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Super Healthy Kids:

Strengthening Your Child’s Resistance to Disease


Super Healthy Kids:
Strengthening Your Child’s Resistance to Disease

By Jane Sheppard

Cover Design by Gavio


Copyright © 2002, 2004 Jane Sheppard. All rights
reserved. No part of this book may be used or
reproduced in any manner whatsoever without
written permission, except in the case of brief
quotations embodied in critical articles or
reviews. First published in 2002, second printing
in 2004

Published by Future Generations


1275 Fourth Street, #118
Santa Rosa, CA 95404
707-570-0408
E-mail: sheppard@healthychild.com
http://www.healthychild.com

The information contained in this booklet is


provided for educational purposes only. It is not
intended to diagnose any illness, prescribe, or
treat any health problems. The contents of this
document should not be construed as medical
advice or as a substitute for consulting with a
qualified health professional.

i
This book is dedicated with love to Jenna
Sheppard, a super healthy kid, my greatest
teacher and my inspiration, and to future
generations of super healthy kids.

ii
Acknowledgements

I wish to thank Rob Harris for his support and


assistance during the writing of this book and for
his ongoing support and technical assistance with
www.healthychild.com.

I extend my deepest gratitude to the many


writers, teachers, practitioners, healers, and edu-
cators who are passionately working to bring
about a major transformation in the way children
are treated and cared for in this society. I am also
in deep gratitude to the children who have come
to teach us how to live and love.

iv
Table of Contents

Introduction……………..........………………….…..1

Survival Depends on the Immune System.......…...6

A Shift in Our Approach to Health………………..8

Antibiotics Weaken Immunity…………….....…...11

Vaccines Do Not Create Immunity…..…..............19

The Amazing Immunology of Breastmilk…....…26

Nutrition for Healthy Immunity………...........….37

Natural Supplements for Superimmunity…...…58

Immunity-Strengthening Herbs……………........67

vi
Table of Contents
(continued)

Healthy Thoughts and Feelings Create


Healthy Immunity…………………............…...…...80

Allergies…………………...…….………….…...…...85

Our Children’s Toxic Environment…............….....88

Chronic Immune Dysfunction……….......…...…...93

Integrating Healthy Immunity-Building


Into Your Family’s Lifestyle……………........….....96

Checklist for Building Healthy Immunity…........101

Works Cited….………………………….......……..105

Resources……………………….……............….....112

vii
Introduction
The only true way to prevent disease is to have a
healthy body with a strong natural defense
system. We have all been blessed with an
immune system that, when functioning properly,
defends our bodies against pathogens such as
bacteria, viruses, parasites, fungi, and other
toxins. This system of immunity consists of many
different complex processes that work together to
keep us healthy.

It is virtually impossible to germ-proof your


children. Unless you keep them in a plastic
bubble, they are going to be exposed to germs on
a daily basis. This is not necessarily unfavorable
because exposure to viruses and other germs can
actually strengthen a child’s immune system.

Germs are abundant everywhere, especially in


situations such as daycare or school, but exposure
does not mean a child will get sick. Many people
talk about a cold or a flu “going around” as if it
were making the rounds infecting every child in
its path. The reality is that out of all the children
exposed to the virus, only a portion of these
children will get sick to some degree, and others
will not succumb to the disease at all.

1
It is the strength of the immune system and
overall health of the body and mind that deter-
mines illness, not the strength of the germs. A
child with a weakened immune system will be
vulnerable to colds, flu, and more serious ill-
nesses.

The immune system is working all of the time. It


continually strives to overcome the many path-
ogens that try to enter the body, usually without
expressing any symptoms of disease.

When your child’s body is exposed to a pathogen,


an immune response occurs. This is a cooperative
effort by the different components of the immune
system to restore balance and health. The body
needs a lot of resources for mounting and
sustaining this response. If it has not had enough
good nutrition, sleep, love, and other important
substances, the response will be weakened
enough to let the pathogen take hold and result in
disease.

Even healthy kids get sick sometimes, but a


healthy body can recover quickly without any
complications. The goal is not to prevent all
childhood diseases, but rather to decrease the
number and severity of the diseases.

2
Acquiring innocuous childhood diseases can help
to build immunity and give your child lifetime
protection against these diseases. Lifetime immu-
nity is important since these diseases can have
serious negative effects if acquired as an adult.
Philip Incao, M.D. warns parents that standard
childhood illnesses, such as chicken pox, measles,
mumps, and even whooping cough, may be of
key benefit to a child’s developing immune
system, and it may be inadvisable to suppress
these illnesses with vaccinations (Incao 2000,
2001).

When your child does get sick, you can help the
body resolve the illness by boosting its ability to
handle and expel the disease rather than sup-
pressing the symptoms with toxic drugs. When
you build up the immune system through natural
whole foods, herbs, and other methods we
discuss in this book, the body will move into a
more vitalized state of health.

Is it possible for a child to have an immune


system so strong that he or she rarely gets sick? A
child who sails through childhood without ever
having an ear infection, only a few minor colds,
and no full-blown infections? Absolutely – this
describes my 9-year-old daughter and other
exceptionally healthy children. These are children
with super strong immunity.
3
My daughter has been exposed to many diseases
throughout her nine years of life, including
pertussis, chicken pox (5 times), and zillions of
colds and other viruses. She regularly comes in
contact with kids with runny noses and terrible
coughs. But her strong immune system is
powerful enough to ward them off. Sometimes
she gets a stuffy nose for a day or two, and
occasionally a fever for a day, but she will usually
go the entire “cold and flu season” without a
single infection.

What makes my daughter and other children like


her have such strong immune systems? Perhaps
genetics may have something to do with it. But
research is showing us that it has more to do with
a healthy environment right from the start. A
baby needs to be nourished during the entire
pregnancy with organic, whole foods and lots of
love and nurturing, then exclusively breastfed
and given an ongoing diet of love, attention and
healthy food.

Particularly important is what is not allowed to


enter the baby’s system during and after
pregnancy and the first few years of life –
environmental toxins, vaccines, and unnecessary
antibiotics.

4
If your child is overly susceptible to illness, you
may want to take steps to enhance his or her
immune system and make it as strong as possible.
Prevention is the way to avoid subjecting your
child to continuing cycles of antibiotics or other
medications.

The good news is that there is plenty that you can


do to strengthen your child’s immune system and
overall health to defend against disease. The
powerful tools of prevention include long-term
breastfeeding, good nutrition, natural therapies, a
healthy mental attitude and emotional well-being,
a nontoxic environment, avoiding unnecessary
antibiotics and vaccines, low stress, and plenty of
rest and exercise. We will discuss each of these
components in detail throughout this book.

Rest assured that there is still plenty that you can


do to strengthen your child’s immune system
right now, regardless of whether this child was
breastfed, was vaccinated, how healthy the preg-
nancy was, or what the state of the diet is now.
There is always something more you can do to
improve your child’s health. It is never too late to
begin.

5
Survival Depends on the
Immune System
There are many good reasons to strengthen our
children’s immunity and overall health. We can
avoid trips to the doctor and keep our children off
antibiotics and other pharmaceutical drugs, sav-
ing time, money, and stress on ourselves and our
kids’ little bodies. We can experience the sheer
pleasure of watching our children experience life
with exuberance, energy and vitality.

Even more critical, we’ve entered into a time in


which chronic diseases are increasingly prevalent
and serious acute diseases are more difficult to
treat. Incidences of allergies and asthma, both
signs that the immune system is not functioning
properly, are dramatically increasing in children
(CDC 2002 and Incao 2001).

Due to antibiotic resistance, serious diseases such


as bacterial meningitis and pneumonia are be-
coming more difficult to treat, making them even
more life threatening. New strains of the tuber-
culosis bacterium have been found to be resistant
to standard antibiotic treatment. The bacterium
that causes pertussis (whooping cough) is mu-
tating to develop resistance to the vaccine, and
current disease strains of pertussis are not in-

6
cluded in the pertussis vaccine formulation
(Farrel 2000, Mooi 1998).

An increased number of children are prone to


recurring infections, taking excessive rounds of
antibiotics. Additionally, babies and children are
regularly exposed to pesticides that can com-
promise their immune systems, increasing their
risk of disease (NRDC).

The threat of bioterrorism may be facing us; a


threat that modern medicine is ill equipped to
deal with. Having a compromised immune sys-
tem will not only put you and your children in
greater jeopardy from a bioterrorist attack, but the
vaccines meant to protect against these attacks are
dangerous, especially to a weakened immune
system.

Survival depends greatly on the strength and


power of our immune systems – now more than
ever before. We need to have strong immunity
now, and we will not get it from vaccines and
antibiotics. These toxic drugs will only weaken
our defenses more.

7
A Shift in Our Approach to Health
Many of us are beginning to understand that we
can no longer rush our children to the doctor for
antibiotics to treat ear infections and other com-
mon illnesses. It’s now time to go back to natural
medicines that are gentler, without harmful side
effects; medicines that work to support the im-
mune system rather than overpower it.

Modern or allopathic medicine views disease as


coming from outside the body. This view says
that a virus, bacteria, or parasite invades the body
and makes it sick. Medical doctors are trained to
diagnose an infection and immediately eradicate
it with powerful antibiotics. These drugs kill the
bacteria in the body – both good and bad, stop the
symptoms so the underlying cause is not ad-
dressed, and weaken the body even further in the
process.

Taking antibiotics may stop the present bacterial


infection, but unless the underlying pattern of
dysfunction is stopped – in most cases a weak-
ened immune system - the infections may recur
and come back even stronger than before.

When a child has an infection, the immune


system works to expel it through natural pro-
cesses such as fever, skin rash, diarrhea, runny
8
nose, and coughing. These normal reactions are
known as the acute inflammatory response and
are signs that the immune system is working
properly. In fact, this inflammatory response
helps to strengthen the immune system and
should not be suppressed (Incao 2001).

When drugs such as fever reducers, cough medi-


cines, antihistamines, or other medications are
given to suppress these vital functions, a child
may become worse since the body is not allowed
to do what it needs to do to drive the virus out of
the body. This may be why complications some-
times accompany a minor disease such as chicken
pox.

In order to strengthen our children’s immune


systems so they can be super healthy, we need to
look at disease and healing in a completely
different way than we’ve been taught by modern
medicine. When we look at disease holistically,
we see that the cause of disease lies within the
body, and in most cases the body can heal itself if
given the opportunity. We can allow the immune
response of fever, runny nose, and coughing to
continue to do its job of expelling the disease
from the body.

The body’s innate life force is powerful and


intelligent – a lot wiser than manmade drugs.
9
Pharmaceutical drugs can greatly diminish this
life force, as can unhealthy food, negative
emotions, and toxic chemicals. But if we shift the
body into a healthy, vital state through natural
methods, the life force is then allowed to do its
miraculous work of healing the body and keeping
it healthy and whole.

10
Antibiotics Weaken Immunity
Antibiotics have saved many lives over the past
50 years. We are truly fortunate to have them
available for life-threatening bacterial infections.

Unfortunately, for a long time now, doctors have


been prescribing antibiotics excessively and indis-
criminately. The Center for Disease Control
estimates that of the 235 million doses of
antibiotics given each year, between 20 and 50
percent are unnecessary. These are drugs that can
undermine our children’s health and impair their
immune systems. If you want your children to
stay well with strong immunity, keep them off of
antibiotics whenever possible.

Antibiotic misuse is most likely to occur in


children with ear infections (otitis media), the
number one reason a child is brought to a doctor.
Antibiotic therapy is the most common treatment
of ear infections by doctors in the U.S.

A report from the Agency for Healthcare


Research and Quality (AHRQ 2000) suggests that
children may not always need antibiotics to treat
an ear infection. Researchers found that nearly
two-thirds of children with uncomplicated ear
infections recover from pain and fever within 24
hours of diagnosis without antibiotic treatment.
11
Over 80% recover fully within 1 to 7 days. Other
countries do not always treat ear infections with
drugs at the first sign of infection. The norm is to
watch and see how the infection progresses over
the course of a few days (AHRQ 2000).

The purpose of antibiotics is to kill harmful


bacteria. Otitis media means middle ear inflam-
mation - not necessarily bacterial infection. Many
cases are caused by viruses or allergies, parti-
cularly to milk and dairy products. Of the cases of
otitis media that do not respond to antibiotics, it’s
been found that in up to 70 percent of these cases,
there are no harmful bacteria (Schmidt 1990,
Skoner 1988). In these cases, antibiotics are
useless and damaging to the immune system.

Antibiotics have been shown to increase the


likelihood of repeat ear infections. One reason is
when a doctor prescribes antibiotics, the under-
lying cause of the ear infection is usually ignored
and left untreated.

Streptococcus pneumoniae, also known as


pneumococcus, is commonly found in the nose
and throat. This bacterium is thought to be
responsible for many cases of ear infections,
which is why antibiotics are prescribed. However,
your child can have pneumococcus and not be
sick. It usually causes trouble if it gets trapped in
12
the middle ear. Once trapped, the bacteria can
reproduce rapidly and become an infection.

This scenario could be the result of an allergic


reaction to a certain food, which can cause con-
gestion as well as significant pressure changes
and obstruction to the eustachian tube of the ear.

In the case of an allergy induced ear infection,


eliminating the allergen from a child’s diet or
environment will also eliminate the obstruction,
allowing the bacterial fluid to drain. Antibiotics
may kill the bacteria and stop the present
infection, but if an allergic child continues to be
exposed to the allergen, repeat ear infections are
likely to occur.

A weakened immune system is the underlying


cause of many ear infections. Treating the child
with antibiotics without correcting the cause will
likely create a continuing cycle of repeat ear
infections. Many children are dealing with this. A
typical scenario is the child is diagnosed with
acute otitis media and antibiotics are prescribed.
The symptoms disappear in about a week, but
return again in the near future since the original
cause was not addressed. The child goes back to
the doctor for more antibiotics. The cycle
continues.

13
Some children spend months or even years on
antibiotics, with recurring ear infections. Research
has shown that when antibiotics are used at the
beginning of an ear infection, the frequency of
recurrence may be almost three times greater than
if antibiotics are delayed or not used (Schmidt
1990, Diamant 1974).

A truly disturbing practice is the prescribing of


antibiotics by some doctors to treat colds, coughs,
runny noses or flu. Most upper respiratory infec-
tions are viral. Treating them with antibiotics is
clear misuse, since the drugs kill only bacteria
and are of no value at all in treating viral
infections.

There are treatments that can relieve the symptoms


of a cold, but there is no drug (over-the-counter
or prescription) that will cure a cold. There are,
however, natural treatments that work very well
by strengthening the immune system to effect-
ively deal with a cold.

Antibiotics do not just go after the pathogenic or


“bad” bacteria. They also indiscriminately des-
troy the beneficial or “friendly” bacteria that are
necessary and vital to good health.

Beneficial bacteria exist in the intestines for the


purpose of digestion, manufacturing vitamins,
14
and keeping the pathogenic bacteria in check.
Among the more important beneficial bacteria are
lactobacillus acidophilus and bifidobacterium
bifidus. They help protect the body against infec-
tion. Depleting these organisms can disrupt the
balance of the body and lead to suppressed
immunity, bowel problems, poor digestion, poor
nutrient absorption, malnutrition, and yeast over-
growth diseases such as thrush and vaginitis.

In addition to reducing absorption of nutrients,


antibiotics can cause important vitamins and
minerals to be lost from the body, which can
weaken immunity. One of the most common side
effects of antibiotics is diarrhea. This can cause a
loss of nutrients, especially magnesium and zinc.
Some children are on antibiotics for months or
even years. Nutritional loss over such a long
period of time is debilitating for the body and sets
up an environment for more infections.

Think twice before accepting antibiotics as


treatment for acne. Adolescents treated with long-
term antibiotics for acne are prone to poor health
during the treatment and later in their teens and
20s. Common health problems from long-term
antibiotics include gastrointestinal problems,
fatigue, itching, allergies, chronic congestion,
bloated abdomen, poor mental concentration and

15
memory, chronic vaginal yeast infections and
bladder infections.

A very frightening consequence of indiscriminate


use of antibiotics is the development of antibiotic-
resistant bacteria. These bacteria have “learned”
to outsmart the drugs and have reproduced a
generation of stronger, more resistant bugs.

Consequently, there are some serious infectious


diseases that are no longer responding to
antibiotics. If an infection does respond, it often
requires much more of the drug that used to be
effective. In the event of a serious bacterial
infection, such as meningitis, a much higher
dosage of antibiotic may be required or a doctor
may have to try different drugs before finding
one that will work. The time this takes can
potentially be a matter of life or death, since
meningitis can be fatal and needs to be treated
immediately.

Eating commercially raised meat can increase the


risk of drug-resistant infections. Antibiotic-
resistant bacteria are commonly found in meat
since antibiotics are routinely given to chickens,
pigs and cattle to prevent illness and to promote
growth. Resistant strains of salmonella are
common in ground meats (White 2001). After
eating meat, drug-resistant bacteria can survive in
16
the human intestine for up to 14 days, where they
could multiply and potentially cause drug-
resistant infections (Sorensen 2001).

What else is your child ingesting with the


antibiotic? Sweeteners, dyes, flavorings, and other
unnamed additives are found in antibiotics
prescribed to children. These may include sac-
charin, sucrose, red dye #40, FD & C yellow #5
and #6. These dyes are cross-reactive with aspirin
and acetaminophen, which are commonly given
to a child during an illness (Schmidt 1994).

Even tiny amounts of the chemical additives in


antibiotics can cause an allergic reaction in a
sensitive child. It’s important to always get a full
disclosure of the contents of the drug being
considered if your child has allergies or environ-
mental sensitivity. Ask the pharmacist for the
insert that comes with the medication.

Antibiotics may be absolutely necessary in certain


situations, such as a life-threatening infection or
when serious complications are present. We are
very fortunate to have antibiotics for appropriate
situations. However, if you ever do have to use
antibiotics, they should be used in conjunction
with methods that strengthen the immune
system, and the depleted beneficial bacteria
should always be replaced. Most importantly, the
17
cause of the infection needs to be addressed for
true healing to take place.

18
Vaccines Do Not
Create Immunity
Increasing evidence suggests that injecting a child
with nearly three-dozen doses of 10 different viral
and bacterial vaccines before the age of five, while
the immune system is still developing, can cause
chronic immune dysfunction (Neustaedter 1996,
Classen 2000, Scheibner 1993, Murphy 1993,
Miller 1994). Vaccines may trigger antibody
production to a specific disease, but they do not
increase genuine immunity; nor do they create
healthier children.

Many doctors now believe that creating a strong


immune system to prevent both chronic and acute
diseases is much wiser than trying to manipulate
the immune system to prevent certain acute
diseases. The constant stress on the immune
system from manipulating it with so many
vaccines could result in immune system damage
and chronic diseases. The toxins contained in vac-
cines are also linked to nervous system and brain
damage, including ADD and autism.

19
The following is an excerpt from Vaccines: Are
They Really Safe and Effective?, by Neil Miller
explaining how vaccines may overwhelm and
weaken the immune system:

Several researchers have noted that


vaccines merely “trick” the body
into focusing on only one aspect
(antibody production) of the many
complex and integrated strategies
normally available to the immune
system. Diseases contracted nature-
ally are ordinarily filtered through a
series of immune system defenses.
But when the vaccine virus is in-
jected directly into the child’s blood
stream, it gains access to all of the
major tissues and organs of the
body, without the body’s normal
advantage of a total immune response.

Research indicates that the imma-


ture immune system of a baby is
stimulated, strengthened, and ma-
tured by responding to natural
challenges. When the infant gains
exposure to viral and bacterial
microorganisms in the environment,
normal development of the immune
system is likely to occur. However,
20
if the immature immune system is
forced to respond to a barrage of
vaccinations injected directly into
the body, bypassing outer immune
system defenses, inner immune
system protective maneuvers may
be overwhelmed. When natural im-
munity is curtailed and the immune
system compelled to operate in un-
natural ways, questions arise re-
garding its ability to protect the
child throughout life (Miller 1994).

While investigating vaccines for the past ten


years, I have seen and heard countless reports
from parents that express unequivocally how
incredibly strong their unvaccinated children’s
immune systems are. My own unvaccinated
daughter is remarkably healthy. She’s been
immunized with four years of breastmilk, an
organic whole foods diet, and plenty of love and
attention. She has never needed an antibiotic, and
I know her immune system is strong enough to
deal with the diseases that kids are vaccinated
against. If she does get an infection, I am
confident her strong immune system will respond
quickly to treatment

The statement frequently heard from vaccine


proponents, that “the benefits of vaccination
21
outweigh the risks”, is misleading since the true
risks of vaccination are unknown. In 1991 and
1994, two committees were set up by the National
Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine (IOM)
to assess the causal relationship between vaccines
and adverse health consequences. According to
the Academy, “These committees concluded that
the evidence was inadequate to accept or reject a
causal relation between a specific vaccine and an
adverse effect approximately two-thirds of the
time” (NAS 2002). Yet, when parents voice
concerns about adverse effects they are told that
no causal link has been found and that vaccines
are safe. How can they say vaccines are safe when
there is simply not enough evidence to make such
a conclusion?

A report issued in 2002 by the IOM’s


Immunization Safety Review Committee calls for
more scientific research into the development of
the human immune system and identification of
genetic and other biomarkers that could pre-
dispose some children to vaccine-based adverse
events, including autoimmunity. This report
found that scientific evidence on whether allergy,
including asthma, can be caused by multiple
vaccinations was conflicting and concluded that
the evidence “was inadequate to accept or reject a
causal relationship.” (NAS 2002)

22
The Committee also concluded that epidemi-
ological studies to date “favor rejection of a causal
relationship between multiple immunizations
and increased risk for infections and for type 1
diabetes.” But “favoring rejection” does not mean
the causal relationship between vaccines and
increased risk of infections or diabetes has been
ruled out or disproved.

The Committee also concluded that they did find


some biological mechanism evidence that
vaccines could increase the risk of immune
dysfunction in some children that could lead to
increased infections and allergy, including
asthma. The report stated, “The biological
mechanisms evidence regarding increased risk for
infections is strong.” Yet, press releases were
issued from the National Academy of Sciences
with the headlines “Infant Immunizations Not
Shown to Be Harmful to Children’s Immune
Systems” and “Vaccines Don’t Harm Infant
Immune Systems”.

This type of public relations is misleading to


parents. The truth is that a lot more research still
needs to be done. The IOM committee made their
conclusions not from independent new research,
but from a literature review of past studies
funded by vaccine manufacturers or done by
government groups with financial links to the
23
vaccine manufacturers and a huge stake in the
results.

A major flaw in some of these studies was that


they looked at children who have received a lot of
vaccines and then compared them with children
receiving one more vaccine than the “control”
group. This tells us nothing. For a true scientific
picture, what they need to be looking at is overall
incidence of immune dysfunction between fully
vaccinated children and children who receive few
or no vaccines. No such study has ever been
done.

Another important flaw of this report is that


researchers who have identified links between
autoimmune conditions and vaccines were not
allowed to present their findings and research to
the committee. As Dawn Richardson, president of
Parents Requesting Open Vaccine Education
(PROVE) stated, “The old expression “garbage in
garbage out” definitely applies here.”

Barbara Loe Fisher, president of the National


Vaccine Information Center, called the report “an
important step in acknowledging the very real
basic science research needs of our nation’s mass
vaccination system. We cannot continue to turn a
blind eye to the growing minority of children
who, for biological reasons, are not able to handle
24
the increasing numbers of vaccinations routinely
being given to all children.”

Parents questioning the safety of vaccines want


good independent scientific research into this
question and are frustrated with the spin control
that the public health community continues to
put out to the public. The issue of vaccines can be
a complicated one for parents. A lot of conflicting
information is supplied, making it difficult to
know just what to trust. Most pediatricians stick
to what they learned in medical school (a narrow
view) and are not fully informed about all the
aspects and dangers of vaccines.

Many resources are provided at the end of this


book so you can do your own research and make
informed decisions for your children.

25
The Amazing Immunology
of Breastmilk
Breastfeeding for as long as possible is the most
important thing you can do to ensure your child
has a strong immune system. Breastmilk is much
more than food. In addition to providing the
absolute best nutrition for a growing baby,
breastmilk supplies the factors needed to develop
strong immunity and protect your baby against
disease.

Although they have some antibodies from the


placenta of their mother, newborns enter the
world largely unprotected. With immature im-
mune systems, they are faced with organisms
they have never met before and are at risk for
infections. Exclusive breastfeeding can greatly
lower this risk.

Breastfeeding has been shown to be protective


against many illnesses, including ear infections,
upper and lower respiratory ailments, allergies,
intestinal disorders, colds, viruses, staph, strep
and e coli infections, diabetes, juvenile rheu-
matoid arthritis, many childhood cancers,
meningitis, pneumonia, urinary tract infections,
salmonella, sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)
as well as lifetime protection from crohn’s

26
disease, ulcerative colitis, some lymphomas,
insulin dependent diabetes, and for girls, breast
and ovarian cancer (La Leche League).

Breastmilk contains lymphocytes and macro-


phages, which produce antibodies and other
immune factors. It provides lactobacillus bifidus,
the “friendly” bacteria that help prevent the
growth of dangerous bacteria. Another molecule
in breastmilk actually kills harmful bacteria. Some
components are even directly anti-inflammatory
(Hanson, 1998). In addition to providing protec-
tion against pathogenic bacteria, breastmilk
contains elements that guard against viruses,
fungi and parasites.

The positive effects of breastmilk on the immune


system are long-term. Evidence shows that
enhanced immune protection remains for years
after breastfeeding is discontinued (Hanson 1998).
The immunology of breastmilk is quite amazing.
Mother Nature definitely knows what she is
doing!

When your baby is sick, it makes sense to nurse


him or her more frequently. In addition to
providing antibodies and other immune factors,
breastmilk is a nourishing calorie-rich fluid,
which keeps a baby well hydrated. My daughter
intuitively knew to nurse more frequently when
27
she was fighting something off. This frequent
nursing managed to keep whatever was trying to
invade her body from developing into an actual
infection or disease.

It’s baffling that some health professionals still


believe that there is no benefit from breastmilk to
babies after they are a year old. Long-term
breastfeeding and natural weaning (letting your
child decide when to wean) is by far the healthiest
thing you can do. Immune protection continues to
improve throughout the duration of breast-
feeding (Hanson 1998). The longer you breast-
feed, the stronger your child’s immune system
becomes.

Breastfeeding also adds the loving touch and


comfort that is crucial to the emotional well-being
of your baby, toddler and preschooler, thus
strengthening immunity on another level.
Continuing to breastfeed into the preschool years
does not make a child dependent on the mother.
My daughter decided on her own to quit nursing
at age four. This was a gentle, easy transition for
her. She is a strong, independent child because
she knows she can always get her needs met.

28
What is Colostrum?
From LaLeche League
www.lalecheleague.org

Colostrum is the first milk your breasts produce


in the early days of breastfeeding. Highly concen-
trated in nutrients, it contains substances that will
defend your baby against many harmful agents.
The concentration of immune factors is much
higher in colostrum than in mature milk.

Colostrum actually works as a natural and 100%


safe vaccine. It contains large quantities of an
antibody called secretory immunoglobulin A
(IgA), which is a new substance to the newborn.
Before your baby was born, she received the
benefit of another antibody, called IgG, through
your placenta. IgG worked through the baby’s
circulatory system, but IgA protects the baby in
the places most likely to come under attack from
germs, namely the mucous membranes in the
throat, lungs, and intestines.

Colostrum has an especially important role to


play in the baby’s gastrointestinal tract. A
newborn’s intestines are very permeable. Colo-
strum seals the holes by “painting” the gastro-
intestinal tract with a barrier, which mostly
prevents foreign substances from penetrating and

29
possibly sensitizing a baby to foods the mother
has eaten.

Colostrum also contains high concentrations of


leukocytes, protective white cells, which can
destroy disease-causing bacteria and viruses.

Later, when you are producing mature milk for


your baby, the concentrations of the antibodies in
the milk will be lower, but your baby will be
taking in much higher volumes of milk. The
disease-fighting properties of human milk do not
disappear with the colostrum. In fact, as long as
your baby receives your milk, she will receive
immunological protection against many different
viruses and bacteria.

Immunological Protection
Reprinted with permission
Kathryn Orlinsky, 1999
http://www.kjsl.com/~boynews/ImmunologicalPr
otection.html

The immunological properties of human milk


may be as important as the nutritional aspects of
human milk. How do we know that human milk
really does make a difference in preventing dis-
ease? Many studies show that children who are
fed human milk substitutes end up sick or
hospitalized at a much greater rate than children
30
who breastfeed. For example, diarrhea was
significantly reduced in infants fed human milk
compared with bottle-fed and weaned children
(9, 19, 20). Most bacterial infections are caused by
organisms that are already colonizing the host,
usually in the gastrointestinal or respiratory
tracts. Human milk may prevent the growth of
these bacteria.

There are several ways in which human milk


protects children from infection. Human milk
contains antibodies (immunoglobulins) which can
help ward off disease in the infant. Human milk
is particularly high in immunoglobulin A (IgA);
(10) there is more IgA in human milk than in
serum (6). IgA binds to viruses and bacteria, par-
ticularly those that enter through the gut and
other mucus membranes. This is especially pro-
tective of infants, who are always putting things
in their mouths.

In addition to antibodies, human milk also


contains lysozyme and lactoferrin, two anti-bac-
terial enzymes which protect against a host of
infectious agents, including E. coli and Staphy-
lococcus (3).

Human milk also contains whole immune cells


called white blood cells. Many of these cells are
phagocytes, so called because they engulf bacteria
31
and viruses, especially if these germs have IgA
attached to them. Other immune cells in human
milk include B cells, which make antibodies, and
T cells, which attack diseased cells (17).

How can these antibodies and other proteins help


the infant if they are swallowed and digested
along with the nutritional components of human
milk? It turns out that these immune factors are
resistant to proteolysis in the infant’s gut (7, 8).
Ninety percent of the IgA in human milk exists in
a complex with secretory component (SIgA) (10).
SIgA is resistant to trypsin digestion in the neo-
natal gut (22).

Another way human milk protects children from


disease is by favoring the growth of beneficial
microorganisms. These benign colonizations pre-
vent dangerous infections from taking hold. For
example, bifidobacteria are more numerous in
breastfed infants than in those fed with human
milk substitutes (1, 3). This may be because of
nucle-otide salts present only in human milk,
however, when these nucleotide salts were added
to the human milk substitutes, the growth of
bifido-bacteria was still discouraged (1). Breast-
feeding may also favor the proliferation of
bacteria with decreased virulence (15, 21). These
strains may be more sensitive to bactericidal

32
agents in serum, more prone to agglutinization,
or less able to attach to epithelial surfaces (14).

Human milk does not contain the same


proportion of immune cells and antibodies that
are found in the mother’s blood, nor does it
contain a stationary amount of these protective
agents (4). Human milk contains much more IgA
and less immunoglobulin M than serum does (6).
In addition, the type of T cells predominantly
found in human milk is different from the
predominant type of T cell found in serum (17).
This is because the mammary glands themselves
contain lymphoid cells which produce the IgA
antibodies needed by the breastfeeding child (10,
13, 18). This mechanism is functional throughout
lactation. In addition to providing protection
from specific germs in the infant, the production
and secretion of these immunological factors by
the mother’s mammary gland may be linked to
the development of the child’s own immune
system (4).

Skeptics have said, “yes, human milk benefits


infants, but older children cannot continue to
receive immunity by breastfeeding, can they?”
The answer to this question is a resounding yes.
Children enjoy health benefits for as long as they
breastfeed. Studies have compared weaned child-
ren with breastfeeding children at 30 months (16)
33
and at 36 months, (20, 23) and found them to be
sicker. In some parts of the world, weaned
toddlers have a mortality rate three and a half
times higher than toddlers who receive human
milk (20). Weaning foods and even water from
some regions are highly contaminated with E.
coli, (2) but even undernourished mothers from
these regions produce ample milk antibodies (5).

There are at least two reasons why breastfeeding


continues to benefit older children. First, human
milk contains immune factors regardless of the
duration of lactation. Both lysozyme and SIgA
levels have been found in human milk for the
entire period of lactation studied, including the
second year (10, 12, 13). Many of these immune
factors would be otherwise unavailable (13).
Second, human milk is more easily tolerated by a
sick child than weaning foods. Thus, breastfeed-
ing ensures that sick children remain hydrated
and do not lose excessive weight.

There are special cases where human milk is


particularly high in immune factors. Colostrum is
exceptionally rich in immune factors, containing
more white blood cells per unit volume than
blood (17). Preterm milk also contains more
immune factors than term milk, both in colostrum
and mature milk (11). Newborns and premature
infants need immunological protection more than
34
toddlers, and they get that increased protection in
the human milk they consume. This does not
preclude older children from benefiting immuno-
logically from continuing to breastfeed.

1. Balmer SE, Hanvey LS and BA Wharton. 1994.


Arch. Dis. Child Fetal. Neonatal Ed. Mar.
70(2):F137-F140.
2. Black RE, Brown KH, Becker S, Alim AR and MH
Merson. 1982. Trans. R. Soc. Trop. Med. Hyg.
76(2):259-264.
3. Braun OH. 1976. Klin. Padiatr. Jul;188(4):297-310.
4. Butte NF, Goldblum RM, Fehl LM, Loftin K, Smith
EO, Garza C and AS Goldman. 1984. Acta. Paediatr.
Scand. May;73(3):296-301.
5. Carlsson B, Ahlstedt S, Hanson LA, Lidin-Janson G,
Lindblad BS and R Sultana 1976. Acta. Paediatr.
Scand. Jul;65(4):417-423.
6. Carlsson B, Gothefors L, Ahlstedt S, Hanson LA
and J Winberg. 1976. Acta. Paediatr. Scand.
Mar;65(2):216-24.
7. Davidson LA and B Lonnerdal. 1987. Acta.
Paediatr. Scand. 76:733-740.
8. Fubara ES and R Freter. 1973. J. Immunol. 111:395.
9. Giugliano LG, Meyer CJ, Arantes LC, Ribeiro ST
and R Giugliano. 1993. J. Trop. Pediatr.
Jun;39(3):183-187.
10. Goldman AS, Garza C, Nichols BL and RM
Goldblum. 1982. J. Pediatr. Apr;100(4):563-7.
11. Goldman AS, Garza C, Nichols B, Johnson CA,
Smith EO and RM Goldblum. 1982. J. Pediatr.
Dec;101(6):901-5.
12. Goldman AS, Goldblum RM and C Garza. 1983.
Acta. Paediatr. Scand. 72:461-462.
35
13. Goldman AS, Goldblum RM, Garza C, Nichols BL
and EO Smith. 1983. Acta. Paediatr. Scand. 72:133-
134.
14. Gothefors L, Olling S and J Winberg. 1975. Acta.
Paediatr. Scand. Nov;64(6):807-812.
15. Gothefors L, Olling S and J Winberg. 1976. Acta.
Paediatr. Scand. 64:807.
16. Gulick EE. 1986. Pediatr. Nurs. Jan-Feb;12(1):51-4.
The effects of breast-feeding on toddler health.
17. Lindstrand A, Smedman L, Gunnlaugsson G and M
Troye-Blomberg. 1997. Acta. Paediatr.
Aug;86(8):890-891.
18. Lodinova R and V Jouja. 1977. Acta. Paediatr.
Scand. Nov;66(6):705-708.
19. Mahalanabis D, Alam AN, Rahman N and A
Hasnat. 1991. Int. J. Epidemiol. Dec;20(4):1064-1072.
20. Molbak K, Gottschau A, Aaby P, Hojlyng N,
Ingholt L and AP da Silva. 1994. BMJ. May
28;308(6941):1403-6.
21. Orskov F and KB Sorenson. 1975. Acta. Pathol.
Microbiol. Scand. [B] Feb;83(1):25-30.
22. Parkin DM, MacClouland DBL, Samson RR, McA
Less, M and DJC Shearman. 1973. Europ. J Clin
Invest. 3:66.
23. van den Bogaard C, van den Hoogen HJ, Huygen FJ
and C van Weel. 1991. Fam. Med. Sep-Oct;23(7):510-
5.

36
Nutrition for Healthy Immunity
Optimal nutrition is essential to building and
maintaining a healthy immune system. To main-
tain a powerful immune system, you must supply
your child’s body with the highest quality food
sources of vitamins, minerals, enzymes, amino
acids, and other nutrients.

We’re told that we need to give our children a


“balanced diet”. Unfortunately, in this age of
over-processed, manufactured foods, a typical
balanced diet is not sufficient. In fact, some foods
that have long been considered an essential part
of a balanced diet – milk, meat and grains – are so
processed and denatured that they can weaken
immunity.

Most of our food supply is artificially


manipulated and processed with many ingre-
dients and additives that contribute to poor
health. Processed foods, sugar, and soda can
weaken the immune system. These “foods” add
nothing in the way of nutrition, and if your
children fill up on a lot of them, they are not
likely to eat enough healthy foods with essential
nutrients. You just can’t build healthy immune
cells from cookies, soda, ice cream, hot dogs,
macaroni and cheese, and white bread.

37
No matter how many herbs and supplements you
give your child, if they are eating a substantial
amount of sugar and processed foods, their health
will be diminished. You must significantly reduce
these foods from your child’s diet, and save them
only for occasional treats.

Whole foods nourish and cleanse the body while


activating and supporting the immune system.
Whole foods are fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts,
seeds, beans, and whole grains. This is the food
your child needs in order to be healthy. It is
important to buy organic foods as often as
possible since conventionally grown foods
contain pesticides that can damage the immune
and nervous systems and are not as nutritious as
foods grown organically in mineral-rich soils.

Switching from processed food to fresh, whole,


organic food is not an easy thing to do in this
society, particularly if you live in an area without
natural food stores and farmers markets. The
food industry spends tons of money marketing
highly processed, appealing junk foods in fancy
wrappers to your children. Many of the other kids
at school are drinking soda, eating fast foods and
sugary, processed junk, and your children will
not want to miss out. That’s why it’s important to
begin teaching them at an early age what these
foods do to their bodies.
38
Following an organic, whole foods diet can be
difficult, but it’s much easier than dealing with
chronic ear infections and sickly kids. Fortun-
ately, your children don’t have to give up all their
favorite foods in order to be healthy. Some of the
foods children love can be OK if they are not
overly processed. For instance, pizza made with
organic raw cheese and fresh tomatoes with
roasted vegetable toppings on whole-wheat crust
can be a good treat. But some pizza is made with
imitation cheese that is partially hydrogenated
vegetable oil flavored to taste like cheese. And
imitation tomato sauce is nothing but artificially
colored, tomato-flavored chemicals. Is that what
we want in our children’s bodies?

Sugar – The Immunity Destroyer

Sugar has been shown in studies to suppress the


immune system and contribute to a weakened
defense against infections (Sanchez, 1973, Rinsdor
1976). Ray Wunderlich, M.D. tells us in his book,
Natural Alternatives to Antibiotics, “Excess sugars
paralyze the microbe-fighting white blood cells
and tend to produce candy catarrh”. Candy
catarrh is a term used to describe the excess
mucous (stuffed up or runny noses) many
children produce after eating a lot of candy.

39
Wunderlich says that in order to maintain healthy
immunity, we need to avoid sugar and eat a diet
high in alkalinizing foods – most fruits and
vegetables (Wunderlich, 1995).

In addition, sugar robs the body of essential


nutrients. As Nancy Appleton writes in Lick the
Sugar Habit, “Refined sugar, as tempting as it may
be in all those cakes, candies, and cups of coffee,
is, in fact, more of a pharmaceutical drug than it is
a nurturing food. The minerals needed to digest
sugar - chromium, manganese, cobalt, copper,
zinc, and magnesium - have been stripped from
the sugar during the refining process. This, in
turn, forces the body to deplete its own mineral
reserves to process the sugar.” (Appleton 1997)

Interestingly, in 1951, Benjamin Sandler, M.D.


found that low blood sugar causes susceptibility
to infections. Low blood sugar can be brought on
by a diet containing a lot of sugar and starch. Dr.
Sandler’s simple formula for preventing polio
was to eliminate sugar from the diet and reduce
the consumption of foods containing starch
(Sandler 1951).

Sugar provides children with no nutritional


benefits. When much of their diet is made up of
sugar, they are not getting the good foods they
need for energy and a healthy immune system.
40
Milk and Dairy Products
Denatured Foods
The highly processed milk and dairy products
that we get today are not immune-building foods.
The pasteurization of milk destroys enzymes,
diminishes vitamin content, denatures fragile
milk proteins, alters vitamin B12 and vitamin B6,
kills beneficial bacteria, promotes pathogens, and
is associated with allergies, increased tooth decay,
colic in infants, growth problems in children,
osteoporosis, diabetes, arthritis, heart disease and
cancer. Calves fed pasteurized milk die before
maturity (Weston A. Price Foundation).

In addition, recombinant bovine growth hormone


(rBGH) is a genetically engineered hormone that
is injected into commercial dairy cows to boost
milk production. Many health problems are asso-
ciated with rBGH, including an increased risk of
udder infections in cows so more antibiotics are
used to treat the cows. This means higher antibi-
otic residues in milk, which could lead to the
evolution of drug-resistant bacteria in human
bodies.

Avoid giving your children pasteurized milk,


including low fat, skim, and powdered milk. Soy
and rice milks are not healthy alternatives. Rice

41
milk is a highly processed, simple carbohydrate
drink and should be used sparingly. Soy
interferes with calcium, magnesium, zinc, and
iron absorption (Reddy 2002) and depresses
thyroid function (Divi 1997). Many doctors and
nutritionists are now advising parents to avoid all
soy products for children unless they are
fermented.

According to the International Foundation for


Nutrition and Health (IFNH), “raw butter and
kefir (liquid yogurt) are excellent sources of
essential nutrients and vitamins. Raw goat and
sheep cheeses and milk products are great
alternatives because their genetic code and fat
content are apparently more similar to those of
humans”. They add, though, that we should still
be cautious with using too much of these foods.

The Weston A. Price Foundation also praises raw


butter and kefir. In addition, they have done quite
a bit of research into the dangers of pasteurized,
homogenized milk, and they promote the use of
whole, raw milk from grass-fed cows. The
nutritional value of raw milk from grass-fed cows
is far different from the commercially processed
milk you find in most grocery stores.

Milk allergies are very common in children. The


symptoms can be subtle in some children.
42
Abdominal pain, bloating, and chronic diarrhea
are common signs of an allergy to milk. Diarrhea
is a big problem since it impairs a child’s ability to
absorb nutrients. Other symptoms of a milk
allergy include eczema or other skin rashes,
asthma, chronic nasal congestion, fatigue, learn-
ing disabilities, recurrent bronchitis, and chronic
ear infections.

If your child experiences any of these symptoms,


try eliminating all milk and dairy products from
the diet for at least a month. Watch for signs of
improvement. There has been much success in
eliminating asthma, ear infections and eczema
after discontinuing all dairy products.

The Weston A. Price Foundation maintains that


raw milk does not contribute to allergies like
pasteurized milk does. One of the studies they
cite is an interesting study of children attending a
Waldorf school in Stockholm, Sweden who were
compared to children of the same age at two
neighboring schools (Lancet Vol 353, pages 1485-
1488).

The Waldorf children were found to have lower


rates of allergic diseases. The lower rates were
associated with these four factors: contraction of
measles during childhood; avoidance of vaccina-
tions; consumption of lacto-fermented vegetables
43
and consumption of raw milk. When all four
factors were present, there were significantly
lower rates of allergic disease, particularly asthma
and dermatitis (Weston A. Price Foundation
2000).

For more information about raw milk, visit


www.realmilk.com or contact the Weston A. Price
Foundation, located in the resource section.

44
Commercial Fruit Juice

Commercial fruit juice, which is heavily con-


sumed by children, is not a whole food and adds
little nutritional value to the diet. Juicing removes
the fiber, and unless the juice is freshly squeezed
and consumed immediately, most of the nutrients
are lost. Without the fruit’s fiber, juice sends a
rapid burst of fructose (sugar) into the blood
stream. Commercial canned or bottled juices are
mostly sugar (even if you buy unsweetened, pure
juice) and could contain a lot of pesticides.
Drinking a lot of juice can lead to chronic nasal
congestion, blood sugar problems, yeast infec-
tions, and throat or ear infections.

Antioxidants – Immune Protection

Antioxidants are needed by the body to protect


the immune cells. Antioxidants are compounds in
foods that prevent or repair cell damage caused
by environmental pollution, pesticides, sunlight,
and normal body processes. The antioxidant
defense system includes vitamins A, C, and E and
the minerals zinc, copper, manganese, sulfur, and
selenium. It is best to obtain these vitamins and
minerals from food. Many other antioxidants
have been discovered in fruits and vegetables.
These fresh whole foods should be a large part of
your child’s diet.
45
Best food sources of antioxidants:

Vitamin A

Vitamin A is found in animal foods such as eggs,


liver, fish, and butter. Cod liver oil is an excellent
source of vitamin A. The vitamin A that comes
from animal foods is ready to be used by the
body.

Another form of vitamin A, found in carrots,


spinach, apricots, sweet potatoes, winter squash,
red peppers, cantaloupe, pumpkin, broccoli, and
dark green leafy vegetables are the precursor
carotenes and carotenoids, which can be con-
verted by the body to active vitamin A. Zinc, iron,
and vitamin E, as well as fats, are needed for this
conversion.

On average, one-third of the carotenes in food are


converted into vitamin A. Less than one-fourth of
the carotenes in carrots and other root vegetables
is converted, and about one-half in leafy green
vegetables is converted (DeCava 1996). Children
convert carotenes to vitamin A very poorly.

Any infection or inflammatory condition greatly


increases the body’s need for vitamin A, and
vitamin A deficiency clearly has profound effects
on the immune system (DeCava 1996). A study by
46
the National Institutes of Health discovered that a
single virus infection depletes the vitamin A
levels of healthy children for several months
(Campos 1987).

Vitamin C

Vitamin C is well-known for it’s ability to prevent


disease. The best sources of the vitamin C com-
plex are rose hips, acerola berries, citrus fruits,
tomatoes, strawberries, red peppers, pineapple,
guava, black currant, cabbage, turnip greens,
broccoli, cantaloupe, kale, papayas, cauliflower,
spinach, and cranberries.

Vitamin E

Food sources of vitamin E are unrefined essential


fatty acid-rich vegetable and seed oils, (expeller-
expressed wheat germ oil is an excellent source of
natural vitamin E), oatmeal and other whole
grains, broccoli, sweet potatoes, alfalfa, sunflower
seeds, hazelnuts, almonds, rose hips, lima beans,
avocado, liver, egg yolks, and butter.

Zinc

Studies show that children with recurrent


infections have lower blood levels of zinc and
iron (Bondestam 1985, Galland 1988). Zinc is
47
found in wheat germ, crabmeat, oysters, clams,
liver, other meats, egg yolks, pumpkin seeds,
sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, torula and brew-
ers yeast, peanuts, and almonds.

Liver is a great source of zinc, vitamin A, and


other antioxidants as well as iron. One ounce of
beef or calf liver provides 10,000 units of vitamin
A, 1 mg. of zinc, and 3 mg. of iron. All beef, but
liver especially, should come from cattle raised
organically and grass-fed, with no feed laced with
hormones or antibiotics.

Copper, Manganese, Selenium, and Sulfur

Copper is obtained from fish, sesame seeds, tofu,


and kidney beans. Sources of manganese are
brown rice, oatmeal, split peas, almonds, peanuts,
hazelnuts, pecans, walnuts, and blackberries.
You’ll find selenium in the vitamin E foods listed
above as well as in fish and shellfish. Sulfur is
found in fish and other protein-rich foods,
including meat and eggs.

48
Children Need Fats to be Healthy
Pay little attention to the pervasive hype about
low-fat diets. Children need fats in their diets to
be healthy. Healthy fats are essential for growth
and energy as well as the absorption and meta-
bolism of some nutrients. Fats are vitally
important to the brain, which is 70 percent fat.
They are used for building the membranes
around every cell in the body and also play a role
in the formation of hormones.

When you limit your child’s fat intake, you may


be depriving him or her of essential nutrients.
Many low-fat diets are low in zinc and vitamin E.
Zinc is essential to growth and proper function-
ing of the immune system, and vitamin E is an
important antioxidant that can help protect
against disease. Furthermore, when children are
eating a low-fat diet, they typically eat more high
sugar and starch carbohydrates, which can lead to
blood sugar problems and decreased immunity.

The caution here is to make sure your children get


the right fats and not the bad ones. Dietary fats
can either enhance or impair immune function,
depending on the type of fat.

49
Bad Fats

The media has been telling us for years to stay


away from saturated (animal) fats. Accordingly,
many people have switched to margarine instead
of butter. And fast food restaurants are now using
vegetable oils instead of beef tallow for deep-
frying. These are not healthy practices. Many of
the popular vegetable oils used today are hydro-
genated or trans fats. Hydrogenated fats, such as
margarine, are the prime culprits in heart disease
and cancer. Eating a lot of hydrogenated fats can
predispose a child to recurrent infections and
inflammatory conditions.

Hydrogenation is a manufacturing process that


converts unsaturated fats into saturated fats to
prolong shelf life. Hydrogenation alters any of the
good essential fatty acids (EFAs) that the oil may
contain and creates artificial fatty acids. It makes
perfectly good oils poison to your child’s immune
system by interfering with the metabolism of
EFAs. Dr. Galland, author of Superimmunity for
Kids, states “These artificial fatty acids are not
only unnatural and unnecessary, they can have a
disastrous effect on your child’s body’s ability to
use EFAs.” (Galland 1988)

Read the labels of foods you buy in the grocery


store. It’s difficult to find anything that does not
50
contain these unhealthy fats. Hydrogenated or
partially hydrogenated vegetable oils are found in
margarine, shortening, commercial baked goods,
fried chicken nuggets, fish sticks, french fries,
chips, and most processed foods.

Good Fats

Essential fatty acids (EFAs) are vital to normal


immune and nervous system function. They are
called essential because we need them to be
healthy and our bodies cannot make them. They
must be supplied by the diet.

There are numerous health problems associated


with EFA deficiencies. These include suscep-
tibility to infections, arthritis-like conditions,
asthma, eczema, hair loss, liver or kidney
degeneration, growth retardation and vision or
learning problems.

There are two kinds of EFAs: omega-6 is found in


evening primrose oil, borage oil, black currant oil,
safflower, sunflower, corn, canola, soybean, and
cottonseed oils. The other is omega-3. Flaxseed oil
and cod liver oil are rich in omega-3 EFAs.
Walnuts also contain significant amounts, as well
as freshly ground wheat germ. Certain fish,
including salmon, tuna, mackerel, bluefish, sar-
dines and herring, are rich in omega-3 EFAs.
51
A proper balance of omega-3 and omega-6 EFAs
is essential. An excess of omega-6 fats (poly-
unsaturated, commercial vegetable oils) can
create a fatty acid imbalance, contributing to
many health problems, including inflammation,
depressed immune system function, cancer, heart
disease, liver damage, learning disabilities, and
weight gain.

Most children are deficient in the omega-3 fatty


acids, which are more difficult to obtain. Breast-
milk contains the perfect balance of essential fatty
acids.

Providing EFAs to Your Children

Your child’s need for EFAs depends on what else


he or she is eating. If your child is eating a lot of
hydrogenated oils or trans fatty acids (fast foods,
commercial cakes, cookies, crackers, chips, and
other junk foods) or doesn’t get enough of certain
essential vitamins and minerals, her body may
not be able to make proper use of the EFAs she is
getting. EFAs must be metabolized effectively in
order for the body to reap their benefits. Certain
co-factor vitamins and minerals must also be
present. Vitamins B-6, A, C, E, magnesium, zinc,
copper, and selenium must be there to make the
metabolism of EFAs possible.

52
Once children are weaned from breastmilk, it’s
difficult to get omega-3 EFA’s into their diet.
Because of mercury contamination, children
should not eat large fish, particularly tuna.
Chickens, eggs, and beef can be sources of omega-
3 fats, but only if the animals eat green plants and
not just grains. Look for grassfed beef and cage-
free chickens that eat green plants or algae.
Otherwise these foods are deficient in EFAs.

The best sources of omega-3 fats are cod liver oil


(1 tsp per 50 lbs of body weight), fish oil capsules
(containing 250 mg of DHA for children over 7
years old), and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid)
supplements derived from algae (Neuromins).
(Neustaedter, 2005)

Flax seed oil is becoming a popular EFA


supplement recommended for children. How-
ever, there may be a problem with obtaining the
omega-3 fatty acid DHA from flax seed oil. DHA
(docosahexaenoic acid) is extremely important for
brain development and children must have this in
their diet. Dr. Neustaedter explains this problem
in Child Health Guide: Holistic Pediatrics for
Parents:

Flax seeds contain the omega-3 fatty


acid ALA that must be converted to
DHA by an enzyme so that the body
53
can incorporate it into cells. The
problem is that children make this
enzyme only in small amounts, if at
all. If they do not have the enzyme
they will not benefit from the
omega-3 fat in flax seeds. Newborns
are completely unable to convert
ALA to DHA. A study of breast-
feeding mothers who took a
flaxseed oil supplement had no
resulting increase in their own
plasma or breast milk levels of
DHA, showing that adults do not
make this conversion either.
(Neustaedter 2005)

Coconut oil is also gaining recognition as a


healthy fat. Coconut oil contains lauric acid,
which helps prevent infection and aids in the
prevention of diabetes, heart disease, and cancer.
(Neustaedter 2005)

Years ago, mothers gave their children a small


daily dose of cod liver oil to prevent disease. This
was a good immune building practice. Cod liver
oil is a good source of omega-3 EFAs with the
added benefits of fat-soluble vitamins A and D.
Cod liver oil is rich in the fatty acids EPA and
DHA, which are very important for the proper
function of the brain and nervous system. See
54
additional information about cod liver oil in the
Nutritional Supplements section of this booklet.

When cooking, use cold-pressed, extra virgin


olive oil, coconut oil, or butter. Do not use mar-
garine.

Saturated Fats

Both cholesterol and saturated fat are essential to


the development of the brain and nervous system.
In fact, human breastmilk contains over 50% of its
calories as fat, much of it saturated. Saturated fats
are not harmful, but tremendously healthy if they
are obtained from grass-fed animals.

It is important to stay away from commercial


meat – the kind you find in most grocery stores.
Healthy meat comes from grass-fed animals
raised humanely on family farms without
hormones and antibiotics. The nutritional value is
far different than the commercial, factory-farmed
meat. Feeding large amounts of grain to a farm
animal alters the nutritional value of its meat or
dairy products whether the grain is raised
organically or conventionally (Robinson 2000). Meat
from grass-fed animals is lower in total fat and
calories than commercial meat and richer in
omega-3 fatty acids (two to six times more) and

55
the cancer-fighting fat, CLA. It also has higher
levels of a number of antioxidant vitamins.

Most, if not all, of the meat, poultry, dairy


products, and eggs available in your grocery store
come from animals that are raised in large
confinement facilities where they are fed grain-
based diets and treated with a variety of
antibiotics and hormones. Factory farming is the
reason why animal products have the reputation
of contributing to many diseases. We did not
have as much cancer, heart disease, obesity, and
other degenerative diseases when all the meat
came from grass-fed animals raised without
hormones and antibiotics.

Moderate amounts of healthy fats in the diet do


not cause obesity. The real culprits in obesity and
a host of other chronic diseases are refined sugar,
white flour products, trans-fatty acids in the form
of heated refined vegetable oils, or hydrogenated
oils such as margarine and vegetable shortening.

Dr. Price (Weston A. Price Foundation)


considered butter from grass-fed cows to be the
ultimate health food. In addition to saturated fat
and cholesterol, butter contains fat-soluble vita-
mins in the most absorbable form, factors that
help the body absorb and utilize minerals, and a
small amount of omega-6 and omega-3 essential
56
fatty acids in the proper balance. Butter also
contains vitamin A, vitamin E and selenium -
important antioxidants for the immune system
(Fallon and Enig 1999). The important point here
is to use butter from grass-fed cows. Unfor-
tunately, you can’t find this type of butter, nor
can you find grass-fed meats in a typical grocery
store (see resources).

Sally Fallon, author of Nourishing Traditions


(Fallon 1999) says, “our choice of fats and oils is
one of extreme importance. Most people,
especially infants and growing children, benefit
from more fat in the diet rather than less. But the
fats we eat must be chosen with care. Avoid all
processed foods containing newfangled hydro-
genated fats and polyunsaturated oils. Instead,
use traditional vegetable oils like extra virgin
olive oil and small amounts of unrefined flax seed
oil. Acquaint yourself with the merits of coconut
oil for baking and with animal fats for occasional
frying. Eat egg yolks and other animal fats with
the proteins to which they are attached. And,
finally, use as much good quality butter as you
like, with the happy assurance that it is a
wholesome - indeed, an essential - food for you
and your whole family.”

57
Natural Supplements
for Superimmunity
A multivitamin/mineral supplement may improve
immune system function to some extent, but
vitamin and mineral supplements cannot replace
the nutrients in food. The vitamins and minerals
in whole foods are very complex and have many
parts and co-factors that are dependent upon each
other.

Judith DeCava, MS. LNC, author of The Real Truth


about Vitamins and Antioxidants, defines a vitamin
as “a complex mechanism...of functional, inter-
related, interdependent components. A vitamin
consists of, not only the organic nutrient(s)
identified as the vitamin, but also enzymes,
coenzymes, antioxidants and trace element
activators.” (DeCava, 1996)

Foods are perfectly designed with all the


necessary vitamins, minerals and co-factors that
work together synergistically to produce a
healthy nutritional effect on the body. Most
nutrients require a number of other nutritional
elements to be present in order for them to be
processed efficiently. You just can’t get this
natural perfection from a vitamin bottle.

58
Most supplement manufacturers are pharma-
ceutical companies that synthesize vitamins by
separating out a part of the whole vitamin.
Separated from the rest of their parts and neces-
sary co-factors, these synthetic “vitamins” no
longer can produce a normal nutritional effect on
the body and may cause imbalances. They have
more of a drug effect and may cause the body to
try to compensate for missing nutritional
elements.

Synthetic vitamins can be valuable in short-term


therapeutic treatment of acute diseases or when
there are severe deficiencies. But for general
health and disease prevention, natural food
supplements such as rose hips, acerola berries,
nutritional yeast, wheat germ oil, and cod-liver
oil are the best bet for children.

Dr. Laura Mason-Scarborough explains in her


article, Synthetic or Natural Vitamins - What’s The
Difference?, the problems with synthetic vitamins:

An excellent example of the


difference between whole food and
synthetic supplements, is vitamin C.
The majority of books and maga-
zines on the subject of nutrition
refer to vitamin C as ascorbic acid.
These terms are used interchange-
59
ably. However, vitamin C is not
simply ascorbic acid. Ascorbic acid
is the outer skin of vitamin C, much
like the skin of an orange. Vitamin C
also contains bioflavonoid com-
plexes, tyrosinase, and several other
factors. What do you get if you
purchase a synthesized bottle of
vitamin C? You are buying ascorbic
acid, a small part of vitamin C,
manufactured from super-refined
corn sugar. Ascorbic acid does have
strong effects on the body but is
more of a drug than a nutrient.
Because your body needs all parts of
a vitamin to function, it will leech
the other necessary cofactors from
itself in order to use the ascorbic
acid (Mason-Scarborough 1998).

One thing that may be confusing is the potency of


natural versus synthetic vitamins. Natural food
concentrates have a much lower “potency” in
milligrams or micrograms. This may lead you to
believe that they are less effective and not as
powerful as synthetic vitamins. Synthetic vita-
mins are measured based on animal testing. It
requires a large amount of the separated vitamin
to achieve a specific reaction in animals (and in
humans). According to Judith DeCava, this reac-
60
tion is a drug effect and not necessarily a
nutritional reaction.

Food concentrates cause potent nutritional


reactions since they are working with their
natural synergists to be properly used by the
body. As Judith DeCava states “...a minute
amount of a vitamin that is left intact in its whole
food form is tremendously more functional,
powerful, and effective nutritionally than a large
amount of a chemically-pure, vitamin fraction.
Therefore, only small amounts of natural vitamin
complexes are required. They are organic micro-
nutrients, nutrients needed in tiny quantities, to
accomplish many big biochemical jobs.” (DeCava
1996)

Nutritional Requirements are Unique


for Each Child

Individual needs for vitamins and minerals vary


greatly in children, depending on many factors,
including what they eat and breathe, the amount
of sleep, stress and sun they get, the drugs they
are taking, their emotional state, and how much
they weigh. Absorption rates of vitamins,
minerals and trace elements can easily vary from
5 to 80%.

61
The Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs)
set by the Food and Nutrition Board of the
National Academy of Sciences are recom-
mendations for the average daily amounts of
nutrients for population groups. These are not
requirements for a specific person. One child may
require twice as much, or even ten times as much,
of one vitamin and half as much of another
vitamin as another child.

The main factor in determining your children’s


nutritional supplement needs is the quality of
their everyday diet. A diet comprised of pro-
cessed foods, pesticides, and refined sugar
requires a higher intake of nutrients since the
body needs to work harder to metabolize these
unnatural substances. This is especially true with
a diet high in sugar since this “anti-nutrient”
tends to leech vitamins and minerals from the
body. Many nutritionists believe that “normal”
nutritional requirements may be cut by a third or
even a half for a child who regularly eats organic
whole foods since whole food nutrients are
absorbed and utilized better by the body.

If your child has chronic immune problems or a


disease or disorder that does not resolve after
changing the diet, you may consider consulting a
qualified nutritionist or other health professional

62
to find out if he or she has any specific nutritional
deficiencies and to determine specific needs.

Probiotic Supplementation

Consider supplementing with probiotics or


making lacto-fermented vegetables if your child
has a history of antibiotic use, ear infections,
thrush, diarrhea, constipation, colic, food aller-
gies, eczema, intestinal viral infections,
candidiasis, or is bottle-fed.

Probiotics are the beneficial bacteria in the


intestinal tract that keep the “bad” bacteria from
taking over. These bacteria are essential for
healthy immunity and are part of the body’s
natural defense system against infections. A
recent study in the British Medical Journal
showed that replenishing good bacteria protects
against recurrent ear infections in children (Roos
2001). Another study concluded that supple-
menting with probiotics could help children in
day care have fewer infections (Hatakka, 2001).
You can find probiotic supplements in the
refrigerator section at your local health food store.

Before freezers or canning machines, people


preserved vegetables for long periods through the
process of lacto-fermentation. Lactic acid is a
natural preservative that inhibits putrefying
63
bacteria. Starches and sugars in vegetables and
fruits are converted into lactic acid by the many
species of lactic-acid-producing bacteria.

The proliferation of lactobacilli in fermented


vegetables enhances their digestibility and
increases vitamin levels. These beneficial organ-
isms produce numerous helpful enzymes as well
as antibiotic and anticarcinogenic substances.
Their main by-product, lactic acid, not only keeps
vegetables and fruits in a state of perfect
preservation but also promotes the growth of
healthy bacteria throughout the intestine.

Sally Fallon devotes a chapter of her book,


Nourishing Traditions, to discussing the benefits of
lacto-fermentation as well as how to easily make
lacto-fermented condiments such as sauerkraut,
pickled garlic, pickled cucumbers, relishes and
chutneys. Included are many recipes. Sally brings
us much wisdom with the following excerpt from
this chapter:

Scientists and doctors today are


mystified by the proliferation of
new viruses—not only the deadly
AIDS virus but the whole gamut of
human viruses that seem to be
associated with everything from
chronic fatigue to cancer and
64
arthritis. They are equally mystified
by recent increases in the incidence
of intestinal parasites and patho-
genic yeasts, even among those
whose sanitary practices are
faultless. Could it be that in
abandoning the ancient practice of
lacto-fermentation and in our
insistence on a diet in which
everything has been pasteurized, we
have compromised the health of our
intestinal flora and made ourselves
vulnerable to legions of pathogenic
microorganisms? If so, the cure for
these diseases will be found not in
vaccinations, drugs or antibiotics
but in a restored partnership with
the many varieties of lactobacilli, our
symbionts of the microscopic world.
(Fallon 1999)

Your children can get all the nutritional elements


they need from an organic whole foods diet if
they eat enough of these foods. But what if they
don’t? If they don’t eat enough healthy foods,
then you may want to supplement their diet with
natural vitamins and minerals or super foods,
such as spirulina, cod liver oil, acerola tablets, bee
pollen, wheat germ oil, and nutritional yeast.
Super foods or whole food concentrates are foods
65
that are very concentrated food forms of
nutrition. Unlike synthetic vitamins, super foods
provide many nutrients that support each other
and prevent the kind of imbalances that often
occur when vitamins are taken singly.

An excellent whole food supplement is Dr.


Schulze’s SuperFood. It is a 100% organic vitamin
and mineral food concentrate that provides a
wide range of natural food vitamins, minerals,
amino acids and essential trace nutrients. It
contains spirulina, blue-green algae, chlorella,
alfalfa, barley, and wheat grasses, purple dulse
seaweed, beet root, spinach leaf, rose hips, orange
and lemon peels, and nutritional yeast. (see
resources)

66
Immunity-Strengthening Herbs
Herbs have been used safely all around the world
since ancient times to prevent and treat disease.
One of the most beneficial uses of herbs is in
strengthening the immune system. Certain herbs,
including echinacea, astragalus, elderberry, and
garlic, have been found to have remarkable
immunological effects in both the lab and clinic.
These herbs support the body’s vitality and help
prevent development of disease.

Keep in mind that herbs are not “magic bullets”


or drugs designed to wipe out a specific disease.
Many of us view our children’s and our own
illnesses as an inconvenience to be suppressed or
combated as soon as possible. We just want to
take a pill to make it go away. But when we can
recognize the illness as an indicator that some-
thing is out of balance in the body, we can work
on building and strengthening the body to
function at its best.

Rather than fighting an illness by eliminating the


symptoms, herbs act to strengthen the function of
the body so that it can heal the underlying cause,
thus eliminating the disease.

Herbs are available in liquid extracts (tinctures or


glycerites), capsules and tablets. You can also buy
67
or make your own teas or infusions from dried or
fresh herbs. Tinctures (extracted with alcohol) are
the ideal way to take herbs, since the chemical
properties that give the herb the medicinal power
are more solvent into alcohol. Teas are also great
ways to give herbs to children.

Although children love the sweet taste of


glycerites (herbs extracted with glycerine), gly-
cerine is the least effective medium for making a
potent extract. Even so, most companies that
make children’s herbal formulas use glycerine
because of the taste. These extracts may not be as
effective as tinctures. A tincture can be added to
tea or water that has just been boiled and left to
stand about five minutes. The alcohol will
evaporate out, leaving the medicine behind in the
tea.

Dosages for children over age one are usually


calculated by weight. The dosages listed on
bottles or in books are usually designed for a 150
lb. person, so you would need to divide your
child’s weight by 150 to get the percentage of the
recommended dosage. If your child weighs 75
lbs., the dosage would be 1/2 the dosage listed on
the bottle.

A child under a year old has an undeveloped and


sensitive digestive system, but if they are nursing,
68
they can receive some herbs safely through your
breastmilk. You can take the adult dose 15-30
minutes before nursing and the herb will be in
your milk for up to 48 hours. Some herbs are not
safe for pregnancy or lactation so it’s important to
avoid them. Medications in Mother’s Milk, by
Thomas Hale, Ph.D., is an informative book with
information on herbs for lactation (available at
LaLeche League website-see resources).

The following are immune-building herbs that


have been found to be safe for children. These
herbs have gentle, yet profound effects upon the
body. They are natural sources of nutrients and
other substances that the body uses to strengthen
resistance to illness as well as to create an
environment for healing.

Echinacea

With antiviral, antibacterial and other immuno-


logical properties, echinacea is well-known for its
use in treatment of infections and as a blood
purifier. Over 50 years of research in Europe and
more than 400 published studies has established
its safety and proven the clinical use of echinacea
in boosting immunity and strengthening resis-
tance to infection. See more about echinacea in
the Medicinal Roots section (below).

69
Astragalus

Astragalus is a tonic herb that boosts immune


function and strengthens resistance to disease. It
increases the activity of infection-fighting white
blood cells and boosts the production of
interferon, an antiviral agent. Astragalus is used
to prevent colds and flu and to restore immune
strength once an illness is over. It is safe for long-
term use and can be taken consistently
throughout the cold and flu season.

Astragalus is considered a warming herb in


Chinese medicine suitable only for cold condi-
tions. Depending upon the symptoms, a cold or
flu may be considered hot or cold. If you don’t
know if your child’s illness is hot or cold, consult
a practitioner of Traditional Chinese Medicine to
find out if astragalus should be used. Otherwise,
don’t use this herb during the illness.

Sliced, dried astragalus root looks like a wooden


tongue depressor. To make a tea, simmer 6 slices
in 3 cups of water for 1 hour. Strain and serve.
You can serve this tea alone or mix it with
chamomile tea. You can also add the “tongue
depressors” directly to your soup, stew, or rice
pot and let it cook into the dish. Discard the
astragalus before serving. It does not change the
taste of the dish and your family can receive the
70
immune boosting properties directly from their
food. Astragalus is sometimes available in a
dried, shredded form. For tea, simmer 3
tablespoons of this and 3 cups of water in a
covered pot for 30 minutes and strain.

Black Elderberry

Black Elderberry (sambucus nigra-L) stimulates the


immune system by increasing production of
inflammatory cytokines (Barak 2001). It has high
concentrations of certain bioflavonoids. A small
study showed that black elderberry is effective
against flu strains. (Zakay-Rones 1995). Elder-
berry can be safely given to children in a tea or
tincture form.

Garlic

Known as nature’s antibiotic, garlic is one of the


most effective anti-microbial plants available. It
works to stimulate the immune system and
directly destroys pathogenic bacteria, viruses,
fungi, tumors, and parasites. While effectively
eliminating the pathogenic organisms, garlic
supports the development of the beneficial
bacteria in the body.

No bacterial resistance is built up with garlic so it


is safe to use long-term and frequently. Garlic can
71
be a powerful eradicator of antibiotic-resistant
infections. Using garlic and echinacea together is
a powerful combination.

Garlic is a basic food that will enhance and


protect the body’s overall health. Use as much
fresh garlic as you can get your children to eat,
along with echinacea for stimulating immunity
and for treating disease.

Note that the garlic must be fresh. Drying and


cooking garlic leads to the loss of a large portion
of the active antimicrobial constituents. These
immune stimulating and disease fighting com-
pounds are released with juicing, crushing or
chewing of the fresh garlic. Garlic pills or
capsules are not as effective when it comes to
antimicrobial activity.

Juice the fresh garlic and add it to other more


palatable fresh juices. Or chew a piece of the clove
prior to swallowing. You can also chew the garlic
with almonds or other nuts to mask the taste.

Getting kids to eat fresh raw garlic is a real


challenge. One trick is to crush it through a garlic
press, then add it to mashed potatoes, soups (at
the last minute) or your child’s favorite food.
Fresh, compressed garlic can be served in salad
dressings and many other dishes.
72
Garlic has no toxic effects, even in large doses,
although some people may have sensitivities to
garlic. It may cause heartburn or flatulence in a
few people, and of course the odor can be a real
drawback. Chewing on fresh parsley helps to
relieve the odor of garlic on your breath.

Chamomile

With its antispasmodic, anti-inflammatory,


antibacterial, and carminative properties, chamo-
mile is used for a variety of things. As a gentle
sedative and nerve tonic, chamomile can help
children to get the rest they need. A warm bath
with an infusion of chamomile can relax an
unsettled child. It is a great digestive aid and
appetite stimulant. It helps gas, stomach cramps,
diarrhea, colic or any other stomach upset.

Chamomile may also directly stimulate the


immune system. Wounds, diaper rash and other
skin problems can be washed with an infusion of
chamomile flowers.

Chamomile tea is safe for infants. If you are a


nursing mother, drinking a couple cups of
chamomile tea each day may calm a fussy, colicky
baby (along with your own nerves). Note: people
who suffer from allergies to ragweed sometimes

73
have adverse reactions to chamomile, as these are
in the same botanical family.)

Nettle

Also known as stinging nettles, nettle is one of the


most mineral rich plants on earth. Particularly
high in calcium, iron, protein, chlorophyll and
vitamin C, nettle is a delicious food as well as a
medicine. Nettle strengthens and supports the
whole body, and is nourishing, diuretic, tonic,
astringent and antihistamine. Clinical studies of
nettle (in the form of freeze-dried capsules) show
that it relieves the symptoms of hayfever and
other allergies. Nettle is also beneficial for
childhood eczema. It is an excellent nourishing
herb for pregnancy, it can enrich the quality and
increase the flow of breastmilk and restore a
mother’s energy after childbirth. Nettle can be
powdered and added to smoothies or drunk
regularly as a tea or infusion.

74
Medicinal Roots
Herbal tonics made from medicinal roots can be
very beneficial in strengthening immunity. The
following is an excerpt from clinical herbalist
Susan Perri’s article Herbs for Winter Medicine:
The Roots of Immunity
(www.bluecrescentschool.com)

The following is a list of common, simple


nutritive herbs that are supportive and restorative
to human immunity. They are tonics, meaning
they are suitable for extensive use, even by small
children and pregnant or nursing mothers. These
herbs are safe, effective, and able to be used over
a given time period without fear of cumulative
toxicity or other adverse side effects. Dosages
may include tincture (alcohol or glycerin based
extract) or decoction (water based extract, a
strong tea), depending on the herb being used
and the desired effect.

Dandelion root

The bright yellow flowers and fluffy white seed


heads of this common plant are easy to find in
virtually any location in North America and
Europe. The entire plant is medicinal - leaves,
flowers, and roots. The roots, in particular, are a
superior nutritive tonic boasting alterative (blood
cleansing) properties. Dandelion root’s specific
75
action is on the liver. It is a classic hepatic, or liver
tonic herb.

Dandelion supports the inherent blood filtering


capacity of the liver, assisting in the body’s
natural housekeeping functions. Dandelion also
offers a rich array of vitamins and minerals. This
amazing tonic root is rich in iron, beta carotene,
calcium, and potassium. Use dandelion root daily
during the winter months. The root can be
roasted and used as a coffee substitute, or simply
simmered for tea. Tincture may also be used;
follow the instructions for dosage on the label,
using Clark’s Rule for children.

Burdock root

The wide gray-green leaves of this plant send up


a high flowering stalk with the well known sticky
burrs. Walk among burdock in the late summer
and you are sure to find hitchhiking burrs on
hair, clothing, and pets. Its action is rather similar
to that of dandelion root, working as a liver tonic
and alterative. Burdock makes excellent wild
food, which is naturally sweet, and in fact is
cultivated in Japan for its medicinal and nutritive
value. Burdock root, like dandelion, carries an
abundant array of vitamins and trace minerals,
including magnesium, potassium, vitamin A and
calcium.
76
Yellow dock root

Found in abundance along ditches and roadsides,


yellow dock has a deep yellow root and a
pungent earthy smell. Its early spring leaves can
be steamed and eaten to benefit the liver and a
sluggish winter metabolism. The root works in a
similar fashion, helping to clear stagnant blood
and assist the liver.

Additionally, yellow dock root is rich in


phytonutrients. It has a high iron content, work-
ing directly to nourish the blood and the blood
building capacity of the bone marrow. Yellow
dock also offers a natural source of phosphorus
and essential vitamins A, B, and C. It is excellent
natural protection from certain anemias, and
provides a comprehensive natural defense during
times of lessened resistance or increased exposure
to illness.

Echinacea root

The lovely purple coneflower used to grace our


prairie states in abundance, but due to recent
notoriety it has reached endangered status on
environmental watch lists. Echinacea is a won-
derful herbal medicine, and it is vitally important
to use it appropriately and acquire it responsibly.
Please buy echinacea organically grown, and not
77
wild harvested (ethically or otherwise). This is the
best way to insure your purchase is not further
exhausting limited natural habitats.

Echinacea works by directly stimulating and


enhancing natural immune responses. It, too, has
an alterative action, but also works to increase
circulating white blood cells. White blood cells
are responsible for various stages and aspects of
the immune system’s process. Generally, white
blood cells work by seeking out and destroying
invasive, harmful particles found circulating in
the blood. This neutralization process is integral
to preventing and healing any kind of infection.

In other words, Echinacea root works rather like


an herbal antibiotic. It is not a tonic herb, contrary
to popular belief and practice. Echinacea is best
used in an acute situation when infection is
present - not as preventive medicine. When
echinacea is used extensively as part of a
preventive care program, it loses its potency and
effectiveness. Much like an antibiotic, when
echinacea is truly needed to do its vital work, the
body has built a resistance to it if it has been
taken regularly prior to that time.

Echinacea works very well and is safe for children


and pregnant women. In fact, a recent scientific
study backs what traditional herbalists have
78
observed for centuries. A controlled study
through Motherisk found no significant differ-
ence between the group of pregnant women
using Echinacea and the controls. The conclusion
of this study suggests that Echinacea use during
pregnancy is not associated with increased risks
for malformations.

79
Healthy Thoughts and Feelings
Create Healthy Immunity
Much research has been done on how thoughts
and emotions affect the cells, organs and tissues
of the body. Thoughts and emotions actually
generate physiological substances that affect the
processes in the body.

The field of psychoneuroimmunology is helping


us to better understand how the nervous,
immune and endocrine systems communicate.
Neuropeptides and neurotransmitters are mes-
sengers released by the brain that influence the
cellular activity in the body. White blood cells
(key immune factors that destroy disease) receive
direct messages from the brain through the
nervous system. These are just some of the
communication paths between the mind and
body. Through research and experience, it is
becoming increasingly evident that the mind and
body directly affect each other and are essentially
one and the same.

Your child’s state of mind definitely influences


the development of and the healing of illness.
Hopelessness, depression, and the bottling up of
emotions can have negative effects on physical
health. Emotional stress and unhappiness can

80
deplete the immune system and increase the
likelihood of disease. Studies suggest that psycho-
logical stress is a risk factor for the common cold
(Takkouche 2001). Events in children’s lives or
their perception of these events can profoundly
affect their resistance to disease.

Laughter and positive thoughts and feelings


stimulate the cells of the immune system. The
more children laugh and enjoy life, the better
their immune function.

Does your child freely express his or her feelings


and have a strong sense of self-worth? Has there
been a loss of a close relative, teacher, friend, or
pet, and has he or she been able to fully grieve the
loss? Has there been any type of physical or
emotional trauma or a traumatic birth? These
emotional states can definitely affect the state of
your child’s health.

If needed, a psychotherapist can provide support


for and be a guide for your child’s mental and
emotional healing. Art or music therapy can be
very helpful for children to get in touch with their
feelings. Meditation is a valuable tool that older
children can learn to help them to relax and
become aware of their feelings. Children can also
be guided to take deep breaths when they are
stressed.
81
Imagery is a fun and powerful mental technique
that allows children to use their imagination to
influence their health. They can use guided
imagery to calm themselves down, relieve pain,
increase immunity to disease, increase body
image, increase learning or athletic potential, and
promote healing.

Emotional health needs to be nurtured


throughout pregnancy, birth and childhood.
Babies need to be breastfed, held, carried, rocked
and cuddled on a continuous basis.

Attachment parenting is a style of parenting that


recognizes the critical importance of a secure
attachment between parents and young children.
This adaptable parenting style is nurturing,
loving, and touch-oriented with practices that
include bonding with baby, breastfeeding,
responsive caregiving, co-sleeping, carrying or
“wearing” the baby, and respect for the child as
an individual.

Listening to your children and honoring their


feelings promotes healthy expression of emotions.
When they feel loved and sense that the people
around them love each other, they are secure and
happy – this makes them healthier.

82
An important way to guard against emotional
stress and promote positive feelings in an infant
or toddler is by frequent breastfeeding. In
addition to the tremendous immune-building ef-
fects of breastmilk, the comfort children receive
from nursing reassures them and can ease the
sometimes stressful situation of being a little per-
son in a big world.

Nurturing touch communicates love, the main


ingredient for emotional growth and well-being.
Giving regular massages to babies and children of
all ages can relieve stress and stimulate the
immune system. You can learn to do baby and
child massage yourself. Find a class in your area,
or you can get the book, Infant Massage, A
Handbook for Loving Parents, by Vimala Schneider
McClure (see resources).

Plenty of sleep is also essential. Your child’s body


regenerates and renews itself while sleeping. Lack
of enough sleep can be a big factor in a depleted
immune system. It’s important to include “quiet
time” as part of your child’s day. Kids can easily
be taught to practice yoga and meditation. A
great yoga video for kids is YogaKids by Living
Arts.

Plenty of fresh air and exercise can make a big


difference in the health of your children. Exercise
83
relieves stress and stimulates the immune system.
Turn off the television and video games and
encourage your children to get involved in sports
and other activities in which they can move their
bodies while having fun.

Spending a lot of time inside, breathing


chemically polluted, recirculated air, can be a
hazard to your child’s health. Go for walks, play
in the woods and let your children climb, jump,
run, and dance. Let them hug trees and run
barefoot in the grass. Mother Nature can be an
excellent immune stimulator.

84
Allergies
Children can have one or more allergies or
sensitivities to food, pollens, molds, dusts and
dust mites and be sensitive to any of the
numerous chemicals now present in our
environment. Any food can be an allergen, but
the most common are dairy, wheat, eggs, nuts,
chocolate, citrus, and soy.

As the immune system develops, it learns how to


recognize what is self and what is an outside
invader. Sometimes the immune system reacts to
harmless substances or responds to the body’s
own glands or tissues as if they were a cancer. An
allergy occurs when the immune system attacks
harmless foods or other substances that enter the
body from the outside. An autoimmune disease
occurs when the immune system attacks its own
body.

It is important to deal with allergies since the


unnecessary reactions against foods or other
substances can exhaust the immune system, caus-
ing insufficient defenses for mounting an effective
response against disease (Wunderlich 1995).

A large percentage of people experience a


decrease or elimination of allergies when proper

85
nutrition is started through diet and natural
supplementation.

EFA deficiencies can play an important role in


allergies. Dr. Galland’s research shows that
people with allergies need more EFAs than
people who don’t have allergies. (Galland 1986).
He says that one of the enzymes involved in EFA
metabolism is weakened or doesn’t function
properly in people with allergies.

Another study has found that in children with


allergic eczema and asthma, the EFA conversion
is blocked. (Galland 1988). Similar EFA blocks
have been found in people with hay fever. Fortu-
nately, this can be overcome by adding enough
EFAs to the diet.

Dr. Galland points out “Even when an infant


inherits a predisposition for allergies, special
protective elements found in breastmilk, together
with EFAs, can delay the onset of allergic illness
and greatly reduce its severity” (Galland 1988).

Probiotics (beneficial bacteria) are safe for infants


and effective in reducing allergic inflammation
and food allergies. Giving pregnant mothers and
newborns doses of probiotics helps to prevent
childhood allergies (Kalliomaki 2001).

86
Homeopathy prescribed by a classical homeopath
can be very helpful in improving or completely
eliminating allergies. The correct constitutional
remedy specific to your child’s complete
symptom picture and emotional state is essential,
so finding a good classical homeopath is impor-
tant (see resources).

Many children (and adults) have completely


eliminated their allergies through Nambudripad’s
Allergy Elimination Technique (NAET). By repro-
gramming the brain and removing the blockages
from the energy pathways of the body, NAET can
completely eliminate an allergy and allow the
body to regain balance and function normally.

Thousands of doctors of acupuncture, allopathy,


chiropractic and various other licensed practi-
tioners have been trained in NAET.
(see resources)

87
Our Children’s
Toxic Environment
More than 75,000 chemicals are permeating our
environment. A substantial body of evidence
suggests that exposure to toxic chemicals may
compromise the immune systems of infants and
children, increasing their risk of infectious disease
(NRDC).

Children come in contact with pesticides every


day through the food they eat, the water they
drink and the air they breathe. In addition, most
children are exposed to pesticides in their homes
and schools, as well as on playgrounds, lawns,
athletic fields, and public parks. These substances
enter their small bodies through the skin, lungs,
mouth and eyes. If the body cannot eliminate the
toxins, they tend to be stored in body fat and
accumulate over time.

Infants and small children are especially


vulnerable because they absorb substances faster
and have more difficulty eliminating them. Their
kidneys are immature and cannot excrete foreign
compounds as fast as adults (NRDC).

Very little is known about the combined effects of


repeated low-level exposures to many different

88
chemicals. But the preliminary evidence and
information that is known alerts us that we have a
critical, universal problem that is slowly
diminishing the health of our children.

Environmental toxins are everywhere, but there is


much you can do to avoid unnecessary exposures
and reduce the overall amount of chemicals your
children take into their bodies. There are
affordable, nontoxic alternatives to all lawn and
garden pesticides, toxic household cleaners and
personal care products. Buying organic foods will
greatly decrease your child’s overall exposure to
pesticides and add more important minerals to
the diet.

The importance of organic food for children


cannot be stressed enough. Children are exposed
to so many chemicals on a regular basis, why add
more in their food? Consumers Union and the
Environmental Working Group (based on 1999
studies) found the following foods to have the
highest pesticide residues. If you’re not able to
buy all your foods organic, at least try to get these
organic, whenever possible:

Strawberries
Peaches
Bell Peppers (Green and Red)
Apples
89
Pears
Winter Squash
Green Beans
Grapes
Raspberries
Spinach
Potatoes
Cherries
Cantaloupe (Mexican)
Celery
Apricots

If you do buy conventional produce, peel the fruit


that you would normally just wash, such as
apples and pears. Remember, though, that when
you do this you are also throwing away a
valuable nutrition resource since a good deal of
the fiber, vitamins and minerals are found in the
peel of the fruit. Also keep in mind some
pesticides, such as dieldrin, aldicarb and DDT are
systemic, and are found throughout the vegetable
or fruit (Utterback 2001).

Organic food is not always more expensive than


conventional. In fact, it can be less expensive if
you know where to buy it. Buy organic food
locally grown, in season, and in bulk. The least
expensive way is to grow it yourself. You could
also buy it from a local coop, health food store or

90
farmers market, or purchase it directly from a
distribution warehouse or a food-buying club.

A community supported agriculture (CSA)


program, where you buy the food directly from a
local farmer can be a good way to go. A fun
outing for the kids is to go to a U-Pick farm and
pick your own strawberries or other fruits and
vegetables and pay lower prices by the pound. If
you don’t have these resources in your area, you
could purchase organic food over the Internet,
but this is usually more expensive.

Environmental Medicine

Doris Rapp, M.D., a leading environmental medi-


cal specialist and pediatric allergist, has written a
fully documented, 600-page book describing the
causes, health effects and treatments of
environmental illness. Is This Your Child’s World?
How You Can Fix the Schools and Homes That Are
Making Your Children Sick provides help for
children who are hyperactive, asthmatic, or suf-
fering from chronic illness or learning problems
caused by chemicals in the environment.

Environmental illness is a label for an assortment


of medical problems caused by environmental
factors. Common symptoms are some combin-
ation of nasal congestion, fatigue, headaches,
91
hyperactivity, muscle or joint pain, twitches,
blurred vision, burning skin, abdominal
discomfort, and inability to think clearly, as well
as a variety of learning or behavior difficulties
(Rapp 1996).

Practitioners of environmental medicine recog-


nize that illness can be caused by a broad range of
substances, including chemicals found at home,
in the workplace, and in the air, water, and food.
There are multiple approaches to treatment,
including changes in lifestyle, diet and environ-
ment. New techniques such as provocation-
neutralization can not only pinpoint the causes
but also provide fast and effective relief of the
symptoms.

Studies have supported the use of the approaches


of environmental medicine in treating arthritis,
asthma, chemical sensitivity, allergies, colitis,
depression, eczema, fatigue, and hyperactivity.
For more information about environmental medi-
cine, see resources.

92
Chronic Immune Dysfunction
If after making the lifestyle changes described in
this book, your child is still overly susceptible to
infections or has multiple allergies, there may be
some persistent underlying disturbance in the
body causing a weak immune response (immuno-
deficiency) or chronic immune dysfunction. If this
is the case, you may want to try homeopathy or
chiropractic to work with this condition.

Homeopathy

Classical homeopathy has had great success with


allergies, asthma, eczema, recurrent respiratory or
ear infections, and behavior or attention
problems. Homeopathy prescribed by a classical
homeopath can help tremendously to release the
disturbance from the body. Homeopathy is a
complete medical system that works with the
whole person.

The key is to find the exact remedy that fits all the
symptoms. An experienced homeopath will
choose a specific constitutional remedy by
looking at all the symptoms and characteristics of
your child at the present time. Once the current
layer is dealt with there may be another layer of
disturbance requiring a different remedy.

93
Chronic problems require the training and
experience of a qualified classical homeopath.
You should not attempt to do home prescribing of
homeopathic remedies on your own for chronic
situations. See resources for more information
and to find a homeopath.

Chiropractic

The nervous system affects the immune system,


both directly and indirectly, and plays an
important role in the immune response
(Wassung). Subtle misalignment of the bones,
muscles and ligaments can lead to irritation of the
nervous system and can alter the ability of the
nerves to supply the muscles and organs of the
body with vital communication and information.

The scientific study of neuro-immunology (the


link between the nervous system and the immune
system) indicates that stress to the nervous
system produces decreased immunity and
increases susceptibility to disease.

Misalignments of the spine (also called


subluxations) can occur during childbirth, from
tumbles or falls, or from any other normal
activity. Chiropractic care involves diagnosing
spinal misalignments and correcting them by
adjusting the spine. A slight pressure is most
94
commonly used with children rather than the
more forceful manipulation sometimes used with
adults. With proper nerve flow, the immune
system can function at fuller capacity, allowing
the body to naturally defend itself against disease.

A promising study published in the Journal of


Clinical Chiropractic Pediatrics now indicates that
there is a strong correlation between chiropractic
adjustments and the resolution of ear infections.
332 children with chronic ear infections
participated in the study. Each child, ranging in
age from 27 days to 5 years, was given a series of
chiropractic adjustments. The results show that
close to 80% of the children did not experience
another ear infection within the six-month period
following their initial visits (Fallon 1997).

95
Integrating Healthy
Immunity-Building
Into Your Family’s Lifestyle
Incorporating some of the lifestyle changes
mentioned in this book can be a very significant
endeavor for most families. For some, it is a
whole new philosophy. It may be a little scary to
venture out from the so-called norm of
conventional medicine. If you feel this way, take
your time and investigate further. Plenty of
books, websites, and organizations are mentioned
in the resource section. Read as much as you can
and thoroughly research everything until you feel
comfortable with your decisions.

There is a lot of information contained in this


booklet, and you may feel a little overwhelmed,
particularly with the information about nutrition.
It may seem as though everything your children
are eating now is unhealthy and you’re won-
dering how you can possibly make all the
changes to their diets. Especially if you live in an
area with no natural food stores or a limited food
budget.

Relax and go slowly. You don’t have to make


major changes overnight. An organic, whole
foods diet is something to always strive for, but
96
you don’t have to be rigid with it. Make whatever
changes you can. Even small changes will
improve your children’s health to some extent.

Here are a few suggestions:

The way you can make the most impact on


increasing your children’s health is to keep
refined sugar and foods containing sugar out of
your house. Begin by limiting the amount you
buy until you just don’t buy it at all anymore. It
can’t harm your children if it stays on the shelves
at the store. With the money you save on sugar
products, you can buy organic food. When your
kids get to have sugar at parties or other
functions outside your home, it will be a big treat,
and they’ll know that home is the place where
they can count on only the best food to make their
bodies healthy.

This does not mean there can’t be any treats at


home. There are many delicious treats you can
make using healthier sweeteners such as stevia,
sucanat, or maple syrup. But these sweeteners
should be used sparingly with the attention
placed on healthy whole foods. A good book to
help you with eliminating sugar is Carbohydrate
Addicted Kids: Help Your Child or Teen Break Free of
Junk Food and Sugar Cravings – for life!, by Dr.

97
Richard Heller and Dr. Rachael Heller (Harper-
Collins 1997).

If your children are drinking too much


commercial fruit juice (bottled, canned, or boxed),
you can wean them by diluting one-third white
grape juice with two-thirds water. You can slowly
cut the juice out altogether. Pure water is the best
drink for children.

Begin adding more antioxidants to your


children’s diets as often as you can. This could be
as easy as slipping them fruit or vegetable snacks
often throughout the day. You could cut up a red
pepper, some carrots and add a little dipping
sauce to make it interesting. Or give them a fruit
salad with vitamin C rich fruits as a snack. Most
children will be happy with this.

What is a good way to get a substantial amount of


vitamins, minerals, enzymes, and antioxidants
into your child’s body? By giving your child
freshly squeezed juices and smoothies – which
most kids love. Two important appliances to have
in your kitchen are a good juicer and blender.

Juices must be fresh and organic. You need to


juice the produce yourself and immediately give
them to your children before the vitamins and
minerals are lost. You can start them off with 80%
98
apple and 20% carrot. As your child gets used to
this, start adding more carrot and less apple, until
it’s just carrot juice. Ideally, vegetables and fruits
should not be mixed.

According to Dr. Richard Schulze (www.dr-


schulze.com), a good combination for vegetable
juicing that many kids will accept is:

70% carrot juice


20% beet root and beet greens
10% other dark greens

A good fruit combination for kids:

40% apple juice


40% grape juice
20% any red, blue or purple fruit (strawberry,
blueberry, raspberry, blackberry, cherry, prune,
etc.)

Healthy Child Immunity Smoothie

1 cup freshly squeezed fruit juice


1 tablespoon flaxseed oil or cod liver oil
1 large banana
1 tablespoon Dr. Schulze’s SuperFood (or similar
whole-food supplement)
1/2 - 1 cup frozen organic blueberries, strawber-
ries or other berries.
99
Immunity Smoothie (continued)

Mix in a blender. You can experiment with this


until you find a way that your child will accept.
The SuperFood has a pretty strong taste so start
out with small amounts and increase slowly. You
could also use almond milk or organic whole
milk plain yogurt instead of the fruit juice to
make it creamier. This drink is sweet-tasting, but
if your child refuses to drink this because it’s “not
sweet enough”, sweeten it with a little pure
maple syrup or a very small pinch of stevia. Be
creative.

100
Checklist for Building
Healthy Immunity
The following checklist can be helpful in
determining the steps and options you may take
to strengthen your child’s immunity. Do your
own research and become informed about all
aspects of these options. See the resource section
of this book to begin your research.

Ensure that your diet during pregnancy is


a healthy diet of organic whole foods.

Be certain to get enough essential fatty


acids in your diet while pregnant.

Reduce your own emotional stress while


pregnant. Send loving thoughts and nur-
turing touch to your baby while in the
womb.

Avoid environmental toxins while preg-


nant.

Consider a natural, home birth for


welcoming your baby into the world in a
peaceful, nurturing environment.

101
Put your baby to your breast as soon as
possible after birth. Ask for help from your
midwife or a lactation consultant if neces-
sary. Make sure your baby receives the
colostrum from your breast before your
milk comes in.

Have continuous physical contact with


your baby by holding, carrying, touching,
and breastfeeding.

Breastfeed your baby for as long as


possible – even into the preschool years if
the child so chooses. This is by far the
absolute best thing you can do to build
strong immunity for a lifetime.

Make sure you are eating a healthy diet of


organic, whole foods while breastfeeding,
and reduce the toxins to which you are
exposed.

Research all aspects of childhood vaccin-


ations before determining whether or not
to vaccinate your children.

Avoid repeated rounds of antibiotics,


unless absolutely necessary. Talk to your
child’s doctor about the necessity, the
effectiveness, and the side effects of any
102
prescribed drugs, and obtain as much
information as possible about the drug
before accepting it for your child.

If using antibiotics, supplement with pro-


biotics, and try to find and resolve the
underlying cause of infection.

As much as possible, give your children


organic, whole, fresh foods and avoid all
processed food, including sugar, processed
grains, pasteurized milk and dairy pro-
ducts, commercial fruit juice, and
commercial meats.

Give your children fresh fruits and


vegetables as much as possible.

Make sure your children’s daily diet


includes foods that contain essential fatty
acids or supplement with flax seed oil or
cod liver oil on a daily basis.

Use whole food supplements and probio-


tics when necessary.

Use immune-building tonic herbs, espe-


cially in the fall and winter months.

103
Pay attention to your children’s emotional
health. Listen to them and honor their
feelings. Encourage self-expression. Give
them nurturing touch and massages on a
regular basis.

Make sure your children get plenty of


sleep and rest.

Make sure your children get plenty of


exercise.

Make sure your children drink plenty of


pure water. Filter your tap water with a
good reverse osmosis, carbon block
filtering system.

Reduce exposure to chemicals and other


toxins as much as possible.

If allergies are a problem, try resolving


them through changes to the diet. Supple-
ment with essential fatty acids. Consult a
homeopath or a practitioner of NAET if
necessary.

If still experiencing chronic immune dys-


function, consult a health practitioner.

104
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Publishing.

Wunderlich, R.C., M.D. 1995. Natural Alternatives to


Antibiotics. New Canaan, CT: Keats Publishing, Inc.

Zakay-Rones Z, et al. 1995. Inhibition of several strains of


influenza virus in vitro and reduction of symptoms by an
elderberry extract (Sambucus nigra L.) during an outbreak
of influenza B Panama. J Altern Complement Med 1995
Winter; 1(4):361-9

111
Resources
Recommended websites, articles, and books:

Natural, Holistic Health

Healthy Child Online


http://www.healthychild.com
Unique parenting website and E-Newsletter that
gives you free, reliable information about natural
health and holistic medicine for children and safe,
natural products.

Holistic Pediatric Association


http://www.hpakids.org
Non-profit educational website providing inform-
ation and support to parents and pediatric health
professionals in holistic medicine and natural
parenting. Search the HPA Health Professional
Directory for a holistic practitioner in your area.

Child Health Guide: Holistic Pediatrics for


Parents by Randall Neustaedter, OMD (North
Atlantic Books, 2005)

Natural Birth
Birthing the Future
http://www.birthingthefuture.com
112
Breastfeeding

LaLeche League International


1-800-LALECHE
http://lalecheleague.org

Articles, Products, Resources


http://www.breastfeeding.com

Dr. Newman’s Breastfeeding Articles


http://www.bflrc.com/newman/articles.htm

Community Groups
Find holistic-minded families in your local area

Families for Natural Living


http://www.familiesfornaturalliving.org

Holistic Moms Network


http://www.holisticmoms.org

Attachment Parenting International


http://www.attachmentparenting.org

113
Food and Nutrition

Article: Whole Foods for Healthy Kids


http://www.healthychild.com/database/whole_fo
ods_for_healthy_kids.htm

Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that


Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the
Diet Dictocrats, by Sally Fallon with Mary Enig
(Washington, DC: New Trends Publishing, Inc.,
1999)

Superimmunity for Kids: What to Feed Your


Children to Keep Them Healthy Now – and
Prevent Disease in Their Future, by Leo Galland,
M.D. (New York: Dell Publishing, 1988)

Carbohydrate Addicted Kids: Help Your Child


or Teen Break Free of Junk Food and Sugar
Cravings – For Life!, by Dr. Richard F. Heller and
Dr. Rachael F. Heller (HarperPerennial, 1997)

The Staying Healthy Shopper’s Guide, by Elson


M. Haas, M.D. (Berkeley, CA: Celestial Arts, 1999)

Lick The Sugar Habit, by Dr. Nancy Appleton


(Deluxe Trade Paperback)
http://www.nancyappleton.com

114
Get the Sugar Out : 501 Simple Ways to Cut the
Sugar in Any Diet by Ann Louise Gittleman
(Crown Pub,1996)

Sugar Blues, by William F. Duffy (Warner Books,


1993)

Nutrition Education Organizations

Weston A. Price Foundation


Nutrition education and research
http://www.WestonAPrice.org

International Foundation for Nutrition and


Health (IFNH) Information on nutrition and
whole food concentrates.
http://www.ifnh.org

Juicing

To Order the Book Juicing For Life and Compare


Different Brands of Juicers:

http://gulfcoastjuicers.com/juicingforlife.html

115
Grass-Fed Products

Eat Wild
http://www.eatwild.com
A clearinghouse for information about pasture-
based (grassfed) farming. Search the directory to
find a supplier of pastured products in your area

Dr. Joseph Mercola - Optimal Wellness Center


http://www.mercola.com/beef/main.htm
You can purchase grass-fed beef at this website

GRACE Factory Farm Project


http://www.factoryfarm.org
Their goal is to eliminate factory farming in favor
of a sustainable food production system

Weston A. Price Foundation


http://www.westonaprice.org/local_chapters/local
_chapters.html
Local chapters can help you find locally-grown
organic and biodynamic vegetables, fruits and
grains; and milk products, butter, eggs, chicken
and meat from pasture-fed animals.
202-333-HEAL

Weston A. Price Foundation


Campaign for Real Milk
http://www.realmilk.com

116
Why Grassfed is Best! The Surprising Benefits
of Grassfed Meat, Eggs, and Dairy Products, by
Jo Robinson (Vashon, WA: Vashon Island Press,
2000) available at www.eatwild.com

Organic Whole Foods

Directory of Farmers Markets


http://www.ams.usda.gov/farmersmarkets

Directory and Information on Community


Supported Agriculture (CSA)
http://www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/csa

Organic Trade Association


http://www.ota.com

Nutritional Supplements

Article: Synthetic or Natural Vitamins – What’s


The Difference?
http://www.healthychild.com/database/synthetic_
or_natural_vitamins_what_s_the_difference_.htm

The Real Truth About Vitamins and


Antioxidants, by Judith A. DeCava, MS, LNC
(Columbus, GA: Brentwood Academic Press,
1996)
117
American Botanical Pharmacy
Dr. Schulze’s SuperFood
http://www.dr-schulze.com
1-800-HERB-DOC

Allergies

Nambudripad’s Allergy Elimination Technique


(NAET) To find a practitioner in your area:
http://www.naet.com

Say Goodbye to Children’s Allergies, by Dr.


Devi Nambudripad, D.C., L.Ac., Ph.D.

See also homeopathy and probiotics resources.

Herbs

Herb Research Foundation


http://www.herbs.org
Science-based information on the health benefits
and safety of herbs

Ask the Herbalist


http://www.healthychild.com/asktheherbalist.ht
m

118
Probiotics

Article - Probiotics: The Friendly Bacteria, by


Leon Chaitow N.D., D.O., M.R.O.
http://www.healthy.net/asp/templates/Article.asp
?PageType=Article&Id=499

Pro Biotics : The Revolutionary ‘Friendly


Bacteria’ Way to Vital Health and Well-Being by
Leon Chaitow and Natasha Trenev (Harper-
Collins, 1990)

Homeopathy

Homeopathic Educational Services


http://www.homeopathic.com
Publisher and distributor of homeopathic books,
tapes, software, and medicine kits.

General home prescribing books


Homeopathy for Children, Gabrielle Pinto and
Murray Feldman, C.W. Daniel Company, 2000.

Everybodyʹs Guide to Homeopathic Medicines,


Stephen Cummings and Dana Ullman, Jeremy P.
Tarcher/Putnam, 1997.

Homeopathic Self-Care, Robert Ullman and Judyth


Reichenberg-Ullman, Prima Publishing, 1997.
119
Find a Homeopath - Search these directories

Holistic Pediatric Association


http://www.hpakids.org

Council for Homeopathic Certification


http://www.homeopathy-council.org

Homeopath Referrals
http://www.nccn.net/~wwithin/STEVELIST.htm

Online Course: Introduction to Homeopathy


http://www.nccn.net/~wwithin/homeo.htm

Chiropractic

International Chiropractic Pediatric Association


http://www.icpa4kids.org
Search their directory for a pediatric chiropractor

American Chiropractic Association


http://www.amerchiro.org

International Chiropractors Association


http://www.chiropractic.org

120
Vaccinations

National Vaccine Information Center


http://www.909shot.com
A national nonprofit educational organization
that provides support to help educate parents
about vaccine safety and their right to choose
immunizations, as well as support for parents
and families who have experienced the
devastation of a vaccine reaction, injury or death.
They offer books, a newsletter, information on
state vaccine laws, resource studies, lists of
lawyers handling vaccine issues, etc.

Online Class: Introduction to Vaccine Dangers


http://www.nccn.net/~wwithin/vaccine.htm

Thinktwice Global Vaccine Institute


http://thinktwice.com/global.htm

The Immunization Resource Guide: Where to


Find Answers to All Your Questions About
Childhood Vaccinations, by Diane Rozario
(Burlington, IA: Patter Publications, 2000)

The Vaccine Guide: Risks and Benefits for


Children and Adults, by Randall Neustaedter,
OMD (Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books, 2002)

121
Vaccinations: A Thoughtful Parent’s Guide, by
Aviva Jill Romm (Rochester, VT: Healing Arts
Press, 2001)

Vaccines: Are They Really Safe and Effective? A


Parent’s Guide to Childhood Shots, by Neil
Miller (Santa Fe: New Atlantean Press, 1994)

Immunization: Theory vs. Reality, by Neil


Miller, (Santa Fe: New Altantean Press, 1996)

Vaccination: The Issue of Our Times. A


comprehensive collection of articles, research, and
references, challenging the conventional view-
point on vaccinations. Edited by Peggy O’Mara,
Mothering Magazine.
http://www.mothering.com

What Every Parent Should Know About


Childhood Immunization, by Jamie Murphy
(Boston: Earth Healing Products, 1993)

Vaccinations 100 Years of Orthodox Research, by


Viera Scheibner

Vaccination: The Medical Assault on the


Immune System, by Viera Scheibner (Blackheath,
NSW, Australia, 1993)

122
Vaccination Deception: How Vaccines Prevent
Optimal Health! By Teddy H. Spence, DDS, ND
(Exmore, VA: Truth Seekers Press, 2000)

The Sanctity of Human Blood: Vaccination is


not Immunization, by Tim O’Shea (San Jose, CA:
NewWest, 2000)
http://www.thedoctorwithin.com

Vaccination News
Extensive articles and news related to vaccines
http://www.vaccinationnews.com

Vaccination Information & Choice Network


http://www.nccn.net/~wwithin/vaccine.htm

Informative Vaccinations E-mail List for Parents


Looking Into the Issue of Vaccinations
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vaccinations

Extensive Vaccine Information


http://www.whale.to/vaccines.html

Center for Disease Control


Government Agency Monitoring Disease and
Influencing Vaccine Policy http://www.cdc.gov

Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System


(VAERS)
http://www.fda.gov/cber/vaers/vaers.htm
123
The Association of American Physicians and
Surgeons (AAPS) - A Doctor’s Group that
Opposes Mandatory Vaccines
http://www.aapsonline.org

Medicine

Holistic Pediatric Association


http://www.hpakids.org
Non-profit educational website providing
information and support to parents and pediatric
health professionals in holistic medicine and
natural parenting. Search the HPA Health
Professional Directory for a holistic practitioner in
your area.

The Curse of Louis Pasteur: Why Medicine is


Not Healing A Diseased World, by Nancy
Appleton, PhD ((Santa Monica, CA: Choice
Publishing, 1999)

Beyond Antibiotics: 50 (or so) Ways to Boost


Immunity and Avoid Antibiotics, by Michael A.
Schmidt, Lendon H. Smith, and Keith W. Sehnert
(Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books, 1994)

124
How To Raise a Healthy Child…in Spite of
Your Doctor, by Robert Mendelsohn, M.D. (New
York: Ballentine Books, 1984) A truly excellent
book written by a renowned pediatrician for
nearly thirty years.

Conventional Medicine vs. Holistic: A World of


Difference, by Tim O’Shea (San Jose, CA:
NewWest, 1999)
http://www.thedoctorwithin.com

Childhood Ear Infections, What Every Parent


and Physician Should Know about Prevention,
Home Care, and Alternative Treatment, by Dr.
Michael A. Schmidt (Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic
Books, 1990)

Smart Medicine for a Healthier Child: A


Practical A-to-Z Reference to Natural and
Conventional Treatments for Infants &
Children, by Janet Zand, Lac, OMD, Rachel
Walton, RN, and Bob Rountree, MD (Avery 1994)

125
Environment

Children’s Health Environmental Coalition


http://www.checnet.org

Is This Your Child’s World? How You Can Fix


the Schools and Homes that are Making Your
Children Sick, by Doris Rapp, M.D. (New York:
Bantam, 1996)

Toxic Deception: How the Chemical Industry


Manipulates Science, Bends the Law and
Endangers Your Health, by Dan Fagin and
Marianne Lavelle (Monroe, ME: Common
Courage Press, 1999)

The Safe Shopper’s Bible: A Consumer’s Guide


to Nontoxic Household Products, Cosmetics,
and Food, by David Steinman and Samuel S.
Epstein, M.D. (Macmillan, 1995)

Our Children at Risk: The 5 Worst


Environmental Threats to Their Health, National
Research Defense Council (NRDC) November,
1997
http://www.nrdc.org/health/kids/ocar/ocarinx.asp

American Academy of Environmental Medicine


http://www.aaem.com

126
Mental/Emotional/Spiritual Health

Inspired Parenting
http://www.inspiredparenting.net

Children of the New Earth magazine


https://www.childrenofthenewearth.com

Nurturing Children Through Progressive


Parenting http://www.bestfed.com

Article: The Benefits and Joys of Infant Massage


http://www.healthychild.com/database/the_benef
its_and_joys_of_infant_massage.htm

Infant Massage: A Handbook for Loving


Parents, by Vimala Schneider McClure (Bantam
Books, 1989)

National Organization of Circumcision Infor-


mation Resource Centers (NOCIRC)
http://www.nocirc.org

Article: A Wellness Approach for Children


http://www.healthychild.com/database/a_wellnes
s_approach_for_children.htm

Yoga Kids Video, by Living Arts (800-2-LIVING)

127
Natural Parenting and
Attachment Parenting

Attachment Parenting International


http://www.attachmentparenting.org

Mothering Magazine
http://www.mothering.com

Alliance for Transforming the Lives of Children


http://www.atlc.org

The Natural Child Project


http://www.naturalchild.org

Aware Parenting Institute


http://www.awareparenting.com

Liedloff Continuum Network


http://www.continuum-concept.org

Holistic Parenting, by Lynn Wiese Sneyd (Los


Angeles, Keats Publishing, 2000)

Natural Family Living: The Mothering


Magazine Guide to Parenting, by Peggy O’Mara,
publisher of Mothering Magazine (Pocket Books,
2000) available at www.mothering.com

128
Attachment Parenting: Instinctive Care for Your
Baby and Young Child, by Katie Allison Granju
with Betsy Kennedy, R.N., M.S.N. (Pocket Books,
1999)

The Whole Parenting Guide, by Alan Reder, Phil


Catalfo, and Stephanie Renfrow Hamilton
(Broadway Books, 1999)

The Aware Baby: A New Approach to Parenting,


by Aletha J. Solter (Goleta, CA: Shining Star Press,
P.O. Box 206, Goleta, CA.)
www.awareparenting.com

129

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