Pediatrician Ellen van der Gaag has developed nutritional advice for children with recurring respiratory infections and children with persistent fatigue. This nutritional advice should ensure that the immune system of these children is strengthened. What’s on the menu? Eat and drink green vegetables five times a week, beef three times a week, butter on bread and whole dairy products every day. Trouw reports this.
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Research by Van der Gaag shows that children who are often sick have a shortage of the nutrients that are in green vegetables, beef, butter and full-fat dairy products. About 16 percent of the 118 children with respiratory infections studied by her eat vegetables or less once a week and 28 percent eat almost no beef at dinner.
Zinc and iron for a good defense
“If you eat a little bit of beef, you get a lot of protein, fat, vitamins and minerals. It also contains a lot of zinc and iron, which really does your immune system good, ”explains Van der Gaag, who put some of the children studied on ‘her diet’. These children suddenly had a fever less often and coughed less often. Also considerably fewer children required courses of antibiotics, compared to the children who did not follow the special diet. Children with fatigue complaints also felt much better. Only the thyroid levels among children with thyroid problems did not improve.
By: Nationale Zorggids
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