Introduction

I wrote this book to empower the people who help the children. My goal is to help achieve peace at home and peace in the classroom.

From infancy through teen years, health problems are rampant. 17% of children and adolescents between ages 2 and 19 years are overweight. Childhood obesity and diabetes are on the rise, and children are showing up with acid reflux, skin and respiratory disorders, high cholesterol, as well as mild and severe depression. Kids are more aggressive and violent now than ever. They don’t feel good.

The CDC, Centers for Disease Control, reports that 7.8% of the children in the U.S. are diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder. 56% of them are being treated with medication. ADD/ADHD is the #1 psychiatric disorder among children. Do you believe they – our children, our students -- are all sick and have mental diseases? Or are many of them falsely diagnosed and under-nourished?

We have a health industry that loves to diagnose, a public who is eager for the diagnosis and a multi-billion dollar industry that loves to sell drugs. The health problems children ARE having are being over-drugged, and the problems they DON'T have are being diagnosed as diseases or disorders.

Then there are the food corporations. Trends come and go at the speed of light. Kids are subject to commercialization far beyond our comprehension. The “market” has turned them into consumers and “users” – of toys, of devices, of food and drink.

Most of the children in North America today are eating the same commercial foods – low in nutrients and high in calories: sodas, juice drinks, macaroni and cheese, pizza, sugary cereals, French fries, chicken nuggets, candy and ice cream. Eating these empty foods day in and day out causes a whole range of health problems.

Yes, we have wonderful experts and diagnostic tools with which to assess imbalances, but could it be that something so simple -- nutritional gaps, missing nutrients -- are a major factor in what’s happening to our kids? You will find many scientific studies in this book that validate this concept. You will also read about many solutions.

These solutions are drug-free and at our fingertips. But you have to reach out of the box, because that’s where the answers are. Answers to: over-medicating; over-diagnosing; missing nutrients; addictive eating. Answers to a whole range of children’s health problems that have come looming up over the horizon.

Parents, grandparents, teachers, and other caregivers have found answers for their children’s health and they are living them. It is so inspiring to watch them transform children’s lives – on their own --- by their own decision, by their own doing --- with just some information --- like the information that follows.

Thank you for reading.

Dr. Laura Thompson

Table of Contents

About the Author...................................................................... iv
Introduction............................................................................. vi

PART ONE - THE FOUNDATION: How We’re Made, What We Need to Grow........................................................................................ 1
Chapter 1 - Our Children’s Health ................................................ 2
Chapter 2 - Food Power: Supporting a Growing Mind and Body........ 16
Chapter 3 - We Are What We Digest & Asorb.................................. 35

PART TWO - THE CHALLENGES: Hidden Toxins and Beyond............. 51
Chapter 4 - Food: Power-less - It Should Not Harm Us..................... 52
Chapter 5 - Toxic Metals: How to Avoid and Eliminate Them............ 67
Chapter 6 - Vaccinations: What you Need to Know......................... 79
Chapter 7 - The RX Generation.................................................... 89
Chapter 8 - How Physical Conditions Affect Behavior and Emotions:
The Body Says What Words Cannot ............................................ 104

PART THREE - THE SOLUTIONS: Reversing the Trend..................... 149
Chapter 9 - Healthy Substitutes Made Easy: An Exciting New World..150
Chapter 10 - Easy Meals: Don’t Drive yourself Crazy....................... 167
Chapter 11 - Special Diets for Special Children............................. 180
Chapter 12 - A Plan for Winning: Sports Nutrition for Kids.............. 191
Chapter 13 - Super Foods, Super Supplements.............................. 203

PART FOUR - LET THE FUN BEGIN: Putting It All Together............... 222
Chapter 14 - A 30-Day Game Plan: Re-Designing Life....................... 223
Chapter 15 - Our Schools and Community: An Action Plan.............. 237

RESOURCE LIST........................................................................ 244

INDEX..................................................................................... 250

CHAPTER 8

How Physical Conditions Affect Behavior & Emotions: The Body Says What Words Cannot

Page 141

8. Neurotransmitter Imbalances
Millions of children, yes, millions are being prescribed anti-depressants, stimulants, anti-anxiety drugs and sleep medications for bi-polar disorder, ADHD, anxiety, violent behavior, depression and insomnia. When psychiatrists are interviewed about the use of multiple prescriptions in children as young as one year of age, they shrug their shoulders. They don’t know what else to do. Families are distraught and in pain about the behavior and emotional imbalance in their children, and the doctors are just trying to help. Yet these drugs are being used without enough science to back up their efficacy or safety. And children are dying. Can’t anyone think outside their box?

There is a whole world of answers out there, like the ones we are revealing in this chapter. The chemistry of the brain is indeed very complex, but can be altered --- obviously, for the positive. It can be balanced. The brain chemicals are simply made of nutrients. But the medical and psychiatric specialists don’t know this, or don’t use this logic. They haven’t been educated about how to nutritionally feed the brain, even though there are many peer-reviewed studies about nutritional deficiencies leading to emotional and behavioral imbalances.
One such study in the Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology found that mood disorders can be balanced with biologically active vitamins and minerals.51 If you have a child who is on psychiatric medications, then seek a health professional who has access to neurotransmitter testing and knowledge about nutritional brain fortification.

Neurotransmitters or brain chemicals are manufactured by nerve cells in the brain and, believe it or not, even in the intestines (as we’ve seen in the Chapter 3 about Digestion). These brain chemicals communicate with or talk to each other, controlling emotions, moods, behavior, sleep, energy, movement and physical ability to experience pleasure, discomfort and pain.

Severe repercussions occur when the brain and the nervous system are penetrated by chemicals in our food and environment, vaccinations and drugs. They can cause deficits in the central nervous system and associated cranial nerves, effecting the overall functioning of the body. Our nervous system is connected to all our organs and glands. The resulting feedback then affects our neurotransmitters, which control behavior, emotions and cognitive function. Even the growth process can be thrown into turmoil.

Analysis through the urine can now provide precise information about neurotransmitter deficiencies or overloads. Brain chemistry is affected by stress, diet and the environment. It is individual, thus requiring individual solutions.

Neurotransmitter testing measures the brain chemicals associated with:

• ADD, ADHD
• Anxiety and panic attacks
• Autism
• Behavioral problems
• Depression
• Developmental Delays
• Fatigue
• Fibromyalgia
• Growth problems
• Inability to handle stress
• Insomnia
• Living in “fight or flight”
• Mood swings
• Obesity
• OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder)
• Sensory Processing Disorder (taste, touch, hearing, smell)
• Unexplained fears
  

Testing helps to determine exactly which neurotransmitter levels  are out of balance and which therapies are needed for an individualized treatment plan. Neurotransmitters are manufactured in the body from nutrients, such as amino acids, which can help balance the brain chemistry.

General Recommendations for Fat Intake
The bottom line is that we need to replace the bad fats (saturated and trans-fats) with high quality, organic and as-unrefined-as-possible good fats (mono- and polyunsaturated fats). However, it is also important to note that all fat, the good and the bad, contains the same number of calories.

Therefore, keep your fat intake to 20-30% of your total daily calorie intake. 

The Essential Fatty Acids
Our children desperately need them!!! Low fat diets and fat-free foods go out the window! Essential fatty acids are vital for production of neurotransmitters, membranes of the neurons or brain cells and glial cells, and the very important double membrane of the blood brain barrier.

Here are other benefits of essential fatty acids:

• Fortify the brain: remember it is made of 60% fat
• Promote healthy nervous system
• Strengthen immune function and protection from infection
• Build bones
• Fortify healthy skin, hair, nails
• Improve eczema, psoriasis and acne
• Heal intestinal lining and inflammatory gut issues
• Balance other inflammatory issues – arthritis, fibromyalgia, allergies
• Lower risk of cardiovascular disease
• Enhance liver and gall bladder function
• Vital for adrenal, thyroid and sex hormone balance

1. Always include at least 2 vegetables at night, either in salad, steamed or sautéed. Steaming and sautéing are the best ways to cook vegetables to preserve the nutrient values and enhance their digestibility and fibrous effect on the body.
2. Alternate your grains. Use wheat or gluten-free pasta one night, brown rice the next, corn bread the next, etc.
3. Alternate your meat products as well. Use organic and free-range versions of chicken and turkey. Rotate with varieties of deep-sea fish. Beef is O.K. upon occasion, but must be hormone-free. Cut out pork altogether. (This includes chops, hot dogs, ham, bacon, sausage.)
4. Soups are often meals in themselves. Include a salad and a slice of your homemade whole grain bread.
5. Grains and meats can be used the next day for lunch if you have leftovers.
6. Soups and casseroles can be made in large quantities and frozen in portions. Thaw out as needed for night-time meals.
7. Avoid eating fruit with a meal, as it may cause gas or bloating.
8. Water or herb teas (iced or hot) should be the only beverages with dinner. If homework is going to follow, it is best to avoid any sweet drinks that might throw off the child’s blood sugar level. Balance of the blood sugar will ensure better concentration, moods, attitudes and behavior.

Also, it is observed by many parents that drinking milk or sodas with a meal decreases the child’s appetite for real food.