Beta-Glucan: Tumutulong sa Pampalakas ng Immune System

Summary

Find ways to allow your kids to enjoy their childhood through incorporating beta-glucan rich food into their diet.

With every change of the season comes the familiar chorus of sneezes and coughs echoing through the home. Every parent is acquainted this struggle—the endless sneezing, coughing, and rustling of tissue papers that a new season brings to your vulnerable kids. It is a never-ending struggle, especially for Filipinos who experience sudden weather changes from extreme heat to heavy rainfall almost daily. Good thing that there is a way to help protect your little ones from these unpredictable shifts with a smile! Enter beta-glucan, a nutrient found in grains and other food. Let’s look into this often-overlooked nutrient and explore how it works to help your children maintain good health despite the changing season and the oscillating weather.

What is Beta-Glucan?

In understanding what a beta-glucan is, it is important to know what dietary fibers are first. Dietary fibers, also known as roughage, are the indigestible part of plant foods. The main role of dietary fibers is to keep the digestive system healthy by easing the digestive process and maintaining a healthy bowel movement. Dietary fibers are divided into two types namely the soluble and insoluble fibers.

Insoluble fibers, as they retain their structure and pass through the digestive system relatively intact, speed the passage of food through the stomach and intestines to prevent constipation. Soluble fibers, on the other hand, because they dissolve or swell in water, help improve digestion and nutrient absorption.

Beta-glucan (β-glucan) is a type of soluble fiber commonly found in grains . But it is also present in other food sources such as barley and oats, wheat, brown rice, mushrooms, and seaweed.

What Are the Benefits of Taking Beta-Glucan?

Adding beta-glucan to your kids’ diet helps bring a ton of benefits to their health, helping them fight off the changing seasons. Some of these benefits include:

Helps Boost the Immune System

Beta-glucan stimulates the growth and activity of natural intestinal microbiota, helping the body fight off against a number of bacteria and infections. It also helps inhibit the growth of pathogens that are the cause of various diseases and illnesses. Introducing beta-glucan into your kids’ diet helps them stay healthy and energized whatever the season is, and allows them to enjoy their childhood to the fullest.

Helps Improve Gut Health

Beta-glucan acts as a prebiotic, promoting the growth of good bacteria in the gut that are essential for proper digestion and nutrient absorption. Taking beta-glucan alongside other healthy food during meals may help improve your kids’ digestion and their body’s nutrient-absorption, making them much more energized during playtime with friends and family.

Tips to Add Beta-Glucan to Your Child’s Meals

Now that you know what the key advantages are of adding beta-glucan to your children’s diet are, how do you proceed with introducing this soluble fiber into their diet? Here are some simple tips that may help you navigate this obstacle:

Start with Small Changes

Changes may be difficult for children as they are still learning the ways of life and the things that they want. In introducing beta-glucan-rich food into their diet, it is important to start slowly by incorporating the food bit by bit into their usual meals and snacks. You can begin by adding a sprinkle of oat toppings to their yogurt snack, or using some mushrooms as you cook and prepare their meals. If your children happen to be picky eaters, you can devise your own beta-glucan addition into their diet through trial. You may even let them pick which beta-glucan food or snacks to add to their meals to elicit a sense of excitement and responsibility. Keep in mind that going big the first time may only intimidate your children and prove counterproductive to improving their diet.

Make it Fun

Children are naturally curious and playful. They tend to want to engage in things and activities that excite fun and adventure. Use these traits to your advantage and make their meal and snack time more fun by designing their meals or snacks in the form of their favorite characters or emojis. You could also engage in some less active but entertaining games with them while they have a bite of their beta-glucan-rich diet to make healthy meal or snack time more fun for them.

Consider Beta-Glucan Supplements

While it is best to have your children eat Beta-glucan rich food, supplements are also an option to get the benefits of beta-glucan.
Try Healthy Kidz, a supplement that combines beta-glucan with vitamin C (sodium ascorbate) and zinc to provide an overall boost to your children's immune defense.¹

Healthy Kidz with Beta-Glucan supports the immune system and helps prevent respiratory and digestive diseases. It may also assist in your kids’ recovery from a flu or a sickness as it helps stimulate their digestion and their body’s nutrient-absorption. Incorporate Healthy Kidz into their daily routine and keep your children safe from the shifting season and the changing weather!

Being able to allow your kids to fully enjoy their childhood is a parent’s greatest joy. Their smiles are one of the brightest, most valuable things in the world. Adding Beta-glucan to your kids’ diet is only one step towards maintaining these vibrant smiles. It is important for their overall diet to contain the nutrients necessary for their growth and development. — (Nurturemed)