Poisoning the Children

Posted on May 19, 2010 by lkaholistichealth

A newly released report in the medical journal, Pediatrics, links the use of pesticides to the occurrence of ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) in children.  The study, conducted by Maryse F. Bouchard, a researcher at the University of Montreal in Quebec, shows that children with higher than average levels of 6 different chemicals were nearly twice as likely to be diagnosed with ADHD than children with undetectable levels of these poisons.  Although the study has been characterized as inconclusive, the findings are so startling as to be “fairly significant” according to Bouchard.

These findings follow on the heels of the report issued by the President’s Council on Cancer almost two weeks ago linking pesticides and other chemicals to increased levels of cancer.  With a few more studies, I would guess we’ll see a lot more links between pesticide use and many of the chronic conditions that plague our modern society.  The dangers have been apparent for decades but with little in the way of government regulation of chemicals and the strong chemical company lobbying efforts, the information the public needs to be informed has been quashed.  Many assumed the government was watching out for our best interests and that if the chemicals came to market, they must be safe.  Not so.

Although the causes of ADHD are “uncertain” and often linked to genetic factors, more and more attention is being directed at environmental factors including nutritional deficiencies (such as Omega-3 Fatty Acids and Magnesium); allergies; fetal exposure to nicotine, alcohol, and cocaine; metals toxicity (such as lead and copper); food additives; high sugar, high refined carbohydrate diets; and chemical exposures.  Anecdotally, when these factors are eliminated or corrected, symptoms of ADHD may diminish.

The significance of this study is huge.  It is the largest of its kind ever conducted.  It raises enough questions to warrant further studies and to expand the studies to include other neurological differences such as learning disabilities and autism.  In a report issued in 1998 titled “Can A Poisoned Environment Play A Major Role in a Child’s Ability to Learn?” the author questions the accepted practice of treating ADHD with Ritalin or intensive psychotherapy which he characterizes as a “bandaid approach” rather than address the underlying causes for the sudden increase in the condition. Within 45 years, the number of ADHD children increased over 500%.  Dr. Stephan Edelson’s report contends that the most common cause of ADHD is allergies, followed by toxic dysfunction, nutritional aberrations, and a stressful home environment.  He further claims that genetics plays only a minor role.

We can’t wait for conclusive evidence on the causes of ADHD while drugging and forcing behavior modification techniques on our children.   Each child is an individual case that must be assessed for particular irregularities and sensitivities. Immunotherapy and dietary interventions along with an avoidance of toxic exposures are worth exploring NOW.

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Chemical Warfare

Posted on May 18, 2010 by lkaholistichealth

Back at the World’s Fair in 1939 when Dupont promised us “better living through chemistry” we had no idea how the onslaught of chemicals over the next few decades would actually end up killing some of us.  In 1962, Rachel Carson’s “Silent Spring” was published.  Carson was warning us of the negative effects of pesticides and the purposeful misinformation that was being spread by the chemical companies. On Thursday, May 6th, the President’s Cancer Panel issued a report on the cancer risks from chemicals and toxins in the environment.  Without equivocation, they warned of the “grievous harm” of chemicals and other toxins citing a “growing body of evidence linking environmental exposures to cancer.”  They urged President Obama “ to use the power of his office to remove the carcinogens and other toxins from our food, water and air that needlessly increase health care costs, cripple our nation’s productivity, and devastate American lives.”

There are some 80,000 chemicals now in use in this country.  Only a few hundred have been tested for safety.  The regulatory agencies, under-staffed and under-funded, have not been able to keep up with the proliferation of new chemicals. The President’s Cancer Panel called our regulatory approach “reactionary rather than precautionary.” The Panel’s report states, “Many known or suspected carcinogens are completely unregulated.”

Although it will take many years to turn this situation around, there are things you can do right now to counter the effects of and limit your exposure to toxic chemicals:

SUGGESTION #1: Choose organic produce whenever possible and available, especially if you have children at home.  Pesticide residue is far higher in the urine of children who eat conventional food than in those who eat organics.  This is especially important for pregnant women.

SUGGESTION #2:  Drink lots of filtered water in containers made of glass or stainless steel rather than plastic. Water helps the cells, blood, and kidneys remove toxins from the body.  Drink enough water to urinate every hour or so, if possible.  BPA, a chemical found in many plastics, has already been banned in other countries.  We’ve known about the concerns over BPA for many years, yet to date, the U.S. has done nothing to stop its production and use in common household items.  While you’re at it, bring along reusable cloth bags when shopping and refuse plastic bags at stores.  Tell the stores you frequent to change over to bags made from biodegradable resources. Do not use plastic garbage bags that are not biodegradable.  All of that plastic ends up in landfills and the chemical residue subsequently ends up in the ground water – we’re choking our ecosystem with plastic.

SUGGESTION #3:  Microwave food only in glass or ceramic vessels.  Better yet, don’t use the microwave oven at all. It is thought in some circles that microwaving food reduces its nutritional value substantially.  And one of the ways to counteract chemicals that already exist in our environment is to get as much nutrition as you possibly can to keep your immune system strong.  Warm up leftovers in a conventional oven or on the stovetop in a double boiler.  Since you already have that microwave, use it to sanitize your sponges and dish rags daily – 1 minute on high power.

SUGGESTION #4:  Do not char meat on the grill or eat meat that is cooked well-done. High-heat cooking of meat causes carcinogens to form.

SUGGESTION #5:  Get a massage; sit in a steam room or sauna; dry brush your skin with a long-handled, soft-bristled body brush daily; at the end of your shower, alternate between hot and cold water several times – all of these methods are used to promote lymphatic drainage which is one of the body’s most potent mechanisms for detoxification.

SUGGESTION # 6:  Use the following herbs and foods whose properties are natural detoxifiers and/or anti-cancer substances: garlic, onion, dark leafy greens, beets, red bell peppers, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, parsley, radishes, winter squashes, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, turnips, yams, apricot, blueberries, cherries, cranberries,  dates, figs, grapefruit, grapes, lemon, lime, mango, orange, papaya, peaches and nectarines, pineapple, plums, raspberries, strawberries, watermelon, alfalfa sprouts,  beans, lentils, green peas, almonds, Brazil nuts, cashew nuts, olives, walnuts, basil, cilantro, cayenne pepper and paprika, cumin, dill, ginger, mint, mustard seed, nutmeg, oregano, black pepper, rosemary, saffron, tarragon, thyme, turmeric (curcumin), mushrooms (shitake, maitake, and reishi), seaweed, green tea.

SUGGESTION #7:  Drastically reduce consumption of all processed, packaged foods, convenience foods, foods whose labels have more than 5 ingredients or ingredients you can’t pronounce, fast foods and cheap chain restaurant foods.

SUGGESTION #8:  Use only organic virgin or cold pressed oils. Processed oils are extracted by high heat and/or chemical means making them unhealthy. Avoid all fried foods due to inferior quality oils/rancid oils.  Avoid all trans fats and hydrogenated fats.

SUGGESTION #9:  Use “natural” and environmentally sound cleaning products both to diminish your exposure to chemicals and to keep these chemicals from entering the environment.

SUGGESTION #10:  Use “natural” cosmetics and personal care products. Your skin is a large organ of elimination.  Avoid chemical laden skin care products, soaps, and shampoos.

SUGGESTION #11:  Avoid dairy products, meat, poultry, and eggs from animals that have been exposed to hormone and antibiotic treatment. Buy products from animals that have been “pasture raised” and preferably organic, not “feed-lot” raised animals.

SUGGESTION #12:  Get regular exercise and plenty of restful sleep.  Consider nutritional supplementation, especially if you have any known deficiencies.  A large percentage of our population is deficient in Vitamin D and in Omega 3 Fatty Acids.

Keep your immune system strong and the chances of developing cancer will be greatly diminished.

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Kid Talk

Posted on May 3, 2010 by lkaholistichealth

Interesting conversation with my daughter and her friend, Jackson, on the way to school this morning.  Kids have a way of saying the craziest things.  A little knowledge can take them way over the top.

My daughter is a Darwinist.  Survival of the fittest is her mantra.  The subject of fast food and processed, packaged food came up for discussion.  In a reference to the movie “Idiocracy” that takes us 500 years into the future, the population has “degenerated into a dystopia where advertising, commercialism, and cultural anti-intellectualism run rampant and dysgenic pressure has resulted in a uniformly stupid human society devoid of individual responsibility or consequences.”  (Wikipedia)  The premise of this movie is that the cultural and intellectual elite slow their birth rate down while the “intellectually challenged” population continues to reproduce at a high birth rate, eventually leaving only a stupid population.

Lily and Jackson took it one step further.  What if the exact opposite happened?  What if all those “challenged” types became extinct from eating too much junk food?  Over time, the lack of nutrition would make them sterile so they could no longer reproduce, and further, lead them to higher rates of chronic illness that killed them off.    All the while, those smart enough to eat nutritionally sound diets would reproduce without problems and live long, healthy lives leaving us a world in which only creative, intelligent people survive.

Well, that’s just silly kid talk.  I think.

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Farm Boy

Posted on May 1, 2010 by lkaholistichealth

We just got back from Bloomingdale’s.  We went to buy a new toaster oven.  Carol, in the small appliances department, was very helpful. She asked what exactly we used our toaster oven for – I said, “Toast, mostly.”  And to warm up foods rather than use a microwave.   I was puzzled by the question.  Carol enlightened us.  She said most customers buy the toaster oven to “cook” foods.  In those cases, she points them to the more sophisticated models with convection ovens and large enough to hold a 12-inch frozen pizza.  She said that in many cases, this is the only appliance people use.  They don’t cook from scratch but pop frozen chicken nuggets into the toaster oven and that’s dinner for the kids.  Oh dear.

I guess the problem is more pervasive than I thought.  Who is watching the Food Network if no one is cooking?  If you want to be healthy, you must cook.  Or be able to afford to hire a cook.  Because the only way to control the quality of the ingredients that goes into your meals is to buy them as close to the way Mother Nature intended as possible.   You really have no way of knowing what went into your processed food but you can be quite sure that in the interests of making a profit, quality is not at the top of any food manufacturer’s list.

Speaking of chicken nuggets, I’m reminded of the time I brought my daughter and a boyfriend to a Stone Barns Farmer’s Market.  As we turned into the farm’s driveway, the chickens were out in the pasture to our left grazing and pecking the way chickens were meant to graze and peck.  The boyfriend turned green, truly feeling sick at the sight of these birds.  Farm Boy had never seen a live chicken in his life.  He was 18 years old at the time.  Dan’s idea of chicken was the little nuggets that came tidily packed in plastic and cardboard and popped into a toaster oven!  He didn’t want to know what his food looked like before it came neatly packaged from the frozen food aisle.  He didn’t want to know where it came from.

And that is precisely the point – when you buy a package of chicken nuggets, you don’t know where that “food” came from.  You don’t know how that chicken lived its life, whether it was humanely treated, able to roam freely in a pasture in natural sun eating the food a chicken is meant to eat.  Since the chances of the aforementioned scenario are quite rare these days, you can pretty much count on the chicken in your packaged chicken nuggets to have lived in a small, crowded cage, having had his beak clipped to keep him from pecking at the other birds sharing his abode.  The cages are crammed together in a barn with some bare light bulbs and an exhaust fan as the only clue that there is some fresh air  and light.  The chicken is fed an unnatural diet, even sometimes cannibalizing the remains of other chickens that didn’t survive their cruel and inhumane treatment. Antibiotic use becomes necessary as the crowded conditions under which these birds are raised means disease is more rampant. And the chickens are fattened up to go to market as soon as possible, meaning their skeletal systems have not matured enough to carry their own weight.  Many succumb before they ever get to be slaughtered.

Of course there are folks that don’t want to know about this.  They’re able to put on the blinders because it’s easier not to know or to care.  Until we get sick.  And we’re flabbergasted that some horrific chronic ailment has befallen us.  What we saved in food dollars on dubious food items, we pay in spades on the other end with health care dollars.  The next time you question whether an organic vegetable from you local farm is too expensive, think about the cost of one prescription for drugs, one doctor visit, one hospital stay.  When it comes to food, go for the gold.  You ARE what you eat.

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