Multivitamins/boost

[Dirtystreetpie]

Hi, my kids have been hit hard by covid, they always take a multi vitamin but I wanted to get something a bit more potent to boost them as they’re both still so tired and not great a few weeks afterwards. Any recommendations? Thanks

A healthy and varied diet is all they need!

Thanks but they already have that.

Most vitamins are water soluble so if you give more than needed you will just pee them out. A healthy diet should do the trick. That & time.

When mine had covid I gave them extra vitamin D, vitamin C and zinc.

Kids Methyl b vitamins from health 4 all.

I like kindervital for kids.
Lots of soups and citrus fruit will boost them too. and believe it or not, outdoor time spent near trees! Trees have a calming effect on us, contribute to better quality air and they release phytoncides which apparently boosts our immune systems.

Are they on vitamin D? You can’t get that from food?
In times of illness extra vitamin c is helpful.

Gut health also important. I can get one of mine to drink the yoghurt kefir. But a good probiotic will help.

You can get vitamin D from food:
"Sources include:
oily fish – such as salmon, sardines, herring and mackerel
red meat
liver
egg yolks
fortified foods – such as some fat spreads and breakfast cereals"
(From the NHS website).
Also from sunshine & supplements of course.

There's only a small amount of vitamin D available in food, ie in the context of a modern commercial diet. If you eat an ancestral diet like a First Nations hunter gatherer... several bowlfuls of wild salmon, narwhal liver, whale blubber etc... then fair enough, you're probably getting your daily allowance to achieve immunological health. ie 4000 iu for adult size people. The upper recommended amount without medical advice by the NHS is 4,000 from supplements.

But a standard supermarket salmon fillet is about 400 iu, less if farmed. And a chicken's egg only has 40 iu.

Also get plenty of sensible amounts of lunchtime sun (ie about half the time it takes you to turn pink... don't burn) in the Summer... late March to late September... whenever the sun is out and above 35 - 40 deg in the sky. A good guide is when you are taller than your shadow.

I really recommend the D-Minder app, you can input your physical attributes like age, skin type, height, weight and it will estimate your vitamin D level and needs when you add your vitamin D doses from supplements, food and sunshine. (Not affiliated apart from being a happy user of the app)

As above you simply can’t get enough vitamin D from food. Everyone in this country should be taking a supplement from Oct to March and it’s helpful to get levels checked.

Great summary above from @BahHumbygge

I see my original post was ambiguous though. I meant you can’t get ENOUGH vitamin D from food. There obviously are sources of vitamin D from food but we get the most from the sun (Apri-Sept) then everyone needs to supplement.

This is government advice.

Apparently vitamin C is great for covid

Yes my doctor friend recommended high doses of vitamin C when I had Covid. I’m unsure of the amounts recommended for children though. But if you stay within the daily recommended amounts. We don’t store vitamin C and need more when fighting infections.

Try sambucol for kids it’s a black elderberry syrup with added vitamin c and d, my little one takes it daily in winter along with multi vitamin drops and probiotics and is never really ill despite starting nursery last September, we have avoided covid, HFM, chicken pox and any bad colds so far despite them being rife in the baby room at nursery!