All those classroom germs!

With 2 boys in school, one off to school in September,  and an abundance of daycare kids, I learned  very quickly that GERMS are every were.  So I started reading books on healthy ways to combat these awful bugs and help decrease the amount of cold / sickness my kids have.  I was really shocked by some the advice, but it actually made perfect sense once you think about it.  So here are some of the key points that I have implemented in our home. 

• Get RID of Sugars, especially refined sugars - I have learned that when you eat sugars your immune systems efficiency decreases by up to 25%!! If you really take the time to think about this it makes perfect sense.  When do our kids get the sickest, November (right after Halloween) and January (right after Christmas).   I get emails from the teachers letting us know if there are bugs in the class room, and so far (for the last 3 years) the emails have been mainly in November and January! 
• Stop drinking juice - WHAT? really look at the amount of sugars (even if they are natural) in a glass of O.J. compared to that of an actual orange.  I make sure that the boys get a big glass of Milk or water with a meal, not juice.
• Increase your fruits and veggies - sounds simple enough right?  Track the amount of fruits and veggies your kids are consuming I bet if they are always sick they aren't even CLOSE to the recommended 10 servings.  If you have picky eaters, try a smoothie with breakfast instead of a glass of juice, provide a fruit or veg at every meal and snack.  Certain dried fruits are great too ( read labels to make sure there are no sulphates and added sugars)
• DRINK WATER - water is a natural cleanser.  Make sure your kiddies drink it to help clean out there systems.
• YOGURT - Line their little bellies with GOOD bacteria and they will fight the bad ones.  I am talking about real, no sweeteners yogurt. Those "kid friendly" yogurts are HORRIBLE!  Ever read the ingredients??  We like Astro Organic vanilla yogurt with berries and ground flax seed on top (yes my boys eat flax seed, we call them "sprinkles" and I think because there are brown they think it is some kind of chocolate, LOL!)  My boys get a yogurt every morning after they have there cereal ( kashi, puffed wheat and oat cereals mixed together with Organic Vanilla Soya milk for a hunger suppressing, complex carb, protein packed, tummy filling start to the day.) 

Remember I am not a Dr. these are just the things that have helped us stay health, and hopefully they will help you too.  Do you have any other tricks that you can share with us?