What’s Going on With Our Kids?

Recently a study was conducted by the CDC/NCHS which states that food allergies are on the increase in children, but experts are unsure of the cause.  Why are our children, in this day and age of health, nutrition and exercise awareness, having an increase in all kinds of diseases, including those diseases that used to only affect a minor portion of the population and/or adults only?  It’s a serious question that deserves an immediate answer and the answer lies within the cellular level.

Food allergies are a common problem with patients who complain of chronic digestive, sinus, skin and headache problems.  The study in the link above suggests that children can be affected by food allergies.  We see this even more so in very young children.  The big problem is the true diagnosis.  If you have a severe reaction to a certain food, then the diagnosis of an allergy to that food isn’t very difficult to conclude.  When you have intolerance to a food, then it is much more difficult to pin down the specific food that is causing the symptoms.  An allergy is a direct reaction every time.  Intolerance is the same type of reaction just not every time.  So why does this happen?  Because there are times that the body will have the ability to buffer the allergic reaction that the food is causing.  Which leads to the question, why in the world are our children needing to take more drugs than ever for diabetes, cholesterol and other typically recognized as adult diseases?  

The difference between an allergy and an intolerance is that an allergy is a direction reaction.  You eat the food and within a very short time period you have a reaction that could include stomach discomfort, sinus congestion, or runny nose, itching or even a rash.  If this reaction happens every time you consume the food, then it is a true allergy.  Intollerance on the other hand, may still give you the same symptoms, but only sometimes after consuming the food, not every time.   You can read more about the stats in an article called  More Kids Are Taking More Meds Than Ever Before.

The answer is nutrition.  A healthy body = a nutritionally balanced body.  You hear about the importance of vitamins, minerals, calcium, essential fatty acids (Omega 3), B-vitamins, Magnesium, etc… for not only our children but for all of us.  What you don’t hear is about the importance of how you get these nutrients.  From food is always the best way.  But sometimes our food source is not the purest because of processing, pesticides, preservatives, added sugars, sodium, etc.  Multi-vitamins and synthetically produced vitamins have been big business since the discovery of how vitamins are essential for a healthy body.  However, this may be the worst choice.  An isolated vitamin is not essential for a healthy body.  A vitamin that has all of its components is the best vitamin for the human body.  You can read about the components in Vitamins…Is There A Difference?  A whole-food vitamin supplement provides exactly what our bodies are starved for and a childs body is no exception. 

When a human body is nutritionally balanced and is functioning at its optimum by absorbing appropriate nutrients and expelling toxins readily and even protecting against harmful bacteria, it can ward off allergies and diseases effectively.  For instance, there are reports on how diabetes can be helped with the intake of certainly healthy, whole foods.   Even the Mayo Clinic has reported on such findings. 

All in all, in order for our children to be able to fight adult diseases, diseases that happen to bodies that have been pushed to the brink of malnutrition, we must change the way we think about food and nutrition.  And this change needs to happen quickly if we are going to be able to save our future generations from a life of dialysis, transplants, cancers, heart diseases… and yes, even allergies.