Misunderstandings about food that enhance resistance COVID-19 epidemic

How to enhance children’s resistance is always the top concern of parents especially during the epidemic. A lot of parents try to feed their children with plenty of nutritious food. However, there are still misconceptions about this issue. 

1. The more orange juice my child drink, the more resistance they’ll gain

Vitamin C daily need is limited. According to the National Institue of Nutrition, Vitamin C daily need of Vietnamese are: 

• Children < 6 months: 25mg per day;
• Children from 6 months to 6 years old: 30mg per day; 
• Children from 7 to 9 years old: 35mg per day;
• Children from 10 to 18 years old: 65 mg per day;
• Adult: 70 mg per day 
•  Pregnant and lactating women: 80-95mg per day.

The demand for Vitamin C will rise when humans get sick, stress, or participate in more activities. Not only orange juice can provide Vitamin C but also vegetables and other fruits.

Besides, doctors advise to eliminate juice for malnutrition and anorexia and drink away from meals. Because there is a high level of pure sugar contained in fruit that makes the child “artificially full” and does not want to eat anything else. Therefore, instead of drinking juice, you’d feed them fruit. Especially, raise your child by adequate and balance meals according to the nutrient pyramid. 

2. Eat more garlic to enhance resistance 

Garlic has been shown to boots the immune system, prevent cold and common flu by an ingredient in allicin. To activate allicin, garlic needs to be crushed, sliced, chewed. This ingredient is easily destroyed by heat when cooking. It takes 10 minutes before cooking for garlic after crushing, slicing, and chewing.  

It’s safe to use 2-3 cloves per day, some preparations like garlic oil, garlic tablets, oil powder, soaked garlic, etc also recommended to use regarding the dosage of the product (there have been reports of poisoning due to using too much garlic)

3. Using edible bird's nest to  stay healthy even it’s expensive

There is a lot of research about the effect of edible bird’s nests on the immune system. It shows that edible bird’s nests reduce immune damage in mice's intestinal mucosa. However, nothing further has been done which shows the same result in humans.

Is it good for health? Edible bird’s nest is made from bird’s saliva, in terms of nutrition, it contains essential amino acids (Amino acids are the constituents of protein. The body can not produce it but need to supply by food every day) 

There are plenty of amino acids in other cheaper food such as meat, fish, shrimp, egg, and milk. How would it be if kids liked edible birds rather than fish and meat? The thing is their body also needs iron, zinc to grow. Besides, they need energy for daily activities so pay attention to provide enough nutrients as starch, fat. In the end, you should balance both nutrition and spending. 

4. Drink more colostrum helps to cure disease 

Colostrum has a high concentration of antibodies, plenty of nutrients, and can enhance resistance. The infant receives colostrum from breastfeeding for a couple of weeks after birth. Because of the benefit of colostrum, scientists have found out how to extract colostrum from the cow (bovine colostrum) for treatment, enhancing human immunity. 

Advice from MS. Dr. Le Thi Kim Dung - Pediatric Specialization CarePlus International Clinics 

Source: PubMed, Healthline, VDD