Your Child's Health

The statistics are startling. By 2004, approximately 10 million children had been diagnosed with asthma with another 9 million being diagnosed with allergies. The childhood obesity rate has more than doubled in the past 30 years. Stomach pain is now the most common reason for a pediatric office visit. Spending on psychotropic drugs for the treatment of depression and psychosis in children has increased 49% recently. And lastly, autism is currently the fastest growing developmental disability, with a current growth rate of 10-17% annually. This means austism affects 1 in 150 children.

What’s going on? The reasons behind these escalating children’s health issues are numerous and specific to the individual children. Because of that, deciding how to evaluate and treat a child can be confusing.

In my years of practice, the number of pediatric patients I treat continues to rise. For that reason, I’d like to offer some thoughts on how I evaluate and treat children. As with any patient I see in the office, it’s important to look at the whole child, not just the symptoms. Only through addressing the root causes of a child’s illness will allow the body to heal itself.
Some tools I use in the office include:

1. Youth Health History Questionnaire: this form seeks to illustrate specific foundational issues a child is experiencing.
2. Symptom Survey: this form is a detailed examination of symptoms as they relate to various body systems such as blood sugar handling, digestion, and hormone dysfunction.
3. 7 Day Food Diary: this form helps identify excess of deficiencies of certain foods plus issues associated with hydration and meal/snack timing.
4. Iodine Patch test: this test is an inexpensive and simple tool to evaluate the iodine status of a child
5. Saliva testing: these non-invasive tests help to identify imbalances in a child’s stress hormones but also common food allergies. Saliva is a more affordable option than blood testing as well as no blood draw.
6. Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis: this test evaluates the functions and relationships of 11 different minerals that are necessary for basic body functions. This test also evaluates for heavy metal toxicities.

I have found these tests to yield the best, most comprehensive information on how to address a child’s health issues. Please contact the office if you’d like more information.

Chia Seeds: A Great Omega 3

You may have heard that omega 3 essential fatty acids are good for you. I agree and that’s why I add different sources of omega 3 fats into my diet daily. I’m quite fond of hemp and flax seeds but today I want to talk about chia seeds. Yes, these are the seeds that are used for Chia Pet, but I promise you they are edible and quite tasty.

These little brown bundles of nutrition and versatility originally hail from South America where they have been used by the native Mayans, Aztecs, and Incas for millennia. I’ve read that chia in the Mayan language means “strength.” Researchers have documented that chia seeds contain more protein than any other seed or grain. Considering the high fiber content of these seeds, many have labeled these tiny seeds an “almost perfect food.”

Chia seeds have no sugar so are safe for diabetics. Since they contain abundant fiber, they are perfect for healthy digestion. They have more iron than spinach, are calcium rich, and contain good fats so they help satiate a hungry appetite.

I’ve used chia seeds in smoothies, yogurt and homemade crackers. But lately my favorite way to eat chia seeds has been in a “pudding.” Cast aside any thoughts of Jell-O pudding as this is quite different. The recipe I’ve been using is from http://www.elanaspantry.com/. Search “chia seeds” on the blog and you’ll find the recipe for raw “tapioca” pudding. As she says on her blog, this “pudding” is ridiculously easy to prepare. I use the “pudding” as a refreshing snack at work.

Enjoy.

My Nutritional Mentors: Part One

I consider myself a student of nutrition. Prior to my professional career as a chiropractor and certainly since becoming a health care practitioner, I have pursued “nutritional truth.” Prior to becoming health conscious, I was a junk-food vegetarian for 13 years plus I toyed around with veganism for a year. However, it wasn’t until I discovered nutrient-dense whole food that I began to discover health. Nutrient-dense whole foods are the foods that nature intended humans to eat. These foods are packed with vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, enzymes, and fat-soluble activators that are necessary to achieve optimal health. These foods nourished humans for millenia but sadly, modernization has resulted in people eating devitalized food, i.e. processed food with little or no nutritional value.

Concern about processed foods and their related health consequences, led one man, Weston A. Price, to embark on a world wide odyssey that explored the issue further. Dr. Price was a dentist in the 1930s and he noticed a disturbing and increasing amount of dental decay and deformity in his practice. Consequently, Dr. Price traveled the world for nearly a decade in search of what it meant to be healthy. Dr. Price discovered and observed population groups that had yet to be touched or influenced by modern civilization. These groups included isolated Swiss and Irish peoples as well as the Inuit of Alaska, African and Australian tribes. These people ate the traditional foods that their ancestors had been eating for thousands of years. Although the specific diets varied from culture to culture, what linked these healthy populations was a complete lack of refined food products. Another link was that these groups were completely void of diseases such as cancer, heart disease, dental decay, and mental illness. Infertility was unknown and every generation produced healthy, strong and vibrant children.

Dr. Price chronicled his journey around the world and nutritional findings in his seminal book, Nutrition and Physical Degeneration. Dr. Price was a keen observer and researcher. Since he was a dentist, he focused on peoples’ teeth. He not only photographed the populations extensively, but he also learned what they ate that allowed them to maintain such exceptional health. Additionally, he sent back traditional food samples to his American lab so he could analyze their constituents and gain greater understanding of the foods’ nutrient density.

Since these populations spanned the globe, their sources of food varied considerably. Much to Dr. Price’s surprise, none of these cultures lacked animal protein. They ate seafood or other animal protein and fats plus vegetables, legumes, nuts, seeds and whole grains, all in their unrefined state. Dr. Price also noted the peoples prepared the food and I’ll discuss that at another time.

Since learning about Dr. Price and the health associated with traditional foods, I have changed my eating habits completely. I look forward to sharing my evolution with you. But in the meantime, I leave you with this video produced by the Price-Pottenger Nutrition Foundation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPCOGSnjP5w

"Raw" Satisfaction

The other night I had a rare treat when I was having dinner with a friend and her family. She and I have very similar food philosophies so it’s great to share food with her. Both of us have incorporated a variety of raw foods into our diets over the past few years. Of course there’s the raw fruits and vegetables but both of us make raw bread products and snacks regularly. The world of raw food is so fascinating and I love trying new things. If raw food is something completely foreign to you, there are a number of good introductory books. One that I recommend is The Raw 50 by Carol Alt. She provides a basic and clear introduction for raw foods and then has scrumptious recipes. Internet blogs are another great resource for raw food recipes.

The other night I had raw ice cream for the first time. All I can say is “Wow!” The original recipe was created by Sarma Melngailis, a raw food chef in New York City. Her Raw Food, Real World book contains 100 recipes but it’s not really a basic raw food book. Carol Alt’s The Raw 50 has a modified version of the original recipe and is better for beginners. My friend had made both vanilla and chocolate versions of the ice cream and I sampled both. The great thing about the ice cream is, is that it’s completely dairy free. It’s primarily made with various forms of coconut and cashews. As I was beginning my meal preparation for the coming week, I realized that I already had the ingredients on hand to make my own ice cream, all that was missing was an ice cream maker. Once I remedied that situation, I made my own raw ice cream.

Upon sampling my ice cream, I was reminded (once again) of how satisfying it is to make your own food. Delicious food can be prepared and savored with minimal work. I encourage you to explore the tasty world of raw food.