“First 1000 Days of Life” is a programme by the Ministry of Health to encourage parents and guardians to pay close attention to a child’s development and growth. 1000 days is counted not just when a baby is born, but starting from early pregnancy until the child reaches the age of 2. This is considered a golden period as any lack of growth and development in this period will potentially create a detrimental future for the child. One of the important bricks of good growth and development is by providing enough nutrient intake.
Taurine has been proven to play a big role in children’s lives. Though taurine is classified as “conditionally essential” amino acid in the human body, it exists almost in all cells of the body and abundantly in brain, eye and muscle. Adults rarely have issues with low taurine level as the body is capable of producing its own taurine through liver process but in babies and children, taurine mainly comes from breastfeed milk or daily meal. The importance of taurine has been shown in reports of babies with low weight, small in size or problems with brain development due to lack of taurine in maternal breastfeed milk. Thus, taurine supplements exist in the market to help prevent issues from low level taurine.
Taurine supplements available in forms of tablet, syrup and chewable gummies. Taking taurine syrup can be the easiest way for children as it is made with tasty flavour and often formulated alongside with other essential vitamins and minerals needed for children’s health. Some of the benefits of taurine syrup are:
1-Healthy eyes
Gadgets and electronic appliances have become mediums for learning process in children. It is unfortunate children of our generation are at high risk of getting eye damage in early years as they are exposed to long screen time exposure and light. Taurine helps to support eye health for better eyesight.
2-Optimal learning process
Generally, children are known to be fast learners. Nowadays, they are smarter and learn much advanced knowledge either in school or at home. To help children learn effectively, taurine supplementation aids in the brain development and maintaining optimal brain function. It can also help children to have good memory and better thinking skills.
3- Helps children to stay active and fit
Taurine has been proven to help humans to maintain energy level. Energy drinks and sports drinks have utilised this benefit by adding taurine to aid athletes reach good performance and better stamina. Strengthened muscle is another way taurine helps a person to stay active. Therefore, children with a good level of taurine will have optimal energy to go throughout their days in school, playtime and home. This optimal condition surely makes a child happy and ready for any challenges or completing tasks.
4-More immune days, less sick days
Immune system plays an important part in children’s development. This is because when children get sick, they are not able to socialise or learn any new things efficiently. As we know, stimulation is important for a child to develop skills such as motor skills and social skills. Taurine has been proved to support the body’s immune system due to the antioxidant properties, preventing the child from infection or inflammation diseases.
We can conclude that taurine does play a big role in maintaining human body function especially in babies and children. Usage of supplements has been misinterpreted as more people try to replace their meal with supplements. The best way to get nutrients and the mainstay for a healthy body is through a balanced diet. Supplements are just a boost on days your body needs extra nutrients.
