Five everyday things that harm children’s health

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Infant formula

Countless studies have shown that children who are breastfed long term have better physical and mental health, fewer illnesses and infections, and higher intelligence, not just during childhood, but throughout life.

To quote from the World Health Organization’s website, “Breastfeeding is an unequalled way of providing ideal food for the healthy growth and development of infants. Review of evidence has shown that, on a population basis, exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months is the optimal way of feeding infants. Thereafter infants should receive complementary foods with continued breastfeeding up to 2 years of age or beyond.”

That’s right: the World Health Organization recommends that mothers continue breastfeeding their babies until at least the age of 2.

But of course there are messages that conflict with this one – not least from the multi-billion dollar infant formula industry – leading some mothers to conclude that it’s no biggie if they don’t breastfeed.

Nothing could be further from the truth, yet by the age of just three months well over half of UK-born babies are existing on manufactured powders.

The worst brands can contain as much sugar as a can of coke per serving. But even the best brands are, at the end of the day, highly processed “food”, full of alien and potentially allergenic substances babies would never have been exposed to in nature. They are basically skimmed milk powder, whey powder and vegetable oil “fortified” with a laundry list of synthetic nutrients.

It’s come to the fore in recent years that synthetic nutritional supplements may do adults more harm than good, but we’re talking about babies here. And at least when adults take synthetic nutrients they are usually also getting at least some real, whole, natural foods alongside them.

The food nature designed for babies is not only real, whole and natural but also raw. Yet some babies are fed nothing but highly processed powder until they are six months old or more.

The baby’s delicate system has to deal with highly processed ingredients that it has no evolutionary nor biological relationship with. And it doesn’t get the essential “raw materials” (literally) it needs.

Also, in breast milk and in all natural, whole foods, nutrients exist and operate together in an elaborate symphony, and there is just no way to replicate this in the laboratory.

For all of our scientific advances, the human race has yet to create a blade of grass or a human cell – and nor can we come close to artificially recreating the perfect food that nature designed for babies.

In addition, many baby bottles contain BPA, a harmful substance researchers recently stated may be 100 times more toxic than previously thought. It’s been linked with

BPA leeches from plastic bottles and food containers, especially when these are heated.

How much BPA is getting into milk when a baby bottle is heated on the stove or (worse) in a microwave?

It’s truly frightening.

There is only one way to give your child the best start in life, and that is to breastfeed.

Vaccines

You may have heard that there is “no scientific evidence” proving that vaccines are harmful. This is a common refrain of the pro-vaccination camp.

But what you do not generally hear this camp chiming in on is the fact vaccines contain toxic manmade chemicals and animal (including in some cases human) by-products.

If that’s news to you, check out this list of vaccine ingredients for a stomach-churning read. For example, as well as containing the live viruses of measles, mumps and rubella and various synthetic chemicals, pharma giant Merck’s MMR vaccine contains chick embryonic fluid and human diploid cells from aborted foetal tissue.

All vaccines also contain scary synthetic additives. Three common ones are neurotoxic aluminium and mercury, and cancer-causing formaldehyde.

Question: Where are the studies which prove there are no long-term negative consequences to injecting such grim cocktails into the veins of our children, infants and even newborns?

Answer: They don’t exist.

The children who develop autism and other debilitating disorders shortly after being vaccinated are only the most obvious casualties of the vaccine myth – the tip of the iceberg.

Virtually no research has been conducted into the long-term effects of vaccines, meaning vaccination is an experiment being conducted on humans. Don’t let your child be a guinea pig.

It’s been estimated that giving a single vaccine to a 12-pound baby is the equivalent of giving a 180-pound adult 15 vaccinations in one go.

Additionally, babies’ tiny bodies are ill equipped to excrete toxic man-made chemicals – let alone in this volume, and with the frequency demanded by following the UK’s (or US’s) vaccination schedule. And let me stress again – nobody knows the long-term effects of all this as the research simply hasn’t been done.

However, in the last 50 years, childhood illnesses that have been seen at higher rates than ever include not only autism but also asthma, eczema, chronic fatigue, auto-immune disorders, leukaemia and other childhood cancers, and all forms of mental illness.

There’s no proof that vaccines are the (or rather a) cause of this.

But the point is, shockingly little research has been done into the longer-term effects of vaccines.

However, the findings of the biggest study comparing the health of vaccinated and unvaccinated kids will come as no surprise to those parents who question the safety of vaccines.

It found that unvaccinated kids suffer from substantially fewer allergies and infections than vaccinated kids, and that they also have substantially lower rates of ADHD and autism.

There are many safe ways you can support your child’s immunity. The most basic is optimum nutrition – starting with breast milk, which transfers antibodies from mother to baby and confers vast immunological benefits.

Also, did you know there is evidence that contracting the common childhood diseases – the very thing vaccines are designed to prevent – is actually beneficial to immunity?

In fact, there is increasing evidence that the ability to mount a vigorous, acute response to infection is a crucial step in the development of a mature immune system, and essential for optimum health.

There is also evidence that having acute infectious diseases in childhood is protective against chronic disease, including asthma, certain skin conditions and auto-immune disorders, and even cancer (all of which, as mentioned above, have been on the increase since the introduction of comprehensive programmes of childhood vaccination).

According to Viera Scheibner, Ph.D., author of Immunizations: The Medical Assault on the Immune System:

“There is no need to protect children from contracting infectious diseases of childhood. These diseases are there to prime and mature their immune system. An unvaccinated child will have a couple of common colds within the first year of life while chronic ill health, a constant stream of common colds, […] and upper and lower respiratory tract diseases is well-documented in vaccinated children. A well-nourished child will go through rubella, whooping cough, chicken pox and the rest with flying colours.”

Interested in finding out more? There’s a ton of research available online.

Fizzy drinks

Acidic, additive-laden liquids sweetened with either refined sugar or one of its (even more harmful) artificial substitutes… Many babies are weaned off processed formula straight onto fizzy drinks and the average British child drinks a staggering 200 litres of fizzy drinks every year.

As well as massively increasing a child’s risk for becoming overweight and suffering blood sugar imbalances, possibly leading to type-2 diabetes, these drinks have a very high phosphorus content, and phosphorus is extremely acidic.

A diet that’s too high in phosphorus will eventually cause bones and teeth to weaken, but that’s just the start. The resulting acid-alkaline imbalance is the precise condition that sets the scene for all of the chronic diseases that plague Western society.

Children who consume soft drinks (and, indeed, anything containing an equivalent amount of refined sugar) are more prone to Attention Deficit Disorder and other behavioural and/or mental issues.

But diet soft drinks are even worse than regular, as the aspartame and other artificial sweeteners they contain are an even worse health hazard than refined sugar.

Aspartame

This deadly sweetener, which goes by the trade name Nutra Sweet, is not only found in diet fizzy drinks. It is also found in yogurts and fruit drinks marketed to appeal to children, and in many so-called “health” foods, especially low-calorie, “no added sugar” ones.

Aspartame has been linked with cancer (especially brain cancer), multiple sclerosis, seizures, and a host of other health problems. Some experts say it can cause irreparable damage to the central nervous system. It is possibly the most toxic chemical in our food supply today.

Processed meats

(Including ham, bacon, salami and hot dogs)

Junk foods are bad for us – we all know that. Thanks to gruesome TV exposés, many of us also know that hot dogs are made from such delicacies as pigs’ stomachs, intestines, snouts, lips and eyelids and even anuses, and that they can contain mystery parts of other animals too.

Reason enough not to feed them to your kids, really, but what many parents don’t realise is that processed meats have also been linked with cancer.

For example, Peters et al. studied the relationship between the intake of certain foods and the risk of leukaemia in children from birth to age 10 in Los Angeles County between 1980 and 1987. The study found that children eating more than 12 hot dogs per month have nine times the normal risk of developing childhood leukaemia. Another study (Sarusua and Savitz) found that children who ate hot dogs one or more times per week were also at higher risk of brain cancer.

Why the link? Hot dogs, ham, bacon and other processed meats commonly contain the preservative sodium nitrite, which combines with amines in protein-rich foods to form the known carcinogen (cancer-causing agent) nitrosamine.

6 Comments

  • My kids were not vaccinated and were long term breastfed and I have noticed they and other kids who have had this start in life are on a different plane of health and vitality.

    But I’m sure I’m not the only reader who can say that most of the children I know get all of the things you mention – they start life on formula and vaccines, and are on cans of toxic drinks, processed meat and other processed foods by their second birthday (and in some cases their first).

    Next come the Calpol, antibiotics, and then stronger drugs used to deal with the inevitable consequences.

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  • Many thanks for putting this information up for all to read. I personally believe in the power of breast-feeding and optimum nutrition and I am totally against vaccination and processed junk.

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  • Breast may be best … BUT there are some mums who as much as they might like can’t produce milk to feed their baby – I am one of those – and we both ended up in hospital – my now 11 and 7 year old were very poorly but a misinformed midwife kept telling me that I was doing the best for my baby … NO I wasn’t, I was starving them … Infant milk may not be our first choice but it comes a good second!

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  • Dear Sarah,

    I hope all is well with you. Thanks very much for sharing all these great special reports with everyone.

    To read that you breastfed your son for a year was very inspiring as I am currently breastfeeding my son (he is only 9 months old). I feel so burnt out lately that I even thought about stopping! But after reading your article I felt some strength again.

    I wanted to ask you a question, maybe you can share with me your experience: basically I am a vegetarian and I am trying to also apply this to my son but I am getting a lot of pressure from everywhere, his doctor, family, friends, my nutrionist that he needs protein and iron to grow!!! And that he should have one teaspoon of meat every single day!

    This was supposed to start 3 months ago when he turned 6 months old. I was able to hold it off but now I feel a bit confused and stressed out!

    I personally have coeliac desease and a history of many deficiencies!! So I am very scared that my son will be deficient if I don’t follow for instance his doctor’s advice.

    i have been doing some reasearch and he needs about 8 mg of iron per day. Based on what I find, he probably gets about 2 from my milk so I need to get 6mg from food.

    I have found out recently that I am very low on iron – I’ll be taking Floradix twice per day
    do you know if it’s ok to give that to my son?

    For protein he needs about 15 grams per day as he weighs 12.5 kilos. It’s very hard to find proper information on how to feed babies when trying to follow a mostly raw or vegan/vegeterian diet.

    You seem to be very educated in this area and knowledgeable and I was wondering if
    you mind sharing your experiences with me on this topic.

    Many thanks for your help.

    With warm wishes,

    M

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    • Hi M,

      Many thanks for sharing your concerns with me. I feel your concern and will answer your questions as best I can.

      I was lucky with my son. I didn’t worry about grams of anything. I breastfed him exclusively for six months, then weaned him onto raw fruits and later added cooked vegetables, while breastfeeding for another six months, and he thrived.

      But I have to stress that that was just my own experience and I can’t advise that it will work for everyone just because it worked for us, especially where there have been deficiencies.

      However, as far as those who are advising you that your son needs meat, I would personally disagree with that and so would some very highly respected health authorities, including the American Dietetic Association, who have stated that it’s possible to get everything we need on a vegetarian diet.

      Breast milk is the most perfect food for babies. If you’re getting that right you’re already covering most bases nutritionally, and more than you could cover with anything else you could feed your baby.

      But as you have concerns and have suffered deficiencies that may be affecting the quality of your breast milk, I would strongly advise you to consult a nutritionist. You mention that you have a nutritionist – as that has not given you the answers you’re seeking, I would advise looking for a nutritionist who is both suitably qualified, and supportive of your desire to feed your son a vegetarian diet.

      In hope that you will soon find the answers you are seeking,

      Sarah

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