You Can't Believe Everything the Ads Say!

I am often leery of the products I see advertised on TV for kids.  One of them I have seen a lot lately is for PediaSure.  So I decided to check the ingredients list and nutrition label.  It was at that point that I asked myself, why would anyone give this stuff to their kids?  Answer:  Because advertisers do a great job of marketing.

PediaSure is basically water, milk and sugar with some chemicals and other nasties.  Here's the ingredients list for PediaSure Strawberry Ready to Drink:

Water, Sugar, Corn Maltodextrin, Milk Protein Concentrate, High Oleic Safflower Oil, Canola Oil, Whey Protein Concentrate. Less than 0.5% of the Following: Soy Protein Isolate, Short-Chain Fructooligosaccharides, Cellulose Gel, Magnesium Phosphate, Natural & Artificial Flavor, Potassium Chloride, Potassium Citrate, Calcium Phosphate, Calcium Carbonate, Potassium Phosphate, Tuna Oil, Salt, Cellulose Gum, Choline Chloride, Ascorbic Acid, Soy Lecithin, Monoglycerides, Potassium Hydroxide, m-Inositol, Carrageenan, Taurine, Ferrous Sulfate, dl-Alpha-Tocopheryl Acetate, L-Carnitine, Zinc Sulfate, Calcium Pantothenate, Niacinamide, FD&C Red #3, Manganese Sulfate, Thiamine Chloride Hydrochloride, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin, Lutein, Cupric Sulfate, Vitamin A Palmitate, Folic Acid, Chromium Chloride, Biotin, Sodium Selenate, Sodium Molybdate, Potassium Iodide, Phylloquinone, Vitamin D3, and Cyanocobalamin.

Whew!  Notice the artificial flavors, FD&C Red #3 (food dye), and dl-Alpha-Tocopheryl (synthetic Vitamin E).  Since I am not an expert at reading food labels, I can only assume that if the Vitamin E is synthetic, so are the other vitamins.  This list is enough for me to know that I would never feed Pediasure to my grandchildren.

 

Fortunately, I have found an excellent meal supplement.  It's called Meal Shake and it's from Shaklee.  You won't find artificial flavors, dyes or synthetic vitamins in this product.  It comes in Vanilla and Bavarian Cocoa (very yummy) flavors.  I gave it to my boys when they needed extra calories during their sports seasons.  It's also excellent for picky eaters, providing 19 essential vitamins and minerals.

I have said it before and I will say it again.  Advertisers get paid to sell stuff.  And they are very good at it.  So it's up to us as wise consumers to really listen to what they are saying and then check it out.  Don't be fooled by terms like "for baby" or "pediatrician approved."  Take a look at the  "#1 choice of pediatricians" (AKA Dreft.) It contains chemicals like Propylene Glycol; which is an immune system toxin, neurotoxin, reproductive toxin, respiratory toxin, and skin toxin.  But I digress... 

By now I am sure you get my point.  I just want us all to be smart shoppers, especially when it comes to making safe & healthy choices for our kids!

Raising Healthy Kids

Our Children’s Health is Suffering: Allergies & asthma, chronic ear & sinus infections, obesity, learning disabilities, blood sugar disturbances, and high levels of cholesterol – these are all on the rise in children today.

According to the CDC, approximately 17% (or 12.5 million) of children and adolescents aged 2—19 years are obese. Since 1980, obesity prevalence among children and adolescents has almost tripled.

The prevalence of asthma is increasing, especially in children. Approximately 500,000 annual hospitalizations (34.6% in individuals aged 18 years or younger) are due to asthma.

Between 3% and 7% of school-aged children currently have a diagnosis of ADHD, according to the American Psychiatric Association. However, nearly 1 in 10 children (9.5%) aged 4 to 17 have had an ADHD diagnosis at some point in their childhood and rates of ADHD diagnosis are rising, especially in older teenagers.

Children Are Exposed to More & More Toxins:
We are frequently told "A little bit won't hurt you" when it comes to chemicals in our food and environment. That may be true, however a little bit here and there eventually adds up to a lot.

Let's look at the potential sources of chemical contamination that our children are bombarded with on a daily basis. There is chlorine in our water supply and often fluoride as well. Fluoride is added to tooth pastes and mouthwashes. Many imported fruits and vegetables have been sprayed with pesticides and herbicides that are illegal in the US.

Meat and dairy products are loaded with residues of antibiotics and hormones from factory farming operations. Look at the ingredients on the label of nearly any prepared food in the grocery store, and you will see a list of chemicals as long as your arm.

Add to this list the chemicals in topical preparations such as body lotions and shampoos. Did you know that your skin will absorb up to 60% of anything you put on it? And then there are environmental toxins such as lawn chemicals and pesticides and household insecticides. The American journal of Public Health has reported a link between bug killers and childhood cancer. In a study of children in Colorado, those who lived in homes where the lawns had been treated with herbicides had a four-fold increase in the risk of developing a tumor.

Cancer is the leading cause of disease-related deaths in children under the age of 20. Leukemia, which is the most common childhood cancer, increased by more than 15% over the last 20 years.

Parents need to become proactive and lobby against the use of dangerous pesticides and chemicals in this country. And at the same time, they need to do everything they can to eliminate toxins in the home and in the schools their children attend. Two great resources regarding children and toxic chemicals are Healthy Child Healthy World and Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families.

Our Kids Immune Systems Need Help
One of the most important jobs parents have is to help their kids develop healthy immune systems. A strong and healthy immune system enables a child to fight off anything that invades the body or threatens it from without or within, including bacteria, viruses and cancer.

The key to a healthy immune system is optimal nutrition. Dr. Leo Galland says in his book, Superimmunity for Kids,  “Optimal nutrition in childhood is a gift that lasts a lifetime.”

How To Build A Healthy Immune System

1. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) strongly recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life and that breastfeeding continue for at least 12 months. The advantages of breastfeeding are numerous. Breast milk is ultimately the best source of nutrition for a new baby. Many components in breast milk help protect your baby against infection and disease. The proteins in breast milk are more easily digested than in formula or cow’s milk. The calcium and iron in breast milk are also more easily absorbed.

Breast milk has the perfect combination of proteins, fats, vitamins, and carbohydrates. There is nothing better for the health of your baby. Some of the nutrients in breast milk help the immune system mature into a fully effective fighting machine. Leukocytes are living cells that are only found in breast milk. They help fight infection. It is the antibodies, living cells, enzymes, and hormones that make breast milk ideal. These cannot be added to formula.

2. Provide a wholesome, balanced diet focusing on fruits, vegetables and whole grains. Avoid sugar, processed foods and partially-hydrogenated oils. Eat organic when possible.

3. Supplement daily with immune-building vitamins, minerals, trace minerals essential fatty acids and antioxidant supplements.

4. Remove the toxins from your child’s food, water, air, home and school. Replace cleaners & personal care products with non-toxic alternatives.
5. Encourage regular physical exercise and plenty of good sleep

Do You Really Need To Supplement Your Child’s Diet?
In a paper published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, it was stated that most people do not consume an optimal amount of all vitamins by diet alone. Because of such things as over-processing, early harvesting, soil depletion, chemicals, preservatives and hormone usage, food today isn’t what it used to be. Additionally, in this fast-paced world, we are eating on the run (and it’s not home-made). Our kids’ are not consuming the recommended daily servings of fruits, vegetables, grains, protein and dairy, and thus their diets fall short of many critical nutrients. The solution is to supplement.

How Do You Know You Are Getting a Good Quality Supplement?
Several years ago, I learned the hard way that vitamins are not all alike. I took lots of different supplements which I purchased at the local drug store. And still I suffered with seasonal allergies and several sinus infections a year. It wasn’t until I changed brands to a better quality line that my health improved. That line was Shaklee and it is what I recommend to my clients today.

There are a few things you want to look for in a good quality supplement:

Bioavailability – a big word for “am I digesting and absorbing my vitamins?” Be sure the company you buy from does these tests. Otherwise how will you know if you are even benefitting from your supplements?

What’s in my vitamins? Can I trust the label? – Unfortunately there is very loose regulation in this area. Some companies formulate to only 60% or less of the label claims. That means that what you see isn’t necessarily what you get, and poor quality products may contain ingredients and impurities never listed on the label.

What should I look for in a multivitamin?  Above all look for a reputable company. “Reputable” means they have their products analyzed and tested by third-party independent labs and that they have developed their products with quality and optimal health (vs. high profit margins) in mind. Don’t assume that just because a supplement is a bestselling brand and shows 100% of most Daily Values that it is a good product. Believe it or not, some of the very expensive brands offer poor quality formulations and use cheap ingredients.

Shaklee products pass all of the above criteria. Your best bet is to buy from a company you trust and educate yourself about the products you buy. Watch out for marketing hype vs. solid and useful information. And don’t believe everything you read on the internet.

I hope you have found this information helpful. I would love to hear your comments below. If you have any questions or would like to learn more about the Shaklee products please feel free to contact me.

A Natural Approach to ADD/ADHD

There is increasing concern about the growing number of children on Ritalin and similar drugs, and many parents are looking for more natural alternatives. The following is a summary of some of the nutrients and herbs that many parents are using with good results to offer nutritional support for learning and brain function.


To give a good nutritional foundation to the brain and nervous system and to the whole child, a good program should always begin with a high quality multi-vitamin/mineral. The B vitamins are really important for the brain…parents have reported that they makes children not only smart, but pleasant!

Calcium-magnesium: These essential minerals are often referred to as natural nerve tranquilizers and muscle relaxants. Pediatric Allergist Dr. Doris Rapp and other authorities feel many learning and behavioral problems are related to allergies and brain sensitivities. Therefore, many recommend limiting milk and dairy products as well as artificial dyes, flavorings, preservatives, etc.

Zinc: In addition to its reputation for improving our immune systems, especially viruses and sore throats, zinc is essential for the brain and helps protect the eyes from aging.

Bifidus and Acidophilus (Probiotics): Essential friendly bacteria that ideally live in our lower intestines. These good bacteria help prevent over growth of bad bacteria and Candida yeast – often associated with attention deficit disorder.

Probiotics are especially important for a child who has ever been on an antibiotic or steroid-based medications (common with asthma). These medications kill off much of these essential “friendly microbes” that live in the lower intestine. Without adequate amounts of these microbes, research now shows the body is more susceptible to infection (especially sinus and upper respiratory) because 70% of the immune system resides in the intestines.

It is very difficult to find an acidophilus/bifidus product that guarantees live delivery of microflora to the intestine. Tests show that many of them do not make it live to your door, much less to your colon. 90% of the microflora alive in these products at the time of manufacture are killed off long before they reach the intestine. So please choose wisely—I know of only one product that guarantees delivery of 500,000 live microorganisms to the intestines without being destroyed by the highly acidic environment of the stomach.

In addition to the above recommendations, for hyper activity, allergies or asthma consider replacing your cleaning and laundry products with non-toxic alternatives. Here’s an excerpt from a powerful testimony: “In your homes, laundry soap stays in the fabric, cleaning chemicals under the sink give off fumes in the air (remember the smell of the cleaning isle in the store!!)…. I wanted to get "as much as possible" out of my son's environment...so we went completely Shaklee!! BIG difference !!!! After we cleared out the chemicals and started to clean and do laundry with Shaklee, his rash on his face cleared, all of our sinus infections cleared up, my husband now comments on the smell of homemade bread, and best of all my son has calmed down a great deal !!!”

The best and most affordable health insurance is a diet based on 6 to 9 servings of fruits and vegetables, whole grains and a basic supplementation program combined with regular exercise… and lots of love and laughter.

Feel free to contact me to request information on nutritional programs for ADD/ADHD.

Do Toxic Homes Cause Asthma?

Note: Today’s blog entry was written by Dr. Stephen Chaney. Dr. Chaney is a professor of biochemistry, biophysics and nutrition at UNC Medical School in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. He is also a prominent cancer researcher with a well established research lab he directs at UNC.


Everybody is going green. Biodegradable cleaners are finally in fashion.

But did you realize that many of the cleaners that you buy in the supermarket - and some of the biodegradable cleaners that you buy in the health food store - release toxic fumes in your home that can adversely affect the health of you and your children?

I'm going to focus on just one aspect of this topic - household chemical exposure and childhood asthma.  But first a bit of background information: The prevalence of childhood asthma increased 74% between 1980 and 1994 and has continued to increase in the years since.

The causes of this rapid increase in asthma prevalence are likely to be complex, but evidence has accumulated in recent years that some of the increase may be caused by early exposure to toxic chemical fumes in the home.

Why is that?

The American consumer keeps demanding cleaners that work better (It's considered a big plus if they require no effort) and are easy to use (Don't bother with messy liquids and pastes - just spray it on).  And manufacturers have been willing to oblige by adding ever more exotic chemicals to household cleaners and putting them in aerosol spray cans.

And of course no one opens their windows any more. That would be wasting energy and contributing to global warming.

The result is that these toxic chemicals accumulate in the air that we breathe in our own homes. In fact, the Environmental Protection Agency has stated that the air inside our homes is often more polluted than in Los Angeles or New York on a smoggy day.

A number of studies have pointed to an association between these toxic household fumes and childhood asthma, but I'd like to focus on one particularly good study on this topic that was published recently in the European Respiratory Journal (31: 54-57, 2008).

This study measured the household chemical exposure of 7,162 pregnant women in England and looked at the incidence of asthma in their children at age 8.5 years.

A maternal composite household chemical exposure (CHCE) score was derived by measuring the pregnant mother's exposure to a number of common household products known to contain toxic chemicals.

The household products used most frequently were disinfectants (87.4%), bleach (84.8%), aerosols (71.7%), air fresheners (68%), window cleaners (60.5%), carpet cleaners (35.3%) and pesticides/insecticides (21.2%). (For information on the toxic chemicals in these and other common household products visit:  http://www.householdproducts.nlm.nih.gov/products.htm)

Asthma was quantified based on persistent wheezing (reported by the parents) and several lung function tests that were administered at age 8.5 years.

To make sure that the asthma was not caused by simple allergies the children were also given a skin prick test against a panel of 6 common childhood allergens (house dust mites, cats, mixed grass, mixed nuts, peanuts and milk).  The study also controlled for confounding variables such as exposure to tobacco smoke, damp housing, pets in the home and maternal history of asthma.

In short, this was a very large and particularly well controlled study.

And the results were clear.  Higher household chemical exposure during pregnancy was associated with a 41% increase in childhood asthma in children with no known allergies.

What does that mean to you and me? It means that it is not enough to select household products that are safe for the environment.  We also need to select products that we use in our homes on the basis of their safety for us and our family - not just on the basis of cost and convenience.

To Your Health!

Dr. Stephen G Chaney

P.S. Shaklee, the company that brought us one of the very first biodegradable cleaners and the very first company in the world to be certified as climate neutral, makes a "Get Clean" line of household cleaners that are not only biodegradable but also contain no toxic fumes that could be harmful for your health.

For an additional viewpoint check out Toxic Brew: