What Every Parent Needs to Know About Childhood Nutrition, Health & Wellness

Recently, I’ve been presenting the information in this article to the Parent Teacher Organizations (PTO) in the Phoenix, AZ area, and wanted to share it with you as well. Send a kiss

In our quest to live happy, healthy lives, raise healthy kids, and look, think and feel our best, we’ve come up against a few challenges in the past couple of decades with the influx of:

Exposure to pesticides, GMOs and chemicals in our food, water and environment
Overly stressful lifestyles, over-filled schedules and non-stop busyness
Lost art of cooking meals at home and sitting down as a family during meal time
Minimal (if any) spirituality, prayer and God
Chronic cell phone use and screen addiction
Living on stimulants, sugar and nutritionally-void processed foods
Excessive overuse of antibiotics, OTC and Rx meds
Doctors overprescribe anti-depressants, antibiotics, and psycho-stimulating drugs instead of using high dose fish oil, testing for and ruling out infections, looking at food sensitivities, low blood sugar, poor diet, toxic load, chemical exposure, nutrient deficiencies, and heavy metal toxicity.

Rates of autism, cancer, diabetes, depression, mental health problems, autoimmune disease, and obesity are skyrocketing and at record highs. What’s to blame?

Recent research has found that as many as one in every 45 children in the U.S. is diagnosed with autism. Although there isn’t one specific cause for the rise in autism, it’s believed risk of autism, ADHD and other childhood problems occur from a combination of the following:

OTC and prescription medications taken during pregnancy
environmental toxins and chemical exposure
infections (viral, yeast, fungal, bacterial, parasites, Candida) during pregnancy
heavy metal toxicity
defective MTHFR gene
inflammation
multiple vaccinations
gut dysfunction, leaky gut and an altered microbiome
inborn errors of the metabolism
food sensitivities
multiple nutrient deficiencies

Every person with behavior problems, depression, ADHD, an autoimmune disease or autism is unique. “Treating ADHD, behavioral issues, depression, and even autism as a body disorder that affects the brain gives us many treatment choices. Children treated in this way can often have dramatic and remarkable, if not miraculous recoveries.” — Mark Hyman, MD

What Every Parent Needs to Know About Childhood Nutrition, Health & Wellness

Feed your children real food. Real food is nutrient-dense, anti-inflammatory, unprocessed, organic, humanely-raised, tastes better, provides satiety, and nourishes the body (and the brain). Nutrition is the key to turn around a behavior problem, mood disorder or health condition that already exists or to prevent one from occurring, raise IQ and improve school performance. Start the day with a protein-rich breakfast and include some healthy fat. Diets that are higher in healthy fats have a huge impact on brain function and behavior. Pack a healthy school lunch. At home, offer your children only nutritious choices. Eat organic for what is doesn’t have. Food is medicine or food is poison.

Food sensitivities. Common culprits include sugar, pasteurized dairy, casein, wheat, gluten, soy, eggs, peanuts, tomatoes, artificial sweeteners, HFCS, food additives, colors and dyes, and chemical-laden, nutrient-deficient, addictive, and processed frankenfoods. Start by eliminating one at a time every couple of weeks.

Radical improvements are seen in autistic, ADHD and in fact, ALL children when dairy, wheat, gluten, grains, sugar, sugary beverages (milk, soda, fruit juices) and processed junk foods are completely eliminated from their diet and they’re nourished with real, nutrient-dense foods.

Cook meals at home. Teaching children how to cook, grocery shop and educating them about the importance of healthy foods by preparing meals at home is crucial to improving their health, behavior and performance. Value the importance of sitting down together as a family during meal time. Families who cook and eat together are healthier, have stronger relationships, do better in school, and are less likely to overeat.

Sleep! Kids need sleep and they are not getting it. Sleep deprivation affects mood, behavior and concentration, and is often misdiagnosed as ADHD. Prepare their bodies, mind and environment for restful sleep. Circadian rhythms are produced by natural factors within the body and also affected by the environment, specifically artificial light. Disrupted circadian rhythms are a major source of stress and have a negative impact on sleep quality, hormones, performance, energy levels, mood, gut microbiome, physical strength, and behavioral, hormonal and metabolic function.

Our natural innate state wants to go to sleep with the sundown and awake with the sunrise. Humans and animals have done this since the beginning of time. This is especially important for growing children.

Minimize screen time. Children’s brains are extremely sensitive to EMFs. Heavy use of electronics overload the sensory system and deplete mental reserves. Heavy electronic use has a significant negative effect on children’s behavior, communication, problem solving and social skills, mental and emotional health, sleep, mood, memory, cognition, attention, and school performance. Keep electronics out of the bedroom. Less screen time allows the nervous system to return to a more natural state. Children become calmer, stronger and happier.

Develop a spiritual connection. Teach children how to meditate, pray, have God time, relaxation techniques and calming breathing exercises. Teaching kids stress management and coping skills such as meditation, yoga, positive self-talk, breathing practices, and mindfulness helps them balance the nervous system.

Vitamin N (nature). Play outside. Encourage outdoor activity. Let kids play in the dirt! Research shows that time outdoors, especially interacting with nature restores attention, lowers stress and reduces aggression.

Build strong immunity, limit immune suppressors, avoid prescription and OTC drugs. Instead of running to the doctor and getting a “pill for the ill,” opt for alternative therapies and natural remedies.

Less is more. Back off on some of the extracurricular activities. Many children are overscheduled and exhausted! Your child doesn’t need to play every sport, instrument and participate in every dance class.

Gut health rules! Test for and rule out underlying infections with a comprehensive digestive stool analysis. Support a healthy microbiome with fermented foods and high-quality probiotics. Nearly all autistic children have Candida and some sort of gut dysfunction. These toxins greatly influence brain chemistry and lead to behavioral problems. An inflamed gut is an inflamed brain. A leaky gut is a leaky brain. Fix the gut!

Basic lab tests: thorough blood work, comprehensive digestive stool analysis (CDSA), toxic metal test, organic acid test, IgG food sensitivity panel

Everything’s interconnected. Be aware of what your children hear, watch, and listen to, who they spend time with, what they eat, and what they expose themselves to. Set a good example.

Supplement with the basic nutrients: essential fatty acids, probiotics, vitamin D, multi vitamin/mineral, zinc, magnesium, digestive enzymes, and if deficient methylated folate and B12

Minimize chemical exposure. The environment has more toxins now than ever before from pesticides, herbicides, PCBs, heavy metals, petrochemicals, GMOs, glyphosate, flame retardants, chlorine, fluoride, triclosan, BPA, factory-farmed meat, obesogens and more!

Estrogen dominance is not just prevalent in women and men, it’s affecting many teens and adolescents too. Children, infants, fetuses and pregnant women are especially vulnerable to the detrimental hazards from pesticides, insecticides, glyphosate, GMOs, EMFs, and chemicals found in food, water, personal care and cleaning products, and the environment. Many autistic children have high levels of toxic heavy metals.

According to scientific research, the umbilical cords of newborns today contains over 250 toxic chemicals! This means that the genes that each generation is passing down are weaker as a result of adults being more toxic and inflamed than ever before. Chemicals can alter gene expression. Genetic misfires in the womb may be permanent, and all subsequent generations could be at greater risk of diseases too.

We’re exposed to more chemicals and toxins nowadays in a 30-day period that our grandparent’s generations were exposed to in their entire lifetime!

Prior to pregnancy, during pregnancy and after birth, the health and nutritional status of BOTH the mother- and the father-to-be matters greatly. Underlying infections, MTHFR defect, and heavy metal toxicity must be ruled out prior to conception. Caution is warranted for women to avoid pesticides during pregnancy. A healthy microbiome, correcting nutrient deficiencies, reducing chemical exposure, optimizing thyroid function, and a nutrient-dense diet are crucial.

Did You Know?

Antidepressants taken during pregnancy is associated with autism and developmental delays. [John Hopkins]
Research on MTHFR, autism and ADHD suggest that sufficient prenatal intake of folate, both in the period 3 months before conception and during the first month of pregnancy in particular can reduce these risks.
Pregnant women who take acetaminophen (Tylenol) while pregnant give birth to children who are 40% more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD.
Just one acetaminophen contains more endocrine disruptor potency than the combined exposure to the 10 most prevalent currently known environmental endocrine disruptors during the entire pregnancy.
Even mild iodine-deficiency during pregnancy is associated with lower intelligence, and risk of mental retardation and ADHD in children.
Pregnant women are especially at risk for hypothyroidism since the thyroid gland produces more thyroid hormone during pregnancy. Uncontrolled thyroid dysfunction during pregnancy can lead to preterm birth, mental retardation and hemorrhage in the postpartum period
More than 14% of pregnant women are prescribed opioids for pain at some time during their pregnancy! [Journal Anesthesiology]
Pregnant women who live near areas where pesticides and glyphosate are applied have a 60% higher risk of having children with autism.
Pesticides sprayed on our food have also been linked to birth defects.
According to senior research scientist, Stephanie Seneff, PhD, glyphosate exposure will cause 50% of all children to have autism by 2025.
Pregnant women exposed to lead, pesticides or cigarette smoke increases the risk of mental problems, autism and ADHD in offspring.
Children that are exposed to PCBs in utero have reduced cognitive function and increased TSH levels.

The key to good health and mental wellness is awareness and making healthier choices. Improving your child’s health and helping them formulate good habits begins with you. You are responsible for your health, your child’s health, the choices you make and the quality of your life — not your doctor, the pharmaceutical industry, the government or anyone else. We must acquire the knowledge to maintain and promote good health, and commit to making healthier choices. The choices we make today greatly impact our health and well-being tomorrow. True health is a balance of physical, bio-chemical, mental, emotional, environmental, and spiritual aspects.

Set small goals and build upon them. Yes, it can be overwhelming. Start with one or two things that you want to change, develop or improve upon, and commit, dedicate and pour your energy into it. The effort is well worth it as you notice improvements in your child’s health, mood and behavior. Small changes add up over time...that's how life changing transformation happens! That’s empowering!

Please share this valuable and important information with your family and friends. You never know whose life you’ll impact. Thank you!

As a holistic nutritionist and functional health practitioner, my philosophy is to identify the root cause of any underlying health issues, slowly "peel away the layers of the onion," and design a healing protocol and comprehensive LIFESTYLE plan specific to your unique biochemistry so you can heal, experience vibrant health, balanced hormones, age well, and look, think and feel better than ever for a lifetime. I consult with men and women throughout the U.S. and with clients locally in the Phoenix, AZ area. Schedule a free 15-minute consultation!

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Sources available upon request.

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