: more fruit juices and less raw fruit; and
more potatoes (including French fries) and fewer dark green and orange
vegetables. In fact, almost half the vegetables consumed by children
in the U.S. are white potatoes, and 25 percent of those potatoes are
fried! One study, published in the Journal of the American College of
Nutrition, found that in a week’s time, none of the preschoolers
enrolled in the study ate five servings of fruit and vegetables per
day. Most ate less than a half-serving of vegetables and only two
servings per day of fruit—with one of those servings usually in the
form of juice.
The consequences of this kind of poor nutrition are
becoming increasingly obvious. Childhood obesity, a direct consequence
of a diet too full of calorie-dense, nutrient-poor foods, can lead a
child to developing type 2 diabetes, kidney problems, asthma, early
puberty, liver disease, sleep disorders, and anxiety or depression
that spring from poor self-image and bullying or teasing by peers.
Even a child who is not overweight or obese is
prone to subclinical nutrient deficiencies when he or she subsists for
years on end on a diet loaded with junk and lacking nutrient-packed
vegetables, fruits, and whole grains. Such deficiencies aren’t
large enough to cause outright deficiency disease, but research
suggests that physical health, emotional well-being, and academic
achievement are all affected by even a slight lack of essential
nutrients. When a child does not consume adequate antioxidant and
anti-inflammatory compounds from vegetables and fruit, this lack can
affect growth, development, and attention span. On top of this
burden is the fact that most children’s diets are loaded with dietary
“no-nos” such as artificial colorings, flavorings, refined sugars, and
preservatives. Many of these chemicals have been linked to behavioral
and learning difficulties.
When a rapidly growing, developing child doesn’t
get adequate nutrition, health later in life can be adversely affected.
Getting that “five a day” can make a big difference. For example:
according to the USDA, simply meeting the minimum requirements to
consume five servings of fruits and vegetables per day could reduce
cancer rates by 20 percent.
As someone who writes often about health and
nutrition, I’ve known all of this for years—since long before I gave
birth to my first child. Even as I’ve tried my hardest to get my kids
to eat plenty of vegetables and fruits, I’ve been inclined to seek out
supplements to help ensure that my children’s bases are covered.
Several types have come and gone in our home; the ones I think are the
best in terms of nutrition, bioavailability, and freedom from unwanted
ingredients end up being the ones the kids won’t swallow because they
don’t like the taste. For some time now, I’ve caved and bought their
favorite vitamin supplement: the one that delivers a few isolated,
synthetic vitamins in the form of a very sweet, artificially colored
gummy bear. Although they’re delicious, they’re not filling my
children’s requirements.
Fortunately for me—and for any other parent or
caregiver who is concerned about their child’s need for a daily
multinutrient supplement—New
Chapter has combined wholesome, organic fruits and vegetables,
natural fruit flavors, and their trademark probiotic culturing process
to yield a highly digestible, bioavailable, comprehensive, and
palatable kids’ multivitamin:
EveryKid.
EVERYKID—FULL OF THE GOOD STUFF, WITH NO “NO-NOs”
With their probiotically cultured, whole-food
complexed vitamin and herbal supplements,
New Chapter has raised the bar for supplement makers
everywhere. Their products are essentially highly concentrated,
organic whole foods—whole foods that pack a well-documented
nutritional punch. It’s no surprise that when this company turned its
focus on crafting the ideal children’s multi, it created a product
that is pure and flavorful, and that contains a valuable spectrum of
vitamins and phytonutrients.
For thousands of years, people have used friendly
bacteria to culture whole foods such as milk (to make yogurt) or
cabbage (to make kimchi) or soy (to make miso). It is well known that
this process enhances the body’s ability to digest the food, and
actually facilitates the production of novel and important versions of
the nutrients that are significant for human health. New Chapter
cultures whole foods with friendly bacteria found in synbiotics such
as Saccharomyces cerevisiae and strains of Lactobacillus acidophilus
to enhance the nutritive value and digestibility of these foods when
in concentrated supplement form.
New Chapter’s EveryKid contains 100 percent of the daily
requirement for vitamins A, C, D3, E, B1, B2, niacin, pantothenic
acid, B6, folate, B12, biotin, and vitamin K. Its two flavors—Brilliant
Berries and Awesome Apple—are naturally sweetened with organic
cane juice, and contain fruit concentrates that are rich in
antioxidant phytonutrients.
THE RISKS OF INADEQUATE VITAMIN NUTRITION—AND THE
BENEFITS OF GETTING ENOUGH
  Nutritional
researchers have discovered that subclinical vitamin deficiencies can
have a significant impact on children’s health and that
supplementation can reverse the ill effects caused by these
deficiencies, benefiting health in many ways:
Reduce Respiratory Infections
Subclinical vitamin D deficiency has been linked
to severe, acute lower respiratory infections. As more and more
children are exclusively breastfed (vitamin D levels in breast milk
are dictated by the levels in the mother’s body, so deficiency is
passed from mother to child) and protected almost completely from the
sun (which stimulates vitamin D production in the skin), vitamin D
deficiency is becoming increasingly common in American children. A
government study found that the daily recommended intake level for
vitamin D is met by less than 70 percent of American children.
Increase Immune Function
With all that’s currently known about the dangers of
antibiotics and antibiotic-resistant bacteria, and with some really
nasty kinds of infection striking people of all ages, it’s especially
important to keep children’s immune systems in tip-top shape. This
means a combination of adequate rest, daily exercise, a clean
(preferably organic) whole-food diet, as low-stress an existence as
possible, and a good multivitamin.
Swiss scientists, in a study published in the
British Journal of Nutrition, October, 2007, write that “micronutrient
deficiency suppresses immunity by affecting innate, T-cell-mediated
and adaptive antibody responses,” which then leads to increased
susceptibility to infection. These researchers explain that
micronutrients (like those in EveryKid) support the integrity of skin
and mucous membranes, which helps to prevent the invasion of bacteria
and viruses. These nutrients also enhance cellular immunity—the
amazing mechanisms used by the body to target and kill off pathogenic
invaders—and enhance antibody production, which means a better
response to vaccinations and a faster, more efficient mounting of the
body’s defenses against viral infections.
Vitamin C plays a role in boosting immune
function—which, as any parent knows, is essential for children who
attend school and seem to pick up every bug that comes through. Good
nutrition makes a huge difference in a child’s ability to resist or
bounce back quickly from frequent infections, and studies show that
subclinical nutrient deficiencies may be an important factor in
children who seem to catch bug after bug after bug.
Lower Risk of Type 1 Diabetes
Some research points to a link between vitamin D
deficiency and risk of developing type 1 diabetes in early childhood.
Increase Brain Function and Development
A study from the Food and Nutrition Bulletin,
September, 2006, performed on Indian schoolchildren, found that
supplementing at each meal with a combination of vitamins A, B2, B6,
B12, folate, niacin, calcium, C, E, and the amino acid lysine
significantly improved hematocrit (their blood’s concentration of
oxygen-carrying hemoglobin molecules) and their performance on a broad
spectrum of intelligence tests. Children who didn’t get the
supplements actually saw a downward slide in test performance and
poorer hematocrit scores.
Folate deficiency in a pregnant mother is now known
to cause neural tube defects—problems where the fetal spinal cord does
not completely close up. Deficits in B12 are known to adversely affect
an infant’s brain development. Deficiencies of both of these nutrients
are linked to depression. Scientists believe that the causes of lack
of folate and B12 in these health problems are two-fold: first,
because of the role of these vitamins play in forming the fatty myelin
sheath around nerve cells—a sheath that is essential for proper speed
of nerve conduction; and second, because both vitamins are important
modulators of healthy tissue growth and inflammatory processes.
Packaged in what New Chapter calls “tongue-tingling
powder pouches,”
EveryKid multivitamin is convenient and fun for kids to take: they
simply tear the package open and pour the powder into their mouths or
into a glass of water. Up to three packets a day can be used. There’s
no need to keep this vitamin out of reach of children—a warning given
by many other children’s vitamins. This supplement is free of the
“no-nos” that crop up in so many other children’s multivitamins. It
contains no gluten, no artificial colors, no artificial flavors, no
synthetic vitamin isolates, and no aspartame or refined sugar. It’s
cultured, whole-food complexed nutrition.
A Note on Mineral Nutrition
In order to provide families with the safest
possible nutrition for children age four and older, New Chapter chose
not to include minerals in this formulation. I asked New Chapter’s
Director of Medical Education, Taryn Forrelli, N.D., why this choice
had been made. She told me, “EveryKid
does contain trace amounts of minerals, as it’s made from whole foods
that contain minerals. Their bioavailability is increased through the
culturing process. After nearly 15 years of testing cultured-mineral
formations, however, we found that their taste was too strong to mask
with the natural, simple ingredients we use in our products. Paul
Schulick, New Chapter’s founder and formulator, decided to avoid
sprinkling in extra synthetic trace minerals, as many manufacturers
do, and to leave cultured minerals out to ensure that the product
would please childrens’ sensitive palates.”
Fortunately, whole-food mineral nutrition is very
easy to integrate into a child’s diet. Some tips:
- Sea vegetables and leafy green vegetables
contain enormous stores of minerals. Try making your own vegetable
broth with three quarts of water, three whole potatoes, a few stalks
of celery, and a handful of leafy greens (think kale, carrot or beet
tops, parsley, cabbage, collard greens), and some kelp or wakame.
Add other vegetables you like—I enjoy carrot, onion, and garlic in
my broths. Strain and use to make soups or as a cooking liquid for
rice. Some children may even enjoy sipping this broth on its own.
- Whole-milk, organic yogurt, organic cheeses,
and tofu are good sources of calcium and magnesium.
- Whole grains and nuts are rich in
minerals. Try brown rice and sprouted-grain breads; try almonds,
cashews and Brazil nuts.
For more product information about Every Kid by New Chapter, click
here.
The statements contained in this
article have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.
The information contained here is not intended to diagnose, treat,
cure, or prevent any disease. Suggestions and ideas presented in this
document are for information only and should not be interpreted as
medical advice, meant for diagnosing illness, or for prescriptive
purposes.
|
