Category Archives: Children’s Health

Children's Health, Sustainable Farming, Health, Soil and Environment

Put Some Sunshine and Life in Your Body–Connect with Small Family Farms

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Connecting to mother earth, the sun and all its creatures is a powerful vehicle for transformation. Recently, I spent the entire day working on Scott Trautman’s farm where I get some of my food–a truly life-giving, sacred space. I brought my 14 year-old daughter, my friend and her 7 year-old granddaughter. We left at 5:30 AM to make the 2 hour journey. Little did the girls realize what wonders they would experience that day.

When we arrived at the farm, the girls could see, this would be no ordinary day. Stepping out of the car we were greeted by at least 50 free-roaming chickens who delighted in the possibility that we may have some food for them! Scott stood by holding and stroking one of these beautiful birds, waiting to share with us the glory of his and his wife, Julie’s creation. As we entered his home, we were greeted by 3 happy cats. Lots to do today–we were going to help plant 100 of the 600 already planted hazelnut trees around the perimeter of the farm. This was part of Scott’s plan for permiculture–planting a wide variety of trees and plants on the farm to intermingle in the rich tapestry of healthy pastureland and livestock. He and his wife are participating in the creation of paradise and we were there to share.

The girls loved walking amongst the cows and their calves. They quickly learned that some cows were very friendly and come up to be petted or just to meet you. Others were shy, and one cow was a little bossy and tried to tell us to leave her alone! Every one of these beautiful animals enjoyed superior health as Scott and Julie had painstakingly built soil fertility for three years before pasturing animals.

As we walked to the area where we were going to plant trees, a large group of chickens followed us as if they were going to help! Instead of walking, my farmer enlisted my daughter to drive the “Gator”–a golf-type cart that carried our gear to the planting site. By the look on her face, you would have thought someone had just given her a million dollars! So off we went planting. It will be such a gift to watch the trees we planted grow in years to come.

When it started to thunder, we went to the barn to clean and bag rye seed for planting. The belt-driven, seed-cleaning machine was straight out of the past–nothing fancy or computerized–just simple and to the point. Both girls ran back and forth from the giant seed bin to bring containers of seeds to the machine. After the thunder passed, we planted more trees.

Just before lunch–the girls discovered the pigs and the chicken nests. They watched the baby pigs who were very busy eating and playing. The girls then gathered dozens of eggs from the chicken’s nests and brought them in the house where we sorted them and put them in cartons. After Julie blessed is with a glorious lunch, we planted more trees finishing at about 4PM.

The next stop–the refrigerated milk holding tank to get fresh milk and the farm store to get meat to take home. We got a variety of fantastic meats. Scott then filled our glass jars with fresh, cold, clean, unprocessed milk from vibrantly healthy, happy cows–liquid sunshine–a life-sustaining, divine, healing food–a food cherished by people worldwide for thousands of years–a food that saved my life–

As we drove back home, the girls reveled in their amazing experience as they counted how many new things they did. “When are we coming back mom?” ” Can I bring my friends?’  my daughter said with an enormous smile.

Connect back to the earth and sun, connect with small family farms, connect with the animals, plants and trees–connect with creation and fill your life with new life and sunshine. Who’s your farmer?

For more information on building health and healing with nutrient-dense foods see Performance without Pain and our new e-book on healing acid reflux.

Best in health,

Kathryne Pirtle

Autism and Vaccination Choice, Children's Health, Mercury Toxicity, Personal Rights and Food Freedom

The Canary in the Mine–The Autism One Conference and the American Rally for Personal Rights

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Chicago was the central think tank and activism center of the world for autism and vaccination choice last week during the Autism One Conference and the American Rally for Personal Rights. The Autism One conference and the American Rally for Personal Rights were strategically connected into one week as they partnered to create a massive exchange of solutions to our most serious health issues—damage to the human body through toxic overload. Continue the article at: http://hartkeisonline.com/2010/06/02/autism-one-conference-and-the-american-rally-for-personal-rights/#more-6548

Best in Health,

Kathryne Pirtle

Children's Health, Cholesterol, Traditional Fats and Your Health, Healing and Building Health with Nutrient-Dense Foods, Mood Disorders and Diet

Mood Disorders in Children and Diet

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This is an interesting article on how important traditional fats are to mental health in our children.

‘We’re Not Eating What We Should Eat’

By Agnes Blum

Eat fat, be healthy.

It’s not nutritional advice that one hears every day, but it was the message at the Northern Virginia Whole Food Nutrition Meetup on Saturday Jan. 30. About 40 people braved the impending snowstorm and met at the restaurant Food Matters in Cameron Station to discuss how food can affect mood and health.

Paula Bass, Ph.D., a licensed clinical psychologist, spoke to the crowd as they ate a breakfast of local foods. Bass, who has been practicing in Northern Virginia for 30 years, fuses a traditional psychotherapeutic approach with nutritional wisdom.

Drawing on experiences with her patients and her own battles with health problems, she told the audience how a change in diet could dramatically alter health. One theme emerged over and over: we need saturated fat, the kind you get from animals.

“When you take the fat out, you’re taking out all the good nutrients,” Bass said, explaining how saturated fat helps keep the brain chemically balanced. “Without it, symptoms can mimic a psychiatric illness and then you do have a psychiatric illness, because that’s the way you’re feeling every day.”

One little girl, for example, had always excelled in school but had begun having breakdowns and lashing out at friends and family. It turned out this second-grader had, up until recently, been eating a whole-foods breakfast with plenty of fat — pancakes, eggs, bacon — and was now eating sugar-cereal and skim milk because of the morning rush at home. Bass recommended to her parents that they ensure she eat a breakfast full of protein and animal fats. They did, and her problems disappeared.

“Food can directly influence a child’s brain,” Bass said. Many people who suffer from mood disorders today — everything from depression to ADD — can trace their problems to a diet lacking in nutrients and fats, she said.

“The only vegetable I saw growing up was canned string beans,” Bass joked. She traced her own turnaround in health to when she began to follow the principles of the Weston A. Price Foundation, which uses education, research and activism to promote healthy living. Their guidelines are: eat pastured meat, probiotics such as yogurt, organic fruits and vegetables and strictly avoid sugar, vegetable oils, white flour, soy and additives such as MSG. “We’re not eating what we should eat,” Bass said. “And what we are eating damages the manufacture of healthy cells.”

A nutrient-dense, traditional foods diet will go a long way in protecting our children’s physical and mental health. For more information on building health and healing with nutrient-dense foods see Performance without Pain and our new e-book on healing acid reflux.

Best in health,

Kathryne Pirtle

Breast Health and Cancer Prevention, Children's Health, Environmental Toxins and Health, Mercury Toxicity, Performing Artist's Health

Mercury Poisoning from Silver Fillings–“Amalgams”–What are Some of the Known Symptoms?

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The book, It’s All in Your Head, The Link Between Mercury Amalgams and Illness by Hal Huggins, DDS, MS is a work of utmost importance. Since dental health has been completely compromised from our poor food supply, nearly every person has suffered the consequences and required cavitation surgery–the placement of fillings in the teeth. However, the most common material used for this important–literally “life-saving” treatment–not only contains at least 54% mercury, but is mixed with other metals (copper, silver, tin and zinc) that increase the mercury toxicity through galvanization–an electrical current produced from two or more dissimilar metals. So while the teeth are protected from further decay, the resulting heavy metal toxicity may be devastating to health.

Huggins discusses that mercury attacks the body in many ways so the symptoms of mercury poisoning vary from person to person.  He states that “Mercury kills cells by interfering with their ability to exchange oxygen, nutrients and waste products through the cell membrane. Inside the cell, mercury destroys our genetic code, DNA, leaving us without the ability to reproduce that cell ever again. Immunologically, mercury embeds itself in a cell membrane, giving the cell the appearance of being”non-self, ” which is the trigger for the immune system to destroy that specific cell. With mercury in your cell membranes, the immune system will start destroying your own tissues, thus the term autoimmune disease. Examples of these are diabetes, multiple sclerosis, scleroderma and lupus.” Courageously, Huggins, and the growing community of biological dentists have shown us that many of these serious illnesses may be reversed through the proper removal of these amalgams.

Huggins categorizes the medical diseases he saw as related to amalgams into five categories:

  1. Neurological (motor and sensory)–tremors, seizures, MS, ALS, Alzheimer’s, emotional disturbances, unexplained depression, anxiety, unprovoked suicidal thoughts
  2. Immunological–lupus, scleroderma, rheumatoid arthritis
  3. Cardiovascular–unexplained heart pains, irregular heart beat, high and low blood pressure
  4. Collagen–ie osteoarthritis and diseases that affect the collagen
  5. Miscellaneous–chronic fatigue, brain fog, digestive diseases and Crohn’s disease

Below is a list of common symptoms from his extensive study that are suspected to be of dental origin:

  • Unexplained irritability
  • Constant or frequent periods of depression
  • Numbness or tingling in extremities
  • Frequent urination at night
  • Unexplained chronic fatigue
  • Cold hand and feet, even in moderate weather
  • Bloated feeling most of the time
  • Difficulty with short-term memory
  • Constipation on a regular basis
  • Difficulty in making decisions
  • Tremors or shakes of hands, feet, head, etc.
  • Twitching of face and other muscles
  • Frequent leg cramps
  • Constant  or frequent ringing or noise in ears
  • Shortness of breath
  • Frequent or recurring heartburn
  • Excessive itching
  • Unexplained rashes, skin irritation
  • Constant or frequent metallic taste in mouth
  • Jumpiness and nervousness
  • Constant death wish or suicidal intent
  • Frequent insomnia
  • Unexplained chest pains
  • Constant or frequent pain in joints
  • Tachycardia
  • Unexplained fluid retention
  • Burning sensation on tongue
  • Headaches just after eating
  • Frequent diarrhea

Through the careful removal of amalgams, biological dentists are helping people to overcome serious health issues caused by heavy metal toxicity. As we move forward in understanding all of the necessary components to reversing and preventing  dental carries and chronic illness through nutrient-dense foods, we will hopefully provide future generations with the correct knowledge to alleviate the necessity of dental fillings. In the mean time, we must be cognizant of the wide ranging symptoms of mercury toxicity so that we may understand their root cause, which diet alone will not correct.

Best in health,

Kathryne Pirtle

For more information on building health and healing with nutrient-dense foods see Performance without Pain and our new e-book on healing acid reflux.

Children's Health, Digestive Disorders and Healing Diet, Healing and Building Health with Nutrient-Dense Foods, Mood Disorders and Diet

A Serious Look at the Trends of Children’s Physical and Mental Health Today

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When considering the disturbing rise in the percentage of degenerative diseases, brain disorders and mental health issues in children today, intuition would suggest that these statistics will not improve without drastic changes in the trends that have lead us to this looming catastrophe. In the book, The Truth about Children’s Health: The Comprehensive Guide to Understanding, Preventing, and Reversing Disease, by Robert Bernardini, MS (PRI Publishing, 2003), Bernardini points to the fact that children are far less healthy today than in the 1950s—that we have forgotten what a healthy child is—that diseases have become so common, that we think this trend is not unusual.

Another book, Is Your Child’s Brain Starving?, by Dr. Michael R. Lyon, MD and Dr. Christine Laurell, PhD (Mind Publishing, 2002) makes these profound statements:

  • ADHD, Autism, OCD, Oppositional Defiant Disorder and depression have become rampant in today’s kids. What happens when these children grow up? Without real solutions to these conditions, the future of our world is in jeopardy.
  • Think of this: a very subtle downturn in the overall intelligence of our population would have a profound effect on society. If the average IQ decreased by only 5 points, the number of individuals officially considered to be mentally retarded/disabled would increase by 50%, while the number of individuals officially labeled as “intellectually gifted” would decrease by 50% (www.igc.org/psr) The whole course of history could change if such a shift were to take place on a global scale.
  • Although the brain is built to survive and perform under adverse conditions, optimal brain performance requires optimal nutrition. Brain cells are the most sophisticated cells in the body. They need a wide array of nutrients.
  • Junk food, contaminants like pesticides and heavy metals, and a decrease in dietary nutrition cause a deadly combination against the brain.

In a review of Bernardini’s book by Janice M. Curtin, she explains:

Beginning with a report on the status of children in America today, Bernardini asks the question I have raised many times. “If you’re an adult reading this who is older than about 40 years of age, I’d like you to think back to your childhood. How many kids did you know who had leukemia, asthma, diabetes, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), arthritis, multiple sclerosis, cancer, autism or were obese? Chances are, you may have known a few. Perhaps the kid down the street had asthma. Maybe there was a distant relative who had juvenile diabetes. Or you heard on the news about some rare child with leukemia. Now, it seems like everywhere you turn, you read or hear about a child with a serious health problem. How many kids do you know of who are on Ritalin or were diagnosed with a learning disability? There are whole hospitals devoted to children’s cancer. Asthma and diabetes are now considered epidemics.”

Bernadini points out that “we live in a universe of laws. These laws that don’t care if you’re black or white, Japanese or Mexican, 90 years old or still a fetus. These laws are fundamental in the nature of matter and energy and determine how life progresses. If we live in harmony with these laws, we will as consequence live in harmony. If we break the laws, we will become discordant. Enough of this discord will create sickness, disease, and aberrant behavior.” Dr. Price expressed this fact in a similar manner as “Life in all its fullness is Mother Nature obeyed.”

Bernadini explains that whenever a health problem occurs, we must determine what the problem really is and determine the cause of the symptoms. Then we must apply our knowledge and technology in a way that works with nature, not against it, in order to get our children well. A good example of this might be the treatment of ADHD. Bernardini recommends removing the heavy metal toxicity from a child’s tissues and giving him a good diet instead of giving him Ritalin. If you do not remove the cause you never truly get rid of the problem. It may, however, seem to disappear but then surface in a new way.

Bernardini also addresses mental and emotional health and the growth of violence in our schools. “According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the years between 1985 and 1995 saw a 249 percent increase in gun-related murders committed by juveniles.” Bernardini says our kids are going crazy because “they’re not happy. And they’re not happy because they’re not healthy.”

Furthermore, “People are getting sicker younger and younger–physically, mentally and emotionally. And it’s not by chance –it’s because our bodies are not being treated and cared for the way nature intended.” Our children are exposed to environmental toxins which their small bodies cannot handle and they are stressed out and poorly fed.

Bernardini stresses that the diet of pregnant mothers and infants during the first few years of life is critical to their health and happiness later on. He quotes Susan B. Robbers, Ph.D, professor of nutrition at Tufts University School of Nutrition Science and Policy in Boston, who says, “As a nutrition researcher, I have spent 20 years studying the importance of healthy food at all stages of life. . . Studies from my own laboratory and others around the world have taught me that the foods my daughter eats during the first months and years of life have long-lasting–and in some cases–permanent effects. Foods make an important difference in virtually everything–from mental and physical developments to vitality, personality and health from childhood through old age.” Bernardini provides extensive information on the foods and nutrients your baby needs, what these nutrients do, and how to get them.

Bernardini’s dietary advice is in line with that of Dr. Price. Characteristic of the entire book, Bernardini is not afraid to tell us that it is important for your growing child to get enough fat in the diet. “Newborns must derive 50 percent of the calories they consume from dietary fat. Fat is essential for normal growth from infancy on, since fats provide fatty acids, the building block children need for critical metabolic programming of brain growth and development.” Bernardini gives specific advice on how to feed your child. He includes our recipes for homemade baby formula and recommends cod liver oil, egg yolks, raw whole milk and liver.

Dr. Bernardini fearlessly addresses an array of controversial topics including birth defects, infertility, baby food and formula, soy, vaccines, and SIDS. He gives extensive advice on what to avoid but also has plenty of support and resources on ways to deal with any problems your child may be experiencing already.

Bernardini does a good job of empowering us to be proactive. He is particularly concerned that we take back responsibility for our own and our children’s health. He gives good advice when he says: “You must scrutinize closely the information you receive from the government and the mass media. Policy decisions, guidelines and laws are oftentimes made not so much for the preservation of our health, but for the preservation of profits. Big money can do big things, including influencing our government. A 1980 study showed that almost half of the leading officials at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had at one time worked for organizations the agency is mandated to regulate. Similarly, many FDA officials quit to go work for a company in the field they were once regulating. . . . Do some research and ask some questions. Don’t necessarily believe somebody just because he or she is on the nightly news, in the papers or is a so-called ‘expert.’ Make yourself the expert. Learn to seek answers, not just accept what is foisted upon you–for the truth is often quiet and the truth is often hidden. Truth is not in it for the money, it just is. Truth doesn’t advertise.” He reminds us to be wary of the advertisers and be watchful that we do not become brainwashed. We must constantly be aware of the fact that we could lose our health freedoms if we are not educated, aware and vigilant about protecting them.

Although the problems we are seeing today may seem overwhelming in their scope, it is the responsibility of an alerted society to protect future generations of children from the suffering caused by the obvious mistakes and profit-driven decisions that have given birth to a wildly untamed massive power structure and authority that we cannot afford to blindly support. As statistics are showing seriously unfavorable trends in wide areas of health, we have no time to waste in correcting this path, for our children’s ability to thrive depends on our courage to help change this misguided direction of history.

The enlightened work of the Weston A. Price Foundation and the expansive healing information it is providing, which is helping to reverse these trends, must be communicated in exponential proportion to every person by those who understand and have experienced its power. Through understanding the root cause of our mistakes and the proven answers to these problems, we can steer a sinking ship from disaster to great hope for a brighter future for upcoming generations.

Best in health,

Kathryne Pirtle

For more information on building health and healing with nutrient-dense foods see Performance without Pain and our new e-book on healing acid reflux.

Breast Health and Cancer Prevention, Children's Health, Environmental Toxins and Health, Mercury Toxicity, Performing Artist's Health

Are Your Teeth Making You Sick?

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Most people who are interested in holistic medicine, the real food movement and organic foods understand how terribly toxic mercury amalgams and root canals are. I wrote an important post on mercury toxicity and candida overgrowth on my blog just after hearing the remarkable 6 hour seminar of Dr. Louisa Williams at the Wise Traditions Conference. Her book Radical Medicine should be required reading for every person on this planet!! Radical Medicine is not for people who want to keep their head in the sand–it’s for those of you who want to know “why” we are struggling with so many health issues. It’s for people who truly want to get better and know that diet–even the best Weston A. Price diet in the world is not enough!!!

I had all of my mercury amalgams removed about 20 years ago by a leading biological dentist. If you have read my book, you know that I got a cavity in each of my molars at age 16. Had I not had those amalgams replaced with composite fillings, I am certain, from what I know now, that I wouldn’t have recovered from my life-threatening illness. Let me tell you why!

Although I had all my amalgams removed, up until Monday, Feb. 1, 2010, I had one crown on the bottom right side of my mouth over my first molar. I needed that crown after I cracked my tooth on popcorn at age 20! This crown was porcelain with metal at the bottom and it enclosed a mercury amalgam-filled tooth. If you know anything about bad dentistry–this scenario describes one of them, because when you mix metals, you get what is coined “Dental Galvanism.” In Dorland’s medical dictionary, this is defined as:

“A physiochemical phenomenon in which two or more dissimilar metals that have been used to restore or replace missing teeth produce the flow of an electric current.”

Because amalgam fillings are made of a mixture of metals and people often have other metals in their mouth like gold or crowns made with metal, they can be suffering from severe heavy metal toxicity. Dental galvanism causes an amplification of heavy metal toxicity in the body. In fact, to protect the vital organs, the body will try to displace the toxic metals through neural pathways to less important parts of the body, like the breasts and the reproductive organs, thereby protecting the brain, liver , kidneys and heart.

This is what was happening to me with only ONE toxic piece of dental work in my mouth. Last summer I noticed a lump in my RIGHT breast, which I was able to massage away through the self-breast massage technique I talked about in an earlier blog article. I also was experiencing sinus drainage behind my RIGHT eye and eyebrow area this last summer and thought it was an allergy–only on the RIGHT side?–Not making sense is it! My RIGHT eyelid has had a recurring twitch for years. My RIGHT tonsil often was sore. My RIGHT ear was sometimes sore. I had shingles on the RIGHT side of my face years ago–excruciatingly painful. Was this my body’s way of trying to detoxify this ONE piece of bad dentistry left in my mouth. Of course! What else could it be.

So if you think that your mercury amalgams are not causing you harm, or your mixed metal crown with a mercury amalgam underneath is just fine, or your root canals are not causing any symptoms in your body that you know of—THINK AGAIN! Read RADICAL MEDICINE and think again–it could be the best thing you ever have done to protect your health besides eating a nutrient-dense diet!  If you have any dental work done, it is imperative that you work with a highly qualified biological dentist.

Best in health,

Kathryne Pirtle

For more information on building health and healing with nutrient-dense foods see Performance without Pain and our new e-book on healing acid reflux.

Breast Health and Cancer Prevention, Children's Health, Environmental Toxins and Health

Chlorine and Fluoride in our water since World War l

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It’s interesting that some of the chemicals we use to create  public drinking water were actually used as poisons beginning in World War l. Chlorine was used in World War l as a toxic chemical weapon and fluoride was the principal active ingredient in rat poison for years before it was added to our drinking water supply after World War ll. While chlorine sterilizes our water, it can also destroy much of our beneficial intestinal flora. Fluoride has been shown to weaken bones and increase the risk for heart disease and bone cancer in young men. Still today 75% of our population drinks chlorinated tap water, much of which also contains fluoride.

To build optimal health it is critical to clean up your drinking water supply. Reverse osmosis does the best job of removing toxins from water, but also leaves the water de-mineralized. Without going to a huge expense of buying your own reverse osmosis system, many grocery stores offer reverse osmosis water very cheaply. If you purchase your own glass jars to store the water, you will have a better supply of drinking water without having to have it delivered. If you want to re-mineralize your reverse osmosis water, you may want to purchase one of the reasonably priced filtration systems–like the system from Nikken–that will do this to your reverse osmosis water.

For more information on building health and healing with nutrient-dense foods see Performance without Pain and our new e-book on healing acid reflux.

Best in health,

Kathryne Pirtle

Antibiotics and Health, Children's Health, Digestive Disorders and Healing Diet, Performing Artist's Health

Even the Founder of Antibiotics Prophesized Serious Problems with Their Misuse

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In 1928, Sir Alexander Fleming discovered the first antibiotic by accident when he found no staphylococcus bacterial growth around a mold spore (penicillin) that had contaminated his culture dishes. Although the miracle cure was an exciting breakthrough for the infectious diseases that were killing soldiers and civilians during the two World Wars, in 1945, Flemming prophesized in the New York Times that the “misuse of penicillin could lead to a selection and propagation of mutant forms of bacteria resistant to the drug”–an occurrence he had already experienced in the laboratory. Flemming saw that the bacteria could communicate and change their form to survive the antibiotic remedy so quickly that this approach to fighting disease would be like a dog chasing its tail–just as he thinks he’s got it–it gets away!

Since we know this to be true, it seems ridiculous that the medical community keeps chasing bugs, as this kind of health initiative is rather new in the history of health care. Yet the germ theory is preached almost like a terrorist plot–as if we can succeed in outwitting germs! The underlying reason for this insanity is, of course, money!

“Let thy food be thy medicine and thy medicine be thy food” was state of the art health care for thousands of years. As we return to this approach and build our immune systems with nutrient-dense, pasture-raised foods, we can live in harmony with “bugs.”

For more information on building health and healing with nutrient-dense foods see Performance without Pain and our new e-book on healing acid reflux.

Best in health,

Kathryne Pirtle

Acid Reflux Healing, Allergies, Digestion and Healing Diet, Asthma and Acid Reflux, Children's Health, Digestive Disorders and Healing Diet, Healing and Building Health with Nutrient-Dense Foods, Performing Artist's Health, Singer's Health

The Asthma Epidemic–The Acid Reflux connection

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Asthma is one of the serious epidemics we are seeing in our population. Since just 1995, the number of diagnosed cases of this illness has jumped from 14.9 million to 34.1 million! Although one would assume this jump is a direct result of toxins in the air, this is not the underlying cause in many cases. You may be surprised to learn that 41.1% of non-smokers who have a chronic cough and 60% of those who have asthma also have acid reflux!

How does acid reflux cause asthma? First, the refluxed liquid may cause people to inhale tiny drops of acid into their lungs thus aggravating the delicate pulmonary lining and initiating spasms in the airways triggering an asthma attack. Second, the digestive acid may damage the esophageal lining and expose some of the nerves that are connected to the lungs. The irritation of the nerve endings can create a constriction of airways, thereby causing an asthma attack. Additionally, the acid can cause inflammation of the throat and larynx. To make things even more complicated, some asthma medications that dilate the bronchial tubes can produce acid reflux symptoms as they may cause the cardiac sphincter to relax—allowing acid to escape up through the esophagus. Therefore, treating the symptoms of asthma without looking at the possibility of acid reflux is like holding your finger over the hole of a sinking boat!

If the acid reflux issues are symptomatically treated with yet more medications, there may be a risk for serious long-term health issues. Acid reflux is most often treated with acid-lowering drugs.  However, the true source of most acid reflux problems is a Candida, or yeast overgrowth, in the stomach that is actually caused by low acid in the stomach itself! A yeast overgrowth slows down digestion and foods will ferment under these conditions. As Candida will also paralyze the esophageal sphincter, the gases from the fermentation push the food up through the weakened esophageal muscles.

Because candida only grows in low acid conditions in the first place–acid lowering drugs are going to further compromise digestion. As Candida proliferates,  it can promote severe dysbiosis, or poor intestinal flora. With poor intestinal flora, foods are not digested properly, nutrients are not absorbed, intestinal damage is forthcoming and eventually malnourishment will occur. Besides compromised nutrient absorption, intestinal damage causes leaky gut, which can initiate allergic tendencies such as asthma!  Therefore, one problem incorrectly treated cascades into more problems.

If we can find the source of the asthma and acid reflux epidemic, we will have the answer to help millions of people. Both asthma and acid reflux have grown exponentially since the industrialization of our food supply that spurred the creation of processed, denatured and low-nutrient foods. Before this time, most people’s diets included foods that were high in nutrients and supported good digestion like meats, poultry, eggs and dairy from grass-fed animals and cultured dairy and vegetables like kefir, yogurt, sauerkraut and pickled beets. They also ate ample traditional fats like butter, lard and coconut oil and foods with natural sources of vitamins A and D like cod liver oil, liver and egg yolks, which are necessary for good digestion and nutrient absorption. With good digestion and a nutrient-rich diet, a person will diminish the probability of suffering from an illness like acid reflux, allergies and it’s related condition–asthma.

By returning to traditional farming and the foods that our ancestors ate, we will diminish the exponential growth of illnesses rooted in poor digestion. If we can move from the symptomatic treatment of asthma to solving the problem, we will help to support better health for generations to come.

For more information building health and treating acid reflux and its related illnesses such as asthma with nutrient-dense foods, see our new e-book on healing acid reflux.

Best in health,

Kathryne Pirtle

Children's Health, Digestive Disorders and Healing Diet, Ear Infections and Acid Reflux, Healing and Building Health with Nutrient-Dense Foods

Ear Infections and Acid Reflux–What is the relationship?

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Ear infections have become a common ailment in children. A child who suffers from frequent ear infections is at risk for permanent hearing loss. Although the most widely used treatment for ear infections is antibiotics, is this approach really addressing the underlying cause and are there long-term risks of not looking at the real health issue? When a society sees a common health problem and the answer is a medication, one must ask, “Is there is a great danger in following this path?”

What could possibly be an underlying reason for a mass epidemic in ear infections in children? What many people do not realize is that acid reflux is often present in a child with ear infections. As refluxed liquid enters the upper throat and inflames the adenoids, it causes them to swell. The swollen adenoids can block the passages of the sinuses and Eustation tube and fluid can build in the sinuses and middle ear. Acid reflux affects 1 in 5 people in our country. Therefore, looking at the acid reflux problem closely will not only help these children heal permanently, but also help to understand what our society as a whole faces to prevent this and other health epidemics that are related to poor digestion from continuing to escalate.

Acid reflux is caused from poor digestion. Hippocrates said that, “All diseases begin in the gut.” So treating ear infections with antibiotics is not only an incorrect long-term healing approach, it does not address the underlying problem of poor digestion and can be just one more element that puts a person at risk for other serious diseases.

The acid reflux epidemic in children is most often a direct outgrowth of a familial inheritance of poor gut flora when the child is born. When a child passes through the birth canal, it should acquire a healthy dose of gut flora from the mother. However, if the mother’s digestive health is poor or the child is born by a cesarean section, it’s gut flora, a first line of defense for illness, may be greatly compromised. If the child is breast-fed, this can help establish good intestinal flora for digestion, but only if the mother also has this asset.

Acid reflux and its related symptom, ear infections, have become epidemic since the drastic change to our food supply in the 1950s, where people began eating hard-to-digest foods that were very low in nutrient-density and stopped eating traditional probiotic cultured foods. This has caused a society laden with digestive problems. Hard-to-digest, low-nutrient foods slow down digestion and can promote the proliferation of a candida overgrowth in the stomach and intestinal tract. The gases from the fermentation of food create the acid  reflux conditions that can cause ear infections.

The solution for permanent healing is to return to the types of foods that supported healthy digestion and optimal health in our ancestors. These foods are the nutrient-dense meats, poultry, dairy and eggs from pastured animals and the wide array of cultured and fermented foods that used to grace our tables and provide the body with the building blocks of optimal health. Cultured foods like raw milk kefir, yogurt, homemade sauerkraut, pickled beets and beet kvass were a part of the everyday meals of people worldwide for thousands of years. They insure the proper gut flora that is absolutely necessary for good digestion.  By approaching ear infections from the much broader perspective of poor digestion and changes to our food supply, we have the tools to improve our own health and help future generations to free themselves of the far-reaching effects of a profit-based industrial food supply.

For more information on building health and healing with nutrient-dense foods see Performance without Pain and our new e-book on healing acid reflux.

Best in health,

Kathryne Pirtle