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ANSWERS TO SOME COMMON QUESTIONS
Q: I am going to a weight control organisation and have lost 15 kilos of the 33 I have to shed. My main problem at the moment is constipation! Each morning I eat high bran flakes or fibre bran, with one teaspoon of digestive bran, plus yoghurt and a sliced peach or banana on top of it, but this doesn’t seem to help. I recently had a barium enema (which I did not enjoy too much!) but which revealed that I have a syndrome called ‘Redundancy of the Bowel (part of the bowel does not function, so they tell me). I would be grateful if you could give me some advice.
A: This problem is typical of someone on a calorie controlled or strictly weighed diet - I have received many letters like this over the years. Problems arise when you focus on your weight instead of your health. These calorie or kilojoule controlled diets usually zone in on energy value and as a result remove any good fats needed by the system that controls bowel movements and weight balance (among many functions). One of the many side effects of doing this is constipation and another is actually weight gain. So as much as you may have lost some weight, you may find (as many people have) that after a while the weight comes creeping back again, along with some extra unwanted kilos.
Secondly, many of these diets encourage a daily intake of wheat products, and wheat (even wholewheat) can actually slow down your bowel movements and in many people is responsible for constipation.
You are also combining your meals badly (cereal, milk and fruit should not be eaten together) and this can also result in digestive discomfort and constipation.
Your first step should be to focus on getting healthy. Follow the Five Steps, exercise daily and get some natural fats into your diet. Start with a teaspoon of cold-pressed flaxseed oil every day. Once you have implemented the Natural Way principles in your life, you will find that your constipation will very soon be a thing of the past.
Q: Since starting the Natural Way programme, I am absolutely delighted to report that I have lost 12 kilos. However, after many years of never feeling ill, I had three nasty colds and the bloating and gas I had in the past has gotten worse. I went to a dietician who told me that I have a spastic colon and that I should avoid all raw fruit and vegetables and eat only cooked food. Well, I tried that and the bloating went, but I gained all the weight back. I am so confused!
A: This is also a very typical scenario. Why does someone who has not been sick for years suddenly get ‘flu when they start the Natural Way programme? This is nothing more than the body getting rid of years of accumulated waste products. Usually the body will wrap waste products or toxins in fat cells and store them until it has an opportunity to deal with them. When you start a natural food programme, your meals provide the right nutrients that are easily broken down and used for energy. This allows the body to start cleaning house, as it were, and as a result the fat cells are broken down releasing these toxic waste products back into the system. The body produces extra mucus to transport them out of the body, resulting in typical flu-like symptoms such as a streaming nose, postnasal drip with accompanying cough, and in women often a vaginal discharge sometimes mistaken for thrush, or Candida. It is important not to give up at this point and it is best to possibly fast for a few days and then to eat only raw fruit and vegetables until the symptoms disappear completely.
What about the gas problem? Well, gas often increases when you change your diet to natural raw fruit and vegetables due to the action of the two types of fibre found in plant food (water soluble and insoluble). This fibre is very important, as it tends to encourage the gradual removal of old faecal matter lining the walls of the intestines. Most people walk around with anything from one to 10 kilograms of the stuff! This faecal matter prevents effective absorption of nutrients, so at a cellular level your body is not being adequately nourished and it communicates this through a sensation of hunger. Even though you may be eating a lot of food you will always feel hungry and this of course encourages overeating.
The worst thing you could do is to stop eating the foods that clean out your digestive tract. It would be better to take a product like AIM’s Herbal Fibreblend, which is made up of a combination of herbs and plants that will literally attract the faecal matter and pass out of the body. Take just one tablespoon a day and you will be amazed at what your body expels. I would suggest you use this product for at least three months and thereafter use it for a three-month period every year, especially if you eat animal products of any kind.
Make absolutely sure that you are following the food combining principles to the letter, and remove all wheat and dairy from your diet as well. You should find that the bloating problem resolves itself quite quickly.
High Protein Diet Worked, But Now my Weight is Coming Back
Q: I went on a high protein diet and lost 47 kilograms in 10 months, but I have since put on 20 kilograms. I have since discovered the Natural Way style of eating but I tend to overeat on nuts and fruit. What am I doing wrong?
A: This is so typical of high protein diets. The initial result is huge weight loss, but as you continue the high protein intake starts to affect your endocrine system, and water retention and weight gain are the result. From a health point of view, this predisposes you heart disease, cancer, diabetes, arthritis and osteoporosis. You also have a greater chance of suffering from any problems relating to endocrine or hormone function, such as allergies, blood pressure and blood sugar problems. (This is covered more fully in the chapter on the endocrine system.) You need to focus on getting your body back into shape from a health point of view. Once you have been on the Natural Way programme for a while, you will find that your metabolism will correct itself. In time, your system will be back in balance and this means that your appetite will have regulated itself too.
Guidelines for Good Health and Weight Loss
Q: I have a very busy life and need some basic health guidelines in the following areas:
A: Foods that should not be skipped: The World Health Organisation recommends between five and 11 potions of fruit and vegetables daily to avoid heart disease, cancer and diabetes. To achieve this I would follow the three steps listed here every day and never miss them:
Including plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables in your daily diet is the most important thing to do. This way you get to cover all the bases nutritionally without having to think about it.
If you suffer from period pain, reduce or cut out dairy products and animal protein. Eating cooked protein and heated fats frequently leads to menstrual discomfort, and it appears that the hormones found in animal products also contribute to the problem. Many women find that within three months of changing to a vegetarian diet, they experience shorter, pain-free periods (often reduced from seven or eight days to three or four). I would suggest that you include between one and three tablespoons of cold-pressed flaxseed oil in your diet on a daily basis (taken either in juice or on a salad). This oil provides concentrated essential fatty acids that help the body to regulate the entire menstrual cycle, thereby controlling pain and heavy bleeding. Other sources of these essential fatty acids are avocado, raw nuts or seeds, other cold-pressed vegetable oils, olives and corn on the cob.
If you suffer from headaches regularly, make sure you are drinking enough water and eating enough fruit every day. Some common causes of headaches are dehydration and low blood sugar levels. Fresh fruit will help counteract both problems. Caffeine (found in tea, coffee, colas and chocolates) is a contributing factor as are dairy products, especially cheese, and in some people soy and wheat products are to blame. Avoid refined sugar and alcohol as they play havoc with blood sugar levels.
As far as I am concerned, vitamin supplementation is entirely unnecessary. These products strain the digestive tract, kidneys and bladder. The safest vitamin to take in supplement form is vitamin C, and that can result in kidney stones, ulcers, gout, arthritis, osteoporosis and heart disease! Furthermore, it has been shown that supplements have a very poor absorption rate – only four to ten per cent. So in my opinion, urinating 90 per cent of your hard earned money into the sewerage system while straining your body, can in no way be beneficial.
On the other hand, the vitamins and minerals found in plant foods are 100 per cent usable. If you feel the need for a nutrient boost, rather invest in a good juice extractor and drink at least one glass of fresh fruit or vegetable juice a day and eat plenty of dark green leafy vegetables. I prefer taking BarleyLife as it is a concentrated food made from organically grown, sprouted barley. The leaves are juiced and then dehydrated into powder form by a unique spray-drying method so that all the nutrients remain intact in a one hundred per cent usable form. I can also recommend two other organically grown dried juices, namely Just Carrots and Redibeets, both of which have many health benefits.
For healthy skin, hair, nails and successful weight management, I would once again recommend a diet consisting largely of fresh fruit and vegetables, with the addition of BarleyLife and cold-pressed flaxseed oil on a daily basis. Wheat has been shown to aggravate and even cause dry skin, eczema and acne, and alcohol, sugar, caffeine and artificial sweeteners all upset the hormonal system (the system that controls the function of all of these). So cut these foods out of your diet if you have problems in these areas.
Remember that daily exercise, such as brisk walking, helps at least 16 hormones work more efficiently, and the hormonal system is the system that affects every aspect of the body and is thus entirely responsible for our levels of health. Without exercise your health and weight will never be what it should.
Some Questions About the Natural Way Lifestyle
Q: My family had quite a few health niggles so I recently switched over to your eating plan. My husband and I were tired constantly - we felt that we could easily sleep our lives away. Well, three weeks into the Natural Way lifestyle, and the results have been amazing – we experienced almost instant energy, we feel very well, my husband has lost about five kilos, my eczema has disappeared (touch wood!) and we're all really enjoying fruit which I we hardly ever ate in the past. We are still having some meat, chicken and fish, but we don't feel like it as much as we used to.
Just some questions: I battle to keep my weight at a normal level - I have always been slightly underweight and tend to lose weight exceptionally easily. Is there anything specific I can do (or eat) to maintain my weight? How do I know that we are getting sufficient calcium, with so little dairy in our diets now? This worries me a lot. I have always had fairly poor skin, and after three weeks on the Natural Way programme there has been no improvement. If anything, my skin is possibly worse. Is this normal?
A: I am always delighted when the body responds so well and so quickly to the Natural Way lifestyle! You may need to be more patient in some areas though. Remember it has taken your body your lifetime to get where it is, and it can take up to two years to undo all the damage. Your skin breaking out is a sign that your liver is cleaning house and this process does take time. Remember that your skin is also an organ of elimination so the body will use it during its cleaning out process. As you continue with the Natural Way eating plan, your body will start its rebuilding and repair phase, and you will see an improvement in your skin. As far as your weight goes, your body will only rebuild healthy tissue and muscle once it has done all the repair work that is necessary. This takes time, but in the meanwhile enjoy your improved health - it will only get better. Once good levels of health have been established, you will find that your weight is more stable.
As far as your calcium requirements are concerned, contrary to popular belief, dairy products do not prevent loss of bone density. In fact, the countries that have the highest incidence of osteoporosis and dental decay also record the highest intake of dairy products. There are many factors that affect calcium balance in the body, but suffice it to say that an alkaline-forming diet low in animal products (such as that promoted by the Natural Way lifestyle) is your best bet. Raw nuts and seeds are a good source of calcium, in fact almonds contain up to three times as much calcium as cow’s milk. Ensure that you include BarleyLife and cold-pressed flaxseed oil in your diet on a daily basis as both these foods work towards assisting the body in maintaining healthy mineral balance.
Q: I was taking a birth control pill for about a year, and during this time I gained a lot of weight and suffered from severe acne. Basically, I just didn't feel well; I was tired constantly and I had a permanent ‘fuzzy’ head. I modified my diet totally to the point where all I was eating was fruits, vegetables and whole grains. I was eating all of this in moderation and couldn't figure out why I was not losing weight. Since then, I have come off the Pill completely and I can tell that my body is feeling better. For a start, I have more energy and the acne is definitely improving. However, the weight just isn't coming off fast enough and the excess seems to have concentrated in a little round ball of flab. I exercise constantly (I am always doing abdominal workouts of some kind) and I feel like I am hardly eating anything right now, yet the weight is not coming off. I eat very well, I exercise daily and I am only 25 years old. Surely it should not be this hard?
A: Weight is controlled by the endocrine (or hormonal) system and it is this system that the birth control pill upsets. It can take anything from six months to six years to correct a hormonal imbalance caused by the Pill, depending on how long you have been taking it and the extend of the damage it has caused. (For more on the side effects of the Pill and suggestions for safer alternatives, see my book Healthy Kids The Natural Way.) Be patient, it will be worth it. The extra weight around your waist is indicating that the pituitary gland (master control gland of the hormonal system) has been upset. I suggest that you implement all the suggestions I offer on ensuring endocrine health. This will get you back on the road to better health and stable weight. I would definitely cut out all gluten from your diet and ensure that you take BarleyLife and cold-pressed flaxseed oil daily. Continue to exercise regularly and make sure that you get a daily dose of sunlight as this will help to correct the metabolism fairly quickly. Fasting may help, but I suggest that you first put all the other Natural Way dietary and lifestyle principles into place before you attempt this.
Q: I have tried various versions of the Pill and none of them have worked for me. I either end up feeling incredibly nauseous, or I put on weight. The only one I found that works is the progesterone only pill that doctors give breastfeeding mothers, but I do have some concerns about taking medication on an ongoing basis as I plan to start a family some time in the future. I am tired of using condoms so what would you suggest in this case?
A: For the sake of your health, it is best to avoid all forms of oral contraception. Try to get a copy of The Billings Method by Dr Evelyn Billings (Penguin books) as it tells you everything you need to know about what I consider to be the best form of natural birth control. I used it successfully myself for years.
Q: I used to have really bad acne and went on Roaccutane quite often before 1997. The doctor told me that I had chronic acne due to stress and that I would probably suffer from it up to the age of 40. I then decided to try to heal myself through eating the Natural Way and went off all antibiotics. I am now 29 years old and have the most beautiful skin you can imagine. My friends can't believe I used to have bad skin! But I have one concern. Although I have been off drugs for my skin for the past three to four years, is there still a possibility that they can affect my baby in any way when I do fall pregnant? (I am planning to conceive at the end of 2001.)
A: You should be fine by then but now is the time to get your body into peak condition for that most important task of growing a healthy baby. I suggest that you go on a short five to seven day fast before you conceive, or three three-day fasts between now and then, just to make sure that your system is thoroughly cleansed of all residual toxins. Follow this by sticking to the Natural Way principles and focus on achieving an 80 per cent raw diet for the duration of your pregnancy.
Q: I am in a state. I am pregnant and suffer from sinusitis and a postnasal drip. I am also tired all the time and just feel lousy. I do smoke and I know this is not helping. Please help.
A: This is a good place to be! Desperate enough to make the change! At least you realise that you have a problem, so you’re half way there.
Step number one is to stop smoking. Forget cutting down, you have to stop! It is harming you and your baby. Apart from many other serious side effects, smoking contributes to allergies and a faulty immune system. You are already paying the price with your health and it will be even worse for your baby. Stop now! No more last ones!
Right, now that you have stopped smoking you can get going on improving your health. (Don't read any further until you have kicked this killer habit.) You must take at least one heaped teaspoon of BarleyLife every morning and then again at three o’clock in the afternoon. Also take two tablespoons of cold pressed flaxseed oil (either in juice, or mixed in the BarleyLife, or straight down the hatch), or the equivalent in tablets.
About 30 to 90 minutes after taking the BarleyLife, you need to eat ¼ to ½ a cup of raw nuts and seeds with a minimum of two acid fruits. Mid-morning you need to eat one portion of sub-acid fruit (like an apple or a pear).
At lunchtime eat a plate (not smaller that a side plate) of fresh salad including avocado or olive oil and any raw vegetables you like. If you are still hungry have a baked potato or two, a plate of gluten-free pasta, two to four rice cakes, a serving of polenta or a medium bowl of brown rice. You can add any lightly cooked vegetables to this, the more the better. Season your food with Marmite or a low-sodium herb salt.
Mid-afternoon you need to snack on a ¼ cup of dried fruit, or one fresh sub-acid or sweet fruit.
Start supper with a salad or raw vegetables, and follow with any neutral vegetables that are steamed, grilled or baked, then have either a starch (gluten-free) or a portion of protein. Try not to eat animal protein more than three times a week (every second day will be fine). You will be getting good quality protein from the nuts so you do not have to depend on animal protein.
Cut out coffee and Ceylon tea and rather drink rooibos or herb teas, or a hot malted carob drink. Do not have diet drinks of any kind and avoid all colas and sodas. Stick to the natural, preservative-free fruit juices with no added sugar.
If you stick to this simple programme, you will experience an immediate boost to your energy levels and general well-being. Now that you are pregnant, you need to look after your body, and in so doing to look after your growing baby too. Be strong and determined in your effort to do the right thing and both you and your child will be blessed with fantastic health. So start right now!
Low Vitamin B12 And Six Months Pregnant
Q: I am six months pregnant with my third child at the age of 41. I have been following the Natural Way eating programme on and off over the last five years or so, and at the moment 75 per cent of my diet is raw fruit and vegetables. I do eat chicken and fish occasionally, and rarely have red meat. I don’t have any dairy products at all. I am feeling well and energetic at the moment but at a recent check up it was found that my blood pressure is pretty low (95/50) and so are my levels of vitamin B12. (My iron and calcium levels are fine.) My doctor has recommended a course of four B12 injections. What might be causing the B12 deficiency and what can I do to balance it out?
A: It is very normal for your blood pressure to be lower during pregnancy, and even at 95/50 it is not all that low. A child's blood pressure is 90/60, and one’s blood pressure should not actually go up as one gets older. Because of your healthy diet and lifestyle, you blood pressure is perhaps a little lower than other women of your age. It just shows that there is no strain on your heart.
If your B12 levels are low, it is usually because the bacteria in your intestine are not in balance and are therefore not able to manufacture sufficient quantities of this vitamin. Foods that upset this balance are onions, garlic and all processed foods, and taking antibiotics would also affect this. I suggest that you take Herbal Fibreblend (one teaspoon in pure, unsweetened juice every day). This will clean out the digestive tract so that you will be able to absorb the B12 more efficiently. Following this, I suggest that you take Aim's Florafood. This will help re-establish the correct bacterial balance for optimal manufacture and absorption of vitamin B12.
You should also be taking at least two teaspoons of BarleyLife each day along with a tablespoon or two of cold pressed flaxseed oil. Both of these foods provide natural concentrated nutrients to help the entire body to work more efficiently and are especially important during pregnancy.
BarleyLife And Flaxseed Oil During Pregnancy
Q: Is it safe or even advisable to use BarleyLife and flaxseed oil during pregnancy? I was using both products up until four months ago, when I fell pregnant. I was taking them for recurrent cystitis and skin problems, and they worked wonderfully! Since then my doctor has not wanted me to use anything that is not in his medical books, and as this is my first pregnancy, I have just gone along with his suggestions. In reality, with all the nausea that I had for the first three to four months, I didn't eat anything healthy at all, but now that that has changed, I would like to get back to being as healthy as possible.
A: It is absolutely safe to use these products. In fact, I would say that it is essential as your need for all the nutrients in these two foods increases during pregnancy. I always advise moms-to-be to increase their BarleyLife intake to at least three teaspoons a day, and flaxseed oil to one to two tablespoons per day. And as a matter of interest, the BarleyLife and flaxseed oil would actually have helped with the nausea you experienced in the early months of your pregnancy!
What About Molasses?
Q: My husband is diabetic and I am four months pregnant. Would it be okay to take blackstrap molasses every day (dissolved in a cup of boiling water), since it contains so much iron, magnesium, calcium and potassium? Neither of us takes supplements, but we have been drinking BarleyLife for about three years now. We also try to follow the Natural Way dietary principles at least 70 per cent of the time.
A: Molasses is a waste product from the sugar industry and contains a lot of burnt sugar and chemical residue, so the toxic properties far outweigh the possible nutritional benefits. Rather continue with the BarleyLife as it contains large amounts of the nutrients you mention in a much more usable form. If you feel the need for extra nutrients rather take Just Carrots and Redibeets, and any other freshly extracted fruit or vegetable juices. If you like or want something sweet that tastes like toffee, rather use barley malt syrup. It contains none of the toxic properties of molasses.
Q: Which milk formula is the best for babies? I have been breastfeeding my child but I have to go back to work.
A: Is it not possible to express your milk? You don't say how old your baby is, but the younger he is the more he needs mother’s milk. The next best alternative is goat's milk. You would need to get formulated goat’s milk if your baby is under eight months old, but after that fresh or frozen goat’s milk is the best. I would not use any other formula, as the risks of allergies, and digestive and mucous problems are too high.
Cannot Breastfeed
Q: I had a breast reduction 12 years ago and as a result cannot breastfeed my baby. I express every drop of milk I produce (which amounts to only 100ml a day). Although my baby gets one breast milk bottle a day what should I do for the rest? I have also heard that I should add BarleyLife, Just Carrots and flaxseed oil to his bottles. What do you advise?
A: In this instance, I would ignore the doctor. Of all the alternatives, goat’s milk is closest in composition to mother’s milk and it is also the least likely to cause allergies or intolerances. I would make sure your baby gets formulated goat’s milk for at least the first six to eight months, and add half a teaspoon of flaxseed oil, BarleyLife and Just Carrots to each bottle. Increase this to one teaspoon of each when you go off the formula and on to the fresh goat’s milk. That will be fine for the first one to two years. Keep up the good work as your baby will benefit from every drop of expressed mother’s milk that he gets.
Q: Today I took my four-month-old son to the clinic to be weighed. He gained weight rapidly in the first two months, and by the time he was three months old he had more than doubled his birth weight. But as he only gained 200g since last month’s weight check, the clinic sister has insisted that I add rice porridge to his diet. I am reluctant to do this, as I know that it is too early to introduce him to solids. My son is totally breastfed and I demand feed him every two to three hours. I follow the Natural Way dietary principles, combining my meals correctly, eating lots of fresh fruit and vegetables and restricting my protein intake to chicken twice a week and nuts three times a week. As far as I can see, my son is contented and healthy, and he has regular bowel movements. The clinic sister has also suggested that I take a herbal tonic to improve the quality of my milk. What should I do?
A: Don't let the clinic staff bully you. What's the point of having a fat, sick baby? Anyway, any sensible doctor or specialist will tell you that a baby should double his birth weight by six months. Your baby has already done that in less time, so the natural pattern of weight gain is simply adjusting accordingly. Your son grew quickly in the beginning and now his growth has slowed down; that is absolutely normal. It really is not a good thing for a baby to gain weight too fast.
I agree that, at four months, it is too early to introduce your baby to solids. This should be delayed until he is between six to twelve months old. It depends on the child. Rather start later if you can, as it is better for his digestive system, but let your baby lead you. His first food should be fresh, soft, ripe fruit and not porridge. Try banana, pawpaw or mango. Do not introduce starches into your baby’s diet until he is at least two years old, as he will not have the ability to digest them properly before that time.
I personally find that many clinic nurses seem to concentrate more on their charts than they do on the babies that are brought to see them! If your baby has good colour, sleeps well and is happy, then this is a good indication that all is well. So keep up the good work and go with what you know is right.
The tonic you mention is not necessary but it is also not likely to cause any problems. I would personally prefer you to add BarleyLife and flaxseed oil to your diet, as these foods are extremely beneficial to breastfeeding mothers.
Q: You will probably have heart failure when I tell you what my six-month-old baby eats, but I need advise desperately. I really want her to eat properly from a young age, but I don’t know how to go about improving her diet. She has cereal in the morning, bottled fruit or vegetable puree at lunch, and then in the evening either veggies again or cereal. I know that she shouldn’t eat the prepared baby foods but when I tried steaming and mashing veggies myself, she didn't want to know about it. I am not breastfeeding her, by the way. Shall I try to puree fresh fruit and vegetables again, and if so which do you suggest?
A: At the age of six months, your baby is not yet able to digest starches properly. This will happen when she has a full set of teeth and can chew her food well. Only then, at the age of about 18 to 24 months, will she be able to secrete the starch digesting enzyme, ptyalin. Until then, I suggest that you stop the cereal and only give her soft, fresh, ripe fruit that is in season. Banana, pawpaw and mango are particularly good. This will supply her not only with all the carbohydrates she needs, but also with a wide range of other necessary nutrients. Try to give her two fresh fruit meals a day and one vegetable meal (butternut and gem squash are the easiest). In fact, you could actually give her fruit all day, you don't even need to bother with the vegetables yet, and I can assure you that you will get bored with this long before she does. It really isn’t difficult to improve her diet, just stick to fresh, ripe fruit and you can’t go wrong!
You will need to add about a ¼ to ½ a teaspoon of cold pressed flaxseed oil to her formula bottles, as the essential fatty acids she needs will be lacking if you are not breastfeeding. These nutrients are important for muscle, brain, and skeleton development, among dozens of other functions. I would also give her a ¼ to ½ a teaspoon of BarleyLife, as this will provide her with a wide range of important nutrients. (In fact, I suggest that you add both to your own diet too as you can only benefit.)
Q: How soon can I feed my baby almond shake? And when I eat nuts with fruit or vegetables, how long should I wait before I eat any other food?
A: Baby can have almond shakes from nine months onward. If you find that he doesn't like it, try a month or two later.
You can eat any food immediately after eating nuts, so long as it is not sweet fruits or starches. You would have to wait for at least three to four hours if you wanted to eat these foods. But all acid and sub-acid fruits and all neutral vegetables will digest comfortably with nuts.
Difficult Eaters
Q: My son refuses all fruit and will not eat any vegetables other than potatoes. How does one get a three year old to eat fruit, let alone vegetables?
A: Get a good juice extractor and blender, and give your son fresh juices and blended fruit shakes. Also, do not keep any sweets in the house. Instead, place bowls of raisins or dates and sliced fruit on a small table that he can reach, and let him help himself at any time.
As far as vegetables are concerned, the best approach is to place some raw vegetable strips along with a dip (avocado is always popular) on the table before lunch or supper, and only bring the cooked meal out when the raw vegetables have been eaten. You will need the help of your husband here! Your son should see everyone munching the vegetable strips, but don't put any pressure on him to join in. Just leave him, and you will find that within a few days he will want to start dipping his own vegetable strips into the bowl!
I would also try to get him onto the extracted juice of barley shoots, called BarleyLife. It is very concentrated in all the nutrients we need and is almost a complete food in itself. I have found that many small children are naturally attracted to fresh fruit and vegetables when they take BarleyLife regularly. It's as if it changes their taste-buds. You may need to stir this into a glass of fresh vegetable or fruit juice. I would also include one to two teaspoons of cold pressed flaxseed oil to this daily drink.
Some General Questions On Nutrition For Children
Q: What is the relevance of dairy products (such as milk, cheese and yoghurt) in a child's diet? What are the alternatives?
A: Children require only mother’s milk (or a suitable replacement) until they are two or three years of age. Thereafter, they do not require any milk at all. As Dr Marius Barnard once stated, "Humans are the only animals that refuse to be weaned."
The continued consumption of milk is promoted due to its supposedly high calcium content. However, current research indicates that milk or dairy products can in fact cause a loss of calcium from the body, due to the incorrect calcium-phosphorus ratio in cow’s milk. (This ties up with statistics that show that the highest incidence of osteoporosis is in countries that consume the most dairy products.)
So what is the alternative? The most usable sources of calcium are in raw plant foods, particularly in green leafy vegetables. If your child refuses to eat these foods, BarleyLife (a concentrated plant food made from barley shoots) is an excellent supplemental food as it contains 11 times more calcium than cow’s milk. Raw nuts (such as almonds, which contain two to three times more calcium than milk) and raw seeds (like sesame and sunflower) are an excellent usable source of calcium.
It is important to remember that dairy products can cause numerous health related problems if a child is intolerant to any one of the 25 different protein fractions present in cow’s milk or to the lactose. These could include bed-wetting (enuresis), tonsillitis, sinusitis, ear infections, constipation, diarrhoea, anaemia, eczema and other related allergic reactions.
If a child is dairy intolerant and you feel a need to give him some sort of milk (which, as I've said, is not really necessary), then goat’s milk is the best followed by soymilk. But it is estimated that 40 per cent of children who are dairy intolerant can be intolerant to soy products, so be alert to any symptoms of intolerance. Make sure the products you do use are 100 per cent pure and have no added substances (such as heated vegetable oils), which could cause other health problems. For a child who has become used to eating cereal for breakfast, banana ‘milk’ is ideal. Simply blend a ripe banana with enough spring water until you have a milky consistency.
What is the most important thing when it comes to your child's nutrition
Q: What is the most important thing to remember about child nutrition?
A: Try to focus on a diet that is 100 per cent natural, avoiding all processed, additive-laden foods. Make sure that your home is filled with fresh fruits and vegetables, and give your children a choice of wholesome foods. Some children don't eat certain foods, so try to focus on the good foods they do enjoy, and not on the ones they don't. For example, your child may not like carrots but is very happy to eat tomatoes, so encourage him to do so.
Make sure that your child has ready access to natural foods that satisfy the two most common cravings. These cravings are for sweet and salty foods. The reason we crave sweet foods is that nothing in the body works properly without the fuel glucose, and when you are not getting enough glucose, your body sends out a signal in the form of a craving for sweet things. Provide plenty of fresh and preservative-free dried fruit on a daily basis. In fact, try to include one whole meal a day that consists entirely of fresh fruit and offer your child fruit snacks rather than resorting to other sweet things. Savoury foods are craved very often because we lack essential fatty acids. These are vital for the endocrine or hormonal system to work efficiently, and this system controls almost every function of the body, including growth and development, and immunity to infection and disease. Our most reliable sources of these good fats are found in raw plant foods such as avocado, raw nuts and seeds, olives, sweetcorn on the cob and cold pressed oils (such as extra virgin or virgin vegetable oils). Cold pressed flaxseed oil is one of the most concentrated sources of these fats and it would benefit all children to have one to two teaspoons in their diets on a daily basis.
Q: How does a child's digestive system work?
A: After the age of two to three years, a child’s digestive system works in much the same as an adult’s. Before then, children are not able to digest concentrated starches (like potatoes and grains) efficiently. The first phase of starch digestion takes place in the mouth. The starch digesting enzyme, ptyalin, is secreted into the saliva by the action of chewing, but as most children don't chew properly until they have a full set of teeth, they don't secret enough ptyalin to digest concentrated starches properly. It is therefore best for a baby to get the carbohydrates he needs from fresh and dried fruit, as these contain starches in their most simple, broken down form. If your toddler is eating starches, I would suggest that you give him the digestive enzyme he needs in capsule form. Prepzymes is one such product and is perfectly safe. It would, however, be far more sensible to wait until your child is ready before you introduce concentrated starches into his diet.
Q: Could you provide some examples of what a healthy day's meals would be for a child, including snacks and school lunches?
A: The healthiest start to the day would be a fruit meal. Make sure you pack a nutritious lunch for school. Snacks and school lunches should consist of fresh and preservative-free dried fruit and unprocessed starches (such as homemade wholewheat bread, brown rice cakes or polenta slices). For the occasional treat, homemade oat biscuits, such as crunchies, are suitable. If your children like sweet sandwich fillings, use raw honey, and any soaked and softened dried fruit can be mashed and used as a healthy ‘jam’ (dates are particularly good). Natural peanut butter, without added fats, sugar or flavourants is also an option. For savoury fillings try avocado, tomato, salad leaves and Marmite. Dry-popped popcorn, drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with herb salt is a healthy, savoury snack. Other meals should consist of fresh and lightly cooked vegetables, and unprocessed starches or protein. The best source of protein is from raw, unsalted nuts and seeds. If your child is not a vegetarian, serve animal protein no more than three times a week and stick to fish and free-range chicken rather than red meat. Encourage your child to drink water rather than colas and squashes, and offer freshly extracted fruit and vegetable juices as a nutrient booster. The commercially produced, pasteurised, sugar-free fruit juices should be reserved for special occasions and should not be considered part of the daily diet.
Q: What is the most important meal of the day?
A: All meals are important, but breakfast is considered the most important. A lot of children are not hungry first thing in the morning and rather than fight with them, give them a fruit or fruit and nut shake. Fruit and raw nuts are light and nutritious and have the most stabilising effect on the blood sugar. If your child does not want to eat much in the morning, make sure that you pack a wholesome lunchbox for school.
Q: What about sweet treats?
A: Refined sugar, flour and sweets should be avoided at all costs as they upset the endocrine and immune system, and affect the function of the brain. In many children with attention, concentration and behaviour problems, the main cause is, more often than not, refined carbohydrates (such as those found in cereals and baked goods). Encourage your children to eat fruit and preservative-free dried fruits to satisfy a craving for sweet things, and for the occasional special celebration try making one of the many wholesome treats in The Natural Way Recipe Books 1 & 2.
Q: Are there some inexpensive guidelines for keeping a child’s diet healthy?
A: No matter what your budget, replace all refined foods with unrefined alternatives, such as white bread with wholewheat bread, sweetened cold drinks with unsweetened, preservative-free fruit juices, and traditional cold meats with free-range chicken. Focus on natural foods with the emphasis on fresh fruit and vegetables that are in season. Even avocado in season is very reasonably priced.
Q: My eight-week-old baby was recently hospitalised with bronchiolitis. As reluctant as I am to use antibiotics, I was shaken by my small child’s condition and turned to the doctor. He is now out of hospital and although he is doing much better, he still suffers from a very stuffy nose (for which the doctor has now prescribed antibiotic nose drops). Again, I am loath to use this but I fear the consequences of not doing so after having had such a scare with him being in hospital. He was breastfed exclusively prior to being admitted to hospital, but ended up having a bottle of soya-based formula every evening for the week that he was there. Although my breast milk supply is once again returning to normal, he seems to become desperately hungry during the early evening when my milk supply does not seem to be adequate. The doctor has also warned that following his illness he may now be susceptible to asthma. I include virtually no dairy in my diet, except for a little milk in the one cup of tea that I have daily. What do you feel about homoeopathy as an alternative method of treatment? Do you have any hints for me?
A: When a baby is dairy intolerant, even milk once a week can cause mucous problems. The soya formula that he was given in hospital could have contributed to his condition, as 40 per cent of all dairy intolerant children are also soya intolerant. I feel that as a form of treatment, homoeopathy falls short as it relies on treating the symptoms and not the cause of a disease. In cases of respiratory ailments, the cause is usually weakened adrenal glands. I suggest that you start taking half a teaspoon of BarleyLife immediately, increasing it every week by another half a teaspoon until you are taking three to four teaspoons per day. The BarleyLife is the best food to take for milk production and endocrine function (the adrenals are part of the endocrine system, by the way). I also suggest that you take one teaspoon of cold pressed flaxseed oil three times a day. This way your baby will be getting enough essential fatty acids through your breast milk for his adrenal glands to work properly.
If your baby’s problems persist, you might also need to remove gluten from your diet (all products containing wheat, oats, rye and barley grain). Whatever you do, do not introduce any other milk into his diet and make sure that there is absolutely no dairy (milk, cheese and yoghurt) in your own diet. The protein from any cow’s milk that you may take in will pass straight from your breast milk to your baby and will cause the same mucous-related problems as if he had drunk straight cow’s milk!
Demand feed as much as possible in the evening. I know it will take up more time, but babies who suffer from allergies always do better on breast milk. I have seen dozens of mothers stop breastfeeding because of similar problems, only to find that the symptoms just get worse and worse. Please hang in there. It will improve.
Baby’s Eczema
Q: My baby is seven months old and has been struggling with eczema for the past month. I started him on solid foods about a month and a half ago (at the age of five-and-a-half months). He is drinking goat’s milk and has been getting BarleyLife and Redibeets for the last four months. The solid foods that I have been giving him are butternut, apple, pear, baby marrow, green beans, gem squash, banana and mango. I have, however, stopped giving him the mango as it seems to make the rash worse. I have also stopped the BarleyLife and Redibeets to see if this makes a difference. (The BarleyLife we are drinking does contain kelp, could the eczema be a reaction to the kelp?) I believe that grains could also give rise to eczema. What can I give him to nibble on that does not contain grain or dairy products?
A: From what you say your baby’s diet seems to be very good and the foods you mention are not likely to be the cause of his problem. Your baby could be suffering from a lack of essential fatty acids and giving him one to two teaspoons of cold pressed flaxseed oil would make a huge difference. Mix it into his milk or in the BarleyLife. I would not stop the BarleyLife, as it is one of the best things (together with the flaxseed oil and carrot juice) for any inflammation or skin problem. In fact, rather increase his intake. The kelp is not likely to cause eczema, but if there is no huge improvement within two weeks, try the BarleyLife without kelp. There is no harm in using the Redibeets, but he only needs a pinch at his age.
You are quite right to avoid grains and dairy products. Preservative-free dried fruit is an excellent snack food for babies. Avoid sugary biscuits at all costs!
Q: I have a 14-month-old son who has recently developed an eczema-like rash, which started on his elbows and has spread up and down his arms. I am still breastfeeding him (this is probably his predominant form of nutrition) and I give him fruit and vegetable purees, usually three times a day. He also likes bread or toast. I have actively tried to keep him off any dairy products. Although I have been trying to feed him according to the Natural Way principles, he does have the odd spoon of ice cream, or the occasional biscuit or cake, but nothing in large quantities and nothing on a regular basis. I had started giving him oats porridge in the mornings (made quite runny with only water and brown sugar), but I have cut this out since the rash has got worse.
Do you have any ideas that could help me? Maybe there is something wrong with my diet – perhaps you could point out the common culprits to look out for.
A: Together with dairy products, wheat is a big culprit, when it comes to eczema. I suggest you remove all foods containing wheat (such as bread, biscuits and pasta) from your diet and from his. If the eczema has not cleared after 3 weeks of sticking strictly to a wheat-free diet, then remove all products containing gluten (oats, rye and barley grain). Also, as he is so young, he most probably cannot digest starches properly. (Concentrated starches should only be introduced to the diet after the age of two years.) Either remove them from his diet, or give him Prepzymes with all starch meals to aid the digestion.
I would also give him a teaspoon of BarleyLife and two teaspoons of cold pressed flaxseed oil on a daily basis, as these foods help the system that controls intolerant or allergic reactions to work more efficiently.
While you are breastfeeding, you would need to remove all wheat and dairy from your diet too. It is going to be very difficult to raise your baby without setting an example, so I suggest you also try to apply the Natural Way principles to your diet, starting slowly by introducing the Five Steps one at a time.
Q: My three-year-old daughter has been diagnosed with what the ear specialist calls a ‘glue ear’. This is due to a postnasal drip causing infection in the Eustachian tube into the middle ear, thus causing the liquid to congeal. She is being treated with a nasal spray, but if there is no improvement within a month, he wants to operate to remove the ‘glue’ and to fit grommets in both ears. Would you be able to help me in perhaps making some changes to her diet in order to clear up this condition?
A: I suggest you immediately remove all dairy products and any preservatives and other food additives from her diet. Then follow the dietary principles that I outline in my book The Natural Way. My youngest daughter Meredith (now 14 years old) had the same problem when she was a baby, and I even had to remove the tiniest bit of cheese from my own diet as the protein in the cheese was affecting her through my breast milk! I also suggest that you give your daughter a teaspoon of BarleyLife and two teaspoons of cold pressed flaxseed oil first thing in the morning. This will help her body to heal faster. If you are very strict about applying these measures, you should see a complete improvement within one to six weeks. Just hang in there - it really does work.
Q: Please would you give me some advice? My young daughter is overweight and is called ‘fatso’ at school. Would it be wrong for me to get her to exercise as a routine and to cut out every bit of junk food? Will this affect her adversely psychologically? I don't want to add to the problem but I do want to help her.
A: I believe it is your responsibility as a loving parent to remove all junk food from your home. Then focus on teaching your child to respect that miracle that is her body, and show her how to look after it properly. Good nutrition and regular exercise are vitally important but obviously you and your husband need to set an example. Involve the whole family and then she will join in too. I do not believe that she will be harmed psychologically by this, particularly if you focus on getting healthy rather than on the weight issue. Your family will only thrive on natural, unprocessed foods, and this includes natural plant fats, which help to correct the metabolism and the endocrine system (the system responsible for weight control). The best source of these important plant fats is flaxseed oil (and other cold pressed vegetable oils), avocados, raw unsalted nuts and seeds, sweetcorn and olives.
Sore Legs
Q: My son, who is nine years old, suffers from severe leg pains. It started with pain in both knees (it would come and go, and would not respond to painkillers) but is now in his shins as well. X-rays have shown that the bone structure is good and healthy, and all the specialists we have consulted (physiotherapist, orthopaedic surgeon, podiatrist, paediatrician and neurologist) say that he is in excellent health. Nobody is able to explain the cause of the pain, which is now worse than ever before. He has been taking BarleyLife for some time but there is still no improvement. Do you have any advice?
A: The most common cause of leg pains such as these is either sugar or dairy products, or both. I suffered from these as a child and was continually told it was just growing pains. But when these pains continued way past my growing years, I realised that something else had to be wrong. When my diet changed, they disappeared completely and over the years I have come across numerous people who have the same problem. You say nothing about your son’s diet, but you need to make sure that he eats no sugar (white or brown), and no dairy products (milk, yoghurt and cheese). I would also add two teaspoons of cold-pressed flaxseed oil to his daily diet. This can be stirred into his BarleyLife or some juice. Once you have removed the sugar and dairy products, you should notice an improvement within about three weeks.
Q: Our adopted daughter has always been a sickly child and from as early age her hormones have been out of kilter. At the age of eight she started to put on weight and her breasts started developing, and at the age of nine she started menstruating, but her period was very dark in colour, sometimes brown or even black. At 14 her periods ceased, and every year since then she has put on more weight. She has developed very large breasts and her ovaries are enlarged. She has chest and facial hair, a thick neck and her legs are very muscular. She even has a deep voice. We are desperate to help her. We have been advised to put her onto oestrogen and to let her have a breast reduction operation at the age of 19, but I do not feel that this is the route to go.
At the moment she takes BarleyLife once a day and she uses a natural hormonal cream. What do you advise?
A: Your daughter’s endocrine system is seriously out of balance. I can help from a dietary perspective, but you need to be very strict if you want to see any results. The basic dietary programme that she needs to follow is Option 2 in Chapter Three of my book The Natural Way.
I suggest that you put her on a complete vegan diet with absolutely no animal products; she is just too sensitive to the hormones found in meat, chicken and dairy products. I also suggest that you remove all gluten from her diet, as gluten intolerance can upset the endocrine system too. This means removing all wheat, oats, rye and barley grains from her diet permanently. She also needs to have a good source of essential fatty acids to restore her hormonal system to health. The best food sources are avocado, raw nuts and seeds, olives, sweetcorn on the cob and cold pressed oils. The most concentrated of these is flaxseed oil. I recommend that she take 2 to 3 teaspoons of BarleyLife each morning, plus 1 teaspoon of flaxseed oil three times a day. She also needs to eat at least a ¼ to ½ a cup of raw nuts or seeds daily, and these are best eaten with acid fruit or salad and raw vegetables.
If you are rigorous in sticking to this programme, you should see a definite improvement after about three months.
(Note: There are many foods that have an adverse effect on the endocrine or hormonal system and these need to be avoided at all costs. Please refer to the relevant sections in this book for more on the subject.)
Q: My son was prescribed Ritalin as a child for hyperactivity and now aged 26 suffers from manic depression and paranoia. Is there a connection and did the Ritalin cause these conditions?
A: Ritalin is a psychoactive drug that is often prescribed for children who are hyperactive or who ‘suffer’ from attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD), learning disability (LD), or minimal brain damage or dysfunction. To correct the problem with a drug like this can give rise to many possible side effects such as: nervousness, insomnia, skin rashes, scaly skin, destruction of blood vessels, blood clotting disorders, anorexia, nausea, dizziness, palpitations, headache, dyskinesia, drowsiness, blood pressure and pulse changes, tachycardia, angina, irregular heartbeat, abdominal pain and weight loss. (You can read more about this in the books No More Ritalin by Dr M Block and Ritalin-free Kids by J Reichenberg-Ullman.)
I believe that the problems that have developed in your son during adulthood are merely as a result of the fact that the underlying cause of his hyperactivity was not dealt with effectively when he was a child. Ritalin treats the symptom not the cause.
Children who develop these behavioural problems are usually very bright with a very active brain. Glucose is one of the most important nutrients for the brain and is used very efficiently in an active-brained person. This results in a drop in blood sugar and, in turn, in a craving for sweet things. Most people satisfy this craving with foods and drinks containing refined sugar. But refined sugar upsets the blood sugar levels severely (which then goes on to affect brain function) and destroys the important B vitamins. These B vitamins are catalysts in the brain (they help certain chemical reactions to take place) and without them a chemical imbalance can result.
Both paranoia and manic depression are considered to be the result of a chemical imbalance in the brain.
I suggest the complete removal of refined sugar (white and brown) in all foods and drinks as well as removal of all refined grains and carbohydrates. Replace these with plenty of fresh and preservative-free dried fruit, fresh vegetables and natural fruit juices. Caffeine and alcohol are stimulants that can also affect the brain function so it is important to eliminate these substances from the diet too.
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