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Our Children's Bodies - Chapter One
Our bodies are made from food, air, and water. That means that they are
made from the food that we eat, the air that we breathe, and the water that we
drink. For our children, these must all be the best of quality.
But can you get good quality food, air, and water? Yes and no. It is up to you
to research and find the best of the best. You have limited control over the air
that you breathe. You can buy an air filter for your home or for school, but
most places in this world, especially North America, have polluted air.
You can control, to some extent the water that we drink (see the section on
water) and by all means, you can make the best decisions to nourish your
children with superb, as unadulterated-as-possible food.
FOOD FALLS INTO TWO CATEGORIES
1. Macro nutrition and 2. Micro nutrition
Macro nutrition includes: the carbohydrates, proteins, and fats and they consist
of micronutrients: sugars (starches), amino acids, and fatty acids. Micro
nutrition also includes vitamins, minerals, and enzymes. Seems pretty easy,
doesn’t it?
It is, however the quality of foods our children and we eat, that makes the
difference between health and disease, good brain function and poor brain
function, and even between good behavior and poor behavior. It is so important
to find the foods that are complete with, and not depleted of all the macro and
micronutrients.
The carbohydrates are made up of various types of sugars. Common carbohydrate
foods are: breads, pastas, and cereals. Most of them are processed and refined.
The better quality ones are from whole, unrefined sources. Carbohydrate foods
are generally known to be foods for energy.
The proteins are made up of amino acids. Common protein foods are: dairy
products, meats, poultry, and seafood. If overcooked or microwaved these become
denatured.
Many of them are full of chemicals, such as antibiotics to ward off bacteria in
the animals’ food and living situations, and hormones to encourage faster growth
and milk letdown. In fact most of the toxic chemical residues are found in
animal products: meat, seafood, dairy, and eggs.1 These protein foods can and
should be purchased organic, without the drugs and chemicals.
All seafood should be from the purest of waters. There are also proteins from
the vegetable kingdom, such as soy, tofu, legumes, and seeds. These should also
be bought organic. Protein foods help stabilize blood sugar, provide raw
materials for the neurotransmitters in the brain, and are necessary for growth
and repair of tissue in the body.
Our fats consist of fatty acids. Common foods that are considered fats are:
oils, butter and whole dairy products, desserts, fast foods, fried foods, nuts,
and avocados. Many fats are over-heated and microwaved and the good fats are
destroyed.
The good fats are: organic seed and nut oils like flax, hemp, walnut, grape
seed, apricot kernel, olive, sesame, as well as foods like avocado, tofu, and
fish oils such as cod liver oil. This oil contains DHA, which is the major fatty
acid component of eye, brain, nerve, and heart tissues, component of cellular
membranes, aiding in cell-to-cell communications. DHA is also contained in some
microalgae, salmon, herring and tuna.
Research points to DHA deficiencies in ADD and ADHD children and adults.
Although some fats, such as those contained in flax oil are used by the body to
produce DHA, it is better for most kids to get the DHA straight from the source
than to rely on the body to manufacture it. Use cod liver oil or microalgae, for
instance.
Vitamins, Minerals, and Enzymes
The biological processes of the body: metabolism, enzyme reactions, digestion,
only work in the presence of vitamins and minerals. For instance, magnesium is
involved in about 30 amino acid processes, and zinc is involved in over 90
metabolic processes. These functions, processes, and pathways don’t happen or
don’t work without vitamins and minerals. Here’s an example:
The neurotransmitters dopamine and norepinephrine, implicated as deficiencies in
some children, must have amino acids, vitamin B6 and iron in their pathway, in
order to be manufactured. If the body does not take in and absorb these
nutrients, dopamine and norepinephrine will be in short supply.
How does it work? Here’s one example:
• The amino acid, tyrosine, is in the nerve cells of the brain.
• Tyrosine transforms into L-Dopa only in the presence of enzymes, folic acid,
niacin (vitamin B3), and iron.
• L-Dopa changes into dopamine in the presence of vitamin B6.
• Norepinephrine is finally made with the assistance of vitamin C.
• All of these nutrients: amino acids, enzymes, vitamins and minerals, as well
as fatty acids and carbohydrates are critical in a child’s diet in order to
manufacture the proper brain chemicals and structures that produce optimal
physical, mental, and emotional health.
It is scary to think that nowadays, proper neurotransmission and balanced brain
chemistry won’t be achieved because certain nutrients are not available to make
them happen. Our food is a major culprit here. Because of over-processing,
refinement, and high heat cooking methods, much of our food has very few
micronutrients: especially vitamins, minerals, and enzymes. The vitamins and
minerals are also depleted due to over-farmed soil, use of chemical fertilizers,
pesticides, and herbicides. In fact USDA tables of selected foods reveal that we
have nutrient depletion in our fruits and vegetables today, compared to 20 years
ago.
Check out information provided on the internet by logging onto
www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/cgi-bin/nut_s.pl.
A U.S. Senate Document, #264 submitted in 1936 explains this situation very
blatantly:
Many states show a marked reduction in the productive capacity of the soil…in
many districts amounting to a 25 to 50 percent reduction in the last 50
years…Some areas show a tenfold variation in calcium. Some show a sixty-fold
variation in phosphorous... Authorities…see soil depletion, barren livestock,
increased human death rate due to heart disease, deformities, arthritis,
increased dental caries, all due to lack of essential minerals in plant foods.
Another problem with the soil is that we are using chemical fertilizers that
only replace the main 3 out of the 70 minerals in the soil. How do we get the
other 67? Plants do not manufacture most of their minerals. They must receive
the majority of them from the soil. If the soil doesn’t have it, it can’t pass
it along to the plant, and the plant can’t pass it along to us.
Most food that can sit on a shelf in a box, can, or bag, and not deteriorate, is
not worth eating. It is enzyme depleted. It has no life quality if it doesn’t
mold or “die”. It is in effect, dead. How can we possibly expect to create
vibrant, healthy, alive, and exuberant children with dead food? Remember, their
bodies are made from food, air, and water. Give them good food, good air, and
good water.
This is the first generation of children who have been brought up with the
bombardment of so many nutrient deficiencies, resulting from problems -----
problems with the soil, problems with nutrient-depleted food, problems with
heavily chemical-laden foods, and problems with enzyme-depleted foods. We are
now seeing the beginning of the result of these hazards. There are more
degenerative illnesses such as leukemia and other cancers in children, at
younger ages than ever.
Childhood obesity is at over 25%.2 Many children have high cholesterol levels
and childhood asthma is very prevalent. ADD and ADHD are the #1 psychiatric
illnesses among children. Is there common ground here?
Yes, the common ground is the food that they eat. No, it isn’t bad parenting or
bad teaching --- it’s bad food! Most of the kids are eating basically the same:
no breakfast or scanty breakfast, sugary cereals, school lunches, pizza, burgers
and fries, sodas, red, green, and blue drinks, and macaroni and cheese out of a
box. They can’t sustain their lives this way --- not vibrant, healthy lives, at
least, not for long.
Why EAT?
Eating is fun; in fact it can be a blast, especially if the food tastes good! It
provides pleasure, satiety, and is very communal. Eating together for birthdays,
holidays, and even plain old family dinners can provide the joy that creates the
longest of lasting memories.
Remember also, that one of the goals of eating is to get the nutrients into the
bloodstream, for it to be carried to all the tissues in the brain and body for
nourishment and fuel.
Do you know that we have 9 pints of blood in our bodies? That’s a little over
one gallon – for an adult. Most children have between 1-2 quarts of blood.
That’s not a lot of blood, is it! Now, picture a quart container. Imagine that
it is filled with your or your child’s blood.
Realize that all that is ingested, digested, and absorbed through the small
intestines goes into that quart container, your child’s blood.
What did your child eat for breakfast this morning or for lunch today? That is
now going into his or her bloodstream. And once there, that breakfast or lunch
is then carried to the tissues, organs, and brain as “nourishment”.
Can you see the direct connection between what we eat, digest, and absorb? Can
you see how important it is to keep the bloodstream nourished, and protected
from toxins? You want to make sure that that blood stays as pure as possible,
since it circulates throughout the entire body every 50 seconds, 1,700 times per
day, reused, and re-oxygenated by the heart. Pretty amazing!
The quality of that gallon is crucial to our health, our immunity, our brains.
An important point to realize is that the body is an incredible
self-regeneration organism. Ninety-eight percent of our 50 trillion cells that
made up our body last year are no longer there this year. Your stomach lining
replaces itself every 4 days, and the skin every 30 days. What a tremendous
healing factory our body is!
By getting the necessary proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, minerals, and
enzymes into the bloodstream, we have the building blocks for growth and repair,
enhanced energy, metabolism, immune function, brain function, and --- for life!
Let’s look at some studies so we can isolate where science says some of the
problems are, and then let’s talk about solutions.
REFERENCES:
1 Robbins, John: Diet for a New America, Stillpoint Publishing, Walpole, NH 1987
2 State of the World’s Children: Focus on Nutrition, New York 1998
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