New Generation of Children’s Health Care

This article is a good one. CHeck it out http://lapislazulilight.com/Founder/Index_Lapis_News_From_Founder_Article_26.html


A friend of mine who lives in a big city recently observed that her friends’ children are suffering from skin allergies, red rashes, and problems of the respiratory tract. I had a chance to ask Dr. Philip Incao about it, who is a pediatrician. He thinks that children of the current generation are facing a major health crisis, the main causes are overuse of antibiotics and excessive vaccinations. Dr. Incao is often invited to the Waldorf Schools to speak with parents and teachers about children’s health. The following are the main points highlighted in his speech to them:

How to treat illnesses related to inflammation?

The best doctors are Dr. Diet, Dr. Quiet and Dr. Merryman. Inflammation is the most common ailment in childhood. ‘Infection’ is not an appropriate description as it assumes that pathogenic bacteria are the source of the illness. This is a misunderstanding. We are constantly in contact with germs. Our bodies also contain bacteria, yet we are sick only occasionally. Why do we fall sick only at certain occasions? From birth till death, our bodies are growing and changing constantly. Health is the balance between mind and body. Childhood is body’s fastest period of growth, where the body goes through many major changes. Old cells die and become waste. The immune system breakdowns the old cells, then fever and inflammation digests them. Germs are not the cause of illnesses; they are merely dependant on the nourishment of the waste products of the old cells.

Doctor Diet

When the body is purging toxins, it is best not to have to digest too much food. Avoid food with high protein when one is down with acute illnesses. The patient can take vegetable soup, herbal teas, vegetable and fruit juices. Beverages should be taken at or above room temperature. Fruits, cooked vegetables and grains can be taken.

Doctor Quiet

During illnesses, children require a quiet, harmonious and peaceful environment. It is best that parents comfort and support the child calmly. When a child is sick, it is often the best opportunity for strengthening parent-child bonding and communication.

Doctor Merryman
Fever should not be viewed as an unhealthy and dangerous bodily reaction. It is a message from the body. It is the body’s reaction in its process of purging toxins and foreign substances. Studies in recent years showed that anti-fever medications repress the immune system and increases toxins in the body. They are actually harmful to the body as they may protract or even complicate the illness. Many parents have great fear about fever. Towards such great unknown force, it is natural to be fearful. However, inflammation and fever are healing energies. Do not regard flu or fever as disturbances, and feel frustrated, worried or anxious. We can consider them as the function of a deeper wisdom. A positive attitude can help in quicker recovery. Dr. Incao has a young patient of 5 years old. At the most critical moment of his illness, he told his mother, “Don’t worry, mama, I am just growing.” All the growth in nature requires the initial earth loosening, then fertilization. This is likened to the fever and inflammation of a child.

Extracted from Lapis Lazuli Light Magazine Feb 2008 IssueTranslated by Lapis Lazuli Light Singapore

Natural Remedies for toddler's Cough - lotus root powder drink

Got this from my favourite Ou Yang Ying's book. Post it here as requested by some mummy friends.

Ingredient A
5 red dates (remove the seeds)
20 wolfberries
750cc water
1 piece old ginger

Ingredient B
10g pure lotus root powder
5g brown sugar

Boil ingredient A for 30 minutes
Mix ingredient B in cold water. Add to A after 30 minutes. Bring it to boil again for a little while , then turn off the heat. Serve warm

Excellent book: Diet Therapy for Infant by Ou Yang Ying

How to raise a heathy baby?? This is the answer!

I bought this book by Ou Yang Ying , Diet Theraphy for Infants. Excellent book(http://www.oyoung.com.tw/yellow/5newbooks_view.asp?id=30)

He advocates eating organic, eating raw, vegetarian.

I made the below recipe for Shaun , from Ou Yang Ying’s book.

80g black bean
5 g brown sugar
1 piece of old ginger
500cc of water
cook in electric cooker for 45 minutes. Serves warm.


Other than that, I also give
Korean bamboo salt honey with pearl

lemon and honey

North and south Chinese almonds, chuan bei mu or song bei, dried figs, dried tangerine, brew in 1 litre water for 45 minutes.
brew pear and song bei , with a little bit of rock sugar

Result is: Shaun recovers from phlegmy cough in around 1 week+, all by himself with the help of natural remedies. No cough mixture or medicine. Yeah! Keep it up dear Son.

Toddler Cough natural remedies

I got all these from the web.

• You should not give your child (especially a baby or toddler) OTC cough medicine without first checking with your doctor. (guazi: Even babycenter also says no cough medicine to be given to kids below 4 years old! )


• Run a hot shower bath and let the baby inhale the steam while she is in the bathroom. The congestion will go. Sit in the bathroom with your child for about 20 minutes. The steam should help your child breathe more easily.
  
• A cool-mist humidifier in your child's bedroom might help with sleep.

• Cool beverages like juice can be soothing. But do not give soda or orange juice, as these can hurt a throat that is sore from coughing.
  
• A warm bath can give relief. One can add eucalyptus oil or thyme or perhaps sage oil to the bath water. The vapor form these essential oils clear up the airways of the baby, so that she can breathe easily. Also, it provides relief to a sore throat.
  
• One can give herbal tea made of thyme or sage. One should check out with one’s physician at what age one can give the baby herbal tea.
  
• Licorice tea contains anti- bacterial properties and is a good remedy. It fights the bacteria that cause coughing. It helps in soothing the throat and calming the respiratory tract. The baby can sleep comfortably.
  
• Mix olive oil with essential oils and then apply it on the baby’s back and chest. Small babies should be covered well to build up body heat so that the essential oils vaporize well.
  
• Breast milk is also good to treat a baby’s cough.
  
• Honey + Lemon 1 teaspoon of honey * 1 tablespoon of lemon juice (freshly squeezed) Stir mixture in a little bit of drinking water and drink immediately. Take this 2-3 times a day.



• 
  Restful sleep.
  



• Give plenty of fluids to keep the mucous membrane and throat moist




• Check out home remedies by Ou Yang Ying in my later post.
  
• Gargling with salt water is good. If the child is above 4 let her gargle several times with saline water.

What to do when your kid starts to cough?

I like to jot down all these important reminders I read from the web. It serves the purpose of constantly reminding me not to give medicine if it’s not necessary. Yeah, I want my boy to grow up healthily and doesn’t rely on medicine. I want his immune system to be strong so that he can recover by his own when he is down with fever, flu or cough.

Excerpt from Kidshealth.org
(http://kidshealth.org/parent/general/eyes/childs_cough.html#)

Because most coughs are caused by viruses, doctors usually do not give antibiotics for a cough. If the cough is caused by a virus, it just needs to run its course. A viral infection can last for as long as 2 weeks. Unless a cough won't let your child sleep, cough medicines are not needed.

When to Call the Doctor
Most childhood coughs are nothing to be worried about. However, call your doctor if your child:
· has trouble breathing or is working hard to breathe
· is breathing more quickly than usual
· has a blue or dusky color to the lips, face, or tongue
· has a high fever (especially if your child is coughing but does NOT have a runny or stuffy nose)
· has any fever and is less than 3 months old
· is an infant (3 months old or younger) who has been coughing for more than a few hours
· makes a "whooping" sound when breathing in after coughing
· is coughing up blood
· has stridor (a noisy or musical sound) when breathing in
· has wheezing when breathing out (unless you already have a home asthma care plan from your doctor)
· is weak or cranky

World Health Foods http://whfoods.org/ is my Favourite #1 website. The below are all excerpts from WHF website.

Would like to share with you this page that teaches you “How to Help Avoid the Swine Flu and Seasonal Flu by Strengthening Your Immune System with the World's Healthiest Foods”

http://whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=george&dbid=253&utm_source=daily_click&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=daily_email

Important notes from George Mateljan Foundation:

1. Your body uses a variety of responses to maintain its defense against harmful pathogenic organisms in the environment; therefore, it may not be surprising that nearly all of the vitamins are necessary to maintain and promote some aspect of your immune function. Minerals, omega-3 fatty acids, and protein are also all keys to a healthy immune system.

2. This means eating more fresh fruits and vegetables, beans, nuts and seeds, and extra virgin olive oil. Including more fruits and vegetables into your daily menu is a must for a healthy immune system, so this is a particularly important time of year to try and eat the recommended 5-9 servings of fruits and vegetables each day.

3. The more colorful your meal, the greater likelihood you will receive a rich diversity of phytonutrients. These phytonutrients give carrots and winter squash their rich orange-red color; make beets, berries and red and purple grapes a brilliant red; and provide green leafy vegetables such as spinach with their deep green hue.

4. Traditional ways of cooking vegetables can destroy from 50-80% of nutrients. Don't overcook. Steaming and healhy sauté preserves most nutrients.

5. What Not to Eat May Be Just as Important as What You Do Eat
Avoid:
1. Refined grain products, white bread, cookies, pastries, and processed foods that deplete the body of vitamins and minerals necessary for promoting immunity

2. Refined sugar which reduces the responsiveness of your immune cells and lowers your immune defenses

3. Cooking with oils exposed to high heat (such as frying), which can produce immune-damaging substances

4. Excessive consumption of calories and saturated fats from dairy and commercial beef, which can weaken the strength of your immune system

Ok since my whole family, including Shaun , are vegetarians, I had taken out non-veg items from WHFoods’s list.

Spinach, Swiss chard, carrots,yellow squash, broccoli,kale, apricots, cantaloupe
Vitamin A, E and K Enhances the function of white blood cells; increases the response of antibodies to antigens; has anti-viral activity

Lemons, limes, citrus fruits, Swiss chard, spinach, cabbage, romaine lettuce, red bell peppers, broccoli, cantaloupe
Vitamin C and other antioxidants Powerful antioxidant; reduces time and length of respiratory viral infections

Cauliflower, broccoli, collard greens, romaine lettuce, legumes/beans, asparagus, spinach, Swiss chard
B-vitamins (folate, B1, B2, B5, B6, B12) Promotes the production and release of antibodies; ensures healthy immune cell function; deficiency impairs white blood cell functioning

Spinach, Swiss chard, broccoli

zinc, copper, manganese, iron Potent immunostimulant; deficiency can result in profound suppression of immune function

Onions, garlic
Sulfur-containing and flavonoid phytonutrients Antibiotic and anti-inflammatory properties; kills germs

Shiitake mushrooms
Lentian. Enhances immune system function including strengthening its ability to fight infection

Olive oil

Monounsaturated fats. Promotes healthy gastrointestinal membrane essential for a healthy immune system

walnuts, flaxseeds
Omega-3 fatty acids. Precursors to compounds that regulate immune system

Eggs ( Angie: Look for free range eggs!!)
Vitamin D. Regulate immune system activity by preventing excessive or prolonged inflammatory response

Brazil nuts
Selenium. Supports healing from inflammation and may be an immunostimulant

legumes/beans
Protein. Source of immune-stimulating amino acids;deficiency can result in depletion of immune cells and the ability of the body to produce antibodies

===============================================
Getting inspiration from this website, I’m going to make this tonight

Green Bean dish from WHFoods. Nice!!

Ingredients:
· 1 lb green beans
· 2 tsp fresh lemon juice
· 2 medium cloves garlic, chopped
· 3 TBS extra vigin olive oil
· sea salt and pepper to taste
· Optional:
· 3 TBS goat cheese
· 2 TBS sliced almonds
· 4-5 drops tamari soy sauce
· 1 TBS sliced sun dried tomatoes
· 2 TBS roasted red bell peppers
· 1 TBS chopped basil

Spinach from WHFoods. Yummy!

· 1 pound fresh spinach
· 1 tsp lemon juice
· 1 medium fresh garlic, pressed or chopped
· 1 TBS extra virgin olive oil
· salt and cracked black pepper to taste
· Optional: chopped tomato

Food that help boost immune system

I just wanna blog on foods that can boost immune system for vegetarian toddler:-

These nutrients can be obtained from an organic whole-foods diet consisting of fresh fruits and vegetables, nuts, seeds, beans, and whole grains.

Let our toddler eat about 10 tablespoon of fruits and veg per day.

1. orange veg – sweet potatoes, carrots, squash, pumpkin. Vit A is important for our skin, first line of defense for our immune system.
2. mushroom , like shitake– help in production of white blood cells to act against foreign bacteria
3. Lemon – ideal food for restoring acid-alkali balance.
4. broccoli, spinach, green leafs veg like kailan, green beans
5. Yoghurt – important food, especially after taking antibiotics.Antibiotics destroy most of the bacteria in our body. It destroys beneficial bacteria as well. So got to take yoghurt or prebiotics rich food like asparagus, bananas, yoghurt, to restore them back , for our stomach.
6. Eliminating sugar intake! Can take raw sugar, or molasses in cooking or baking. Excessive sugar ( refined white sugar) suppresses immune system.
7. seaweed, algae
8. blueberries ,orange, strawberry, kiwi, apple, papaya, banana,
9. flaxseed, sunflower seed, pumpkin seed, sesame seed, almond, walnuts, cashew – I add grinded flaxseed, wheatgerm, lecithin, ground almond, into his plain yoghurt
10. protein rich food like soy, tofu, miso, tempeh, eggs, lentils
11. healthy fats- olive oil, nuts and seeds, avocados
12. alkaline based grains – millet, quinoe.
13. fruit and veggie juices- include carrot, beetroot, apple
14. drink lots of water! Ok I’m not sure whether the stuff I added into his plain water helps boost his immune, other than purely plain water with sea mineral, sometimes I add aloe vera , prune extract into his water and let him drink in cup. He likes it, so I just continue to do it la.
15. wholegrain, wholemeal
16 zinc rich food – beans, yoghurt, eggs, milk

Natural Remedies for Fever/Cough/Flu

miki prune extract


burdock

korean bamboo salt

Friends were telling me to blog down about the natural remedies that I apply on my self and my family. I wish to share with all of you what I consume during virus fighting time:

Sore throat/flu/runny nose/cough
1. Drink lots of fluids, preferably water or fresh organic juices. Or Pure Aussie Mineral.
2. Drink bamboo salt pearl honey or Korean bamboo salt. For kids, little bit will do.
3. Gargle throat with apple cider. For adults only.
4. Take Miki prune extract. Suitable for kids too.
5. For cough, brew soup with South and North almonds, dry figs, dried mandarine tangerines and Chuan 1 Bei4 Mu3/ Song1 Bei4 ( more effective if the coughs have phlegms) Suitable for kids too. 6. If your kid doesn’t wanna drink the soup above, mix it into his milk.
7.If your kid is coughing with lots of phlegm, stop giving Formula milk, give him Organic oatmilk. Shaun is taking oatmilk since 1 yo. So far so good!
8.If your kid keeps coughing at night, can try dripping essential oil in a bowl of water and put it in one of the corner of the room. Can try Albas Oil. Essential oil which is made from Eucaplytus is good.
9.If you are coughing ( adult), try licorice tea. Very effective. The licorice tea I bought before is not suitable for kids, so I never give Shaun this.

Fever
Fever is not an illness, it’s a symptom. The brain calls for the body to increase heat to kill virus. And the body acts like thermostat too, where it seldom exceeds 42 degree. It’s good to let the kid have fever to activate the army in his body to fight against the external attacks. This will build up his army , thus his antibody or immune system. Let your child build up his own immune system by not relying on western medicine. If it’s necessary to take medicine, try to detox after that.

1.Keep sponging with lukewarm water.
2.Make big china barley and green bean soup. Mix into his drink or milk.
3.Give Korean Bamboo salt. For kids, give little bit will do.
4.Give Korean Bamboo salt pearl honey. Bamboo salt can reduce heatiness and has anti-inflammatory effects.
5.Give honey and lemon
6.Give organic fruit juices/water/soup
7.Make veggie soup with Burdock . Burdock has cooling effect and it’s used to fight fever since ancient time in Japan.
8.Give Miki Prune Extract
9.There is NO NEED to give paracetemol if the fever is below 39 degree and the kid is still active and eating. It’s also ok if he doesn’t eat, can give plain porridge or bread, maybe not 5 grains rice as it’s heaty.
10.It’s normal for kid to be a bit lethargic, not necessary to give medicine unless he looks ill , then bring to see doc or give medicine if fever reaches 39. He is alright if he is still active as usual.
11.Wear loose clothes, preferably 100% cotton with holes kind.
12. To detox if you have taken western medicine or taken vaccination, take kumpu, wheat grass, barley green, algae.