Preventing illness when kids go back to school
BACK to school fever is here. Whether it’s your child’s first year in pre-school or last year in primary, there are important things to remember other than whether to get black or white shoes. It is how to keep them from falling sick.
Keep germs at bay
Children tend to fall sick once school reopens. In Western countries, it is often termed as “Back-To-School-Plague”. The most common sickness is respiratory related casesstuffy, runny noses and coughing caused by viruses and bacteria that are highly transmittable from one person to another.
Do you know that droplets from a cough or sneeze of an infected person can spread to others up to six feet away?
(1)
Keep their immune system strong
The best way to prevent illness is through a strong immune system. The most researched natural remedy for cold and flu, black elderberry (Sambucus nigra) extract is scientifically proven to boost immunity.
(2) It works via: – Stimulating the immune system: Black elderberry extracts help to boost immunity by increasing inflammatory cytokine production to fight the virus (2).
– Protecting healthy cell from infections: Black elderberry extracts is naturally rich in antioxidants such as flavonoid and anthocyanins that protect body cells from infections.
– Strong antioxidant capabilities: Black elderberries have almost five times as many anthocyanins as blueberries and two times the overall antioxidant capabilities of cranberries.
(3)
When taken daily, black elderberry extract helps boost the immune system to safeguard against potential infections during crucial times such as the back to school period, exam period or during travel.
Don’t suffer – speed up recovery
Yet, if your child does fall sick, don’t worry. Black elderberry extract has been scientifically proven to speed up recovery and reduce the severity of cold and flu symptoms.(4)
It works via an anti-viral effect to:
– Inhibit virus replication: Flavonoids from black elderberry inhibit the ability of viruses to bind onto the surface of healthy cells.
– Promote cell protection: Lectins from black elderberry extracts protect healthy cells from virus infection.
This mechanism helps prevent the spreading of viruses within the host. As the virus is unable to spread, the host tends to suffer less severe symptoms and recover sooner than those not taking any black elderberry extracts. Black elderberry is named as one of the top 10 natural anti-viral remedy with anti-viral effect that is more potent than echinacea.
Scientifically tested black elderberry extract
not all black elderberry extracts are the same. Through various clinical studies, scientists found black elderberry standardised extracts produced solely from its fruit body possessed therapeutic effects.
Beware of the black elderberry products that you buy as some manufacturers may use other parts of the elderberry plant to increase yield and lower the cost. Only black elderberry standardised extracts produced from its fruit body contains the right type of flavonoids to boost immune system and speed up the recovery from cold and flu.
When taken daily, black elderberry extract helps boost the immune system.
■ This article is brought to you by Sambucol Malaysia.
References
Centers for Disease Control and
(1) Prevention, national Center for Immunization and Respiration Diseases (nCIRD). 2017, October 5. How Flu Spreads. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/ disease/spread.htm.
Barak V, Halperin T, Kalichman I. The
(2) effect of Sambucol black elderberry, a natural product based on the production of human cytokines: I. Inflammatory cytokines. Eur Cytokine netw 2001; 12:290±6.
US Department of Agriculture database (3) for the flavonoid content of select foods, Release 2.1 (January 2007)
Rao A, Sethi M, Dick C. A double-blind,
(4) randomised, placebo-controlled study to evaluate the safety and efficacy Sambucol® liquid formulation to reduce the duration and severity of the common cold symptoms in adults 2016. PHA-Sam15.