Health is Wealth
Make fruit more fun for kids — and adults!
Makes 6 servings
Calories: 140
Fat: 0 g
Saturated fat: 0 g
Sodium: 15 mg
Protein: 4 g
Carbohydrates: 32 g
Sugars: 24 g
Dietary fiber: 3 g
We all want to protect our kids whether it be from falls, bumps and bruises — or avoidable infections and diseases. To help your child avoid illness, it’s important to encourage good habits and take steps to boost their immune system from an early age.
“Most of what makes a child’s immune system strong is common sense,” says pediatrician Adriane Lioudis, MD. If you keep these five tips in mind, you’ll stack the deck in your child’s favor for a healthier life.
While it’s a very personal decision (that isn’t always possible), if you are able to exclusively breastfeed your child for at least six months, it may have benefits. Some research shows that breastfeeding your child might possibly reduce allergies, Dr. Lioudis says.
Eighty percent of infections are spread by touch. Teach your little one to take the time to wash their hands after sneezing, coughing and going to the bathroom. Washing hands with warm water and soap for at least 20 seconds can remove bacteria and viruses and can reduce the chance of lung infections by up to 45%.
Follow your pediatrician’s advice when it comes to the childhood vaccination schedule. Immunizations start in infancy and continue to adulthood and prevent measles, mumps, chickenpox, rotavirus and other infections.
“Get the flu shot for your child yearly, as well,” Dr. Lioudis says. This is particularly important for children with asthma and other chronic health conditions.
Also, if your family will be traveling internationally, it’s important to seek advice from your child’s healthcare provider about any needed vaccinations.
To maximize immunity, children must get enough sleep.
Sleep requirements for each night vary by age:
Not getting enough sleep limits the body’s ability to produce proteins called cytokines that help fight infection and reduce inflammation.
A healthy diet is also important for your child’s immune system.
Dr. Lioudis recommends encouraging your child to “eat the rainbow” when it comes to fruits and vegetables. A good selection of whole grains should be part of their diet as well. Keep processed foods to a minimum. Proper food choices can help ensure that your child gets enough vitamins — such as vitamin A and E. These vitamins are needed to maintain good health and a strong immune system.
“Even if you follow these tips, your child might still get between seven and 11 colds each year,” says Dr. Lioudis. She adds that you can expect each one to last up to two weeks.
Also, keep in mind that some things billed as common “remedies” aren’t effective in boosting immunity. For example, there’s no definitive proof that large amounts of vitamin C or echinacea help prevent colds or shorten them, she says.
However, if your child has a compromised immune system, work closely with your pediatrician to find ways to improve his or her immunity. Each child needs a personalized approach because their individual immune system varies, Dr. Lioudis says.
“There’s generally a different protocol with immunocompromised children. There are some vaccines we have to add in on top of what most children have, but it’s something that we must determine on a case-by-case basis.
The natural at-home remedy can soothe irritation and decrease inflammation
It feels faint at first — there’s a little tickle or scratch at the back of your throat.
Then, it hurts or even burns when you swallow.
Ugh, you’ve got a sore throat, and a cough isn’t far behind.
You’re taking cough syrup and lozenges in an attempt to get some relief. But what about using honey for sore throat symptoms? Does this natural home remedy actually work to soothe a sore throat and cough?
Yes, says family medicine physician Elizabeth Rainbolt, MD.
Dr. Rainbolt explains how honey works and when and how to use it.
It’s common to get a sore throat every now and then. You may have a sore throat due to the following:
In addition to having other symptoms like nasal congestion, fatigue and fever, you may develop a cough.
Honey has a long history of being used as a natural remedy. And one remedy is to soothe sore throats and help alleviate a cough.
“Research shows that honey has some antimicrobial and anti-inflammation properties. Honey can help by decreasing inflammation and irritation in your throat,” explains Dr. Rainbolt. “Another study shows that honey may reduce mucus secretion. So, you can use honey for cough symptoms as well, whether it’s a wet or dry cough.”
Giving honey to a child under 1-year-old isn’t recommended, warns Dr. Rainbolt.
“There’s concern for an infant botulism, a serious illness that’s caused by Clostridium botulinum,” she continues. “While it’s a rare occurrence, honey can contain spores that cause botulism. It attacks the body’s nervous system and children under one are more vulnerable.”
Most sore throats tend to get better within a week, but during that time, adults can take a spoonful (about 1 teaspoon) of honey for a cough and sore throat.
You can also dilute half a teaspoon to 1 teaspoon of honey in warm water or tea. This method is also recommended for children older than 1.
“You can use it with any kind of herbal tea or warm water with lemon juice, which can be soothing as well,” says Dr. Rainbolt.
So, how often can you use this home remedy? Dr. Rainbolt recommends using honey no more than four or five times a day.
And part of that reasoning is that honey does contain sugar.
“If you’re concerned about your sugar intake, then I recommend using honey more sparingly,” she says. “I would just use it at night to give you some relief before you go to bed.”
And can you use both honey and traditional cold medicine?
Yes, says Dr. Rainbolt.
“If it seems like the honey isn’t helping on its own, then you can certainly do both honey and medication, if medicine is something that you are able to take,” she notes.
Honey can be a helpful tool for those who can’t take traditional cold medications — for example, children under 6 years old or individuals with health conditions like high blood pressure or cardiovascular disease.
Overall, honey can be a good way to help soothe your sore throat and cough. It doesn’t come with some of the side effects that over-the-counter medications have like drowsiness.
So, can you just buy any honey you see on the grocery store shelf?
Yes, but you might want to make sure it’s been pasteurized. The pasteurization process removes any crystallization and unwanted yeast. It also improves honey’s texture and color, while extending its shelf life.
Dr. Rainbolt also mentions that some people think using local honey, which tends to be unpasteurized or raw, can come with extra benefits.
“There’s a thought that if you use local honey, you are exposed to some of the area’s natural allergens in a positive way,” she explains. “The idea is that it will help with allergies you have.”
The next time your throat starts to tickle, reach for honey and see if it helps.
“Think of honey as a first line of defense for those over 1 year old,” says Dr. Rainbolt. “Honey is something that pretty much everyone can try. And it’s been shown to work as well as some cough suppressant medications. It’s a nice alternative.”
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| If you hear the term “longevity” and think only about living longer, you’re missing half the point. “What we actually want is both more years and more of those years lived in good health,” says Dr. David Barzilai, a longevity physician and the medical editor of Harvard Health Publishing’s Special Health Report Pathways to Longevity. “Almost no one wants additional years of frailty and dependence; they want more years of feeling well, moving freely, thinking clearly, and staying engaged with the people and work they love.” To that end, recent years have seen an explosion in interest in longevity and healthy aging, largely driven by “science that’s genuinely more exciting than it was a decade ago,” says Dr. Barzilai, also a lecturer at Harvard Medical School. | |||||
While it’s clear that genetics play a role in living longer and staying healthy, lifestyle appears to be just as important. Five lifestyle patterns consistently show up in longevity research: movement, nutrition, sleep, stress management, and social connection.
“Good health is surprisingly unglamorous,” Dr. Barzilai says. “What matters most are the basics people already know about but rarely execute consistently over decades. There is no magic to it.”
Here, Dr. Barzilai expands on each of the five pillars of longevity.
Movement is the closest thing people have to a “master signal,” he says. “It improves nearly every system at once, from insulin sensitivity to brain health to bone density. And cardiorespiratory fitness is one of the strongest predictors of mortality we have ever measured.”
Dr. Barzilai recommends combining various forms of movement to maximize health, including twice-weekly resistance training and 150 minutes of moderate or 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity each week. “And everyday movement counts on its own,” he says. “Breaking up long stretches of sitting with two to three minutes of light activity measurably improves glucose and blood-pressure responses.”
Nutrition shapes the metabolic environment our cells live in day to day, governing blood glucose, inflammation, and the raw materials for muscle and repair, Dr. Barzilai says.
We’re living longer than ever—but are we living well?
Harvard Medical School’s Special Health Report, Pathways to Longevity, looks beyond “anti aging” hype to share what science really says about extending your healthspan—the years you stay strong, independent, and mentally sharp.
From nutrition and movement to sleep, stress, social connection, and the latest longevity drugs, this report turns complex research into clear, practical steps you can start now.
“The principles that have held up across decades of research are unglamorous and durable: build meals around whole foods,” he explains. “Get enough protein, which becomes more important, not less, as you age. And avoid the large blood glucose spikes you get from refined carbohydrate eaten on its own, which in practice means anchoring meals with protein, healthy fats, and fiber.”
Sleep is fundamental to longevity because that’s when the body takes care of essential maintenance — clearing metabolic waste from the brain, consolidating memory, and resetting the hormones that govern appetite and stress, Dr. Barzilai says.
Experts recommend adults get seven to eight hours each night. Research also shows that consistency matters more than quantity. “That is encouraging,” he says, “because a steady wake time, weekends included, is something most people can actually manage.”
Stress itself isn’t a problem, since our body’s acute stress response — which sharpens focus and fuels energy levels — can protect us from genuine threats.
“The trouble comes when it never switches off,” Dr. Barzilai says. “Chronic stress holds the body in a low-grade alarm state that, over years, wears on the cardiovascular and immune systems, disrupts sleep and metabolism, and appears to accelerate several of the underlying processes of aging.”
The most dependable ways to regulate stress are physical and social rather than purely mental, he says. “People reach for a relaxation app and overlook that movement, sufficient sleep, exposure to daylight, and time with people they trust are often the more powerful levers. Regular exercise in particular is one of the best-validated stress and mood interventions we have.”
Social connection is probably the longevity pillar people neglect most, Dr. Barzilai says. “People will track their macros and their step count to the decimal and never think to protect their friendships with the same intentionality, even though the survival data on relationships rival the data on much of what they are measuring,” he says.
If you’re feeling isolated, try to make connecting with others a regular commitment rather than a grand gesture, he says. “Begin with one recurring, low-pressure point of contact: a standing weekly call with one person, a class or volunteer commitment that puts you in the same room with the same faces again and again, a daily walk somewhere you will see neighbors. Pick one recurring contact and protect it like an appointment, and treat a few real relationships with the same seriousness you would give your blood pressure or your exercise.”
| Which pillar of longevity is most important?The habits most strongly linked to living a longer, healthier life are also some of the simplest: move regularly, eat well, sleep sufficiently, manage stress, and stay connected to others. But which one counts most? It’s impossible to gauge, says Dr. David Barzilai, a longevity physician and lecturer at Harvard Medical School.“How much each pillar matters depends heavily on where a given person is starting from,” he says. “For someone sedentary, adding movement is transformative. For someone running on five ragged hours of sleep, fixing sleep will do more than another workout. For someone isolated, rebuilding connection may be the highest-yield change of all.”“What I can say with confidence is that the most underrated pillar is social connection, and the most foundational day to day are sleep, physical activity, and nutrition, since they are the ground the others stand on,” Dr. Barzilai adds. “But the useful question is not which pillar wins in the abstract. It is which one you are personally weakest in right now, because that is where your next improvement will pay off most.” |
