Most of us first heard about probiotics when our kids were prescribed antibiotics. Over the years probiotics have been recommended more and more for daily use in both our diets and those of our children. My kids are generally pretty healthy so I have never really been too concerned about giving them a daily probiotic. That said I have been doing a lot more research into your gut health and the benefits of probiotics for your children.
What are probiotics?
According to Wikipedia, Probiotics are defined as
Probiotics are live microorganisms promoted with claims that they provide health benefits when consumed, generally by improving or restoring the gut flora.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Probiotic
So basically probiotics are good bacteria that help to restore your gut health as well as maintain it. These good bacteria can be found natally in fermented foods like yogurt, sauerkraut, tempeh, and kimchi. If you have tasted those foods you might agree it could be tricky to try to get your kids to eat them regularly.
Daily probiotics are becoming easier to find and one of our favourites is FloraChoc from Bioflora. These little chocolate drops are not only delicious but also jam-packed with 5 probiotic strains. Yes, I did say chocolate drops! It can be really challenging to get kids to take medicines, even ones that are good for them like probiotics. Bioflora has taken this challenge away by creating the first Probiotic Chocolate in South Africa. Made from 54% dark Belgian chocolate with no added sugar, your kids will willingly take their daily dose.
What are the benefits of Probiotics for your children
Good probiotics can positively impact your child’s metabolism and weight. They promote good bacteria which means you create a healthy gut and this is important for weight management throughout your child’s life.
There is a connection between the brain and gut so creating good gut health supports the healthy development and growth of the brain.
Probiotics aid in the digestion of food and they produce certain vital nutrients your child’s body needs.
The daily use of probiotics also supports urinary tract and vaginal health by creating healthy bacteria.
Probiotics also help to fight the negative effects of antibiotics. If you are not giving your child regular probiotics, you must at least add them when they are taking antibiotics.
You can also give your newborn probiotic drops. They can assist with diarrhea, oral thrush, food allergies, and nappy rash. Bioflora has a great product, Infantiforte that is perfect for newborns.
We were sent the FloraChoc chocolate buttons to try out and they were obviously a massive hit but what impressed me the most is the reasonable price tag attached. A 90g bag costs R99 and it lasted us about 3 weeks. If you have ever bought a probiotic, you will know is pretty reasonable.
You can get them in-store from Dischem or online at Organic Choice.
Holidays are approaching which means diets, in general, are filled with sugary, decadent treats, so it is a good time to introduce these if you haven’t already.
I would love to hear if you are giving your kids probiotics.
Disclaimer: I was sent products from Bioflora to try out and review.
26 Responses
I need to get back on track and have my kids take probiotics regularly. It definitely helps their overall health.
I take probiotics and love the results. I love seeing more and more probiotics for kids on the market. And who doesn’t like chocolate, right!
I really need probiotics for myself…lol Thanks for sharing this information I will have to look into this. For my youngest son especially.
Ohhhhh a probiotic that is reasonably priced AND chocolate? My kids would be all over that! We don’t use probiotics regularly because they are so expensive, but we do shell out whenever the kids are at all under the weather and/or taking antibiotics for the very reasons you mention.
We don’t give ours probiotics, but we should be! Thank you for the reminder,.
I use probiotics and so do the kids, especially this time of year!
I have never tried a probiotic with my child, but I think she could benefit. We will have to check these out!
Probiotics are wonderful! I just wrote a couple articles on them on my blog, but I didn’t know about FloraChoc, I’m going to have to get some! Excellent article here!
I’ll definitely looks into these for the kids.
I agree that probiotics are so important! I’ll have to check out this product – it sounds convenient and tasty!
Thank you for sharing this. I haven’t given my daughter probiotics. I mean, she eats yogurt but that is it. I know they’re good for gut health.
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Thank you for sharing! So important this time of year!
Probiotics are important; especially this time of year! My whole household uses them!
I started giving my daughter probiotics after she has been ill and had been taking antibiotics. There are some really great supplements about. Also live yogurt is good
Sounds like a good deal on the probiotics! Some brands can be pretty expensive and don’t seem to last that long. I like that these make the kids want to take them due to them being chocolate flavors vs having a nasty medicine taste.
Sounds like a good deal on the probiotics! Some brands can be pretty expensive and don’t seem to last that long. I like that these make the kids want to take them due to them being chocolate flavors vs having a nasty medicine taste. 🙂
This is something I forget to do on and off. I need to check the yogurts I’m giving my kids to see if they have probiotics. I’m sure they’d prefer chocolate though
I’m a huge fan of probiotics. I’ve personally been taking them for years. I recently started looking into some for my daughters as well.
Thank you for sharing this information. My nieces love probiotic drinks. Good to hear that it has a lot of benefits.
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I am a huge fan of probiotics. They are very beneficial.
Thank you for sharing! I did not realize there were probiotics in kimchi! That’s my all-time favorite side dish.
Thank you for sharing! I did not realize there were probiotics in kimchi! That’s my all-time favorite side dish. And I also didn’t realize that probiotics would be so beneficial for kids too
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I was just talking to my mum about probiotics for kids just the other day, your post has reminded me again that children need it as much as us adults
We just got a yogurt machine that allows you to ensure that there are tons of gut healthy bacteria in your yogurt, for ourselves and the kids, and are now reseatching proboitics! Thank you so much for sharing all of this info.
Thank you so much for the very valuable tips. We heard kimchi is very important as probiotics so we’ve been eating it daily. What do you think?
Great and important info here! Probiotics are important at any age! I still need to ensure I get mine daily. Thanks for sharing!