When the Sickies Strike…
*Exhale*
We just spent the past few days nursing a virus that came out of nowhere and seemed to go away within 24 hours, only to morph into a different sort of beast shortly thereafter.
It started with a stomach virus, which basically meant it was difficult to stay hydrated. To help with diarrhea, we turned to the BRAT diet (no longer recommended by the American Association of Pediatrics, but that is likely due to the fact that it is not a nutritionally sound way of eating for any great length of time. Instead, the organization recommends continuing with a normal, age-appropriate diet if you can. My daughter couldn’t).
BRAT is an acronym for bananas, rice, applesauce (or apple slices) and toast. Some people follow the BRATT diet (same as above plus chamomile tea, which is naturally decaffeinated), or the BRATTY diet (adding yogurt).
I’ve always found the BRAT diet to be useful, and I recall my own mother following it when my brother and I were ill.
In addition to the diarrhea, my daughter was vomiting, which made hydration all the more crucial. Along with sips of water, many parents will aid hydration by supplementing with things like Gatorade and Pedialyte pops, which make no sense to me personally due to their food dyes, preservatives and other chemicals. Take a look at what is in your average Pedialyte pop:
-
Water, Dextrose. Less than 2% of the Following: Citric Acid, Sodium Chloride, Sodium Carboxymethylcellulose, Potassium Citrate, Potassium Sorbate, Sodium Benzoate, Sucralose, Acesulfame Potassium, and Natural & Artificial Fruit Flavors*,†,‡,§.
* Grape also contains Natural and Artificial Grape Flavor, Red 40 and Blue 1.
† Cherry also contains Natural and Artificial Cherry Flavor and Red 40.
‡ Orange also contains Natural and Artificial Orange Flavor, Yellow 6 and Red 40.
§ Blue Raspberry also contains Natural and Artificial Blue Raspberry Flavor and Blue 1.
Thanks, but no thanks. Instead, we made our own silly little (but much appreciated) hydration pops using coconut water (high in potassium and mineral content) and (because she was craving citrus and seemed to be able to handle the acidity just fine), fresh squeezed Tangelo juice (made from, um, real Tangelo oranges currently in season) for a boost of vitamin C.
Here is our homemade dye-free “Pedialyte” Hydration Pop (held by my 12 year old stepson, who approved of the taste along with our 3 other children):
Once the stomach portion of the illness was under control, next we had to deal with an ordinary, run-of-the-mill cold (mixed in with a mild flare of asthma, which has largely been under control since we greatly increased our fruit and vegetable intake 1.5 years ago — fruits and veggies are natural anti-inflammatories). For the cold, it was on to warm bowls of homemade chicken noodle soup.
Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup (with whole wheat noodles):
- 32 ounces (1 quart) of organic, low-sodium chicken stock (preferably homemade)
- 64 ounces of filtered water
- 2 celery sticks, finely chopped
- 1 parsnip, chopped
- 2 large organic carrots, chopped
- 1 turnip, whole
- 1 leek, finely chopped
- 1/2 a whole vidalia onion
- 1 whole 5 pound organic, free-range chicken (broken down before serving)
- whole wheat “egg noodles”
- 4 cloves of garlic, whole
- salt and pepper to taste
- garnish of fresh parsley
Said child is back at school today, and (knock on wood) the rest of the house seems healthy as well.
Fingers crossed that the sickies stay away!
Update: the sickies did not stay away. The school called and had me pick up my oldest daughter after she vomited. 2 kids down, 2 to go (and 2 adults during our big moving week — noooooooooo!).
