Pollution in Newborns

Pollution in NewbornsI’m sorry to say that most people just don’t know this.  I didn’t either, despite the fact that it was published by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) in 2005, the year my older son was born.

In their landmark report, Body Burden:  The Pollution in Newborns, the EWG pointed out that an AVERAGE of 200 toxic chemicals were in the cordblood of newborns, meaning that there is only one place these could have come from:  the mother.

They found a total of over 280 carcinogens, heavy metals, endocrine disruptors, plastics, neurologically damaging pesticides and other nasties in these babies.

I remember telling our former pediatrician about the shocking levels of heavy metals that I had discovered in myself and my sons.  She said, “But you don’t live in a toxic waste dump!”

The point is, I don’t think you have to anymore to be this toxic because we’re all being exposed to these toxicants on a daily basis, then unknowingly passing them onto our children, whose toxin load will accumulate over time, and they’ll pass it on to their children.

It’s one of the main reasons we’re seeing such an epidemic of chronic illnesses like cancer and autoimmune diseases as well as developmental delays and disorders such as autism, ADHD, PDD-NOS and sensory processing disorder in children these days.

The good news is that people can be recovered from these conditions.  I’ve recovered my own sons from sensory processing disorder, asthma, eczema and acid reflux.

Here’s the trailer from the well-thought-out documentary, “Unacceptable Levels“.  It’s 2 minutes long and worth it for you to get a glimpse of what’s going on.

Top 10 Reasons Why Fresh Food Is Best

Top 10 Reasons Why Fresh Is Best

Eat like your grandma did, and your health will improve!

  1. Fresh food tastes best: I think we’ve gotten away from knowing what real, fresh food tastes like. Chef Jamie Oliver is famous for going into schools and asking children to name the vegetables he holds up. Very few can correctly identify them because they never eat them!
  2. “The food you eat can be either the safest and most powerful form of medicine or the slowest form of poison” (quote by Ann Wigmore): If we have to detoxify from the processed food that we eat, then our bodies are not able to properly detoxify. Eating whole, fresh foods made from scratch ensures high nutrient levels.
  3. Our “food” isn’t food if it’s packed with artificial colors, flavors, preservatives and long chemical names: “The Crazy Makers: How the Food Industry Is Destroying Our Brains and Harming Our Children” is a book that shows us how food additives contribute to declining mental health. Your brain and your child’s brain are starved for nutrition, and they’re not getting it if your “food” comes with a long list of chemicals in the ingredients.
  4. Artificial colors, flavors and preservatives can cause ADHD symptoms: The Feingold diet for ADHD shows how all of those pretty blues, yellows, reds and other colors in our kids’ fun foods can cause spaciness or hyperactivity, especially in children. Artificial flavors and preservatives, especially BHA and BHT, do the same. Food isn’t fresh if it’s got these ingredients in it.
  5. Canned foods have high levels of endocrine-disrupting BPA, BPS and phthalates: That plastic lining on the inside of your canned food is doing more harm to your health than you think, as it can lead to hypothyroidism and gunk up your cells’ mitochondrial dysfunction. Plus, the food is definitely not fresh!
  6. Even frozen food isn’t fresh: The late Dr. Annemarie Colbin, author and founder of The Natural Gourmet Institute in New York City, said that freezing fruits and vegetables ruptures the cell walls of the plants, thereby reducing the nutritional value of the food.
  7. You can add love to your food when you cook it: Have you ever noticed how much better food tastes when it’s homemade or made by your mom? Some people think it’s love that makes the food taste better.
  8. Processed food contains more sugar and/or high-fructose corn syrup: Robert Lustig teaches how harmful sugar is to our health. I know you’ve read that statement before, but did you know that sugar is the most inflammatory food there is AND it feeds cancer?
  9. Processed food typically contains unhealthy canola, soy and other harmful vegetable oils: I know you’re scratching your head at this one. It took me a while to wrap my head around it, especially because many “healthy food” magazines tout the benefits of canola and other vegetable oils. The Weston A. Price Foundation shows us how the extreme processing of these oils leads to rancid oils containing high amounts of inflammatory free radicals. Grandma didn’t eat these oils, and neither does my family!
  10. Fresh food has more nutrients: Compared to “healthy” fast food alternatives, fresh, homemade food has more nutrients plus the love you put into it!

Statin Dangers

Statin DangersStatins are increasingly being prescribed to bring down high cholesterol levels, which are thought by many in the medical community to be dangerous. I disagree.

Your brain and neurological system need cholesterol to function. As Dr. Sherry Rogers says in her September 2007 edition of her “Total Wellness Newsletter” (I highly recommend you subscribe to it to keep yourself updated about how doctors aren’t paying attention to health problems created by toxicity, nutritional deficiencies and side effects of prescription medication):  “Robbing the body of cholesterol synthesis deprives the brain of dolichols, messengers or neurotransmitters, damages our NF-kB production that then ushers in:

She then goes on to say that they can cause sudden amnesia. That’s a scary thing to think about: what if you’re on statins and you’re driving a car and all of a sudden you get amnesia?

Recent research has shown that statins also increase your risk of diabetes.

Remember, cholesterol is NOT the enemy – inflammation is!  Cholesterol is simply the band-aid that is trying to protect your body from chronic inflammation.

In addition, remember that if you’re lowering cholesterol, you’re also lowering levels of hormones that are made from them, like progesterone and testosterone, which is why a low sex drive is also a side effect of taking statins.

Dr. Rogers points out in her February 2011 edition of “Total Wellness Newsletter” that “plasticizers and phthalates… are the number one culprit for a rising cholesterol or other lipid abnormalities. Plus they trigger the inflammation called arteriosclerosis.”

Most doctors simply don’t take into account the effect of toxicity on our health, but the research is there if they look for it.

Here are some great resources for educating you and your doctor further about statin dangers and the demonization of cholesterol.  This is just a small sample of the over 900 studies that have shown the dangers of statins:

 

TOTAL LOAD THEORY: HOW TOXINS CONTRIBUTE TO AUTISM, ADHD AND MORE

smokestacksLearn how toxins and lifestyle factors contribute to autism, PDD-NOS, ADHD, sensory processing disorder, hypotonia, retained reflexes and developmental delays.

In this video presentation, Patty Lemer, Executive Director and Co-Founder of Developmental Delay Resources, explains the top toxins and their effect on the health and development of fetuses, babies and children.

Patty shows us how endocrine disruptors like soy, fluoride, chlorine and flame retardants as well as heavy metals like mercury contribute to these disorders.

Patty also tells us how to enhance our body’s ability to detoxify as well as how to avoid exposure to toxins.

 

MOST DOCTORS DON’T ADVISE PREGNANT WOMEN ABOUT TOXINS

Most obstetricians do not warn their pregnant patients about toxins like pesticides in food, like phthalates or endocrine disruptors in consumer products, or like heavy metals in the environment that could harm their unborn child.

A great resource on toxins that harm the neurodevelopment of fetuses, babies and children is the Mount Sinai Children’s Environmental Health CenterRead more…

SOURCE:  Environmental Health News

 

 

 

TOXIC CHILDREN’S TOYS

They’re oh so cute, but oh so toxic.  75% of children’s Disney, Spider-Man and Dora the Explorer back-to-school products had high levels of phthalates.  Phthalates give plastics that “rubber ducky” feel.

Other children’s toys to avoid are:

  • Faux-leather goods (which contain lead)
  • Cheap jewelry (which can contain lead, arsenic and cadmium)
  • Some art supplies (which may contain carcinogens and volatile organic compounds)