Toxic Child? Or Healthy Child?

Are our youth being raised in a toxic society?

Toxic Food, Toxic Toys, Toxic Society…?

“Taste the Rainbow”

Waking up from DENIAL

“It ain’t just a river.”

Denial is a psychological defense against information that is painful to reflect up…allows toxic patterns to continue….

BUT the ancients knew and we can learn that TRUTH SETS US FREE!

Modern Mom: Do I have to fight the entire society?

YES!It’s up to parents to protect children in an

exploitative, polluted world.

And it’s not easy!!!

A HEALTHY CHILD

• Physically: eats and enjoys wholesome food

• Has positive role models who treat him with respect – who value themselves and solve their problems in a healthy way –

• Has a healthy connection to the natural world

• Has confidence, patience to learn skills

• Plays Actively – sheds stress through play

Toxic child

• Eats mostly commercial foods

• Cranky, hyper, anxious, depressed

• Frequent colds…allergies…other uncomfortable health issues….

Anxiety/Depression: Kids are NOT immune

• Restlessness, or feeling on edge

• Becoming easily fatigued • Difficulty with concentration,

mind going blank • Irritability • Tense muscles• Sleep disturbance (difficulty

falling or staying asleep, or restless unsatisfying sleep)

• Self reproach

Depression: Food and Mood are connected

Depression often involves: • Self-reproach• Irritability • difficulty concentrating, • inability to make

decisions • loss of interest and

pleasure • appetite or weight

changes • sleep problems

Common Sources of Toxicity

• Sugary foods

• GMO and other food processing

• Pesticides - herbicides

• Synthetic chemicals in food, personal products, or cleaning products

• Harmful “stuff” – off gassing carpets, car air-conditioning, toxic plastics

SUGAR

WHY AVOID SUGAR

• Upsets mineral relationships - interferes with absorption of calcium & magnesium - can lead to copper deficiency.

• raises triglycerides.

• reduces the body’s ability to fight bacterial infection.

SUGAR 101

• Promotes acidic digestive tract.• Causes rapid rise of adrenaline levels in

children.• Tooth decay.• Obesity.• Gallstones…• Heart disease…• Appendicitis…• Hemorrhoids.

Sugar + Time = Degenerative Disease

Because sugar is devoid of minerals, vitamins, fiber, and has a deteriorating effect on the endocrine system, major researchers and health organizations (American Dietetic Assn., American Diabetic Assn.) agree that American sugar consumption is one of 3 major causes of American degenerative disease.

People in starvation situations live longer without sugar than with

More?

• Interferes with absorption of protein.• IS ADDICTIVE• implicated in diabetes• can cause toxemia during pregnancy.• promotes eczema in children.• cardiovascular disease.• impairs the structure of DNA• Implicated in poor learning• Suppresses immune system• Robs the body of Vitamin E.

What are GMO Foods?

What are GMO foods?

• Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are organisms in which the genetic material (DNA) has been altered in a way that does not occur naturally. It allows individual genes to be transferred from one organism into another, also between non-related species.

• Such methods are used to create GM plants – which are then used to grow GM food crops. Ex. Tomatoes that last for several weeks

Ex. GMO FOOD

• A tomato designed to stay fresh for a long time is one example of a genetically modified food.

• Corn designed to resist pesticides

GMO FOODS: Who can you trust?

In acute toxicity studies with male/female rats, which were tube-fed homogenized GM tomatoes, toxic effects were claimed to be absent.

However: 7 out of 40 of the rats died within a few weeks after eating GM tomatoes for “unstated reasons.”.

These studies were poorly designed and therefore the conclusion that FLAVR SAVRTM tomatoes were safe does not rest on good science, questioning the validity of the FDA’s decision that no toxicological testing of other GM foods will in future be required.

Can’t trust corporations to keep your kids healthy –government is often poorly regulated

Are GM foods safe?

Here’s what the FDA says:

Different GM organisms include different genes inserted in different ways. It is not possible to make general statements on the safety of all GM foods.

ANIMALS AVOID GMO FOOD

When given a choice, animals avoid eating GM food. In farmer-run tests, cows and pigs repeatedly passed up GM corn.Animals that avoided GM food also include geese, squirrels, elk,deer, raccoons, mice and rats.

Sad, but True….

• The FDA has refused to require labeling of genetically engineered foods, despite overwhelming American support for mandatory labeling. Some food companies are now taking action by labeling certain products or ingredients "non-gmo", which means

"made without genetically modified organisms".

• The U. S. may soon be the only country in the world which does NOT require labeling of genetically engineered food.

FAST Food that LASTS FOREVER

Have you ever visited a

Museum of Ancient

Hamburgers and Buns?

What is the secret of fast food that “lasts forever…?”

FAIRY TALE MYTH

“If it was bad for you the government wouldn’t allow them to sell it.”

Happy meal? What’s in a MacDonald’s BUN?

From MacDonald’s website: Ingredients of a BUN

Enriched flour (bleached wheat flour, malted barley flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid, enzymes), water, high fructose corn syrup, sugar, yeast, soybean oil and/or partially hydrogenated soybean oil, salt, calcium sulfate, calcium carbonate, wheat gluten, ammonium sulfate, ammonium chloride, dough conditioners (sodium stearoyl lactylate, datem, ascorbic acid, azodicarbonamide, mono- and diglycerides, ethoxylated monoglycerides, monocalcium phosphate, enzymes, guar gum, calcium peroxide, soy flour), calcium propionate and sodium propionate (preservatives), soy lecithin.

Compare to Gramma’s bread

• Grandmother knew, “the only ingredients you need in bread are flour, yeast, water, salt”.

• Fun family activity: Bake your own bread – EZ to do! Kids love to participate…

SYNTHETIC CHEMICALSand Pesticides

Aliens in our bodies…..

• According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), 95% of the pesticides used on residential lawns are probable carcinogens

• In 1989, the National Cancer Institute reported that children develop leukemia 6 times more often when pesticides are used around their homes

• The American Journal of Epidemiology found that more children with brain tumors and other cancers had been exposed to insecticides than had healthy children

Troubling findings about pesticides

Coal Tar Dyes –D&C Blue 1, Green 3, Yellow 5

& 6, Red 33, etc.) • Even though their carcinogenicity is

proven, the gov’t. includes a specific exemption for them. Can cause severe reactions: asthma attacks, headaches, nausea, fatigue, ADD-ADHD behavior, nervousness, increases risk of Hodgkin’s disease, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma & multiple myeloma. Found in bubble bath, hair dye, dandruff shampoo, toothpaste and foods.

Red # 40, Yellow #5, Blue # 2…

FOOD DYES ARE SYNTHESIZED

FROM PETROLEUM: WARNING!!!

THE SAME STUFF THAT RUNS

YOUR CAR CAN RESULT IN

HIGH-OCTANE KIDS!

Behaviors attributed to eating food dyes:

• Attention Deficits• Irritability• Restlessness• Sleep disturbance• Aggression• Hyperactivity

ONE of hundreds of studies seldom heard on the news

The effects of a double blind, placebo controlled, artificial food colourings and benzoate preservative on hyperactivity in a general population sample of preschool children.

By Bateman, B. et al, Archives of Disease in Childhood. 2004 Jun;89(6):506-11.

AIMS: To determine whether artificial food colorings and a preservative in the diet of 3 year old children influence hyperactive behaviour. RESULTS: There were significant reductions in hyperactive behaviour during the withdrawal phase.

CONCLUSIONS: There is a general adverse effect of artificial food colouring and benzoate preservatives on the behavior of 3 yr old children . . . "

HEALTHY PARENTS,

HEALTHY KIDS

Parents, please take care of yourself…..

THE DEAL

If I were to offer to sell you a tiny bit of poison for you and your kids to ingest daily into your body, for which you would receive some convenience, or the illusion of fresh food, or the hope of eternal youth and beauty, would you accept the deal?

Toxic Risk Management

• Reduce exposure to hazard whenever possible; ex. NO soda at home

• Accept substantial hazard only for great benefit; ex. A wedding or birthday party

• Refuse hazard when benefit is relatively trivial.

Philip Handler (1979)Quoted by toxicologist Bernard Weiss

A guide to risk-benefit analysis

Beauty and “personal” Products:

Not always so pretty….

Are they making

your family sick?

Getting TOXINS out of the house

• Stay firm

• Find tasty or effective alternatives

• Parents the “Power of the Purse” gives you Power over the Pantry”

• Ease out of addictions…

• Talk to your children, educate them

• Be a role model of self-respect and self-support

CONNECTION TO NATUREis protective and healthy

Eat “out of the garden and off the trees”

A wholesome diet consists of unprocessed foods, 50% raw whole foods…..

An Apple A Day….

Nutrition Facts about Apples

• Mineral Content: magnesium, copper, manganese, copper, calcium, iron, potassium and phosphorus in small quantities. Apple also contains dietary fiber, which reduces bad cholesterol levels.

• Vitamin Content: Apple is rich in Vitamin A and Vitamin C. Other vitamins present in apple include Vitamin K, Thiamin, Riboflavin, and Vitamin B6.

• Calorie Content of Apple: Apple does not have high calories yet, it is an excellent source of energy. Further, apple contains sugars which are easily absorbed by the body. Hence, the weak and ill are advised to eat apples for gaining weight and fast recovery.

Health Benefits of Apple: The nutritional value of apple makes it useful for digestion, stomach disorders, anaemia, dental care, dysentry, heart disease, rheumatism, eye disorders, cancer, gout, and skin care.

Local Sources of Organic Food

• Your own garden…coming soon…. Kinnelon Community Garden

• Nature’s Pavilion on Route 23 by Jackson Ave….

• Kinnelon Pod of Purple Dragon Organic Food Coop

• Stop N Shop and Pathmark have some organic selections…

• Order on-line from Door to Door Organics

Grow a Garden

Young children who take part in growing green foods are far less vulnerable to the negative social conditioning regarding greens and veggies….(Lettuce is an easy early crop to grow….)

Avoiding refined or corn Sugar

• Make your own healthy SODA

3/4 seltzer and ¼ fruit juice

• Eat fresh, frozen or dried Fruits – ex. dates• Bake or sweeten with dried sugar cane juice or

crystals• Stevia• Honey

Omega 3 Fatty Acids

Studies from Sweden, Norway, Australia, & United Kingdom prove that omega 3 fatty acids reduce ADHD behavior by as much as 50%.

Sources Omega 3 Essential

Acids

HEALTHY SNACKS• Frozen grapes, cherries, or

blueberries in summer• Orange slices dipped in

coconut• Apple slice dusted with

cinnamon• Baked sweet potato “chips”• Whole grain organic pretzels• Olive lollipop on carrot stick• Peanut butter and banana• Crudite – kids love it

Cheese & fruit Kabobs

…..

HUMMAS

See more at Parents.com: The Best 20 Snacks

Not by food alone…The Daily Hug

Should be a reliable feature of family life

Connection

PLAY WITH YOUR KIDS

Prescription for Healthier Brain and Healthy LIFE

Our brains grow and change based on how we live.

A life full of learning, adventure, play, sound sleep, vigorous exercise, healthy food, love, spiritual connection, social interactions, innovation, novelty and friendship will help you to feel better

and have a healthier brain. Who could ask for a prescription better than that?

Can’t Wait for Society – but you can push for positive changes

“If I am firm about respecting my self, my kids will learn to respect themselves.”

Be informed and SPEAK UP!!!

• When you shop, ask for more ORGANICS and fewer polluted products

• Show enthusiasm and approval when kids choose wisely

• Quote from a brilliant psychoanalyst: “Break denial with a sledge hammer”

• Find a place of balance – not rigidity: First rule, enjoy and appreciate your life

HEALTHY CHILDREN