Can probiotics prevent ear infections and tonsilitis?
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“Oh, he got it from daycare.” We all know that aches, sniffles and other ailments are often traced back to fellow kids. Once your little one enters daycare or goes back to school, they seem to pass illnesses back and forth like a relentless game of tag. Bacterial infections—like middle ear infections, sore throats and tonsilitis—become especially prevalent in the colder months when close indoor contact and no personal space mean that kids are swapping fluids like Pokémon cards.
What causes ear infections and tonsilitis in kids?
Everything your child eats, drinks or puts in their mouth has the opportunity to introduce bad bacteria to their oral cavity. It’s a warm environment that’s ripe with the potential for that bad bacteria to displace the body’s good bacteria leading to achy, infected ears and tender, inflamed tonsils.
Plus, kids aged two to four are more prone than adults to middle ear infections because their ear tubes are shorter, flatter and more horizontal which allows more bacteria to enter and block the narrow passage. In fact, it’s estimated that four out of five children will endure the painful sting of a middle ear infection at least once in their lives.
As parents, not only do we want to avoid sick days, we want to keep our kids as healthy as possible. So how do you combat the revolving door of playroom infections? Think about the realm of bacteria as a battleground between good and bad, then show up to the fight with a science-backed strategy.
Probiotics: Good bacteria vs. bad bacteria
When you hear the term probiotic, words like ‘flora’, ‘gut health’ and ‘microbiome’ might come to mind. While, yes, probiotics can help with gut health, the blend of helpful live bacteria and yeast doesn’t solely focus on the G.I. tract.
Since only two to five per cent of the population has enough good bacteria naturally living in their mouths, an easy-dose, oral probiotic is a powerful defense in helping to prevent bad bacteria and infection from occurring in kids. Clinical studies by BLIS Probiotics found that Streptococcus salivarius K12 (also known as BLIS K12)—a species of helpful bacteria that produced inhibitory substances—can reduce sore throats in kids.
BLIS K12 enables parents to be preventative
Ears & Throat with BLIS K12 for Kids is a daily probiotic that works in the mouth instead of the gut and is clinically proven to help prevent throat and ear infections. Developed in New Zealand by dedicated microbiologists using over 30 years of scientific research and clinical studies, Ears & Throat with BLIS K12 for Kids is a tasty vanilla-flavoured powder that can be taken as-is or mixed into cool foods like a morning yogurt or bowl of ice cream. Incorporating it into your child’s everyday routine can help support the immune system, curb sore throat infections, help to lower the regularity of upper respiratory infections and can also support and maintain healthy ear function. How? By working to overtake the mouth with good bacteria.
What exactly is BLIS K12 and what does it do?
The world’s first probiotic strain that was developed specifically for oral use, BLIS K12 enters the mouth and gets to work populating it with a shield of defense by producing a seek-and-destroy anti-microbial peptide that banishes bad bacteria.
It’s been well-documented that recurrent tonsillitis and ear infections plague both adults and kids. An observational study found that a 90-day treatment of BLIS K12 administered daily significantly lowered strep throat infections. When healthy kindergarten-aged children took Ears & Throat with BLIS K12 for Kids every day, there was a significant reduction in ear and throat infections compared to the untreated group of the same age in the study.
Why wait for your kid to get sick when you can help stop it from happening?
All BLIS Probiotics are developed by a team of microbiologists in Dunedin, New Zealand and have been approved by Health Canada. Ears & Throat with BLIS K12 for Kids is available at Healthy Planet, Choices, Rexall and Sobeys.
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