Daily Diet Boosts:

• Emergen-C - On-the-Go Nutrition
  
  Emergen-C, an Alacer Corporation nutritional product sold in packets, is a good daily supplement and an absolute lifesaver on trips or during an acute illness. Each packet makes a fizzy drink containing 1000 mg. vitamin C, plus B vitamins, calcium, magnesium, potassium, sodium, manganese, chromium and zinc. It comes in a basic lemon-lime flavor, plus cranberry, tangerine and tropical punch, so chances are your child will like at least one.

  Even if you don't use this daily, throw several packets in your purse. When your child starts sneezing on the airplane, or after his next soccer game, when he's hot, thirsty, sweaty (which may mean depleted of various minerals), and suddenly feels chilly, reach for the Emergen-C.

• Flaxseed Oil
  
  Your child needs essential fatty acids (EFAs) to maintain her health - especially the health of her immune system. But the body cannot manufacture them, so we must get them from the foods we eat or from supplements. EFAs are found in certain nuts, seeds, fish and the oils derived from these foods. EFAs are fragile and easily damaged by air, high temperatures and food processing, so virtually none remain in most processed oils.

  EFAs are a vital component of all the body's membranes - from the membrane around each cell that allows it to function properly to the skin, the body's outermost membrane. Symptoms indicating inadequate EFAs include dry, scaly, rough or bumpy skin, rashes, acne; brittle nails; hair that is flat and dull; recurrent infections. EFA deficiency can be a significant contributing factor in irritable bowel syndrome, allergies, asthma, PMS, menstrual cramps and juvenile rheumatoid arthritis.

  Flaxseed oil is an excellent vegetarian source of essential fatty acids - but only if it is organic, cold pressed, refrigerated and packaged in a dark, opaque bottle (remember, EFAs are fragile and must be handled with care). Be sure to check the expiration date. Freshly pressed, organic flaxseed oil has a delicious, slightly sweet, but very mild taste. If the oil tastes the least bit bitter, throw it out - it's rancid. Give your child a tablespoon of flaxseed oil each day. Don't use it for frying or sautéing - high heat and oxygen destroy EFAs. Instead, mix flaxseed oil into oatmeal (after cooking, not before), use it with lemon juice or vinegar as a salad dressing, drizzle it over baked or steamed vegetables, or dip pieces of bread in it as you would with olive oil. Kept refrigerated, flaxseed oil should remain fresh from four to six weeks.

• Flaxseed Meal

  
  If your child has trouble with constipation or if you just want to add more fiber to his diet, flaxseed meal is a great way to do so since it will also provide essential fatty acids. Freshly ground organic flaxseed meal has a sweet, nutty taste. Sprinkle it over salads, mix it into dips, add a spoonful to a bowl of soup, cold cereal or cooked oatmeal.

  Encourage your teenager to make flaxseed a daily habit. Flaxseed meal is the best internal cosmetic for beautiful skin. It can help turn blotchy, pimply skin into a clear, radiant complexion.

  Purchase organic flaxseed and grind as needed in a coffee grinder or blender, or buy already ground organic flaxseed meal - it should be located in the refrigerator case near the flaxseed oil at your health food store or whole foods grocery. Check the expiration date. Stored in the refrigerator, flaxseed meal should remain fresh from four to six weeks; stored in the freezer, it should last eight to 10 weeks.

  
  

• Fish Oil Extracts

  
  If your child's skin problems do not resolve using flaxseed oil, try fish oil extract capsules. Marketed under brand names such as Max EPA, these essential fatty acids from cold-water fatty fish (preferably salmon) have a slightly different mix of EFAs and are often effective in treating diseases associated with EFA deficiency. One caveat: Your child must be able to swallow this oil in capsules; it has a very unpalatable taste.

• Calcium and Magnesium Combination Formula
  
  
  Calcium and magnesium relax muscles, improve blood flow, soothe a keyed-up or stressed nervous system, and often decrease a child's craving for sugar. Calcium is essential for your child's growing bones, and truly becomes critical should he suffer a bone fracture. In addition, a combination calcium and magnesium supplement will help your child relax and heal in any condition in which tense or aching muscles, stress or nervousness is a factor. All the following conditions signal a need for additional calcium and magnesium: bedwetting, headache, hyperactivity, influenza, insomnia, mononucleosis, muscle or menstrual cramps or seizures. One dose of liquid combination formula contains 250 mg. of calcium and 125 mg. of magnesium.

• Vitamin E
  
  Vitamin E is a very important antioxidant for the heart, blood lipids and cell membranes. Pollution, sun exposure, heavy exercise, the polyunsaturated fats found in refined vegetable oils - all increase free radical production and our need for vitamin E.

  In studies in which athletes were given vitamin E before strenuous exercise, they suffered less free radical damage, less muscle soreness and recovered faster. Applied topically, vitamin E will reduce the redness, inflammation and skin sensitivity associated with sunburn. The RDA for vitamin E is not met by the typical American diet. The best food sources of vitamin E - unrefined vegetable oils, wheat germ, liver and eggs - are high fat foods, making it difficult to healthfully consume protective levels of this nutrient without using supplements. Your child will love Nature's Plus carob-flavored chewable vitamin E capsules, and one given with breakfast will lessen oxidative damage from sun exposure on the ski slopes, or during those long summer days playing at the park, beach or in your backyard. If your child should get a sunburn, prick open a capsule of vitamin E and apply gently for immediate relief and to speed healing.

• Protein Powder
  
  Just a tablespoon of protein powder a day - rice or soy-based for children sensitive or allergic to dairy - can help ensure picky eaters, especially if they are picky vegetarians - get adequate, high-quality protein. Add a spoonful to oatmeal, home-baked muffins, smoothies, juice or milk.

• Brewer's Yeast
  
  A nutritional, food grade yeast, Brewer's yeast is a wonderful source of B vitamins and trace minerals. Its peanut flavor makes it a welcome addition to oatmeal, soups, homemade muffins and cookies - or sprinkle a spoonful over lightly buttered popcorn.

• Blackstrap Molasses

  Organic, unsulphured blackstrap molasses is a good source of iron, especially for vegetarian children. Use blackstrap sparingly, however, or its distinctive flavor will overpower - great in gingerbread, ginger cookies and baked beans.

Use Only As Needed:

• Activated charcoal capsules: Cures Indigestion
  
  Activated charcoal - not ground up briquettes, but medicinal charcoal - helps absorb poisons and gas. Within 15 to 20 minutes, your child's gas, bloating and flatulence will be significantly lessened, if not altogether gone. Though the charcoal will darker the color of her next bowel movement. If your child is too small to swallow the capsules, just open them and stir the powder into a small glass of water. Room temperature water is best; cold water may exacerbate symptoms.

• Pro-biotics: Good Bacteria

  
  Not all bacteria are harmful. Some, called pro-biotics, are downright essential for proper functioning of our digestive tracts. In their normal life cycle, these friendly bacteria produce B vitamins and enzymes that help us digest our food; they also crowd out unfriendly bacteria that can infect the intestines, urinary tract and vagina. The most potent healing pro-biotic strains are L. acidophilus (which produces its own natural antibiotics), B. bifidum (which crowds out unhealthy yeast and bacteria and assists the liver) and L. rhamnosus (which defends against food allergies). Should your child be given a course of antibiotics for an ear infection, these drugs will kill not only the bad bacteria that cause the infection but the good bacteria in your child's intestines. When these healthy strains are killed off, if any harmful bacteria have survived, they are free to multiply unchecked, plus your child's intestines are left wide open and vulnerable to whatever bacteria arrives first. Make sure a significant number of pro-biotics are on site to protect her intestines. If your child has not been given antibiotics but frequently has bad breath or digestive problems such as bloating, gas or diarrhea, this may signify that her intestinal ecology is out of balance. Give her supplemental pro-biotics.

  Look for pro-biotics in the refrigerator case at your health food store or natural foods grocery. Be sure to check the expiration date. The glass jars in which they are sold will either contain capsules or powder. Follow dosage directions on the bottle. Pro-biotics should be taken on an empty stomach with a glass of room temperature water. First thing in the morning works best.

• FOS: Pro-biotic Power

  
  A naturally occurring substance in fruit and vegetables, FOS, short for fructooligosaccharides, is the favorite food of pro-biotics. FOS looks like finely granulated white sugar and tastes sweet. If you're giving your child pro-biotics, it helps to keep these friendly bacteria healthy and well nourished as they colonize your child's intestines. Sprinkle a spoonful over your child's morning cereal or mix it into his morning drink.

• Quercitin: Allergy Stopper

  
  Quercetin is a member of a group of compounds that impart the blue and red colors in plants. Called bioflavonoids or flavonoids, these compounds are much more than plant pigments. Among the more than 4,000 flavonoids that have now been identified, most are antioxidants. The bioflavonoid found in red grape juice and red wine, proanthocyanidin, is thought to strengthen capillary walls and protect against heart disease. The flavonoids in green tea, called catechins, not only protect the heart but also may prevent cancer. Of all the bioflavonoids discovered to date, quercitin is the one with the highest anti-allergy activity. Quercitin stops allergies via its anti-inflammatory and antihistamine actions. A powerful anti-inflammatory, it prevents nasal passages, lungs and eyes from swelling upon contact with an allergen. An antihistamine, it prevents the release of those itchy chemicals that make the nose run and eyes water, without the side effects of drugs. And unlike drugs such as Advil and Motrin, which are currently the leading cause of gastric bleeding in the U.S., quercitin protects the gastric mucosa from damage.

• Zinc: Cold Buster
  
  Zinc is a critical nutrient for healthy immune function and, like vitamin C, possesses direct antiviral activity. Several double-blind, placebo-controlled studies have now demonstrated that zinc lozenges can lessen symptoms and shorten the duration of the common cold. However, only certain zinc lozenge formulations were effective. These were the zinc lozenges that used the amino acid glycine as a sweetener and did not contain citric acid, mannitol or sorbitol as sweetening agents. This is because for the zinc to be effective, it must be ionized in saliva. Glycine does not prevent the ionization of zinc in saliva whereas citric acid, mannitol and sorbitol do. If your child feels a cold or sore throat coming on, give her zinc glycine lozenges supplying 15 mg. of elemental zinc to dissolve in her mouth every two waking hours after an initial double dose. Use zinc lozenges for up to seven days.