What's Eating Your Child?: The Hidden Connection Between Food and Your Child's Well-Being is an essential book for every parent whose child suffers from ADD/ADHD, Anxiety, Autism, Allergies, Mood Swings, Ear Infections, Tantrums, Insomnia, Hoarseness, Speech Delays, Frequent Illness, Bloating, Clumsiness, Eczema, Lack of Growth, Picky Eating, and a plethora of other physical, behavioral, or developmental problems.
Written by Kelly Dorfman, a sought-after nutritionist whose typical family in her practice comes to her after already having seen three or more medical specialists,
What's Eating Your Child?: The Hidden Connection Between Food and Your Child's Well-Being brilliantly reveals the hidden connections between nutrition and chronic childhood ailments while giving parents simple, straightforward tools to understand and solve their children’s problems.
My Thoughts: Chapter 11 (Hyper and Annoying: Otherwise Known as Tyler and Oscar) hit home with me since my son struggles with ADHD. In fact, I almost didn't let him start Kindergarten this year since I wasn't sure how the teacher could handle him. Sadly, she couldn't handle him at first since he didn't want to pay attention in class. She even had the hardest time getting him back in class after recess was over. He would throw the biggest tantrum. After a few in-school detentions, I was tempted enough to take him out of school since I felt like he wasn't ready for it yet. I knew that something had to give, but I didn't want to put him on medication just yet. The long list of side effects is enough to make your head spin! I took Ritalin for my ADHD when I was a child and I felt like it has contributed a lot of problems for me. So, this book came at the most crucial time.
I read where Tyler and his family heavily relied on snack foods: sugary cereal, animal crackers, Slush Puppies, dried fruit, ice cream, and yogurt pops. I've never let my son heavily rely on these type of foods, but I've been guilty of giving him sugary snacks during snack time. I've eliminated most sugar and artificial sweeteners since reading this chapter. I've also been giving him
Synaptol Natural ADD / ADHD Medicine ($29.95 - $78.95) and
Barlean's Organic Oils Omega-3 Fish Oil Supplement in Lemon Zest ($13.99 - $26.35) with his breakfast every morning. It's pricey, but well worth it! His teacher recently told me that she was just telling another teacher that my son isn't the same person anymore. He pays attention in class, enabling him to learn more properly. He also doesn't throw a tantrum on the playground once recess is over. He's very energetic after he comes home from school, but I much rather for him to be that way at home than in school.
10 Fascinating Facts About Children's Diets and the Surprising Connections to Their Behavior and Common Ailments:
1. Ninety percent of
recurrent ear infections are caused by food allergies or reactions to food and can be prevented.
2. The
picky eating epidemic may be reducing children's capacity to learn. Forty percent of the diet of American children is made up of empty calorie foods. A study of twins found the fussy eaters tended to have lower IQs than their sibling who are better.
3. Increasing fiber in kids' diets sometimes makes
constipation worse. Kids need proper muscle development to push stools out, and increasing bulk can make this more difficult for some.
4. Synthetic food colorings really can cause
behavior issues in some kids. The European Union now requires a warning label indicating so for six targeted dyes.
5. Bumpy or "chicken skin" is a sign of an essential fatty acid deficiency, and can be fixed by the consumption of the correct fats.
6. Short stature may be caused by a zinc deficiency. One symptom of zinc deficiency is
poor growth.
7. Most
reflux in children over age two is from food intolerance. Food reactions can irritate the gut lining, causing the stomach to push food up into the esophagus.
8. Eating more fish has been associated with lower levels of depression. This observation was the impetus for numerous studies that found fish oil could successfully treat
psychological disorders from depression to bipolar disorder.
9. Extreme moodiness is one symptom of food intolerance. Some children respond to simple diet changes and can avoid medication and other treatments.
10. Choline is an essential nutrient few people know about whose deficiency symptom is a
reduced capacity to learn. It is found in fish, liver, and eggs.
The item(s) in this review was provided to the reviewer for keeps and the purpose of writing a review. This in no way effects the quality of the review provided. No monetary exchange occurred in exchange for the writing of the review. The views expressed in this review are strictly that of the reviewer. All reviews provided here are the work of the reviewer and remain completely unbiased.
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