The recent pandemic prompted us pay even greater attention to the vital role that our immune systems play in keeping us healthy. But experts are now speculating that the lack of social mixing during Covid-19 has since contributed towards a decline in our children’s immunity. It’s now more important than ever to help strengthen your baby’s natural defences against sickness and infections such as strep A and flu, particularly during the winter months.

A child’s immune system is under constant development as they become exposed to more and more viruses and germs over time. This effectively programmes their body to recognise and protect against invading pathogens in the future. Therefore, it’s very normal and expected for our little ones to be unwell - even if it seems somewhat relentless at times. This is all part of building adaptive immunity. Throughout this process, there may well be a time and a place for the occasional use of medication to protect against complications, but what are the proactive measures can we can take to help strengthen our children’s immune systems to respond and recover quickly when they become unwell?

Nutrition is one of the tools you can use to help build this resilience. As well as fuelling and energising our little ones, food has been proven to play a fundamental role in immune function. As soon as your baby begins to explore their first foods, you can start to incorporate a wide range of nutrient-dense cuisine to nourish the body and support its natural defences against illness. Read on to find out how the right foods can equip your little one with the fuel they need to recover quickly when they get sick and minimise the need for medical intervention.

Immunity Boosting Nutrients
There are a whole host of nutrients that play a key role in ensuring that our immune system can function effectively. Focusing on zinc and vitamin C is a good starting point as numerous studies have shown that a deficiency in these nutrients can impair the immune response and a child’s ability to fight off infection.

Zinc can be found in seeds like pumpkin, hemp and sesame which is baby friendly when ground into a fine powder or made into a butter. Look for products that contain 100% seeds, there’s no need for added ingredients or preservatives as these can upset a delicate digestive system. Red meat including beef, lamb and pork is also a good source of zinc - as are oysters! Just be sure to offer cooked oysters to babies and young children. Canned smoked oysters offer the ultimate convenience and can be blended up or sliced into an age appropriate shape.

Vitamin C is found in abundance in citrus fruits, tomatoes, cruciferous vegetables and peppers. Ideally aim for a ratio of 3/4 vegetables to 1/4 fruit throughout the day to help encourage adventurous eating and avoid a strong preference for sweet flavours forming.

Vitamin D3 also plays a critical role for building our immunity. Deficiencies are all too common in children and adults alike, particularly during the winter months when we just can’t get enough of this sunshine vitamin. Foods including butter, liver, oily fish and egg yolks are a good source of vitamin D3, but it’s still very difficult to meet the recommended daily intake through diet alone. This is why the guideline is to give a daily supplement of 10 micrograms (400 IU) to all breastfed infants and all children over 1 to support healthy bones, teeth, and muscles as well as immunity.

Other important nutrients for immunity include iron, folate, selenium, vitamin A, vitamin E, vitamin B6 & B12. Generally speaking, the best way for your baby to benefit from any nutrient is first and foremost through offering a variety of healthy

whole foods in regular rotation, unless there is a specific requirement for targeted supplementation. Looking at a long list of nutrients in isolation can feel overwhelming, but if you follow the simple immunity boosting food guide below you will be incorporating the goodness that your baby needs to be well nourished.

Eat the Rainbow
Eating a wide variety of brightly coloured fruits and vegetables not only means that baby will be benefitting from the vitamins and minerals they provide, but colour is also a good indication of a plant’s additional antioxidant properties. The blueness of a blueberry or the shiny red skin of a pepper are visual clues to its antioxidant capacity. Antioxidants are a helpful tool for strengthening your baby’s developing immune system because they help to reduce the toxic load and protect immune cells, freeing up more resources to fight off those coughs and colds.

The good news is that you don’t need to understand the complex biology behind the magic of nature to ensure that your baby is getting antioxidant rich foods; all you need to do is keep mixing up the colours on their plate.

Watch That Sweet Tooth
Babies are naturally drawn to sweet flavours, but there are a few good reasons to avoid offering your baby too much sugar when it comes to immunity. Firstly, have you heard that consuming a lot of sugar can actually impair our immune system’s ability to perform for up to 5 hours following the meal? This is because the sudden spike in blood sugar can temporarily weaken the immune system by impairing the function of important immune cells called phagocytes. Simply put, if your child is regularly consuming too many sweet treats this could mean that they’re more likely to get sick.

Secondly, having already mentioned the importance of vitamin C for supporting resilience against sickness, it’s worth noting that eating too much sugar can block the absorption of this key nutrient.

And a final good reason to steer babies and children away from the sugary stuff is gut health. Approximately 80% of the immune system can be found in the gut, so it follows that having a healthy gut is a precursor for our immune systems to function effectively. Processed foods and snacks that are high in refined sugars are notoriously bad for our gut because they feed the pathogenic bacteria whilst hindering the good ones and these foods are a leading cause of inflammation in the gut lining.

You may be thinking that this doesn’t apply to you as you’re not feeding your baby sugary snacks - but beware the hidden sugars in seemingly baby-friendly options such as flavoured yoghurts, shop bought purées or breakfast cereals. Even natural sugars should be offered in moderation. For example, fruit juice may seem like a good way of hydrating your little one whilst packing in some vitamin C, especially if their appetite for food is affected by sickness. However, it’s far easier to consume too much sugar from juice than it would be from eating the fruit in its whole form.

Goodness for the Gut
As touched upon already, a happy gut is essential for a happy immune system. Taking care of your baby’s gut (which is especially susceptible to upset as the digestive system is still maturing) is a whole topic in itself but there are a few simple things you can focus on that will help with strengthening the immune system.

Offering fermented foods is a good starting point as they contain bacteria, call probiotics, that have been shown to have a beneficial effect on human gut health. Your baby may already be familiar with yoghurt, but they tried sauerkraut, kimchi or kefir? These foods help to build diversity of the probiotic species in your baby’s gut microbiome whilst also introducing sour flavours which can help to encourage an adventurous palate. You can make your own fermented foods at home, or there are plenty of shop bought options too. Just ensure that you are looking in the refrigerated aisle and that it contains live cultures.

The regular consumption of fermented foods is the best way to increase the diversity of probiotics in baby’s gut, but some little ones may also benefit from targeted supplementation with an infant probiotic. For example, following a course of antibiotics or

in the case of specific health concerns such as eczema or food sensitivities. In this case, it’s best to work with a professional who can guide you on how to approach this as the number of options available on the market can be overwhelming.

Spice Up Your Life
Finally, food has traditionally been used as nature’s best medicine, especially when it comes to herbs and spices. As well as providing a burst of flavour (which is great for keeping your baby’s meals exciting and varied) many herbs and spices also offer immune boosting properties. There’s a substantial body of evidence to suggest that incorporating a variety of herbs and spices as part of a healthy diet may help to strengthen the immune system against viruses as well as diseases.

Ceylon cinnamon is one of my favourite spices for babies because the naturally sweet flavour is likely to appeal to their palate, and it has powerful anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties alongside the ability to balance out blood sugar levels. Be bold and try out a variety of different herbs and spices and see what flavours your little one likes.

Immune Boosting Foods
Bringing it all together, this is your shopping list of foods that offer the benefits described above to help play a role in strengthening baby’s immune system. All you need to do is focus on incorporating as many as you can into your baby’s meals.

Francesca Newell is a certified baby nutrition consultant having studied at the Oh Baby School of Holistic Nutrition, whose ‘real food’ philosophy is built on a foundation of traditional wisdom combined with the latest evidence-based scientific research. Francesca lives in the UK with her husband and their two children. She supports parents in navigating the transition from milk to solids with a range of products and services for babies and toddlers between 4 and 24 months.

Find out more and browse her collection of eco-friendly baby bibs and tableware at www.feedbabylove.co.uk and follow @feedbabylove on Instagram for more information and tips to support your baby’s journey to solids.

Foods to Nourish Baby’s Immune System by Francesca Newell