I'm doing research on the web about boosting my toddlers immune system (he gets frequent colds) and there's a lot of recommendations about supplementing their diet with flax seed oil, probiotics, etc. I was wondering where you purchase your vitamins and supplements? Are there any specific websites, mail order pharmacies or chain stores that carry quailty vitamins and supplements that are not too expensive?
Thank you all for your generous input. I started using the elderberry extract and some other supplements from the Vitamin Shoppe. I also started pureeing veges to blend into foods like Jessica Seinfeld does in her recipes. Hopefully my son will get better soon. Thanks again for all your help.
This is what I do for a living and I have some wonderful recommendations. We do not get sick like we used to since using these supplements and when we do get sick we heal faster. I'm a huge believer. Email me and I'll be happy to send you a link on the web.
If you want the best absorbability, you need to go with a whole food vitamin. Juice Plus is my hands down favorite, but it started to get expensive for us.
Here are some that we have tried
1. Koala Pals. Kids hated them, and I didn't like that they had sand in them as a filler. Did not see any benefit in my kids health while on them. You should know that you have to buy other products to meet a monthly point requirement to get these vitamins at a halfway reasonable cost.
2. Metagenics liquid kids vitamin. Great vitamin, tastes pretty bad.
3. Nordic Berries by Nordic Naturals. I was VERY pleased with these vitamins BUT.......there are 9 grams of carbohydrate in each serving. This won't bother other people, but my kids have type 1 diabetes and I did not like having to give my kids insulin when they had their vitamins!
4. Nature's Plus, Animal Parade. We are using these now and I am pleased with them. It's a great multi and readily available online at vitamin stores and you can also get them at Whole Foods and other health food stores.
We also use a Omega 3 supplement from Nordic Naturals (Carlson's is another great brand), a vitamin D3 supplement and a probiotic from American Health. Since my kids are immuno compromised, I am very careful to boost their immunity any way I can, without overwhelming them with supplements, also, everything is approved by our endocrinologist.
I will probably get slammed (again) for giving my opinion about Koala Pals (The Melaleuca vitamins, also referred to as Oligo by many here) but everything I said was true and I believe in people making informed decisions.
Good luck!
ps. I get alot of my vitamins at www.vitacost.com
Boy do I have good no GREAT vitamins for you and your family!!!! Mine have 85% absorption rate which is 10x most other vitamins that you would buy at the store. How old is your toddler?
Before you do this, may I urge you into having your child's pedi to run a test on the immune system? I insisted that mine do it because my child was constantly sick and turns out he had pediatric neutropenia (rare and took 3 drs to diagnose including a blood specialist) but it was something we had to be aware of the potential dangers, and know what steps we had to take when he got sick, b/c when your cells are fighting eachother immunity boosters actually cause that to happen more in some cases. Not to say that your child may have something like this but if you give them immunity boosters before checking all the facts you may actually be doing the opposite.
We go to the Vitamin Store for all of our vitamin needs to actually answer your question. They do seem to know what they are talking about overall.
I buy elderberry extract syrup from the health food store. LOVE the stuff--no side effects, and kids seem to like the taste. We all take it. Kicks 90% of our illnesses in this house, and severely lessens the other 10%. Flax seed you can get (the actual grain stuff) at the grocery store--in the baking aisle--I think the brand is Hodgson's Mill or something like that. I store it in the freezer--you can sprinkle it on stuff--yogurt, cereal, etc., and into baking batters--pancakes, cookies, etc. Ditto with wheat germ. I also read that coconut oil boosts immunity, so I got some (organic) at the grocery store, and use it to cook for my kids--eggs, grilled cheese, etc. Good luck.
The highest quality vitamins I have ever known of are Oligo. This goes for adults and children (the kids' line is Koala Pals). Your body actually absorbs more of the vitamins/minerals than w/ other brands and they are guaranteed.
I think Dr. Mercola is a reliable source. check em out on drmercola.com
I just think he does his research and anything you buy from his site is refundable.. also, he has MANY articles on there on just about everything
best of luck
My son used to get sick frequenly too and also suffered with bad allergies. I heard of a supplement that would work well for him, and he's been taking it since May. The change has been dramatic and I am grateful. Our pedi has been supportive of it. If you want more info, let me know.
I might suggest having your dr. check your children's pneumonicoccol (sp) levels. Both my 2 year old daughter and I had low levels of immunity for several of these bacteria which are responsible for 80% of sinus, ear, and upper respiratory infections. The prevnar vaccine was the vaccine for this but only covered apx 14 of the bacteria. (Even though my daughter had this vax in the last 18 months, she did not have immunity for many of the bacteria. I think the new vax, recently approved, covers some 27. Might be worth checking out. Our allergist/immunologist was the one who told us about this. As for vitamins, I give my daughter the little critters gummy vites from Costco, but I'm checking into juice plus. I heard a testimonial from my physical therapist (is not the seller btw) Had Legionnaires Disease and was on IV antibiotics on and off for 8 years, missed tons of work, etc. Said he started on juice plus 14 years ago and after 8 months, got his life back. Might be worth a try.
