Disease Proof : Disease Proof : Health & Nutrition News & Commentary : Dr. Joel Fuhrman

Happy Mother’s Day to all the wonderful Moms out there!  Whether you are called Great Grandma, Grandma, Mom, or Mommy we honor all of you this special day! 

I thought it would be inspirational to feature a new mom, Katie, that I met a couple of years ago on Dr. Fuhrman’s Member Center.  We eventually became Facebook friends, and then I finally got to meet her in-person last summer at Dr. Fuhrman’s Health Getaway on Amelia Island.  I’ve been so impressed how she’s radically changed her eating habits and now enables her young family to eat for the best health possible too.  [In fact, she even went on to become a certified nutritional trainer through Dr. Fuhrman’s NET program!] When pictures of her relatively recent, second pregnancy started showing up on Facebook, she glowed with health and vitality!  It’s amazing what eating for health can do to a young woman’s life.  Welcome to Disease Proof, Katie.

What was your life like before discovering Dr. Fuhrman’s nutritarian approach?
I ate a very unhealthy diet before learning about Dr. Fuhrman. My favorite foods were things like pizza and chocolate. I was a vegetarian for a few years; but a very unhealthy one. Since I was slim I figured I was healthy enough.

I always had terrible allergies and also struggled with sinus issues. A few years before becoming a nutritarian an Ear, Nose and Throat doctor told me I would need to have surgery to alleviate my severe sinus infections. I also had debilitating migraine headaches. Finally, I also developed severe and painful cystic acne when I was around 18 which continued into adulthood.
 

How do you feel now?
I feel so much better now it is amazing. I didn't know how bad I felt until I realized how good I could feel. My allergies, sinus issues, migraines and acne all resolved after becoming a nutritarian.  And I have more energy and am able to think more clearly now.

Since you weren’t a nutritarian yet during your first pregnancy, did you notice a difference between the two pregnancies, labor and delivery, and postpartum recovery time?

Towards the end of the pregnancy with my first daughter my mom gave me a copy of Dr. Fuhrman’s book, Disease Proof Your Child.  It completely changed my perspective on nutrition.  Each of my pregnancies were uncomplicated, but I had gained 15 pounds more during my first pregnancy than my second.  I also had horrendous heartburn with my first, and just mild heartburn with my second.

With my first, I went two weeks past my estimated due date and had to be induced.  The labor was very difficult, and my recovery was rather slow.  With my second daughter I went into labor naturally two days after my due date and overall it was a wonderful, drug-free experience.  My recovery time seemed to be much easier as well.  

Do you have any success tip(s) to share with others; especially to young mothers of small children?

• The most important factor to changing my way of eating was learning as much as I could about the science behind Dr. Fuhrman's recommendations. I spent hours poring over the information in Dr. Fuhrman's books and on his Member Center.

• We keep meals very simple at our house and cook large batches of soups over the weekend so we don't have to cook much during the week. I also like to make green smoothies or micro salads so I can get large amounts of greens in quickly while taking care of my kids.

Katie’s favorite micro salad: 

4 cups chopped kale

2 cups mixed greens

2 cups chopped green or purple cabbage

3 medium carrots, chopped into chunks

1 apple, chopped into chunks

Place all ingredients in a food processor (you may have to process each ingredient individually depending on the size of the container) and process to desired consistency. Top with beans and a nut based dressing.  Enjoy!           

In a nutshell, what has nutritarian eating done for you and your young family?

It has changed me and my family forever. My husband and I will definitely eat this way for the rest of our lives, and we hope our daughters will continue to as well. My 3-year- old loves the food she eats and has been healthy her whole life. She’s never had an ear infection or needed antibiotics. I'm incredibly grateful to Dr. Fuhrman for this life-changing information and to everyone on the Member Center for sharing such personal and inspiring experiences. I'm also very thankful to my mother for giving me Disease Proof Your Child and for providing a wonderful example of what it means to eat to live.  I also want to thank my husband for all of his support who, despite his initial hesitation, has fully embraced nutritarian eating.

Katie, you are truly a wonderful role model for all mothers, young and old!  Congratulations on radically improving you and your family’s health by choosing the nutritarian diet-style.

Blessings to all mothers today, and keep up the great job of leading your family’s health destiny!  

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Talia Fuhrman, the oldest daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Fuhrman, may possibly be one of only a handful of young adults in the US that has now been eating high-nutrient foods since birth. I thought it would be motivational to interview Talia, age 25, not only to inspire the young people of America, but also to encourage all the parents who are doing their best to raise children to eat for health in a culture that promotes just the opposite.

What was it like for you growing up in a home that had ample selections of delicious and healthy foods to eat at all times?

As bad as the American obesity and disease epidemic is today, times were certainly different when I was a child and a teenager. These days people know what a vegan means, more people are vegetarians and overall, we are seeking the birth of an increasingly health-conscious America. When I was younger, my family was an odd anomaly in our community of standard American eaters. My feelings about living in this healthy-eating environment evolved over time and became so much more positive as I grew from my childhood and into my early teens.

I definitely felt different from my peers! It would be impossible not to feel different when my parents were preparing cashew cream kale for dinner and zucchini filled “brownies” in my lunches when my friends were opening boxes of cookies and obsessing over their Lunchables lunch boxes and Lucky Charms cereal. Prior to middle school, I wanted to be like my friends and would beg my parents to have the pizza served on Fridays at my school’s cafeteria and cake at birthday parties. Fights with my parents about food often occurred at home, but they allowed me to have some of my favorite “junk foods” like pretzels at the mall and pizza at school every now and then. If they had been too strict and didn’t allow me to eat any conventional foods, I think this would have put a dent in our relationship as I grew older.

I did absolutely love the foods my parents made for me at home and I didn’t feel deprived with the plentiful selection of healthy fruits and vegetables, and it was only in social settings that I desired to be like my friends and eat what they were eating. As a child, some of my favorite foods were strawberry banana “ice cream” made with frozen bananas and soymilk, and sweet potatoes mashed with coconut milk and cinnamon. I loved organic strawberries and I have vivid memories of running around our living room while eating lettuce leaves. When my dad began preparing homemade date-nut balls, which he now sells on DrFuhrman.com as “date-nut pop’ems,” that was a very good day.

What did your parents do to help you make the transition into social settings away from home?

They taught me why it was important to eat healthy foods and the negative consequences of eating junk foods. My parents did a good job of teaching me that their desire for me to eat healthy foods was out of love for me and wanting me to be a healthy person. Once I was old enough to make my own eating choices, they let me make my own decisions in social settings. I never went to a birthday party in which my parents wouldn’t let me have a slice of pizza or piece of cake if I wanted it, and if I decided to make a poor eating choice, I was taught that I would be the one to pay the price with a stomach ache, runny nose or feeling ill.

What were the teen years like for you? 

Understandably, my teenage years were very different from those of my childhood. I matured and took it upon myself to read and educate myself about nutrition and had no desire to eat the same foods as my peers. I packed my own school lunches filled with hearty salads and whole-wheat avocado, hummus sandwiches, for instance. I was the girl who ate dried persimmons and macadamia nuts for lunch and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I never dealt with weight gain, fatigue or acne and always had energy.      

Tell us about your young adult years. Why did you pursue an undergraduate degree in Nutritional Sciences from Cornell, and why are you now working so hard to develop a blog for young people? 

Throughout my life, I had exposure to seeing how what we eat affects the quality of our lives; not simply whether or not we will get cancer in our later years, but how we feel on a daily basis. I spent my childhood and teens hanging out in my dad’s office where I got to meet patients who got rid of debilitating health conditions by committing to the nutritarian lifestyle. My passion for nutrition and living a healthy lifestyle blossomed when I was a teenager from the combination of seeing these success stories and my innate love of science.

When I was a freshman in college, I did go through a doubtful phase and questioned whether or not I would get sick of studying nutrition. I pursued a few other career choices but none of them gave me as much satisfaction as studying nutrition. I am passionate about helping people get healthier and never suffer from pain due to avoidable health conditions, and this is why I am developing a blog for a younger audience. The teen years and our 20s are when we start to form our lifestyle and eating habits that we will take with us into adulthood.

My goal for the blog is to foster a positive community in which healthy eating is fun and learning about nutrition isn’t boring. I want to provide all the information that I know about nutrition to a younger audience in a way that is easy to understand, enjoyable, and even stylish. My dream is that living a healthy lifestyle will become what younger people will want to do because it makes them feel good, and because they can have fun with it too. It’s not as difficult as most people think to make smart, health promoting eating choices. Yet, teens and young adults I’ve encountered are totally in the dark, and have no idea they are laying the groundwork for their future health with that they eat today. The first step will be to have the knowledge about which foods are good for us and why it’s important to consume them. After that, people just need to learn how to prepare tasty meals that incorporate these foods. It can become a creative process of trial and error and a rewarding one too. My blog will have easy to prepare, tasty recipes to help people get started in making meals and desserts that are both healthy and delicious as well as nutrition advice that is written in a fun and youthful way. 

Thank you Talia ~ we wish you all the best and can’t wait to see what unfolds in the days and years ahead!  To view Talia’s blog click here. 

image credit: portrait by Esther Boller

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David is your typical, 14-year-old teenager that was severely addicted to the standard American diet. In fact, he was resistant to have anything to do with eating for health, even though his parents and siblings had embraced nutritarian eating and radically improved their health and quality of life because of it. However, on Father’s Day weekend this past summer David had a wake-up call; a frightening experience with dangerously high blood pressure and the telltale symptom of a TIA (transient ischemic attack); aka mini stroke. Today, six months later and 27 lbs lighter, he’s a changed person as a result of eating high-nutrient foods. Welcome to Disease Proof, David.

               June                                                 August                                                  December

What was your life like before Father’s Day weekend?

My parents and siblings were nutritarians so there was always plenty of healthy food to eat, but I refused to eat it. At every chance I could get away from home I ate whatever junk food I could find, and without my mom knowing it I bought donuts, candy, and other stuff.  Because I wouldn’t eat “Fuhrman food’ as I called it, my mom didn’t force me to eat it because my dad didn’t think she should; after all, I wasn’t a little kid anymore. My mom wouldn’t prepare junk food so I learned to cook my own meals. I ate frozen pizzas and lasagna, macaroni and cheese, pot pies, and all kids of frozen processed meals. Even with that, there were many foods that she wouldn’t buy for me like processed cereals, milk, cheese, and butter. 

How did you feel?

I didn’t feel well most of the time. It was hard for me to move around because I was tired and would get out of breath easily, so I didn’t exercise. I was always thirsty, and I couldn’t breathe through my nose; it was always stuffy.  Plus, because I was tired a lot I just slept whenever I could.      

What was your wake-up call?

During a family crisis my mom requested no junk food be brought to our house. However, some thought nutritarian eating was extreme and felt sorry for me so they asked me for a list of my favorite foods anyway.  It was great!  I loved it because I could eat anything I wanted.  A week later, in the middle of the night, the entire right side of my body, including my leg, arm, and jaw was numb and tingly, and I was very scared. I woke my parents up, and my mom took my blood pressure and it was 158 / 108. The next day she contacted Dr. Fuhrman, and according to my symptoms he said that I had experienced a TIA (transient ischemic attack) or mini stroke that happens before a major stroke*. Immediately, on Father’s Day, I became a nutritarian. Within a week my blood pressure came down to a healthy range, but for several weeks I was scared to fall asleep at night, because I was afraid of having a stroke during the night.

* Dr. Fuhrman states that “Thousands of teens have strokes each year and the number is on the rise. According to a recent article in the Journal of Neurology, strokes in children, teens, and young adults are increasing at an alarming rate in the U.S. Strokes in teenagers - like the one that led to the death of Miss Teen Hawaii, Sheryl Wolfe – or Frankie Muniz of “Malcolm in the Middle” who recently suffered a mini-stroke ( transient Ischemic attack) – are not as rare as people think, and the devastating consequences of strokes have caused rehab facilities and nursing homes to cater to this young population. As the American diet gets worse we see these diseases of nutritional ignorance occur at younger and younger ages. National hospital discharge data from 42 states were examined in children, teens and young adults, comparing the rate of stroke in these groups from 1995-1996 to 2007-2008. The rate of strokes in young people was increasing before 1995, but in the ten years since then stroke hospitalization rate increased another 35 percent.”

 

How do you feel now?

I have a lot more energy. I’ve lost 27 lbs so far and my blood pressures are consistently around 113 / 72. I no longer have numbness or tingly feelings, and the best thing is I’m not afraid of falling asleep and having a stroke in the middle of the night.  I’m no longer thirsty all the time, tired, or have shortness of breath, and because of that I like to run, workout at the Y, and lift weights. Plus, I can now breathe through my nose for the first time that I can ever remember; I always had a stuffy nose. According to a blood test in June I was pre-diabetic, and now with nutritarian eating I won’t have to worry about getting diabetes. I just feel better all over, and my mom says that I’m happier and not grumpy anymore.    

What would you tell kids who love junk food and hate even the thought of eating healthy?

 

Try nutritarian eating all the way for just one week. Do it cold turkey, 100%; no cheating. After that week is over then re-assess your opinion and see if it changes. I gutted it out mentally for one week, and it was hard, but I knew it would be worth it to feel better and be healthier. Now I’m glad I did. 

I still sometimes like eating junk food when I’m away from home, but I know nutritarian eating is healthier for me, and I always feel better when I stick to it.

 

What are your favorite foods now?

My favorite foods are tomatoes, cucumbers, Honey Crisp apples, green peppers, snap peas, sautéed onions, hummus, and my mom’s Oatmeal/Almond Bars. 

Easy Oatmeal/Almond Bars

5-6 ripe bananas

4 cups old fashioned rolled oats

2 cups raisins

2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut

2 cups unsalted sunflower seeds

2 cups chopped raw almonds

1 T. cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a 9x13 pan with parchment paper. In a mixing bowl mash the bananas and then stir in remaining ingredients. Press mixture into the baking pan and bake for 40 min. Let cool. Cut into bars.

Congratulations David and keep up the great job!

image credit:  bottom image by Yaro Photography

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At one point Gabriela had almost come to the end of her rope trying to figure out a solution to her six-year-old son’s ongoing illnesses. She was tired of the repetitive trips to the emergency room and doctors treating his symptoms with inhalers and medications, all to no avail.  However, today she is one happy mother as her son now has his health and life back by following Dr. Fuhrman’s nutritional recommendations that she discovered on PBS last year. Welcome to Disease Proof, Gabriela.

What was your life like before discovering Dr. Fuhrman’s nutritarian eating-style?

My husband and I were at a breaking point! Our son, Kevin, was at the emergency room nearly every month, and we couldn’t take the stress any longer.

Everything we had to go through took a toll on our relationship, and it also affected Kevin’s childhood. He missed school often, and we didn’t take him anywhere, because we were afraid that he would get worse. It was hard to see our son suffer and not be able to do anything about it.

How did Kevin feel then?

I lost count of how many times we took him to the doctor, but he was ill all the time. The longest he went without getting sick was 5 days. He got ear infections, bad colds, reoccurring episodes of croup, and a cough that wouldn’t go away.  

One time Kevin had an episode in which he was coughing nonstop for weeks. It got to be so bad that his stomach would hurt from coughing so much.

He couldn’t run because he’d start coughing and have difficulty breathing whenever he got agitated. Therefore, he couldn’t play like the other kids when we went to the park.

How does Kevin feel now?

Many kids in Kevin’s class have been sick, but he is not affected anymore. He only had a runny nose that lasted for less than two days, and a mild cough that went away overnight. He hasn’t been sick or taken any medication since June of this year.

Do you have any success tips to share with others?

I wanted Kevin to eat more fruits and vegetables so I started to decorate his plates to make them look fun. One day I posted a picture on Facebook and everyone loved it so much that I created a special page where I post what I give to him every day for breakfast. [Click here]

Kevin loves the dishes I make for him, and this helped me turn mealtime frustration into happy memories. Now, he eats all the fruits and veggies he needs for the day.

In a nutshell, what has nutritarian eating done for Kevin and your family?

At last, Kevin can play and run as much as he wants; he can finally enjoy his childhood and be a normal kid, and we don’t have to worry about him getting sick anymore!

To read Kevin’s Success Story on DrFuhrman.com click here.

Thank you Gabriela and Kevin for inspiring all of us to better health ~ keep up the great job!

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Bisphenol-A (BPA) is its name and disrupting the our hormone function is its game. We should all be aware of what BPA is, the health conditions it’s associated with and where it’s lurking in our environment because this chemical is dangerous and it is found in many of the products we use each and every day. 

The health problems linked to BPA are astounding.  A mounting body of research shows that BPA is an endocrine disruptor that mimics our hormones, therefore interrupting their normal functioning.  This is serious given how much our delicate hormone balance influences our health.  Disruption of hormone levels due to BPA have been linked to breast cancer¹, prostate cancer², cardiovascular disease³, diabetes⁴, obesity⁵, infertility⁶, birth defects⁷, miscarriages⁸, developmental disorders in children⁹, premature puberty in young girls¹⁰, severe attention deficit disorder¹¹, cognitive and brain development problems, deformations of the body (like our limbs), sexual development problems^12-14, and feminizing of males or masculine effects on females.^15-17 It seems like a lovely substance, doesn’t it? No doubt the evil Queen from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs would have loved to douse that poisonous apple with a nice shiny layer of BPA.  She might have permanently poisoned Snow White if she had.

A new study even shows that BPA negatively affects not just those who eat and touch BPA laden items, but it also affects multiple generations of their children.¹⁸  This study, published by the journal Endocrinology, studied trans-generational effects of BPA on mice.  One group of mice was fed BPA laden food and another group was fed their regular diets. Behavior was monitored and so was the behavior of three subsequent generations. Genetic testing was also conducted on all of the animals.

Remarkably, the mice that were exposed to BPA in the womb were less social and more isolated than the other group, as was the case for their children and their children’s children.  These mice spent less time exploring, playing and engaging in friendly behavior with the other mice. This is not the normal behavior of mice and shows that BPA can influence brain activity for generations.  Notably and frighteningly, the BPA exposed mice were exposed to levels of BPA that humans would normally be exposed to via our diets. While mice behavior and human behavior are obviously not the same, mice are a good laboratory model for what could happen to humans. The researchers even likened the behavioral issues they found in the BPA-exposed mice to autistic children and children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.

To make matters worse, the same study found that 90 percent of Americans have BPA in their blood. Forget watching a horror movie, all we need to do to get a good scare is learn about the health effects of BPA and its ubiquity in our environment. That is, if we do not educate ourselves on which materials contain it and don’t make efforts to avoid it. 

Thankfully, with a bit of education we can steer clear of BPA as easily as a graceful decline of a receipt or the simple renouncement of tin can usage. BPA is found in quite a few unsuspecting places, which is why doing one’s homework really pays off.  Your jaw just may drop when you learn how many places BPA can be found, but thankfully there are plenty of alternatives.  Education really is power and this has never been truer than in the case of the malicious, microscopic villain that is BPA.

So which products are likely to contain BPA?

1. Receipts- these pieces of paper are coated with a BPA-based coating that rubs off onto our fingers and whatever else it comes in contact with.
2. Canned food- cans are lined with an epoxy resin that’s made of BPA, so watch out for soups, canned tomato sauces, fruits and vegetables.  Glass jars, frozen foods and paper cartons are our best alternatives.  One exception: the company Eden Organics produces a line of canned beans that are BPA free. They use oleoresin, which is a natural mixture of an oil and a resin extracted from plants. The can maker, Ball Corporation, says that Eden is the only company to date that makes BPA free cans. More information on their cans is available on the Eden Organics website.
3. Avoid contact with plastic- use glass appliances and storage containers rather than plastic tubs to store leftovers. Stainless steel containers are wonderful substitutes for plastic lunch bags and takeout clamshells.
4. “BPA-free” plastics are not safe- a study in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives found that those plastics purported to be safer that those containing BPA were lined with BPA alternatives that could be  just as noxious.
5. Dental sealants are a BPA warehouse- BPA is the most frequently used dental sealant material and it’s used in composite fillings used to treat cavities.  Dental treatments have been linked to social problems in children, leading a slew of pediatricians to advocate the use of other materials. However, this change has yet to manifest itself in safer dental care so our best bet is to brush regularly, floss and visit our dentists for regular cleanings.
6. Alcoholic beverages- wine and beer are fermented in BPA-resin lined vats.  If you enjoy your fair share of alcoholic drinks, this may just be the motivation you need to eschew that glass of wine or beer. Your hormones will thank you.
7. Infant formula and baby bottles- if you thought BPA in alcohol was sad, this one may be even sadder; I believe the worst is when helpless infants are exposed to BPA. We already knew breastfeeding was best for the little ones, but this news provides even more of an incentive to do so. If breastfeeding isn’t possible, glass bottles and un-canned, powdered formula is second best.
8. Plastic utensils- alas, BPA is found in almost all plastics, plastic utensils included. Although not possible all the time, bring your own utensils when as much as you can.
9. Aluminum soda cans- as if Coca Cola and Pepsi weren’t bad enough on their own, now we know they contain BPA as well as over the top amounts of high fructose corn syrup and artificial sweeteners.  Stay away, just stay away.
10. It’s in your dollar bills- yup, BPA makes its residency on our money because the ink it’s printed on is pure BPA. Other than avoiding touching money, which is impossible for most, our best option is to wash our hands after we exchange the moolah.  

There you have it. While completely avoiding BPA is likely impossible, knowing which products contain BPA will help us greatly reduce our exposure.  Maybe you and I, and all those we share this article with, can make ourselves part of the ten percent of Americans with undetectable blood BPA levels and help that percentage grow. 

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This Mother’s Day we salute all the mothers who are raising children to appreciate and embrace eating for health. It’s no easy task in the midst of a culture fixated on junk food that’s readily available everywhere one turns.  And it’s even more difficult if we, as moms, are getting a late start in establishing healthy eating habits ourselves.

However, we must persevere and creatively find ways to feed our children high-nutrient foods even if peers, close friends, and extended relatives are eating for disease. The childhood years are laying the foundation for cancer and other diseases to occur later in life; it’s not the time to throw-in-the-towel and give up.

Dr. Fuhrman wrote in Disease Proof Your Child, “I tell parents that if they follow my advice their child will no longer require frequent visits to the doctor. With most frequently ill children, more medicine is not the answer.”

“More and more evidence emerges each year that the diets we eat in our childhood have far-reaching effects on our adult health and specifically on whether we get cancer. Similarly, there is an abundance of scientific research that supports the need for a dietary lifestyle that protects our children from other serious diseases.” ¹

Moms, let’s keep keeping on!

Happy Mother’s Day!

The above picture was submitted by one of our Disease Proof readers; this is daughter Clara, age 10, enjoying a green smoothie made with papaya, banana and spinach.

Blended Mango Salad
Serves: 2

Ingredients:
2  ripe mangos, peeled and chopped or 2 1/2 cups frozen mango chunks
1 cup chopped spinach
4 cups chopped romaine lettuce
1/4 cup unsweetened soy, hemp or almond milk

Instructions:
Place mangos in a food processor or high-powered blender.
Add the spinach and half the lettuce. Blend until well combined. Add the milk and remaining lettuce. Blend until creamy.

 

 

Waldorf Blended Salad
Serves: 1

Ingredients:
1/2  cup pomegranate Juice
1 apple, peeled and cored
1/4 cup walnuts
4 cups kale and/or Boston lettuce
1/4 cup water or ice cubes 
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Instructions:
Blend all ingredients in high powered blender.

 Related post: Moms, we have the most influence 

PS  For the fun of it I'm posting two pictures below that were taken on Mother's Day weekend, exactly four years a part.  The image on the left was taken in 2008, and the image on the right was taken this Mother's Day weekend.  Little did I know twenty-five years ago, when I was pregnant with my first child, just how important it would be for me and my family to eat a high-nutrient diet. 

Moms, it's up to us to lead the way and set the example for our children to follow.   We set the pace.  We purchase over 90% of the nation's food supply.  What a privilege and responsibility we have to change the food culture for generations to come. 

Go greens!  Go Moms!   

1.        Fuhrman, M.D., Joel, 2005, Disease Proof Your Child, pp. xxi,xxii, Martins’ Griffin, NY 

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It is one thing for toxic food compounds to be found in adults, who make their own food choices, but it is another issue altogether when we begin finding toxic food compounds in infants and young children.  Researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine just brought this issue to light; they found that Advanced Glycation End products (AGEs), a toxic food compound, are often present at high levels in the bloodstreams of infants.1 Research over the past 20 years has implicated AGEs in most diseases associated with aging, such as: Alzheimer’s disease, cancers, type II diabetes, stroke, visual impairment, high blood pressure, atherosclerosis, kidney disorders, skin disorders, and autoimmune diseases. 

So, where are these AGEs in infants coming from? It turns out excessive food AGEs, through both maternal blood transmission and baby formula, are to blame.  Commercial infant formulas are deleterious to the health of infants, not just because of the deprivation micronutrients provided by breast milk, but also because infant formulas themselves contain toxins and harmful levels of AGEs. Formulas that are processed under high heat contain as much as 100 times more AGEs than human breast milk, delivering a heaping dose of AGEs to infants at a period when they are extremely vulnerable to toxins. 

The food a mother consumes during pregnancy also has an effect on the AGE levels found in the bloodstream of her infant once he or she is born.  The combination of infant formula with a mother’s diet of modern American fare is clearly dangerous for vulnerable newborns.

The Mount Sinai study found that newborn babies had levels of AGEs in their blood as high as their adult mothers right after birth.  Within the first year of life, after switching from breast milk onto commercial formulas, each infant’s AGEs had doubled to levels seen in people with diabetes, and many had elevated insulin levels!

Other studies have confirmed a link between the consumption of foods high in AGEs, diabetes and obesity.2,3. When diabetes patients were put on an AGE-restricted diet, they had a 35 percent reduction in blood insulin levels, well beyond that of their previous therapeutic regimen.  Inflammation went down and immune system strength went up. This study’s remarkable results exemplify that a reduction in AGE-rich foods can have powerful results, which should provide expectant mothers with even more incentive to avoid AGE-rich foods and breastfeed.

Advanced Glycation End products are found predominantly in foods that have been cooked using dry heat, such as potato chips, French fries and grilled meats. Processed foods are generally high in AGEs.  Hard pretzels, cereals, and crackers are also serious offenders.  The best action we can take to avoid AGEs is to eat as many unprocessed, natural foods as possible.  Fruits and vegetables are naturally very low in AGEs as are foods cooked using water, such as soups and stews.

Pregnant mothers, non-pregnant mothers, non-mothers and males, take heed! Turn down the heat, use water and eat mostly natural plant-based foods at home.  Young children are especially vulnerable to the effects of AGEs and we have the power in our hands to make sure our children are not harmed from the get-go.   

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The creativity of our readers is amazing! The following is an “experiment” that two Moms, Mandy and her friend Jessica, did over this past holiday season. 

They thought it would be interesting to keep track of all unhealthy treats, including the calories, fat grams, and sugar grams that three of their children were offered at school, church, and Grandma’s house from November 10 through December 25^th; for a total of 45 days.  They charted it below, and the following is the summary: 

In forty-five days, three children, ages 3, 5, and 7 were offered a total of 41,734 extra calories; 1,927 grams of fat; and 6,470 grams of sugar! No joke! 

And interesting to note, because the Moms had both pledged to follow Dr. Fuhrman’s Holiday Challenge during that time, Mandy thinks the numbers would’ve been at least twice that amount had they not accepted the challenge. She said the children were amazing as they brought home the treats that they had passed up and counted the days on a paper chain.  As a reward, and as a way to reinforce in them that they weren’t “giving up” something, but making a trade for something better, the Moms took them to a hotel with an indoor pool and had a mini-vacation afterward. 

For better treat options, Mandy and Jessica found lots of fun and tasty ways to eat fruit, like frozen bananas with a little peanut butter to make banana ice-cream. They also discovered that it was a huge shift in mindset to get over the idea that they “had” to have a treat after every dinner, but they succeeded!

Here is the list of combined treats passed up by all three children:

[November 10 through December 25, 2011]

Bravo to these Moms and their precious children! 

Let’s all learn from their innovative experiment that it is truly up to us, as parents, to protect our children’s health and well-being.    

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Dads, Moms, Grandpas, Grandmas, Aunts and Uncles . . . .

 

If you have babies and children in your life, and would enjoy sharing a picture of them with a green smoothie mustache, we would love to feature your adorable children in a special Mother’s Day post on Disease Proof next spring!

Just get clicking those cameras between now and April, and then send your best digital image to Emily@DiseaseProof.com no later than April first.  By sending an image, you will be giving Dr. Fuhrman and team full permission to publish it on Disease Proof.  (Your child's first name and age will be published along with the photo.) 

 

Have fun with your children and cameras!

Go greens!

Go kids!

 

 

Baby Eli, eight months;  Drew, age five

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Since tomorrow will be Mother’s Day, I thought it’d be inspirational to interview a special mother, Dr. Fuhrman’s wife, Lisa, to help celebrate the special occasion. The Fuhrmans have been raising their four children to genuinely enjoy eating high-nutrient foods in the midst of a culture that’s heavily addicted to the standard American diet. Lisa has valuable insight and experience that will benefit all mothers who desire the same for their children.

Were you always into healthy eating, even before meeting Dr. Fuhrman? 

I thought I was eating healthy before I met Joel. In fact, I remember him asking me if I thought I ate healthfully and my answer was, “Sure.” I had my usual Life cereal for breakfast; salad and tuna or egg salad on a bagel for lunch (with coffee); and chicken, baked potato, and a vegetable (from the can) for dinner. Sometimes I ate a salad with dinner as well. Of course, I ate ice cream and pizza whenever in the mood, but I wasn’t into overeating as I was very conscious of my weight. So I can say that I was a “better-than-average” SAD eater, but surely not a healthy one. When I met Joel, he convinced me to eat a high-nutrient, plant-based diet, and my parents did not like it. They thought he was going to kill me as they thought no one could survive without eating animal products in their diet. Now I can happily say that my parents are his patients and advocates of his nutritarian life!

How did you manage social eating situations like birthday parties, sleepovers, summer camps, etc., when your children were younger?

My motto has been to never make food a war zone so I let my children eat whatever they wanted at birthday parties or sleepovers. For summer camp, I always packed a lunch for them to eat, and then if ice cream was offered, it was in their control to decide if they wanted it or not.  The amazing thing is they rarely even wanted unhealthy foods and liked our foods best. In looking back, I would do this all over again as my kids are nutritarians to the core. The older girls rebelled a little in their early teens, but their rebellion was to eat an occasional ice cream or have pizza once in a while. They never complained about what we ate at home. I can honestly say that they love the nutritarian eating-style, and they are very proud of their dad and how we’ve brought them up.

Our children are now 23, 20, 17, and nine, and they are all nutritarians; plus, they’ve all influenced their friends in a very positive way also. For example, when our middle daughter was in middle school she would go out with her friends to eat pizza. She’d order “salad pizza” (lettuce, tomato, mushrooms, onions), and she got her friends to love it.  Their friends also love to come over and eat our food.

Our children know we don’t judge them based on the foods they eat. They know why they should eat healthy and they do it for the right reasons; not to please us, but to live long, healthy lives. In social situations, they eat whatever they want; and I don’t ask. I know they are eating well at home and I respect their decisions.

From your experience, what’s the number one success tip that you’ve discovered in raising children to enjoy nutritarian foods in the midst of a culture that’s eating just the opposite?

I’ve had it easy. They were given only nutritarian food since they were born; it’s what they are used to and view SAD foods out there as not food. They’ve never eaten at a fast food restaurant, like McDonald’s or Burger King, and they think candy is disgusting. Our youngest son, Sean, did not taste ice cream until he was eight-years-old. He had plenty of opportunities in school and at parties, but he had no interest. I believe parents should control what their children eat in the house, educate them as much as seems reasonable, and then give them the ability to make their own choices when they are away from home. 

Thank you Lisa for helping us navigate the way in teaching our children to eat for health.  What a treasured gift to give to them!

Happy Mother's Day to all! 

floral image credit:  flickr by malikyounas

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