# vitamins immune building



## VsAngela

Hello 

My daughter gets sick very often with a cold, flu, etc 

What types of vitamins are good for immune buliding?

Thanks


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## katelove

There are no vitamin supplements which will prevent colds and flu. How old is your daughter? Does she attend daycare? How recently did she start? Does she have any other health issue or symptoms? What is her diet like?


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## applejuice

To the OP, in my experience as a mom, vitamin C is excellent for boosting the immune system, so fresh fruits, juices and vitamin C itself are excellent. Vitamin A & D are also. An old fashioned immune booster for little ones 100+ years ago was cod liver oil for a good reason - Vitamin A & D. 

Trace minerals Zinc and Manganese are good for immune boosting. Magnesium and Calcium are good too. 

The herb echinacea is good as is garlic. 

The usual keeping warm, getting sunshine and lots of clean water will boost an immune system and keep your child healthy. Washing hands and staying away from sick people helps too.

My Father, a DC, felt it was very important to wear socks all the time to keep the extremities warm and the circulation going. My Grandmother, an RN and PhT, felt taking Castoria was important.

In other words, just good common sense, which is not so common!


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## VsAngela

katelove said:


> There are no vitamin supplements which will prevent colds and flu. How old is your daughter? Does she attend daycare? How recently did she start? Does she have any other health issue or symptoms? What is her diet like?
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


She is 4 and attends school.

I just noticed that every few weeks she is sick with a cold, but no other health issues.

Her diet is not the greatest because she is a picker eater. But we offer her fruit and veggies all the time but veggies she only likes cucumber and mixed frozen medley. Ive tried almost anything else and no go for her.


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## VsAngela

@applejuice

Thank you


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## katelove

VsAngela said:


> She is 4 and attends school.
> 
> I just noticed that every few weeks she is sick with a cold, but no other health issues.
> 
> Her diet is not the greatest because she is a picker eater. But we offer her fruit and veggies all the time but veggies she only likes cucumber and mixed frozen medley. Ive tried almost anything else and no go for her.


When they are around other kids there do tend to be lots of colds. Especially the younger kids who are less conscious of personal space, hand washing, cough/sneeze etiquette etc.

You can, of course, try supplementing her diet but no research has been able to demonstrate the benefit of vitamin supplements for cold prevention. If you are in a cold climate with short days then Vit D supplements may be useful.

I wouldn't be too worried about a lack of variety of fruits and veggies. Give her the ones she will eat frequently and continue to offer the others 

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## katelove

This Cochrane review found that some individuals may see a reduction in duration of symptoms with Vit C
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD000980.pub4/abstract?hc_location=ufi

Possibly with zinc

http://m.imr.sagepub.com/content/40/1/28.short

Although I believe these are both based on adult trials so they should be cautiously applied to young children.

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## Deborah

Another thing that can help immune function is getting enough sleep. A dependable schedule around bed time can help.


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