The paleo diet provides a lot of benefits for both kids and adults. While your kid might not need the weight loss benefits of following this type of diet, they can definitely benefit from having a stronger immune system. This will not only help them battle the common colds, flus, and other germs, but it will also give them a stronger immune system in general that helps to avoid many different ailments. Here is what you should know about the immune benefits of a paleo lifestyle for kids.
Your Kids Don’t Eat Inflammatory Foods
The first way a paleo diet for kids helps with their immune system is by avoiding the majority of inflammatory foods. These are foods that can trigger autoimmune conditions and cause a lot of digestive and stomach problems. Inflammatory foods include grains, oats, wheat, sugar, and dairy products. Paleo diets also don’t typically approve foods that have gluten or soy. Because of all of this, the paleo child will not have to deal with many of the common food sensitivities that affect so many of our children. Without wheat and grains from bread, rice, and pasta, your child is instead filling up on fruits, vegetables, and proteins. These foods have a high nutritional value and further improve their immune system.
Their Gut Health is Improved
Another way a paleo diet helps with your child’s immune system is by improving their gut health. Their immune system can actually be affected by the health of their intestines and gut. With a paleo diet, your child is no longer eating grain-rich foods that tend to irritate and inflame their intestines. Grains, dairy, bad fats, and processed foods can all be really hard on the gut. With less bad bacteria forming in the intestines, your child suddenly has a better and stronger immune system.
Paleo Foods Are Nutrient-Rich
When your child is on the paleo diet, their immune system is not only improved through gut health and lack of inflammatory foods but also because all of the approved foods on the diet contain a lot of important nutrients. Meat, seafood, and eggs contain plenty of calcium and protein, while they get all the vitamins and minerals they need from vegetables, fruits, nuts, and seeds. Packaged and processed foods contain almost no nutrients or healthy ingredients, making them a very poor choice for your child’s immune system and physical health in general. By filling up their plate with healthy alternatives and a limited amount of carbohydrates, your child grows up to be stronger and healthier.
