Childhood anxiety disorders: Natural and nutritional approaches

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Is your child walled off by anxiety?

Twenty five percent of 13-18 year old children in the US have had an anxiety disorder, serious enough to be diagnosed and require intervention. Anxiety is even more common in kids with Asperger’s syndrome and autism. No steadfast rule places anxiety disorders in the purview of teens – even toddlers can have anxiety serious enough to obstruct socialization, learning, sleep, and development. There are several types of anxiety disorders, from obsessive compulsive disorder to panic disorder.

Many parents, teachers, and even doctors cluck at the very idea of anxiety in children. How bad can it be, really? If you haven’t experienced life with a child who has a true anxiety disorder, it’s hard to imagine how debilitating this is. From being unable to participate in normal activities, to being blamed for creating it, anxiety disorders isolate and traumatize children who experience them along with their families. When my own child exhibited an anxious, avoidant demeanor before he was a year old, it was confounding and frustrating for our whole family. His anxiety was poorly tolerated by most our friends and even his young peers – who fell away one by one – and by family members too. Happy events like birthday parties and holiday gatherings, group picnics at parks or playgrounds, or usually fun spaces like a children’s museum or school zoo field trip became white-knuckle, tension-drenched agonies. His anxiety would escalate to panic and bolting, or even seizures. More than once at family gatherings, he endangered himself: Fearing the host’s large dog at a Thanksgiving celebration (which the family refused to partition) he once secretly retreated to a frozen attic space, where he remained in his shirt sleeves for nearly an hour before found. From climbing into a car trunk (I found him just as he was shutting himself in; he figured out how to open the trunk on the dashboard), to wandering outdoors in frigid weather, my son endangered himself on many occasions to quell anxiety. With his safety and wellbeing at stake, we were forced to withdraw. Our world became smaller and smaller, after it was clear that only a few family members and friends were willing to welcome us on terms my son could manage. School environments were rife with anxiety triggers in his case as well, making each year a new challenge.

A top developmental pediatrician suggested an SSRI for him when he was barely three years old. We deferred, not having any idea what the long-term effects may be (that was in 1999, and these are still unstudied). We later tried a slew of psychiatric medications, which either triggered heavy side effects, or produced lackluster progress.

Do kids outgrow this stuff? Maybe, but that has not been true in my son’s case. A neonatal vaccine injury may have triggered damage to structures and pathways in his brain responsible for calming chemistry. For many youngsters I meet in my nutrition care practice, challenges like these have persisted with age, rather than faded. I meet the kids who have not succeeded with prescription medications, have not outgrown anxiety experienced since early childhood, or are so young that parents do not wish to medicate them. What are the options?

There are nutrition-focused options that may help. Many of these are discussed in detail in Special Needs Kids Go Pharm-Free. It’s important to get professional assessment from a pediatric mental health professional first, to discern whether your child is managing anxiety, depression, or both, before trying any nutritional or pharmaceutical intervention. Different neurotransmitter pathways may need emphasis, depending on your child’s presentation. These tips below focus on anxiety. I’ve picked these out of the many pharm-free possibilities because they have been favorite performers in my practice.  For nutrition-focused tools with potential to intervene on depression, hyperactivity, focus, attention, and more, see Special Needs Kids Go Pharm Free. As always, consult your health care providers before diving in. Ask questions, seek guidance; do not take this information alone as medical advice for your child. Most of all, if your child is currently using a psychotropic medication, speak to your prescriber before using nutritional supports or making changes to the medicine.

Top pick #1: Inositol Inositol is a naturally occurring molecule that is classified as a sugar-alcohol. Our bodies make a supply of it from glucose; it’s needed for many biochemical pathways and intracellular messaging systems, including those that affect mood. It’s also needed to make phospholipids, which are crucial for normal cell membrane construction – and that is crucial for normal cell function. Cell membranes gate-keep chemical messengers that go in and out; if the membrane structure is rigid or altered, messaging falters, and this can be true for the messengers that create calm chemistry. Using inositol may help cell membranes, and the chemical messenger receptors upon them, work better.

Inositol is in many foods, including bananas, cantaloupe, oranges, grapefruit, and lima beans. We may normally eat about a gram of it each day. A healthy human bowel has ample bacteria in it that produce inositol too. Interestingly, kids on the autism spectrum have been found to not have the same bowel microflora profiles as typical peers. Even more interesting – something I’ve repeatedly witnessed in my practice  – treating these bowel infections improved features of autism, in at least one trial.

Given in multi-gram doses, inositol has performed robustly for anxiety disorders like obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and panic disorder, and has also done well in some trials for depression. For just one example, click here; more links are here. In my opinion, this is a stand-out option for children with anxiety disorders, OCD, and panic disorder. The trick is using the right dose, in the right form, and to move into the therapeutic range gradually. Since high doses are needed, gastrointestinal side effects like diarrhea or bloating and gas can occur at first. Avoid these by starting very low (1 gram) and going slowly up (as high as 12 grams/day in split doses, or 18 grams/day for teens at above 120 lbs). Give a high potency probiotic (20 billion CFUs or more) with each inositol dose; give with snack or food. You can also use antifungal herbs concomitantly to help control GI symptoms and keep unwanted yeast in check during inositol usage. Give these herbs away from inositol and probiotic.

Pros: Inositol is easy to use. It dissolves easily in water or juice, and has mild sweet taste.  No toxicity or side effects are reported, excepting GI discomfort.

Cons: May trigger GI distress if given too much too fast. Children with poorly controlled yeast or other bowel infections should treat those before using inositol.

Tip: Buy only a pure inositol powder, with no fillers or other nutrients, from a reputable source, not capsules, which are inconvenient for the dosages necessary. Kirkman Labs and Solaray offer pure inositol without fillers.  Be sure your child has a good multivitamin with B group in it, which will help the inositol work better.

Top Pick #2: Homeopathic Aconite A pretty perennial called Buttercup is used to make this famous homeopathic remedy for panic. As is true for most homeopathic remedies, the source substance is dangerous and should not be mistakenly used for home treatments of any sort. Homeopathic Aconite is useful acutely, that is, in situations where a child is blanched and frozen with irrational and grandiose panic, particularly one that includes a fear of death. It isn’t to be used daily unless you are working with an experienced naturopathic doctor or homeopath who has instructed you to use this remedy specifically for your child. But, given a situation that needs quick intervention, I have observed it to be effective. My own child was able to return to anxiety-provoking classroom activities in elementary school with this remedy, and endure air travel better. If lactose in the pellets is verboten, obtain a tincture from a professional homeopath; begin here to locate a trained homeopath. A very low potency daily dose may be the trick for your child. Aconite is not the only homeopathic remedy a professional might pick for an anxiety disorder, but it is a standout for acute situations.

Pros: Widely available, inexpensive, easy to administer

Cons: Over-using any homeopathic remedy can exaggerate symptoms you are targeting for treatment. Use only for emergent symptoms; stop once symptoms improve, unless your homeopath instructs otherwise.  Consult an experienced provider for more guidance. A helpful book for safe home use of homeopathic remedies is Everybody’s Guide To Homeopathic Medicines.

Tip: Homeopathic remedies must be given away from foods, drinks, tooth-brushing,  strong aromas, or any substances in the mouth.

Top Pick #3: GABA promoters GABA is Gamma Amino Butyric Acid, one of the brain’s most prevalent neurotransmitters. Its abundance is second only to glutamate. It has an inhibitory or calming effect; it shuts down the excitatory effects of glutamate. If GABA isn’t doing its job, the flow of exitotoxic chemistry in the brain can escalate to seizures, and in fact, many seizure medications target GABA chemistry. Besides anxiety disorders, low GABA has been noted in Parkinson’s disease, addiction, cognitive impairments, bipolar disorder, depression, and headaches. Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine) is needed to make it, which is why some see improvement in seizures and anxiety with high doses of B6.

We produce GABA in the brain from glutamine, a common amino acid in food. Eating GABA itself as a supplement may not work well, since it doesn’t typically cross the blood brain barrier. But GABA promoting herbs and amino acids may help raise GABA levels and lessen anxiety. Here are some possibilities that have been successful in my practice, to ease anxiety through GABA promoters:

-       Your child should use a high quality, high potency multivitamin and mineral supplement that supplies ample pyridoxine and /or pyridoxal-5-phosphate, as well as magnesium, some iron, and the full B vitamin group. Examples are Kirkman Labs Thera Response or Klaire Labs VitaSpectrum.

-       Valerian, bacopa, skullcap, ashwaganda, rhodiola, gingko biloba, and passion flower may enhance GABA activity. These may bind the same receptor site as benzodiazapene drugs. Tinctures, capsules, teas, and tablets are widely available. Consult a naturopathic doctor (ND) for correct dosing. It may be well worth the time and trouble to find a provider with naturopathic training, as these herbs can be impressively effective with little to no side effects.

-       Some children may be able to tolerate glutamine as a supplement, the precursor amino acid for GABA production. I have not found this to be the case in my practice. Though it is a widely touted tool for GABA promotion (and gut health), children who are challenged in converting glutamine to glutamate to GABA may experience heightened agitation, anxiety, or even seizures with glutamine supplements. Mercury disrupts this conversion, so if you have reason to suspect your child has had mercury exposures, then you may not have success with glutamine.

-       The amino acids taurine, alanine, and theanine may either promote GABA or oppose glutamate. Toxicity for these is low, and research on them abounds – for one example, click here. Taurine is typically started at 200mg per dose for children, and up to as high as 600mg or even 1000mg. Theanine is usually given from 50-200mg. Consult a naturopath for dosing instructions for your own child.

Pros: Herbs and amino acids can be easily administered to children and safely used, with guidance from an experienced practitioner. Side effects are minimal.

Cons: MDs are not trained in the use of natural tools like these, so you may need to acquaint yourself with a good naturopathic doctor (ND) specializing in pediatric or family practice to get dosing guidance. Don’t mix these with psychotropic medication, unless your provider instructs you to do so – amino acids and herbs may synergize or negate effects of some medications.

Tip: Use herbs from organic sources with high standards for screening for toxins, including heavy metals. See chapter Chapter 7 of Special Needs Kids Go Pharm-Free for more information on the quality of supplements and herbs.

Top pick #4: Carnosine This is probably one of the fastest, easiest, most straightforward options to test for a child, especially if anxiety is combined with explosive behavior or rageful outbursts. Not to be confused with carnitine, the amino acid famous for body building supplements, carnosine is a di-peptide found in protein-rich animal foods like chicken, beef, or egg. It is a strong antioxidant, and may have a protective effect on receptors in the brain that impact excitotoxicity and seizures. It has been clinically reviewed for use in autism, and has shown promise in reducing social anxiety while improving cognition. Carnosine may boost GABA and is also of interest for mitigating seizure activity. Carnosine is a newer amino acid tool than taurine, alanine, or theanine for quelling anxiety, so less research exists on this. A usual starting dose is 250 mg, and up to 1000mg/day. A supportive high potency multivitamin is once again a good idea, especially for zinc and vitamin E. Toxicity is very low; it leaves the body rapidly.

Pros: Easy to give in capsules, which are widely available; or, open capsules to mix with food or fluids. Easy to quickly see a result; usually within a two to three days, a child will show a response once the dose is correct.

Cons: Cost. Liquid carnosine is available for younger children, but more expensive. I prefer to suggest capsules for mixing in to liquids, as a budget measure.

Tip: Give in the morning or after school, rather than at bedtime, to observe effects on anxiety.

Top pick #5: Antifungal therapy How many hundreds of kids have I met with intestinal candidiasis, or other candida infections, that went unnoticed – from within ears and sinuses, to lungs and urinary tract? Reams of websites, books, and even some peer review exist on this conundrum that general pediatric practice has yet to appreciate. Harboring excessive Candida or fungal microbes disrupts behavior, appetite, stooling, mood, focus, and attention, in my clinical experience. If your child has a history of antibiotic use – even if only briefly – consider this possibility. The nearer your child’s antibiotic exposure to birth, the more likely s/he is to harbor Candida to a disruptive degree.

Treating a Candida infection with antifungal herb, medication, or high dose probiotics is another of my most favorite ways to see anxiety drop in a child. It often works. The stronger the antifungal tool, the faster it works. Using a low carb or low sugar diet will work slowly. Probiotics alone can work a little too slowly too. My preference, if a Candida overgrowth is confirmed, is to aggressively treat the child with medication (if the child’s MD will allow it) or potent antifungal herb tincture for 2-4 weeks at a minimum. I follow this with high potency mixed strain probiotic, to the tune of as much as 60-100 billion CFUs per dose, of mixed strains for Lactobacillus and Bifido species. This direct strategy may trigger die off of harbored yeast, which means a brief period of worsening behavior or anxiety; but it should pass within a week to yield a calmer, happier, and literally rosier child. My favorite over-the-counter herb tincture for this purpose is Gaia Flora Wellness drops. For knowledgeable professional input on the herb piece, contact herbalist Libby Rupp at Herbs For Autism, or speak with your naturopathic doctor.

Pros: When indicated, this measure works fast (within a week or two), and may also improve many other challenges your child is probably having: Picky appetite, constipation or diarrhea, bloating, gas, acne/rashes, bedwetting, or stool accidents.

Cons: May require a strong prescription like Diflucan from your doctor, if herbs and probiotics don’t do the trick. But, I have witnessed strong herb blends to work better than medication in some cases.

Tip: Though this doesn’t always happen, prepare for initial die-off reaction and some bumpy days. Ease the excretion of dying yeast from the body with Epsom salts baths. If your child uses a probiotic, give this a few hours away from the antifungal herb.

Find more tips and strategies in Special Needs Kids Go Pharm-Free. If your child has autism, find even more specifics on leveraging nutrition, diets, and supplements for autism spectrum disorders in Special Needs Kids Eat Right.

All rights reserved © 2011 Nutrition Care For Children LLC

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F & A with Anne Dachel, age of autism on special needs children go Pharm free

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Anne Dachel, Age of Autism

Anne Dachel is a contributing editor for Age of Autism and parent of a child affected by autism. I’m grateful for her daily news alerts on all things autism and her tireless effort to advocate for autism awareness. When I sent her a copy of Special Needs Kids Go Pharm-Free, she wrote back “..my copy is now in tatters, having been carried with me in my purse everywhere I went so whenever I got a spare moment, I could read it.” Here are her questions for me about the book.

Your book gives dire statistics right at the beginning about the state of the health of American children. What has happened to children in this country during the last 25 years? Two major changes happened in the 1990s in the US, making American children born since then extremely vulnerable: One, the FDA permitted, with no safety review, the introduction of genetically modified (GMO) foods – including soy and corn, which both go into infant formulas and most processed foods. Two, we upped the vaccine schedule dramatically for infants and children. Both have shown potential to injure the human immune system, brain, gut or other organs‘ development and function, from birth onward. We’re just beginning to understand how detrimental this is for triggering asthma, allergies, inflammation, seizure disorders, autism, or gut/brain injuries that may mean poor outcomes like Crohn’s disease, eosinophilic esophagitis, learning disabilities and conduct disorders – all of which have risen dramatically in children since 1990.

Synergistic effects of GMO foods in pregnancy, in utero, in infancy – plus all the vaccines now recommended – are entirely unknown. For example: The gene inserted into GMO soy makes soy produce its own insecticide. It was found in gut bacteria of human volunteers eating GMO soy – meaning, the gene transcribed to the bacteria in the gut, and “taught” the volunteers’ gut bacteria to make insecticide. I believe this may be why some children with autism and GI problems are so treatment resistant, when it comes to correcting their bowel microflora. Do they have genes operating in there that make antibiotics and probiotics less effective? Nobody knows.
GMO crops are banned in most European countries. The approach there in the ’90s was that no data existed to show these foods were safe, so it was an unacceptable risk. The US approach was the opposite:The FDA said there no proof this is unsafe, so they allowed these highly profitable crops into the food supply. These can trigger allergies more often than their naturally occuring counterparts; other findings of detrimental effects on animals eating GMO feed crops are very disconcerting, from increased miscarriages and organ failures to death. Consumers are just beginning to understand this issue. Eating food that’s genetically modified to produce its own pesticide is something we wouldn’t want to do if given the choice, but Americans were not given the choice. Interestingly, the UK is also a GMO friendly nation, and has an even a higher rate of autism than the US.

Why aren’t doctors expressing alarm over what they’re seeing? Doctors are at a disadvantage for two reasons. One, they don’t study nutrition to a meaningful degree, and have a limited exposure to it. They are inundated with pharmaceutical information during their education and in practice, at the expense of valid information about nutrition or special diets. So, they don’t know how to assess kids for nutrition problems beyond the most obvious, and they don’t know how to provide nutrition care.  This leaves children unscreened and untreated; doctors may not even know there is potential for treatment here.

Two, they have no accountability for the injuries that may be caused by vaccines, due to the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program set up in the 1980s and the recent Supreme Court ruling that vaccines are “unavoidably unsafe”. Doctors have zero liability and zero accountability for vaccine injuries. If a child is injured by a vaccine, the doctor never gets sued; they suffer no penalty whatsoever. If a nurse goofs and gives a baby the wrong vaccine at the wrong time, and an injury occurs, there is no recourse at all other than to file a government claim and wait. My own family waited nine years for my son’s case to reach the docket, only to have it thrown out. I think this – along with how lucrative it is to vaccinate children in a pediatric practice – has kept doctors easy for industry to manipulate. This also leaves physicians free of any accountability to treatments for the injured – if they are brainwashed that these injuries aren’t happening, then there is nothing to treat. This leaves families scurrying for help elsewhere.

Your book is about nutritional needs…  What’s wrong with what we’re feeding out children? Lots can go wrong with how we feed our kids, even with all our best intentions. But the book is not about what parents are doing wrong, or even what is wrong with food. It’s about strategies that restore a child’s normal appetite, normal curiosity for a variety of foods that are healthful, normal bowel habits, and specific tools to replenish and support brain function with food and nutrients, instead of drugs, where ever possible.

Aren’t agencies like the Food and Drug Administration supposed to be making sure all our food is good for us?  What do you mean when you say the FDA is “overwhelmed”? The FDA’s focus has historically been about bacterial contaminants in food, not chemical toxins. There is less of a focus on agricultural chemicals, dyes, preservatives, additives, heavy metals, toxins, or colorings in food. There is no focus at all for monitoring the healthfulness of food, and certainly none at all for monitoring what GMO food does to human beings – the FDA has made it clear it doesn’t care about this with recent industry-friendly steps. It’s an overwhelming task to chase whether the food supply is safe, even in the FDA’s simplest terms; when you have beef in a single hamburger coming from dozens of cows raised in different countries, or juice in one carton from oranges in four countries, that’s a lot of processing over many locations to monitor. That’s just two foods. Parents can be a lot more pro-active than waiting to hear what’s okay to eat from the FDA. Buy organic foods if you can afford them; support your local farmer’s market it you have one; or even grow a few things yourself. This year I am working with an outfit called PersonalFamilyFamers.com to help us grow more of our own food this year.

What are sources we can trust for information on safe and beneficial foods and supplements? The organic label is one help. It’s not perfect, but hopefully your grocer is honest and sourcing with integrity. I encourage buying organic, and that includes meat and eggs as well as produce. Organic foods are non-GMO foods at least in intent; pollen from GMO crops can drift into organic crops, but there is no knowing for sure right now if this is happening. Knowing your growers and grocers is another step, and this is catching on more and more around the US. Use this map to find what’s in your area in this regard. As for supplements, Special Needs Kids Go Pharm-Free devotes a chapter to picking reputable supplements. These can be just as fraught with contaminants, unwanted metals or chemicals, and toxins as food can be.

What do you consider that most critical changes that need to be made? The biggest need I see is waking up the medical community on this. I would love to train pediatricians on the role of nutrition in conditions like adhd, autism, learning disabilities, conduct disorders, and depression/anxiety in children, and the potential for helping these children, without prescription drugs.  Right now the pediatric community seems to be asleep at the wheel. A generation of children has slipped through their fingers, fallen victim to chronic disabilities and diseases, and they aren’t doing anything about it. I include a chapter in the book on working with other providers, if you’ve become too frustrated with your pediatrician.

How can nutritional changes reduce the need for prescription drugs? Nutrition impacts learning, sleep, cognition, mood, behavior, and development in children. Most kids I encounter are not eating diets that support those in a normal fashion, and/or, they have problems absorbing their diets that no one has ever assessed or treated. You can’t fix nutrition problems with psychotropic medications, reflux meds, inhalers, or steroids…. You have to identify, sort and prioritize the nutrition puzzle pieces. It’s not unusual for parents to tell me after we’ve had a few months with nutrition care process that their child no longer needs a medication, is using less of it, or has found a totally different one that works much better. We remove the confounding of nutrition problems from the whole picture.

How can school lunches be made healthier? The short answer is money. Schools need money to procure healthy whole foods and prepare them on site, rather than buy packaged food prepared elsewhere that is laden with additives, sugar, salt, trans-fats, and GMO ingredients. Boulder Valley School District is extremely lucky to have professional chef and whole foods advocate Anne Cooper – aka “Renegade Lunch Lady” – directing our Nutrition Services. She has made incredible progress in reducing processed and sugary foods in our school lunches, and bringing in as much organic and locally sourced food as the district can afford – which is a big accomplishment in Colorado, a state that is notoriously weak for funding for education. Ann is a strong national advocate for healthy school lunches – rightly so, since ample data illustrate how crucial nutrition is to better student outcomes.

What is “Splash”? This is a medical food made for children with intestinal inflammation, Crohn’s disease, or multiple food protein allergy. The protein source in it is ready to absorb, that is, it is made up of individual amino acids, rather than whole or partial protein molecules that require some digestion. I first used it for children with autism in my practice about 12 years ago. It was clear that in some cases, it made a dramatic difference. I wanted to know if replenishing the brain with the amino acids would help them progress. The formula is not made for this purpose; it is made to avoid allergic reaction, and to help the gut wall heal. But children with autism may not digest proteins very well; besides causing allergy for some of them, I wondered if this could leave their brains bereft of neurotransmitter ingredients, which we get from proteins in our diets. I noticed that kids in my caseload whom I placed on special diets and who added this formula progressed more for language and reduction of autism features than kids who didn’t add the Splash formula. There is great potential here. Caveats too; the formula has some ingredients that I don’t like; but I do think a subset of kids can do well with this tool or a similar approach, no matter what the developmental diagnosis is, if there are certain deficits in their diets or GI function.

Can you describe some examples of improvements you’ve personally witnessed in children that you’ve worked with? First, kudos to these parents, because they were the boots on the ground. I do the work teasing out the problems and crafting the care plans, but the most success happens when the parents roll up their sleeves and work it. I have seen children move far away from an autism diagnosis; from needing an aide to not needing one; from facing a feeding tube and missing school due to physical weakness, to gaining weight and playing, learning, living again. I’ve seen kids leave behind debilitating eczema or asthma symptoms, and reverse poor growth and gain, after being told they were going to be stunted for life and need growth hormone injections. I have witnessed a teen who was suicidal, nearly non-verbal, constantly bullied, and disengaged while on SSRIs turn into a happy, talkative, engaged, and successful youngster without medications – by successful I mean getting a varsity letter on a sports team when engaging in sports prior to nutrition care was out of the question; getting a job; and making frinds.

What do our children need that they’re not getting from doctors? We need our doctors to stop regarding children with diarrhea, constipation, shiners, bloated bellies, chronic illness, frequent infections, anxiety, insomnia, and developmental disabilities as healthy enough. I would like to see doctors recover their curiosity: Why did they become doctors in the first place? Hopefully it was to do more than hand out prescriptions for Prevacid, Adderall, Amoxicillin, Miralax, and Albuterol, after jabbing a young patient with multiple vaccines at once. This isn’t health care; this is drug-pushing. It may be common now, but it isn’t normal for children to live on polypharmacy. And, though I have a masters degree in public health, I do not believe children need all the vaccines they now get. We have forgotten the role of nutrition in infection. It needs to be re-engaged. I do think we are over-vaccinating infants and children, and that it is causing more harm than good in the US at this point. The polypharmacy-and-hypervaccination approach hasn’t helped our kids, who are more chronically ill and disabled than ever before. We can’t slip into this as a New Normal. In fact, in Vaccine Epidemic, that is the dilemma I wrote about in my chapter.

Are your protocols strictly for “special needs” kids? Nope! I tried to convince my publisher to title the book differently to reflect that, but they felt parents weren’t ready to hear that this affects everybody’s kids. I don’t agree. I sense every week how frustrated parents are with what is happening to their children, and how they feel so unheard and unhelped by the medical community. Maybe in my next book!

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The Rochester autism diet study: What wrong, what you should know

Growth data was not part of the study

You've probably seen often on a study of the University of Rochester refer the press to expose the claims that special diets of children with autism to help. This is one of these studies, which - hmmm, for some reason - really gets legs and is off and running. Well, it got under my skin, not only because the study (despite the researchers called it "the most controlled so far" on nutrition interventions for children with autism) poorly designed, but it turns out, I was born in the hospital, where it was done.

The most trabte-Out study in the US press on this issue, generated from the same halls, where I was born? This struck me as an interesting side by side.

I contacted Lenny Schafer, editor of the report autism Schafer on the University CF consider diet for autism effects of GF of Rochester attempt. I the light of day on the study wanted to actually throw flaws - so many, it was from the outset buried or defeat positive condemned to failure. The tragedy is that the meta message has become "Diet help children with autism do not" when it should be "can some help nutrition, but we are not sure the.", if we these kids problems screen is more energetic for nutrition and GI here that down went wrong run on what:

-This is too small a study, and confirm that it its authors.  It contained only 14 children in the test group.  On the other hand Dr. Andrew Wakefield got tour criticized as noticing an effect in only 12 children piece, in his original Lancet on autism and stomach intestine features.  We can't have it both ways: If see an effect, because you saw it only in 12 children, then it is also invalid say you saw no effect in only 14 children. The fact is that both findings deserve further study.

Children with autism who had gastric intestinal symptoms were excluded. This means that the very children who could benefit from a diet intervention intentionally omitted. Why? Susan Hyman MD confirmed again, this error: "The study are not children with significant stomach disease." "It is possible these children and other specific groups could see an advantage." In fact, a child who was found celiac disease have ruled out was as well-an obvious candidate for improvement on a GF diet. Another was excluded for iron deficiency. Thank God, these children were the first candidates. How else would her parents, that their children known serious problems, learn, growth, development and function of the immune system, treatable only with a diet affect intervention had have learned?

-Not is gluten and casein sources mentioned replaced by which protein. If allowed to soy, this will confuse progress that soy protein is the same opioid-like peptides in those who have painting digestion, and often is Antigen. Using it as a daily protein every advantage of the removal of gluten and casein will mask replacement (soy milk, soy yogurt, tofu, Edamame and other soy products).

-The study was to notice a significant effect on a short duration.  In fact, it positively noticed but it reached statistical significance. Would it be a more appropriate length attempt? Children with autism have two problems with food proteins (including gluten and casein) shown: one, they have an antigens in response. This can be a response in the form of allergy (IgE) or sensitivity (IgG). Two, they have poor digestion of these proteins and shows an enzyme deficit either, or an excess of poorly digested proteins in the urine peptides from food. In either scenario, it takes food usually several weeks for this aberrant reactions to reduce, and peptides are to be eliminated. A four-week trial is not sufficient to demonstrate significant change, and that's what parents usually in my practice reports.

-A weak pre trial diet review was that screened for iron status, level of vitamin D, and IgE food allergy wheat or dairy. There was no evaluation of BIRT diet, and there is no mention of standards such as body mass parameter index or growth. This means that we have no idea what these children nutrition diagnosis actually were if status of their diet improves, or if the GF CF diet for them was even hinted at.  Many nutritional Comorbidities are documented other vitamin and mineral deficiency, lack of essential fatty acids and Omega-3 fatty acids in children with autism, including low body-mass index, low ferritin (this will affect drop and functional ability, behavior, and sleep, before frank develop anemia), and so on.  We also don't know whether infections a problem for these children, have been a bit interfere with digestion, absorption and stooling.

-Although the authors "Blind" shoots food made, it is to think that food hide indeed - especially for children with autism may be a line. This rule children with very picky appetite and a fierce radar for ingredients and textures that you like or hate.

The study is mistaken in its very premise that we can test a single diet for the treatment of autism. Authors the study took then children with autism, to respond, tested the possibly least they were too short, and left in unknown of food allowed and other diet or GI problems. The design is similar to after the randomly select a group of children with autism, in a minimal developmental review, then they give all Abilify; then declare all psychiatric medications, no value for children with autism, if the Abilify clearly useful trend show not. Treat diet nutrition problems or metabolic disorders; When autism is often accompanied by them instead of the purely mental health condition, we call it what it is and do the work directly. We children can with autism for nutrition problems of the tests with low density, low sensitivity screen these authors used. Based on the hundreds of diet it is clear that this a population larger than typical diet is at risk reviews I have done on children with autism in the last ten years.  These problems leave, or they can all meet, the wrong take is unhandled message home guess a single nutrition strategy.

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What do dietitians, that pediatricians not?

These guys don't know anything about nutrition?

"Ask your pediatrician." This is the mantra, the women over and over to hear if we mothers become. You have questions on some baby or child, it has always "Ask your pediatrician".

Okay, here's a twist… Just ask not of the diet. It turns out that pediatricians know much more about the diet can perhaps the strongest driver of health and welfare - as you do your child. It is widely lamenting that nutrition in medical practices training to the edge is pushed. The teaching of nutrition in medical schools is at best fragmented [and] seems to be totally inadequate wrote the authors of the nutrition in Pediatrics (2008). A 2006 report study described efforts to examine medical students, to promote you. The solution in this report was touted a "ten hours workshop" (it was optional).  Comparison, my RD (registered dietitian) credentials required 900 diet specific hours rotations in hospitals, clinics, and health departments as well as a stricter undergraduate Health Sciences is what degree as an entry into medical school. On top of that, my diploma was two more years of food-specific training.

However, pediatricians must collect this knowledge somewhere, right? Well... An older study (1975) found that "the diet doctors haphazardly learn". Twenty years later, level a further study pediatricians over a c pegged (some as low as a D grade) know for infant feeding. What is 2010? I checked the pediatric residency curriculum requirements for the Harvard-affiliated size General Hospital for children, one of the world's top training programs for Pediatrics.

The word "Diet" is also on the side of not.

With deep trench around their site excavated I a page for the Pediatric Gastroenterology and nutrition Fellowship, an expertise, specialized doctors can track. But that's years of optional study and practice about what, even though it covers fundamental topics such as food allergies time-out errors a general practice physician gets. In fact, landscape is that it even have a so absent nutrition from our Pediatric health care, peculiar call me thrown by an adjustor claims for one of my patients. The call was as follows:

Insurance: "Hi, this is so and so insurance company call on your patient John Doe, age X."

Me: "Yes."

Insurance: "you are what?"

Me: "beg your pardon?"

Insurance: "are you the kind of provider?"

Me: "I am a licensed, registered dietitian."

Insurance: "so what is it?" What is the right to reparation for? "Is physical therapy?"

Oy vey.

Such as food - probably the single most important abzurufenden during the pregnancy, infancy and childhood - an elective in an obscure paediatric speciality is a completely different blog theme.  But it remains a long established fact that makes healthy eating during pregnancy and infancy the basis for learning for years to get growth, brain and body development and IQ. For all babies and children at any age, this sleep pattern, behavior, affect cognitive skills, attention, focus, and of course again. It is complex and each other State now saddle this generation of children entwined with every disease than ever before. From asthma to autism, food allergies, ADHD, short stature, obesity, diabetes, epilepsy, parents have a lot of nutrition questions, who can answer their pediatricians not these days.

Therefore registered dietitians are specialized in the health of children a resource I want to know. Here are a few examples of this, what do a registered dietitian for you, that a pediatrician know not how to do, not time have to do, or don't want to:

-Helfen collect and to fix a precise feeding on your child. What a child refuses food, likes to eat, or are all diagnostic information for Dietitians - notes, as is his appetite strong on lab tests or unnecessary specialist references you save time and money can.

-Separate problems that easily handles tools problems with nutrition, require the referral to an MD specialist.

-Tap expertise to breastfeed, dAZ feeding, specialized infant formulas, food allergy or intolerance in the infant or toddler feeding challenges.

–Identify they clinical signs and symptoms, the nutrition problems to show and tell you exactly how it with the right diet intervention fix.

-Erkennen you, whether your child the right amount of food is actually every day, growing as expected or not, or need more specific types of foods or nutrients.

-Help you choose effective additions and decide whether they should use your child.

-Strategize with you to recipes, lunch, snacks and meals, that to work for your household.

Connect you with special diet resources and practical aspects of all kinds of ketogenic diets for seizure control diet for several food allergies (such as GF CF diet or diets that also omit, egg, nuts or soy) with strategies, to either grow and more weight gain, or lose weight, which are safe and effective for children.

It is a question, when not if diet is expertise infiltrate our Pediatric health care system. Parents need, locate, and are very happy when they see their children thrive, as soon as it is used. If your pediatrician questions not your diet, find more knowledge by their State dietetic Association that experts in pediatric nutrition can refer you to a nutritionist. You may find also help by naturopathic doctors, typically to do the study more nutrition in their training as MDs. When working with a non-medical practitioner, check long experience working with infants and young children. Or start with my books:

Special needs kids eat right: strategies for children on the autism spectrum focus, learn and thrive

Special need kids Pharm Free go: nutrition tools to meds minimize and maximize health and good will.

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Snack ideas for kids with food allergies

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Dairy-free chocolate pudding. Sometimes you just need pudding.

I recently saw this: "25 healthy snacks for kids" from the American Dietetic Association (ADA). Not to be all sour grapes about it, but this seemed a tad out of touch. Millions of U.S. children suffer from food allergies, skyrocketed in the two decades last which have. Every item on the ADA kid snack list has wheat, gluten, dairy, peanut, or other nuts in it.

None of the kids in my practice can eat those snacks. Some have nut allergies ranging from life threatening (as in, even proximity to nuts may trigger hives or breathing problems) to annoying (stomach pain); others have gluten sensitivity, celiac, or allergies to myriad foods, from corn and soy to dairy and sesame seeds. Needless to say, this lawyer from the ADA won't do much for them.

Part of my job is coming up with what kids can eat, and helping families transition to new options. It's a challenge when a child has many disallowed foods at once. In my practice, I work to keep as many foods as possible in a child's rotation. I also use good health supports liberally, which may help a child tolerate more foods eventually, either without ill effects or with much-reduced ill effects. I pick probiotics that best suit a child's situation (there are dozens of brands, blends, potencies, and strains to choose from), liposomal glutathione or glutathione boosters (a healthy intestinal wall is rich in glutathione, a powerful antioxidant; while on inflamed well can be depleted of glutathione), and supplemental, non-anti-inflammatory protein sources as medical foods. All these tools enhance well wall tissue repair. But kids still need to eat. So, in that spirit, here are some snack suggestions for kids with food allergies:

1. Hummus (chick pea, lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, salt, add tahini if sesame is tolerated) to dip into crisp with bell pepper strips or cucumbers, rice crackers, celery, carrot, or. Add extra olive oil for kids needing to boost calories from healthy fats/oils. Allow corn chips if tolerated too.

2. Other non-dairy dips: Babaganoush (baked eggplant dip, similar ingredients as above; available pre-made like hummus for busier families), white bean dip with crumbled bacon (recipe in special needs kids eat right), healthy refried beans with minced olives and scallions. Use for dipping or roll in soft corn tortilla or soft rice flour tortilla.

3. This can be a meal, snack, or dessert: free crêpes gluten with cooked fruit fillings, or savory vegetable fillings, or scrambled egg and Daiya cheese with salsa. Gluten free crêpes of are easy to make as long as your child tolerates eggs. A hand blender tool makes this simple job. The gluten-free Italian CookBook by Mary Capone is my favorite source for this recipe - and many others! If you have time to peel and saute apple slices with ghee (clarified, casein free butter), cinnamon, ginger, and a little sugar, fill crêpes of with this for a delightful special treat. If not, look for high quality, canned fruit, juice pack organic if possible. heat gently, spice to taste, and fill crêpes. Savory items that kids often like in crêpes are breakfast sausage (minced) with cheese (see Daiya cheese substitute above; goat milk cheese or try, which many children tolerate over cow's milk varieties); (zucchini sautéed with onion, tomato, oregano).

4. Stir honey, vanilla flavored so delicious coconut yogurt, and a spoonful of tahini together to a smooth consistency for dipping.  If needed, thin with apple juice or mango juice blend. Add a dash of cinnamon or nutmeg. Dip in apple or pear slices, or let your child dip pineapple or banana chunks on toothpicks into the dressing.

5. Guacamole and gluten free bread for dipping. Bakeries like UDI's, Rudi's, and outside-the-bread-box are just a few among newly emerging ones specializing in gluten-free sandwich breads, bagels and pita breads. A panini press can help kids transition to GF sandwich bread. Make their regular favorites into panini's, and they may like the new key. Spray bread lightly with olive oil, stack with your child's favorites and press.

6. Gluten free oats make the same as regular delicious oatmeal cookies oats. Use a gluten free flour blend, hemp or rice milk, and Earth balance margarine for kids with dairy and nut sensitivities. Add raisins, dates, sunflower seeds, or even dark chocolate chips.

7. Soft corn tortillas and fill with leftover baked chicken, minced and heated in garlic, olive oil, and lime juice. Add a dash of sugar if you like.

8. Pick up some fresh vegetable sushi from your local grocer. Many supermarkets now make their own. Avocado, carrot, cucumber or cooked crab roll are often kid favorites. Use wheat free tamari instead of the pouch of soy sauce that comes with it (this will contain wheat).

9. Power shake: fresh or canned, teaspoon Pharmax finest pure fish oil or cod liver oil (orange flavor), local organic egg organic peaches a (drop it in raw, from a source you know and trust), ripe cantaloupe melon chunks, 2 ounces so delicious coconut milk or whole (canned) coconut milk.

10. Power shake 2: half a ripe avocado, 2 scoops so delicious chocolate ice cream (coconut based, dairy and soy free), vanilla almond milk 4 oz (hemp, coconut, or rice milk if necessary), 1 / 2 scoop ultra care for kids powder (rice-based medical food for kids), dash gluten free vanilla. If you're willing to make it a mocha, add 2 oz black decaf coffee.

11. Blend 1 tablespoon Barlean's Omega swirl with 1 teaspoon coconut oil and 1 / 4 cup apple, orange, or pineapple juice. Toss over berries, cantaloupe, banana with shredded coconut, sunflower or sesame seeds, and chopped cage.

12. Free toaster, waffle (like Van's) gluten spread with sesame tahini, or almond butter if tolerated, and jam. Make it a sandwich and add banana slices in there too.

13. Gluten free quick bread, like the pumpkin bread recipe in special needs kids eat right, can be baked in 1-inch muffin ink for packing into lunch boxes. Corn bread, chocolate zucchini bread, or berry-filled muffins are other ways to sneak in calories, ground flax seed, or gluten free oats for added fiber.

14. A more allergy friendly trail mix: dark (dairy free) chocolate chips, sunflower seeds, chopped dates, coconut shreds, dried pineapple, dried mango, raisins

15. Rice Crispie bars made with whole grain brown rice cereal. A good recipe for this can be found in the whole life nutrition Cookbook, along with many other health promoting and delicious recipes that are free of gluten, dairy, and egg.

16. Last but not least: sometimes pudding is just right. Rebecca Reilly's almost gluten free baking has a chocolate pudding recipe for kids who can manage soy but not dairy. It uses soft tofu, honey, fruit syrup and cocoa powder. See the silk pie recipe on page 143, and just pour the pie filling into pudding cups, chill and serve with fresh raspberry on top.

17. Visit two of my favorite recipe blogs for kids (or anyone) with food allergy and sensitivity: renegade kitchen and food sensitivity journal. Both of these were created by professionals - one a chef, the other on attorney - themselves with food allergy, and both offer inspiring strategies for eating well.

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Is toxicity overwhelming our children? Make sure eat and are additions help, not hurt

This is my kitchen. Here, all toxins lurk?

In practice of my pediatric nutrition mothers often questions: the extra money on organic food it is worth and spend more expensive complements brands? My opinion is Yes. I testify often children react to different foods and supplements, cheaper brands versus brands of supplements with stricter standards of purity, to more whole foods-processed.

CNN reported on a study Pediatrics of children published in the journal with ADHD: they found that children with ADHD were twice as common in higher common pesticides than children have not ADHD.  In other words, pesticides can often be used on fruits and vegetables help ADHD prevalence in the United States. Are enough trigger ADHD in a child chronic, small pesticide exposure? Meanwhile, like all parents, the success with a diet seen Feingold has white food dyes, and preservatives of any kind have long has been suspected of triggering hyperactivity or other problems in children - see this list of 9 additives in particular, which were linked to ADHD.

This is one reason why I encourage families, organic foods if possible, to buy, although they more costs. Buying locally by one trusted breeder is even better - because you actually visit or talk to you, that breeders want to you to determine whether their methods with ecological guidelines are, can. Another reason is because - back in 1988, when I was in graduate school - I was wondering: organic foods have better nutrient profiles? It turns out that they often do. Grain crops raised organic may be better amino acid profiles which means that if they have less total protein as a conventional enhanced version, the protein is of quality and nahrhafter better. Fruit plants show more vitamin C and antioxidants when organically raised.

Next, which are on the list the much talked about toxins heavy metals such as lead, mercury, arsenic, or hexavalent chromium. They are ubiquitous in our environment. Many foods that we eat to the fish of high fructose corn syrup, point out mercury. A study found that a portion of high fructose corn syrup one half micrograms of mercury (0.5 microgram contained), and a possible daily intake of mercury from food about 28 micrograms for Americans an estimated. Children and teens can more than 7 tablespoons high fructose corn syrup every day, non-alcoholic beverages, spices, processed foods, candy and chewable supplement food. This can mean daily, syrup a mercury exposure of about 10 micrograms of high fructose corn.

A flu shot contains about 25 micrograms compared mercury; and we recommend the EPA guidelines exposure to mercury to 0.1 micrograms per kilogram body weight per day limit. For children 60 pounds the encounter with less than 3 micrograms mercury per day means. For a pregnant woman, this can mean not exceeding 5 micrograms of mercury exposure daily. We have not even source - talked about coal-burning power plants - an other mercury and it's easy to see how easy it is, exposure to mercury exceeding what we eat, limited depending.

The CDC have recently and had American Academy of Pediatrics renewed interest in lead screening for children. Over the years the level of lead in the blood as acceptable agencies always again dropped means that there is no safe level of exposure to this neurotoxin, second only to mercury on the list of heavy metals with potential for neurotoxic effects. Lead is a common contaminant in supplements. This is a huge concern for children, the poor of iron status, because these children will absorb more lead than children in healthy iron status. These metals compete for absorption and lead is readily taken by the body instead of iron, if iron is not properly in cells and tissues that need it. Claims can affect lead at an early stage permanently IQ and learning skills.

What is with arsenic? Of chickens and eggs to playground equipment, arsenic was found in places that are our children and food that they eat. It can also together with residues of pesticide and a form of chromium hexavalent chromium or CR-6 briefly called additions litter. Chromium in its "trivalent" form is essential for the people - without it, can we not blood glucose usually rules. But in hexavalent form, it is highly toxic and known carcinogen, has seen the movie Erin than who. A consumer Labs some supplements review hexavalent chromium impurities.

Just like the food industry, the supplement industry, a challenge for the FDA is so strictly as parents want to appropriate to monitor, and may be no purity guidelines. It often falls on the manufacturer, to strong standards for purity and effectiveness of product self impose. But you have the ultimate power in your wallet. You buy only what you feel is best for your family health and welfare. In addition, compare manufacturer purity standards. If you are not sure, questions for details of the manufacturer. If you are not satisfied, you move on. In special children must go Pharm free, I devote a chapter on "Knowledge, before you buy" families help to understand the differences in purity standards for additions. Now that I'm done giving the bad news, here on the good news what you can do:

1 Do know your farmers. Eat your budget if possible given organic and locally sourced meat, eggs, dairy products, fruit and vegetables. Check LocalHarvest.org for an organic grower in your area.

2 Grow a garden this year. With the you start planning now for your kitchen garden, whether it herbs on your window sill, cherry tomatoes in the patio crocks or more in a small patch on the Court. Simple pole are beans, peppers, carrots and herbs lettuce for beginners.  Know exactly what you eat!

3 For the purchase of additions, you demand the best. Compare purity standards, which vary based on one manufacturer's commitment to quality. For example, mercury should fish oils strictly free; Calcium supplements should be consistently investigated for lead and other contaminants; Probiotics should guarantee power; All supplements should be free of pesticides contamination and fillers with no function.

4 And, just because an is more expensive, there can be no better. Ask the vendor what toxins it their products for, and how screen. Transparency is the key - if this is you are proprietary said it recommended, choose another product.

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Wakefield has company

There is a vaccine autism link? Is Andy Wakefield a crazy person? The gap, which I see as a professional diet for 12 years has worked with children with autism, which check willingness, our minds to studies, the Wakefield confirm work to open. I am tired of the literature search about to do, and these links (below) again - those dishing out the media as handy ignore. Their pediatrician probably don't know that Wakefield not alone. I call doctors out there to pause, breathe, read the studies, and wonder. You think over: what, if he is right?

I realize that most doctors, parents, journalists and bloggers who scream about which a fraud of Dr. Wakefield is more voyeurs on the controversy are autism than anything else. In most cases she see not many patients with autism, treat them not for about prescription Miralax or Abilify, or are not educate children with autism itself. Or perhaps should I say, see their poop their growth of charts, endoscopy, reports, stool cultures or food intake does not. She see these kids are as physically sick, do not close and stinky. They changed how many autism have diapers? You know, those who with the explosive gold lumpy liquid, which increases until the infant of neck and trickles down to the knees, six or eight times a day? Like many toilets have unclogged or replaced after one too many huge, it filled stone hard stools? Like many have colons disabled it in children with autism? Like many thrive children with autism have they worked with, to restore normal nutrition status and good health? This is what I by'm mucking at work on a regular basis as I provide diet. A child's history, parent interview, or a child pants directly to my Office. Asks I want to see it, MOM? Why, yes I do, I always answer. And I would like it to culture. So go we that stool sample collect right then and there. Let us do something about it.

Let us do something about the myths relentlessly repeatedly now of measles and Andrew Wakefield.

On the one hand, there are less, and no longer, children have measles in the UK, as Andrew Wakefield expressed his concern for the combined MMR vaccine. Find cases under this analysis for data on measles before and after Wakefield.

And no, your child is not certain that you die when he is in very low status of vitamin A on measles if, however, not been, iron, protein and body mass index. This nutrition parameters are strong predictors of how children in particular manage most every infectious diseases and measles. You are so strong, in fact, that protocols for the use of vitamin A to prevent and treat long endure measles for UNICEF and the World Health Organization. A child in strong nutrition status takes usually through measles quickly with no ill sustainably, and permanently has immunity. This means never to catch not children or die of measles. It means that a highly durable routine measles disease, healthy, nourished children mostly is over in the pre-vaccine era - as my brothers and sisters who passed immunity to me.

Thirdly, I would also (moaning, again) point out, the Wakefield was infamous Lancet original article of a case series. This means, have not tested it a hypothesis that MMR causes autism, yet it wanted to. It not this at all, state how the media relentlessly hypes. I wonder, how many MDs have actually read the original article, or published the results of even know. That is tragic that the news of this original RS series in the sensationalist media has long lost cacophony. Again, think: what, if he is right? Pharmaceuticals, CDC, FDA, AAP, ACIP, UK GMC and NIH would get up and say: "Oops." "Sorry." Due the United States in even greater financial default would go, would, the hundreds of thousands of injured families the billion numbers it?

These are whopping powerful, profitable company. If there are problems with bundled vaccines such as MMR, what a neat solution if Wakefield is in fact a monster and a fraud. But I don't think that he after reviewing food intake, GI SX, growth patterns, medical stories and developmental stories to hundreds of children with autism.

Enough complaining. I am always asked, here are some quotes for the uninitiated. Wakefield has company. Can all these magazines and authors incorrectly as also be? Here, one that I can link with is not, because it has disappeared from PubMed (hmmm it it was two days ago), so here the full citation is:

Sheils O, P, C, O'Leary JJ Martin Smyth. Development of "allelic discrimination" type tests to distinguish the load on origin of measles virus in the intestinal tissue of children with Ileocolonic Lymphonodular hyperplasia and accompanying developmental disorder recognized. J Pathol 2002; 198 (Suppl): 5a.

Wakefield company contains other researchers and other vaccines beyond the MMR. For example, hepatitis B vaccine at birth, it was found that risk for autism in this retrospective study http://bit.ly/rKeth a scary vindication for a book of Triple I in 2002 when your physician is incorrectly released: hepatitis B vaccine and autism.

This one shows a "hyper-immune" response to MMR in children with autism: http://bit.ly/fXmchZ

Oh okay, I'll keep Going…Here diagram is seeking ileum 2010 you or colonic Lymphonodular hyperplasia in 73% of patients with autism http://bit.ly/cr0HAL and this one saw a strong connection between MMR vaccination and CNS Autoimmunity in children with autism http://bit.ly/eTH7Vg and this one documented intestinal permeability ("leaky gut") occurring 7 x more often in patients with autism compared to controls http://Bit.LY/aYirdO...Here is a page with more than twenty quotes and analysis collected in one place for MMR Autism: http://www.jabs.org.uk/pages/thrower.asp

Okay I'll stop. There are more, you can keep going down this rabbit hole if you want to. For Wakefield has many companies.

Finally, we hear most never much about this study, perhaps all dissuasive. It is the only date on which the schedule immunization reviews as it is given to human babies - something that the FDA never someone to do, so that our children dozens of vaccines in a short time given are required, as many as twelve or fifteen in one day, seen as I have on my patients vaccine records. It was a prospective case controlled study with primates, the next animal model for the people that we can use. Do you know the result? See there and wines, for our children. They are not victims of Wakefield. They are victims of ignorance and greed. We owe them more research, solutions for the development of the nervous system disorders and autism suffering they now in unprecedented numbers and truth.

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That is why we need vaccine epidemic-Louise Habakus & Mary Holland, editors

Judy converse adds a chapter in vaccine epidemic.

When Louise Habakus first choice in Chicago speak at the rally may 2010 for vaccine asked me, I crawled. I'm no art "stands with a fist in the air". I'm comfortable in the spot light. I would rather quietly doing my job working one on one with families, building effective nutrition-oriented care for their children. Or write books - another task I had never planned to do, but had with Penguin/perigee happy to taken.  None of this work pays, if at all. It is difficult, and isolate.  Speaking at rallies is to like that, except not paid, the possibility, people you make crazy a lot. This was noise I don't need, after years of endearing me not exactly the teachers and school officials as an advocate for my son, is top misfit in the mommy social circus, subject to entry in mutual withdrawal with think in-laws and annoying, how many pediatricians knows to make vaccine safety issues through the support of my customers.  Louise's request hit a kind of a turning point in my already overwhelmingly stressful life (unemployed spouse, no health insurance, child with some special needs). I also had already my toes in the vaccine safety advocacy pond years before 1999 dipped when I spoke before Congress Subcommittee review hepatitis B vaccine.

I have this alone. I paid my own fare. I received nothing in return but renewed fear - because it means painful, unresolved trauma for my own family in the most public forums told. I said my piece, which is now located on YouTube - an unthinkable feat of technology at the time. I've never watched it. I left the hearings alone, boarded my plane and the lights of twinkle to the East coast of the United States against the black Atlantic saw how I went back to Providence, feeling a mixture of anger and grief, that my son lives now became part of the Congressional record. It felt good. Although I before my legislature again witnessed in 2001 on this subject, I do not it then either enjoy. Why should I vote again in another public forum?

But Louise was persistent. And professional. And then the persevering without annoying or elaborate. Where is all this energy?  You reminds me of the energy from wood in the Chinese five element system: push, flourishing, grow, strongly; somehow mercilessly renewed and refueled. Vaccine peddlers and CDC golden boys like Paul Offit and Seth Mnookin have not a snowball's chance in hell around them.  Add their co-author Mary Holland - who is really the yin, Yang, Lui, and every bit as brilliant - and there I found a huge team had done a clear, quiet, unwavering determination of this rally.

After the rally, epidemic to speakers went requirements for chapter for vaccine. I understand, that this be a book like no other. And I still crawled. I thought long ago that if parents on vaccine to ensure security, they have enough resources to do so now available for me in 1996, are not born to be my son was. Access to information on vaccine choice then was limited to say the least. With a master's degree in health care I knew anything at all about vaccine injuries to delay death or the right. Now that this information is a click or two away, what can I do, because parents decided all vaccines are safe and effective, that believe all the time? Why did we need another book?

I found out when I get my copy of this week. I was enthusiastic. We need this book. I have this problem for fourteen years posted. I watched helplessly as most of the life of my son shook vaccines. I have read countless books and articles, spoke with hundreds of parents and many doctors and scientists, and struggling to do my best, to the lasting effects of the vaccine injury for my child and hundreds of others to intervene.  I have to this block. And I say that this really is a book like no other; never before, the American public has been ready as it for you. Its chill sound sets the naked truth at the foot, from several perspectives: vaccines are possibly caused more harm than good for our country now, because it is profitable. Vaccines are such as oil, coal, or any other lucrative goods. You make spout unthinkable, colossal sums of money, on universities, public office, individuals (Paul Offit, for one), shareholders and businesses. The stakes are astronomically high. The health and well being of your baby is no longer at the top of the list of priorities for vaccine manufacturers. He believe you think that it is, is.

Buy epidemic of vaccine. I get a penny for this, none of the members, do. We all have our work pro-bono. I hope you like my own books to naturally do if your child has already a condition as Autism, asthma, epilepsy, short stature, a feeding tube, esophagitis, Eosinophilic, and so on. My books give evidence-based nutrition strategies for the children, tools, that people like Paul Offit never studied and do not understand. But in the meantime you may save to choose the torment of this conditions by exercising your right more child how, or if you vaccinate vaccine read epidemic,.

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Breastfeeding, or vaccines: To you, would you choose?

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Showing some muscle for breastfeeding

Remember when Sarah Palin declared October 2007 “Breastfeeding Awareness Month”? I didn’t either. I haven’t thought about breast-feeding too much in a long while, but Michelle Obama’s efforts to support it got me thinking on it again. How could anyone possibly have anything bad to say about it?

My own son is 14 now, and our nursing days were much shorter than I’d hoped. I only lasted six months, after struggling to nurse him on a deeply restricted diet that left me depleted and exhausted. He had multiple food protein sensitivities, and was a slow, weak suckler with poor oral tone, taking hours daily at my breast to get little sustenance. I actually sat on my couch for nine hours daily, with him sipping tepidly. Then there was night time. Yes, we had a lactation consultant; no, it didn’t help. I didn’t relish sitting on my couch all day month after month, and he wasn’t exactly thriving for all this effort. Neither of us was too happy, or feeling too well. I pumped milk to keep an adequate supply and froze the surplus, hoping to get it in him somehow later. But he sniffed at the frozen-then-thawed milk, and refused it. The sad day came when I tearfully filled two large black plastic garbage bags with 4 ounce vials of my frozen milk, and threw it all away.

As a public health nutritionist, former WIC counselor, and registered dietitian, there was more than the usual burden of shame and failure in this for me. I had been whipped into shape on breastfeeding by not one but two of my graduate advisors, both fierce advocates and published scientists for it. There isn’t much I can say about breast-feeding that isn’t already well said. The evidence is broad, strong, and consistent. Breast-feeding saves lives and reduces infections; it diminishes the likelihood of obesity, cancers, and diabetes in children later on. The list of diseases against which breast milk offers protection is long. Its amazing capacity to transfer immunity against Haemophilus influenza meningitis (aka “Hib” on the vaccine schedule) measles, and even diphtheria has been widely published. La Leche Leauge International’s website notes its protective effects against ear and respiratory infections, pneumonia, allergies, urinary tract infections, and even SIDS, the third leading cause of death in infants.  Breastfeeding saves money too: Pediatrics released a study earlier this year that calculated a thirteen billion dollar annual savings, if 90% of US mothers would comply with breastfeeding to age six months.

Besides protecting against diseases for which you carry immunity, your breast milk allows colonies of beneficial microflora to take root in your baby’s gut. These reduce odds for allergies and asthma later in life. Formula does a lesser job at this, and encourages less optimal microbial species. Formula manufacturers will do what they can to mimic a first food for our babies, but they simply will never get it right: Human milk has thousands of distinct components that support the immune system in some way, including antibodies, lactoferrin, and dozens of different prebiotic oligosaccharides – that is, carbohydrates specific to beneficial microbes in the baby’s gut. According to a 2007 UNICEF report, breastfeeding is the number one reason why child mortality has dropped worldwide…followed by vitamin A supplementation, and mosquito netting (Bill Gates, are you listening? The top three lifesavers for children worldwide do not include vaccines.).

With breast milk so successful at preventing death and disease in infants and toddlers, and at preventing long term health disasters that are incredibly costly burdens to society, why is so little said to moms about it, when it comes to that moment of meeting your newborn? Why are hospitals still putting formula samples in the newborn bassinette? Why not have a milk bank instead – expensive, but perhaps the benefits would outweigh the health care costs prevented. Lactation support staff is a great step, but with moms leaving the hospital in less than 72 hours after giving birth, little time is allowed to settle into a successful routine for anyone but the most motivated, or the easiest nursers – which my son was not.

I’m puzzled by the often neutral attitude many pediatricians have toward breastfeeding, compared to the, um, foaming-at-the-mouth attitude they have for vaccinating. Given the facts on safety and efficacy of breastfeeding versus vaccines, you might think it would be the other way around. Vaccines fail frequently (that is, kids who are vaccinated still get diseases they’re vaccinated against), and they injure often (the government has paid claims for injuries and deaths caused by vaccines). Breastfeeding does neither.  Over 80% of parents today have expressed worries for the safety of vaccines, which pediatricians push with a heavy hand. We all want our babies to avoid infections and build healthy immunity; why not push breastfeeding with the same urgency as vaccines? Pediatrics says it would save money; UNICEF shows it saves lives. Instead of kicking parents out of their practices, pediatricians can support families deferring or delaying shots by informing on alternate strategies to prevent infection – like breastfeeding, or naturopathic measures to control infection and boost immune function for babies (see Special Needs Kids Go Pharm-Free for more ideas in that regard).

Imagine if as much pressure was placed on moms to breast feed, as there is on moms to vaccinate their babies in the first six months. Imagine if we had a cohort of exclusively breast-fed, unvaccinated infants followed to age five years, versus a cohort of babies who were vaccinated and exclusively breastfed. For good measure, let’s throw in a cohort of babies who were formula fed and vaccinated on schedule. To my knowledge, these data haven’t been collected and reviewed (though there are populations available to study).

Twist: We have now got the added dilemma of weak, false or transient immunity in women of child bearing age, women born since 1980; these are women who were brought up on many more vaccines than the generation before them. They have not had many of the natural infections I had as a kid, or my mother had; this means that their breast milk may not be the immune powerhouse that my own mother’s was in 1960, after she passed through the usual childhood infections of measles, chickenpox, even scarlet fever (she is alive and well at 84, and never gets flu shots – or flu). Natural infections strengthen and invigorate the immune system, but as a species, have we weakened this to an extreme by vaccinating so often, and so early?

Meanwhile, perhaps our health care system can step in with strategies to overcome the obstacles to breastfeeding. For me, this would have meant access to a milk bank, so I could have continued giving breast milk to my son. I also needed help with restoring my own health and nutrition, after a pregnancy that started for twins but yielded only one live birth (I grew for two, but only delivered one).  If I could have slept, re-nourished and replenished myself, and gotten breaks, my baby’s health and my health could both have soared. The missing piece was support from my health care providers: My pediatrician told me to give up after just two weeks of nursing my son, and actually snickered at my insistence that we keep trying.

Obesity, diabetes, allergies, ear infections, meningitis, pneumonia, and flu are high on the radar for your pediatrician. Breast feeding is the very first thing, and perhaps the best thing, we can do to prevent these for our children. I would have gladly donated my surplus milk to a milk bank, and would have welcomed a tax deduction for it too. It’s a convenient sound byte to call supports like this “nanny state”, but that is all it is – a clever sound byte. We have a great resource in mom’s milk, and I hope pediatricians will crack their texts anew to learn why breastfeeding is so important. Hey, I still have two vials of that milk in the freezer. I wonder if it has chicken pox antibodies?

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Eosinophilic Esophagitis, and play dough cakes

No thanks.

A parent in my case load recently told me that her child - in addition to get had given a diagnosis of autism - only a diagnosis esophagitis, Eosinophilic or "Ee". Both codes are common in children in my case load, and they are together often.  So, it has surprised me to hear that from this parent. The part that surprised me was the play dough birthday cake.

EE means many food proteins to intolerable, and may not be eaten. Apparently this had on this particular family given gloomy Outlook as feed this child in the context of EE, that, if birthday time they actually get rolled, a post on the Web to make a prop birthday cake from salt dough found. Candles were real, cake was fake - only a prop with set. The cake was not be eaten, saw, and used as a vehicle for birthday candles. Apparently had no one said this family, which could actually eat the child.

One of the best things about my job is hearing anecdotes as follows. They are tragic, ridiculous and fascinating at a time.

It is tragic that EE is now such a common ailment for young children, the specialists, mothers groups and list is used only for discussion abound. For now I'll skip evaluation and analysis of why arose among this generation - EE (much less autism), a completely different blog. It is also tragic that when a doctor finds this in a child, not on a professional teach referral, how you give this baby food, location, this family that needs it, to growth, gain, learning and development to support. Including birthday cakes. I hear that too often.

The ridiculous part: A play dough birthday cake? Is it for the child support? Or is it a pillar of the complete parents torment and guilt? Perhaps this is the tragic part. Imagine what thought the child.

Fascinating part: I get to fix the problem. It falls on me to come up with the safe, delicious cake recipe, the right total calories for this child, the safe proteins, etc.. I like that part.

EE is a long fancy name for too many white blood cells in the walls of the throat tissue. White blood cells show, if they think it is a job to do, such as fighting an infection. But in EE, the culprit is often allergy, not infection, so that the white blood cells to keep emerging reason. Finally, you can damage the throat (esophagus). The eosinophils (white blood cells) are much like those to make the infections in kids with inflammatory diseases such as asthma, rashes or chronic sinus.

EE is painful. It often occurs with reflux, which exacerbated the EE and pain. This is the non-verbal especially for children, because they do not say, if they are pain difficult. You affect generally; It is their only way to communicate pain and frustration. These are the kids in my practice who take food away from family members, because they don't want their siblings or parents to pain. You think food causes pain for anyone who is pain with food only part of life. I met children who take pain only to itself, with self-injurious behavior. Tragic part: to see medicines for "Behavior" rather than screened and treated for a painful State of GI.

The good news is that you confusing must be a child with EE toy props instead of food. Here's what you can do:

-Verwenden elemental protein sources.  These are the specialized formulas, which come in different formats: ready to drink in a juice box and straw, which can bring your child to school or Pack to travel; powdered, mixed how to do for infant formula. or modular - amino acids powdered that is just pure (these replace food protein), which can be combined in everything from spaghetti sauce or applesauce smoothies or sauce. Brand names are Elecare, Neocate child, Neocate junior, or splash EO28. These are covered by insurance for EE in some States.

-Erhalten you (IgE) food allergy and food sensitivity (IgG) screening. These screenings to describe two different ways that the immune system to food can be responds. Prioritizing you the worst offenders by removing them, turn the rest. Remove all food protein is an extreme measure, which is usually unnecessary and not successfully, even in children with multiple allergies and sensitivities.

-Treat each intestinal fungal (yeast or Candida) infections. Candida species may decrease reflux, interfere with normal digestion and absorption and painful constipation if allowed, bloom at the expense of the beneficial bacteria in the human intestine.

-Do not worry about a gluten sensitivity or allergy diagnostic, or tell me, you can make it. Can it, or can you in the hospital with your child. If your child can not eat wheat, there are still many ways to make a birthday cake! You get to the know many options for gluten free baking: mix, books and recipes are Koch everywhere. No more excuses! Cake gluten free birthday cakes are made from a wheat flour, if correct. Eggs can be replaced with non-protein egg substitute.

-If your child has used antibiotics often, again to populate healthy gut bacteria with probiotics. Use powers of at least 8 billion colony forming units (CFU) per dose, with mixes containing Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium strains. Check special children must go Pharm free for more details on the use of probiotics in infants and children.

-Extreme and heavy EE cases can on an elementary formula diet, be inserted, which can rest, the GI tract to heal and restore, getting the food that you need. To do this, with close medical supervision and have to eat a plan for the transition within a few months back. Monitor Gut microflora and keep healthy it, as elemental formula can move the colonies of microbes in the gut to less favourable species. Insist on referral to a knowledgeable Pediatric dietitians to help you.

Here are some of my favorite resources with EE for children. You have not to play, fake cake dough.

Gluten free girl (uh, note the "Cake" button)

Mary Capone, celiac head (Italian dishes a speciality)

Gluten and peanut free summer camps

Neocate junior elemental formula for children over 1 year old (link from here to infants options to). This can be bought over the counter or prescribed. It is widely available on sites like Amazon, e-Bay or NexTag; Vouchers are often to reduce the cost for Neocate. Some States can cover this formula on insurance with a diagnosis of EE.

Options to replace eggs in recipes

State by State insurance mandates for specialized formulas (hereditary)

States with mandated insurance coverage for specialized formulas for EE

Essential amino acid mix drinks a powder, the additional soft foods or can be thick as a secure source of protein. This requires approval, a registered dietitian or doctor, and can be covered on insurance in some States

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Three steps, a fussy appetite bust

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A picky eater favorite: Pasta and butter

This may be the one question I’m asked most often: How can I change my child’s appetite? Picky appetites in kids are common, but not necessarily normal or healthy. If your child has been eating fewer than ten foods for more than a year, something is amiss. Your child is probably not getting all the nutrients needed for optimal growth, learning, mood, and functioning. While a whole industry has evolved around foods just for that limited kid palate, consider what is done in other countries with healthier populations: There is no kid food. There’s just food.

That was the US, not all that long ago. Other than breakfast cereals, which were just getting steam as marketing vehicles for kids when I was growing up, we just ate food. Nobody blinked. It wasn’t because my mom was a particularly fearsome presence at the dinner table, demanding compliance. We liked the food. So we ate it, pretty much.

But times have changed. I know of many kids who are legendary-picky  – kids who eat only noodles or pasta with butter, and chocolate milk, day after day, year after year.  Or just coffee cake, and milk – literally. Some kids venture into as many as four foods – pizza, mac and cheese, grilled cheese, and noodles with butter (which is really just two foods, wheat and dairy).  I sigh a little each time I’m in a restaurant with a gorgeous farm to table menu, but pass by a table with the bowl of pasta, Parmesan, and butter for the eight year old, while everyone else enjoys the cornucopia we are so fortunate to have in the US.

There are myriad cookbooks full of tricks to slip vegetables and fruits into foods your child does like to eat. While you work on those, think about a longer term goal of seeing your child naturally gravitate to a variety of foods. Add these simple steps to trigger some innate curiosity in your child’s appetite. Allow at least two months for these tools to fully engage. It takes time for nutrients to be absorbed into spaces and places where they’ve been lacking for a long while, and get back on line doing their usual jobs.

Step 1 – Probiotics! You’ve no doubt heard about these friendly, helpful bacteria. Microflora, healthy gut bugs, probiotics – call them what you will – but make sure your child is hosting the right bacteria in his gut to support a healthy appetite. Eating a little yogurt every day – especially the squeezable fruity flavored kind – is not enough to do the trick. High daily doses of probiotics are needed to bust a picky appetite. These help digest food, produce nutrients we need, run interference on inflammation, maintain optimal pH for good digestion, and keep pathogenic bacteria, viruses, and mold species (yeast or Candida) under control. These gut microbes eat what we eat, and they eat first. They either leave behind toxins, or good stuff, depending on whether the intestine is harboring healthy or unhealthy microflora.

They also drive appetites. What I’ve observed for years in practice is just emerging in medical literature: Kids who have lost these good “bugs” tend to have either weak, picky appetites with reflux, or appetites that are ravenous but only for starchy foods or sweets. This is often a gut with Candida species (yeasts or molds) in control. Antibiotics kill bacteria but not yeasts or molds, so with each antibiotic dose, yeast microbes will flourish anew in the gut. As they crowd out the good bugs, they change gut pH over time so that digestion weakens, and can trigger reflux, constipation, or malabsorption. Yeast desperately needs simple carbs (as anyone who has baked with it will know), and this makes for fiercely rigid appetites in children whose guts are overly yeasty. Children may or may not show any other signs of yeast overgrowth besides that rigid appetite, so this often goes untreated. Confirmatory signs are large or painful-to-pass stools, constipation, ringworm patches, relentless red itchy diaper rash or rash at groin, urine or stool incontinence, bloating, a history of thrush in infancy… and, a penchant for bread, bread, sweets, pasta, bread, pizza, bagels, and bread.

What to do: Buy a high potency, high quality probiotic and have your child use it daily for at least three months. Look for a potency guarantee; a potency of 20 billion colony forming units (CFUs) per dose or more; mixed strains of Lactobacillus and Bifido species; and, no fillers. Many probiotics contain ingredients like inulin, which are added as food for the probiotic cultures – this is optional. Others have dairy ingredients, which are best avoided. There are many probiotic products out there – some of the best are only available on line or through health care providers. For more information about purchasing and administering these, see Special Needs Kids Go Pharm Free.

Sidebar: Kids whose guts are not colonized early in life with healthy microflora have more asthma, allergies, and problems with growth, feeding, and stooling. Besides taking antibiotics, kids can also lose these healthy microflora colonies if they were born via C-section delivery, if mom was given antibiotics while breastfeeding, or if they needed time in the NICU after birth.

Step 2 – Replenish zinc. This mineral has a big impact on appetite and power to improve a reluctant eater’s habits. Like most minerals, it is usually lacking in picky eaters’ food intakes. Most kids’ multivitamins don’t have enough zinc to overcome a poor eating pattern. Kids who have oral tactile sensitivity, who balk at varying food textures, who fall apart and stop eating if they encounter a novel texture, taste, or color in their food are often candidates for zinc replenishment. It’s a make-or-break nutrient for growth and onset of puberty too – so if your child seems later than expected in starting that pubertal boost, and has an appetite limited to starchy foods and milk, then there may be too little zinc in the mix. Besides a faint or mercurial appetite, other flags for low zinc are frequent infection, poor wound healing, skin that cracks near nails, white dots on nails, hypersensitivity to smells (and eventually, loss of sense of smell), or low taste acuity.

Zinc can be found aplenty in nuts, pork, dark meat poultry, cauliflower, eggs, some fruits and vegetables, and even pumpkin seeds. If this variety isn’t cpart of your child’s menu, add a chewable zinc lozenge or tablet (there are many on the market) that gives 15-20 mg zinc per lozenge; use it daily with food for 6-8 weeks, then check progress for appetite or other signs that describe low zinc. Your doctor can always check zinc status with a blood test too. 15-20 mg of zinc is a bit higher than the government’s dietary reference intake for healthy kids with good diets, but is workable because zinc has substantially lower toxicity than minerals like iron, and we’re talking about restoring a depleted status. I’ve dosed zinc to as high as 50 mg/day safely for children in my practice, but this is a path to take with professional guidance. Too much zinc can drive iron status downward, so don’t go overboard.

If a daily lozenge is a battle: Metagenics Zinc Drink (15 mg per teaspoon) is a tasteless colorless liquid that vanishes in juice, water, or any liquid. Available at many on line supplement sites or through health care providers.  Other liquid preparations abound; many of these add magnesium and calcium too. Use these only at the lowest effective dose. Questions? Send me an e mail through my contact form at NutritionCare.net, or check with your doctor.

Step 3: Restore iron. This crucial nutrient is overlooked for kids, more than you might think. Iron deficiency anemia is not uncommon in American children; many more may have marginal iron status, a condition that precedes outright anemia that your pediatrician can discern with a blood test for ferritin, a protein that stores iron. Though pediatric reference ranges for ferritin drop as low as 10 (depending on the lab doing the test), a ferritin level below 30 usually coincides in my experience with some compromise in learning, attention, behavior, sleep – and appetite. Kids with weak iron status or anemia may put non-food items in their mouths often, to chew on or even try to eat: Ice, snow, dirt, dirty snow, sand, pebbles, wood, fabric, plastic toys, pencils, paper, or other objects are typical choices for a child in poor iron status. Other signals for poor iron status are pallor, irritability, insomnia, dark circles at eyes, outright lethargy and breathlessness with little exertion, or recurring infections. If this describes your child, tell your pediatrician so your child can be screened for iron status. The most informative testing includes ferritin, serum iron, hemoglobin and hematocrit, total iron binding capacity (“TIBC”) and perhaps a blood cell count (CBC).

Examples of some iron rich foods are lentils, kidney beans, chick peas (garbanzo beans) red meats, liver, sesame seeds or sesame butter (tahini), eggs, or dried prunes. Wheat breads and cereals (not the gluten-free versions) are often fortified, but I have encountered children with weak iron status who were eating these fortified items daily. Picky kids usually shun the other iron rich foods, or eat them too infrequently for them to keep up iron stores.

Restoring good iron status is easy to do with gentle, low doses of supplements or herbs (licorice, nettles, dandelion, thyme).  Iron in good stead can help your child’s appetite broaden, and may trigger other benefits.  If your child isn’t using an iron supplement, you can add one – but don’t give doses above 5-7 mg of iron daily, without your doctor’s guidance. You can also check if your child’s multivitamin has any iron in it. If it has only 5 mg per dose or less, your child may need more. Check with your doctor. Given to excess, iron is toxic and even fatally poisonous so don’t use iron supplements without guidance.

What to do: Two easy tools to supplement iron when necessary are VegLife chewable  iron tablets (18 mg per tablet) for older children who weigh more or for children with very low ferritin, and Floradix Iron Plus Herbs liquid (10 mg in 2 teaspoons) for younger kids who need a daily reliable iron source. These are low dose and well tolerated by children in my experience.  The Floradix liquid vanishes well in dark berry juices. I prefer food based forms or gentle supplemental forms like ferrous bis glycinate. Ferrous sulfate (the form usually prescribed by doctors for anemia) seems to trigger more stomach pain, constipation, and nausea than food-based forms or ferrous bis-glycinate.

Give these three steps three months to work for your child. Changes will be gradual, so consider a pre and post log book on what your child is eating. Check in with your doctor if you’re not certain for dosing supplements.  If your child’s appetite hasn’t budged after these steps, I’d like to know about it!

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A Colon Detox Can Improve Your Colon Health

A healthy colon is a vital part of a healthy body. The colon, along with the small and large intestines, are a major area where the nutrients in food are absorbed. If the colon is not clean, it cannot fulfill this important task. Not only that, the impacted fecal material that builds up in the colon and intestines releases toxins into the bloodstream. You are in effect getting toxins instead of nutrients - not a very good trade.

Symptoms that a colon detoxification might be in order include tiredness, PMS, headaches, and of course, constipation. There are a variety of ways colon cleansing can be done, including colonic irrigation, enemas, dietary fiber, and laxative herbs. These methods can help, but each has negative points.

Another natural option for colon health is to use an oxygen based colon cleanser. This method uses magnesium oxide that has been treated with oxygen and ozone. This substance will react with the hydrochloric acid in the stomach to release oxygen. The oxygen gets into the bloodstream to nourish all parts of the body, but it does more than that. It also nourishes the favorable bacteria that live in the digestive tract.

Unfavorable bacteria in the digestive tract will give you vomiting, diarrhea, and cramps. Favorable bacteria compete with the unfavorable ones for living space. An oxygen based colon detox will encourage those good microbes, for better all around health. So how exactly does it work?

An oxygen based colon health product creates a chemical reaction that releases oxygen and melts the impacted material in the intestines and colon into gas and liquid. It will make you need to stay close to a bathroom for a day or so while you eliminate the material from your colon, but you will feel much better afterwards.

Look for an oxygen based colon detox product that is available in a capsule form. Make sure it does not include ascorbic acid among the ingredients because ascorbic acid is an antioxidant. An antioxidant will undo the good that could be done by the oxygen. A good ingredient to look for, however, is GE-132. This is the germanium-132, which is good for the health of the immune system. It also facilitates and adds oxygen. It is considered to be a nutrient that is helpful for many ailments.

Cleansing the colon can help with weight loss. Many people who have eaten an average diet for years have accumulated ten to twenty pounds of impacted fecal matter in their colons. An oxygen based colon cleanse will help the body eliminate this material, resulting in a quick loss to jump start your weight loss plan. Follow up the cleanse with reasonable portions of healthy natural food. You should have enough energy after the cleanse to start an exercise program, too.

There's a lot more to learn about colon cleansing, and you can do it at http://www.colon-cleaners.com

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