With life being so busy, now is a good time to be thinking about getting your whole family’s health in tip-top condition for winter
Supporting the immune system, through a combination of approaches, is the best way to do this including probiotics, multivitamins, vitamin B, C and D.
“Probiotics” are a group of “friendly bacteria” that are found in your gut. Without these in the correct quantities, the body is not able to digest and absorb all the good nutrients from your food. One of the most convenient and effective ways to replace these good bacteria is by taking a probiotic supplement. Probiotics come in lots of different shapes and sizes: yoghurts, fermented drinks (like kombucha), and most recently, supplements. Different strains of probiotic suit different people and conditions. This might depend on their individual needs or on their stage of life, ask your pharmacist about the correct probiotic for you whether it is fighting colds, supporting the immune system at all life stages from kids to elderly.
Our energy can be low, and the winter months can be hard for us all, particularly with the dark nights, bad weather, school routines and activities and extra occasions celebrating with family and friends. Sometimes you just need an extra pep in your step. Both Revive Active and Pharmaton are super supplements to give you an energy boost, and vitamins B and C to support your immune system and beat stress this winter.
Kids too can benefit from multivitamins in the winter. With the dark early mornings and evening training, we can all get a bit tired during the winter. Kids Vivio is a lovely orange-tasting liquid multivitamin with lots of B and C vitamins to support immunity. Kids can be fussy with tastes and textures, so from chews to gummy bears, tablets to liquids we have lots of choice to find the right solution for your little ones.
Vitamin C, or ascorbic acid, is a water-soluble vitamin. This means that it dissolves in water and is delivered to the body’s tissues but is not well stored, so it must be taken daily through food or supplements. Vitamin C plays a role in controlling infections and healing wounds and is a powerful antioxidant that can neutralise harmful free radicals.
Most Irish people will benefit from Vitamin D supplements due to the alarmingly low levels of vitamin D in the Irish population, especially from October to March. So, from babies to octogenarians we can all benefit from vitamin D. Vitamin D has a role to play in reducing the impact of respiratory illness and can help with tiredness and muscle fatigue. This is a real essential in every Irish household.
Emily Kelly, MPSI
McCauley Community Pharmacist
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