Tips for Nurturing Your Child’s Gut Health

It’s important to understand how the gut-brain axis works, as well as how you can support it so that your child can develop into a healthy adult.

Diet recommendations

Food can have a big impact on your child's development. It is particularly important to support our child’s gut microbiota by following a healthy diet of avoiding junk food, added sugars, processed food and eating whole fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds instead. 

The following foods contribute to a healthy gut microbiota:

• Dietary fibers (whole grains, avocados, potatoes)
• Unsaturated fatty acids (fish, eggs)
• Complex carbohydrates (peas, beans, vegetables)
• Probiotics (fermented foods e.g.yogurt) & Prebiotics (bananas, oats)

Probiotics are beneficial live microorganisms that, when administered in adequate amounts, confer a health benefit on the host. They help with digestion and may improve nutrient absorption essential for proper cognitive function.

However, not all probiotics are the same. There are different survival rates among probiotics. All probiotics have to survive the acidic and oxygen-rich environment of the gastrointestinal tract to arrive alive in the lower intestine to provides the positive effects for the host. Lactobacilli are the dominant bacterial species found in breast milk. Prebiotics are non-digestible food ingredients that selectively stimulate the growth and/or activity of beneficial bacteria.

Both of these supplements improve a child’s digestion because they help increase levels of "good" bacteria in the gut.

Stress management

Stress can change the composition of the gut microbiota, and hormones like cortisol. But when we're stressed out or anxious all the time, these hormones can become overactive, which causes inflammation to spiral out of control.

So as a parent, managing stress for your child is one way to keep inflammation levels low and keep the gut-brain axis functioning optimally.

Enhancing Gut-Brain health for your child

Investing in a nutritious diet, incorporating probiotics and prebiotics, and prioritizing stress management are key steps in promoting a healthy gut-brain axis for your child. By focusing on these factors, you play a pivotal role in protecting their cognitive and gut health.

References:

1. Harvard Health Publishing (2019). Probiotics may help boost mood and cognitive function - Harvard Health. [online] Harvard Health. Available at: https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/probiotics-may-help-boost-mood-and-cognitive-function.

2. www.hipp.ph. (n.d.). Human Milk Probiotics: Not All Probiotics Are the Same | HiPP Organic. [online] Available at: www.hipp.ph/feeding-solutions/cs-born/human-milk-probiotics-not-all-probiotics-are-the-same/ [Accessed 27 Jun. 2023].

3. Soto, A., Martín, V., Jiménez, E., Mader, I., Rodríguez, J.M. and Fernández, L. (2014). Lactobacilli and Bifidobacteria in Human Breast Milk. Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition, [online] 59(1), pp.78–88. doi:https://doi.org/10.1097/mpg.0000000000000347.

4. Paudel, D., Uehara, O., Giri, S., Yoshida, K., Morikawa, T., Kitagawa, T., Matsuoka, H., Miura, H., Toyofuku, A., Kuramitsu, Y., Ohta, T., Kobayashi, M. and Abiko, Y. (2022). Effect of psychological stress on the oral-gut microbiota and the potential oral-gut-brain axis. The Japanese Dental Science Review, [online] 58, pp.365–375. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdsr.2022.11.003.

5. Cohen, S., Janicki-Deverts, D., Doyle, W.J., Miller, G.E., Frank, E., Rabin, B.S. and Turner, R.B. (2012). Chronic stress, glucocorticoid receptor resistance, inflammation, and disease risk. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, [online] 109(16), pp.5995–5999. doi:https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1118355109.