Your Microbiome Part 1 - For Infants and Children

Did you know that you’re actually made up of more bacterial cells than you are human cells? I know that I’m a nerd and I find that completely fascinating. For every one human cell, you have ten more bacterial cells. There are over 100,000 billion microbes in the body. That’s crazy!

The microbiome can be described as the population that resides within the human body. There is over 3 pounds of bacteria in the human gut, and it controls our immune system, hormones, brain health, and gut health as well as a host of other functions that we haven’t discovered yet. The human microbiome is throughout the body and covers the mouth, respiratory tract, gastrointestinal tract, the skin, and the urinary and genital areas.

When you are in utero, you’re actually sterile. It’s not until you pass through the vaginal canal, that your exposure to microflora begins. This lasts throughout your entire lifetime, but the first two years of your life are the formative years. This is when your colonies of bacteria is fully formed.

When a baby is born by C-section it does not have the chance to pick up the bacteria from the vaginal canal. Babies who are born via C-Section have an increased risk of gastrointestinal conditions, weight management difficulties, and a 2-fold higher chance of atopy. In Canada, about 27% of births are C-section and most of them are elective. So what do you do if your child or you were born via C-Section?

AlFaleh, et al Cochrane Database of Sytematic Reviews 2011

Pistiner et al, J Allergy Clin Immunol 2008

Kalliomaki et at 2008, Collado et al 2008

Whether the baby is vaginal or C-section, there are quite a few studies that show that when a baby takes a probiotic, it lowers the chances of upper respiratory tract issues, eczema, allergies, and asthma, and autoimmune disorders throughout their life.

Rinne et al FEMS Immunol Med Microbiol 2005

Maldonado et al J Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr 2012

The reason that this works is that the good bacteria provides a protective “barrier” in the digestive tract so that unfriendly bacteria types can’t fill the gaps and begin to take over. If they do start to take over, it can cause issues within the immune system. If the digestive tract gets compromised, that’s when the issues start!

There are a few probiotics that I suggest for kids. HMF Baby B by Genestra is for breastfed babies. It has the correct compounds to compliment the probiotics that they’re already receiving from their mother’s milk. HMF Baby F by Genestra is for formula fed babies. It compliments the bacteria that they wouldn’t be getting from breast milk. For children that aren’t being breast fed or formula fed, I suggest either HMF Powder or HMF Child by Genestra. My kids love HMF Child and grab it out of the fridge to take with their breakfast every morning.

Some other ways that I strengthen their microbiome is by letting my kids play in the dirt. They get really, really dirty. There’s dirt on their faces and under their finger nails. Yes, I do make them wash up for meal times, and they do take regular showers, but for the most part, they get to be normal kids who play outside and make mud pies. I also don’t clean everything like a fanatic. I don’t love cleaning so this is partly me (haha!) but when you sterilize every surface, you’re not giving their immune systems a chance to regulate bacteria on its own. I clean my house with essential oils and never use bleaches or commercial cleaners (Look at my last blog past for some more recommendations!).

In my next post, I’ll be talking about how the microbiome works in adults and what you can do to improve your digestive health!