I find in interesting that people get so angry when people try to connect vaccines with autism. I believe that there can be a connection and here is some data that might back this up. Vaccines are full of nuerotoxins, not just mercury. Combine this with toxins are already born with due to their mother's over exposure to toxins and bam!

Here is the article:
http://childhealthsafety.wordpress.com/2009/06/03/japvaxautism/

Just kidding! But this article is great on the importance that the role of dirt plays in our everyday lives and helps determine health!

Enjoy!

Link to article: http://www.drmomma.org/2010/07/dirt-its-good-for-kids.html

Dirt: It's Good for Kids!

by Janelle Sorensen
posted with permission

DrMomma Preface: Please note that "healthy dirt" is not the same as fecal matter or contaminated raw meat which the body cannot develop an immunity for and are often filled with bacteria that are not beneficial to consume in any amount. There is a difference between letting kids 'get dirty' playing around (even putting it in their mouth) and not worrying about keeping the house spotless vs. having contaminated raw meats and fecal droppings where babies and small children can become infected. So continue to wash your hands well after changing a poopy diaper or using the restroom. Clean up the counter and your hands after handling raw meats. And go romp around at the park or the beach - but be sure to pick up after your dog! ;)


I don’t know how to say this without sounding crazy, so I’m just going to be blunt. When I was a child, I liked to eat pebbles and stones. Well, technically I didn’t eat them, just sucked on them. Yes, I was a closet rock sucker. Away from the judging eyes of friends and family, I secretly relished their earthy, mineral flavor.

I’m sure, like any mother, my own mom would have been considerably horrified at the idea of her small child sucking on dirty rocks from God knows where. And, while my strange appetite persisted from about ages 4-7, almost all parents have witnessed their younger babies or toddlers shove an ample handful of dirt or sand into their mouths. Probably on more than one occasion.

What is it about kids and dirt? Why the deep mysterious magnetism? According to Mary Ruebush, PhD, author of Why Dirt is Good: 5 Ways to Make Germs Your Friends, the attraction is for our own human good. And, the great news is, it’s a match made in heaven. Just like any other muscle in our body, the immune system needs to be exercised in order to fully develop and become strong enough to resist illness and disease. Eating dirt as a child turns out to be the ideal training to build your immune system’s overall fitness.

We’ve written about the Hygiene Hypothesis and the overuse of antimicrobials in the past, but Ruebush, professor of microbiology and immunology for Kaplan Medical, really brings it home. Her detailed description of the immune system is not only extremely informative, it’s also surprisingly entertaining. Really! She has these delightfully silly pictures of blood cells and bacteria that had my kids peering over my shoulder, giggling, and asking what the book was about. And, the writing is equally as comedic and engaging. She writes about viruses gettin’ busy making baby viruses, macrophages burping up crumbs of their meals, and T-cells going to school and taking final exams.

The main points of the book are simple: let kids eat dirt and don’t overuse antibiotics. According to Ruebush:

Mother Nature has given you the elements to build a strong immune system, but you have to put it into action and take care of it. A strong immune system gets built up by plenty of exercise – that’s why you need a lifetime exposure to plenty of dirt. Your healthy immune system is your savings account for a healthy retirement. If you constantly make withdrawals and live with a negative health balance due to too much stress, too little rest, and too many chemicals, you will arrive at a point where you have no reserves for any catastrophic illness that might lurk in your future. A lifestyle that gives you the food, rest, exercise, and other elements you need for basic good health contributes to a healthy immune response and increases the likelihood of a long, productive life.

Sounds like the perfect prescription to me! So, relax. Let your kids get dirty. Stop trying to sanitize every square inch of your home. And, unwind with a good book (like Why Dirt is Good). It’ll make your whole family healthier and happier.


P.S. My childhood affinity for sucking rocks was likely pica, a medical disorder that can make people hungry for non-food items. Turns out, I’m slightly anemic, so my body was craving iron and hoping to get it from the mineral content of rocks. Pica is not uncommon in children and pregnant women. If you or your child are craving non-food items, talk with your midwife, nutritionist, or physician.

I found this article written by an MD to be quite interesting. I wished he would have elaborated, but it was still helpful! I hope you too will find it useful and help you determine what you will choose for yourself or your children.

http://www.imcv.info/vaccination/articles/the-marvellous-health-of-unvaccinated-children.html

Article Text:

The Marvellous Health of Unvaccinated Children

Françoise Berthoud, MD [paediatrician]
June 25, 2010

Once upon a time, in April 2009 to be exact, I was invited to give a speech at a conference on vaccination. I was to talk after two of the best speakers France has to offer on the subject had their turn, journalist Sylvie Simon and biologist Michel Georget. At hearing them speak in the past, it was absolutely clear to me that the best option is to stay as far away from vaccines as possible. I just did not know what to do instead to best assure staying alive and well.

As a paediatrician and homeopath qualified to speak on the subject, I decided to setup a conference called The Marvellous Health of Unvaccinated Children along with my friends, Sylvie and Michel. This work would later evolve into a book that analyses various life choices often made by families that do not vaccinate, including home birth, breastfeeding, simple therapies, good food (often vegetarian), a tranquil living environment and trust in the capacity of the body to heal itself.

In my life as a paediatrician, I had spent lots of time in dialogue with the parents who often needed to voice their fears about both disease and vaccines. We worked out together the best route for their children. Some chose not to vaccinate at all. Others held onto fear of disease, especially tetanus. In those cases, we postponed vaccination as much as possible and used a homeopathic protection and "cleansing" called nosode.

I worked in Switzerland where there is no real legal obligation to vaccinate, only great social pressure. In France, just a few kilometres from my office, there were four compulsory vaccinations at the time (BCG was fortunately removed in 2007, and three remain: Di Te Pol).

Some of the basis of my ability to speak on the marvellous health of unvaccinated children comes from my personal experience as a medical doctor, having collected years of feedback.

• “My child began coughing immediately after the vaccination.”
• “He has had constant ear aches since he was vaccinated.”
• “My 16 years old daughter is completely unvaccinated. She is almost never sick. If she does get sick, it’s two days at the most.”
• “The neighbour's kids followed normal vaccination guidelines. They are constantly sick and on antibiotics.”

That was not enough upon which to write a book; however. As it would turn out, I found these observations were paralleled over and over again all over the world. Follow me around the planet.

EUROPE

In England, Michel Odent, MD showed in two studies that children having received no Pertussis vaccine had 5-6 times less asthma than those who were vaccinated for it. The first study was on 450 babies from La Leche League; the second one on 125 children in a Steiner school. ⁽¹⁾

Throughout Europe, a group of mostly paediatricians studied 14,893 children in Steiner schools in Austria, Germany, Holland, Sweden and Switzerland and found that children living in "anthroposophist culture" (where vaccination is largely shunned) were in better health than the controls. ⁽²⁾

In Germany, one of the European Steiner schools study researchers wrote, “In the eastern part of Berlin before the fall of the wall, we saw less allergies than in the west. This population was poorer, nearer nature and less vaccinated.” Too much hygiene is not always good. As UK researcher and originator of the “hygiene hypothesis” David Strachan might say, "give us this day our daily germs".

In Spain, Xavier Uriarte, MD and J. Manuel Marín, MD published a study in 1999 on 314 children they followed between 1975 to 2000. ⁽³⁾ This group of children is characterized by a majority of homebirth or natural births, prolonged breastfeeding, no vaccinations, holistic health education and no allopathic medicine. There were no serious diseases, few hospitalisations (mostly for traumas), and 3.3% asthma compared to the 20% in the general population. And of course, a lot of money was spared!

USA

The rate of autism in the U.S. is now an unthinkable 1 in 100. Those who are unvaccinated boast numbers that run in shocking contrast to the nation’s statistics. As this article is directed to the American people, I will not go on at length here. Most of you know the work of your very own journalist Dan Olmsted showing the incredible absence of autism in the unvaccinated Amish communities of Pennsylvania and Ohio.

Further impressive is Chicago-based Homefirst Medical Clinic run by a group of doctors including medical director Mayer Eisenstein, MD, JD, MPH. They have no known autism and super-scarce allergies in their children, many of whom were home deliveries, and most of whom have had no vaccinations. In 1985, I translated to French U.S. paediatrician Robert Mendelssohn, MD's How to Raise a Healthy Child in Spite of Your Doctor. Now I find concrete result in the marvellous health of kids whose doctors are his pupils! I like these synchronicities in my life.

AUSTRALIA

In 1942, Leslie Owen Bailey, founder of the Natural Health Society of Australia, accepted guardianship of 85 children whose mothers were unable to care for them. Among these 85 children, no vaccinations were ever given, no drugs were ever taken or used, and no operations were ever performed. The only malady that occurred was when 34 of the children developed chicken pox. They were immediately put to bed and given only pure water or fresh fruit juice. They all recovered quickly without after-effects. Investigations revealed that these children whilst at school had been swapping their healthy lunches for unhealthy conventional foods, so this outbreak was not altogether surprising.

Many of these children inherited poor health due to a history of illness and malnourishment in their mothers. Despite this, and the fact that they were never breastfed nor could enjoy the normal bonding of mother to child, they were able to grow into sturdy, self-reliant children.

NEW ZEALAND

Two studies done in New Zealand in 1992 and 1995 show that the unvaccinated children clearly have less allergies, less otitis (ear aches), less tonsillitis, less running noses, less epilepsies and less ADHD. ⁽⁴⁾

JAPAN

An interesting period in Japan was 1975-1980, when a decision was made to begin the first vaccinations at two years of age instead of at two months. The reason was that more and more was discovered linking vaccines and cot-death (SIDS). A study was published in Pediatrics showing that from 1970 to January 1975, there were 57 cases of serious vaccine reactions, including 37 deaths. From February 1975 to August 1981 there were eight cases of serious vaccine reactions, including three deaths. Unfortunately for kids and their parents, the Japanese vaccination plan is now "normalized" again. The study shows well that the immune system is stronger at two years than at two months. How well would these kids have done had they not been vaccinated at all?

We find the same observation in a Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology study. Of 11,531 children studied at age seven, here are the results: vaccinated at two months, 13.8% are asthmatic, vaccinated between two and four months, 10.3%, vaccinated after four months, 5.9 %. Again, how well would these kids have done had they not been vaccinated at all?

THE LESSON LEARNED ON VACCINATION

As a concerned, compassionate and considerate paediatrician, I can only arrive at one conclusion. Unvaccinated children have by far the best chance of enjoying marvellous health. Any vaccination at all works to cripple the chances of this end.

www.vaccinationcouncil.org

Sources
___________
1) www.birthworks.org/primalhealth
2) Allergic diseases and atopic sensitization in children related to farming and anthroposophic lifestyle - Persifal study. Allergy 2006, 61 (4) : 414-421.
3) www.vacunacionlibre.org
4) http://www.ias.org.nz

As I have been reading more and more about gut health I thought this article was interesting. It links to the full research journal which is nice~!

Enjoy!

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn19198-how-a-changing-diet-rules-a-growing-babys-guts.html

How a changing diet rules a growing baby's guts

• 17:53 20 July 2010 by Ewen Callaway
• For similar stories, visit the Micro-organisms and Food and Drink Topic Guides

A baby's first peas are a life-changing event, at least as far as the microbes in its gut are concerned.

Ruth Ley at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, and colleagues analysed the bacteria in stool samples from a baby boy from birth to the age of 2½ – the first time this has been done while the baby's diet was recorded.

Predictably, his gut microbes grew more numerous and diverse as he aged, but profound shifts occurred when he was sampling new foods. Besides a course of antibiotics to treat an ear infection, it was the introduction of peas and formula milk that caused the greatest upheavals, Ley says.

While the baby was breastfeeding, the bacteria in his stomach contained numerous genes useful for breaking down milk sugars. When he moved to a diet of solid foods, there were more bacteria with genes that influence starch digestion. Ley says early childhood could be a good time to manipulate gut bacteria to influence future health, since the bacteria appear to respond readily to changes in diet at this age.

Journal reference: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1000081107

A friend of mine sen this out and I have been wanting to try it. Of course with a 1 1/2 year old around the house, I can barely keep the floor vacuumed! So here it sits until I am able to try it on my own.

Enjoy and thanks for posting this from The Herb Companion!

Link: http://www.herbcompanion.com/herbal-living/natural-bug-repellents-for-camping.aspx

Text:

Erin is the Communications Manager at Mountain Rose Herbs and an apprenticing herbalist at the Columbines School of Botanical Studies, where she botanizes and wildcrafts medicinal plants in the magnificent Oregon Cascades. www.mountainroseherbs.com

I shared the long Memorial Day weekend with friends on 40 acres of Ponderosa Pine and White Oak forest near the Klickitat River. This was my first trip to the rugged Washington wilderness and I found its rocky hills and thick woods crawling with lizards and rattlesnakes and scorpions breathtaking!

It was sunny spring perfection, so we hiked deer trails for hours exploring wild plants like Lomatiums, tasty Alliums, and ripening blackcap raspberries. A fresh spring trickled from the rocks and we collected cold mountain water to make wild rose tea in the mornings.

Klickitat, Washington.

During one afternoon expedition, we came across a wet patch abloom with yellow arnica flowers. Anyone who has spent time in arnica habitats will know the strong affinity this plant has for mosquitoes. Thousands and thousands of buzzing, blood-sucking mosquitoes! As we gathered to admire the heart-shaped leaves of the Arnica cordifolia, a hungry swarm clouded around us. Thankfully, I was prepared with a strong homemade insect repellent that kept them at a comfortable distance. Thinking ahead, I’d also made an astringent spray and poultice powder to apply to pesky bites, hiking scratches, and campfire burns.

Back at camp, a band of excited children wrapped white sage and cinnamon sticks in newspaper to make fragrant and effective fire starters. They marched triumphantly around the blaze, tooting their horsetail whistles as the herby campfire smoke proved inhospitable to the buggy invaders.

Herbal fire starters are fragrant and effective.

Anytime I leave for a camping trip, I bring some staple extracts along. This collection usually includes a few of my favorite go-to herbs like skullcap and valerian to help relax my muscles and lull me to restful sleep, Oregon grape root as an anti-bacterial and digestive aide, a good astringent like red root bark (Ceanothus velutinus), and yerba santa to help dry up sneezy, watery allergy symptoms.

Being equipped with my trusty bag of herbal formulas makes handling the unforeseen much easier, and my forest experience that much more delightful.

My trusty collection of formulas.

Bug-Away Spray

I’ve read that catnip essential oil can be as effective as DEET, but it can also be expensive. So, I made a tincture of fresh catnip leaf from the garden in pure grain alcohol, which drew out the volatile oils in just a week and produced a lovely emerald extract.

• 4 ounces fresh catnip tincture (95 percent alcohol)
• 4 ounces witch hazel extract
• 80 drops organic citronella essential oil
• 80 drops organic eucalyptus essential oil
• 40 drops organic lavender essential oil
• 20 drops organic rosemary essential oil
• 10 drops organic lemongrass essential oil
• 10 drops organic lemon essential oil

1. Mix all ingredients in an 8 oz spray bottle and shake well before using.

2. Re-apply as often as needed.

Herbal Astringent Spray

This spray is ideal for itchy bug bites, removing sticky pitch from fingers, minor burns, cuts, scrapes, and a myriad of other irritating situations. I used my own tinctures of wild-harvested herbs that are anti-microbial and astringent, but similar herbs that you prefer can be used.

• 2 ounces witch hazel extract
• 1/2 ounces red root bark tincture
• 1/2 ounces Oregon grape root tincture (organically grown goldenseal tincture can be used)
• 1/2 ounces Pipsissewa tincture
• 1/2 ounces Uva-Ursi tincture

1. Mix all ingredients in a 4 oz spray bottle and shake before using.

2. Re-apply as often as needed.

So I still need to update on my nutritionist's appointment, but I wanted to make sure I post one thing she suggested I add to my diet. It's inexpensive and so good for you...Gomasio. I have included a link from another blogger to help explain what it is and how to make it!

http://fanaticcook.blogspot.com/2005/01/gomasio-sesame-salt.html

Here is the text:

Gomasio (Sesame Salt)

I was introduced to gomasio about the time I was introduced to Macrobiotics - a Japanese philosophy that, among its many food-related principles, extols the virtues of sesame salt, not least for what it claims are its natural healing properties. Well, the Macrobiotics didn't stick (although there are some good basic tenets there), but the gomasio sure did.

Gomasio is one flavor powerhouse. Used as a replacement for salt on whole grains (it's very good on rice), soups, stews, and vegetables, it's a delicious way to reduce sodium while adding a little calcium, magnesium, iron, protein, and fiber.

Note: The photo above is a juxtaposition of my raw, unhulled, unroasted seeds on the left, and my toasted, ground seeds on the right.

Gomasio is made by grinding dry-roasted sesame seeds with salt. You can purchase it prepared, but it's easy to make, and the fresh-roasted sesame seed taste isn't something you're likely to find in a jar that has been sitting on a grocery store shelf for god knows how long.

The seeds are about 50% oil by weight, almost half of that is the rancid-vulnerable polyunsaturated type. Luckily, as Harold McGee writes in his book On Food and Cooking, The Science and Lore of the Kitchen:

"[Sesame seed oil] is remarkable for its resistance to oxidation and rancidity, which results from high levels of antioxidant phenolic compounds (lignans), some vitamin E, and products of the browning reactions that occur during the more thorough roasting."

From what I can tell, sesame seeds aren't chock full of vitamin E, not like an almond. Maybe there's enough there to supply a little seed's needs, if not the needs of a 100 kg human male. One nutrient they are chock full of is calcium - 60 mg in just 2 teaspoons!


Ingredients

1/4 cup raw, unhulled sesame seeds
1 tsp. table salt
~~~~~~
1 Place seeds (any color - black, brown, red, yellow, tan, ivory, etc.) in a clean, dry, frying pan and toast on low heat, stirring often, until golden or until they start to pop - try to pull them off the heat before popping takes place.

Note: I used the lowest setting on my gas hob. My seeds toasted in 20 minutes. Many recipes claim they'll toast in 5 minutes, but I suspect they're using higher heat. The longer, lower-temp toasting will result in more even heat distribution, more even browning, and a more potent roasted flavor (since more seeds will have undergone browning reactions).

2 Allow the seeds to cool for about 10 minutes, then place in a small electric grinder with the salt and pulse a few times until most of the seeds are cracked open. Be careful not to grind to a flour consistency; you want some of the texture of the seed to remain.

Note: Change any quantities you like. The typical ratio is 8 parts sesame seeds to 1 part salt, but you can use less or even no salt if you prefer.

The technique for making gomasio shown above is convenient and time-saving. The traditional method (learned from my Macrobiotic days) involves toasting the salt, preferably a fine grain sea salt, until it shines; letting the salt cool; then grinding it by hand with a Janapese mortar and pestle (suribachi). The seeds are roasted in the same manner as above, but then ground in the mortar with the salt until most of the seeds have cracked open.

-------------------------------------------------------
Thank you to this blogger for such a helpful post!

Here is yet another post from one of my favorite blogs: Peaceful Parenting

This link talks about if Children should drink milk or not, but also mentions a great recipe including Gomasio for good nutrition:

1 ounce dry wakame seaweed, baked at 350 degrees for 10 minutes
1 cup toasted unhulled sesame seeds

Grind the wakame in a mortar or bowl until powdered; discard the tough inner ribs. Measure out 2 tablespoons. In a suribachi or mortar, grind the sesame seeds a bit, add the wakame, and continue grinding by hand until well mixed. Use as a condiment or snack.
Source: http://www.drmomma.org/2010/06/should-children-drink-cow.html

I have a strong obsession with cloth diapers and these two articles merely reaffirmed my choice to use cloth. My primary reason was for health. Taking a deeper look into what a disposable diaper is made of just makes me ill! It's no wonder with all of our impacting environmental factors such as this that many health issues develop down the road.

http://gomestic.com/family/what-is-a-disposable-diaper-made-of-anyway/#comments

A unique program in Canada...
http://www.montrealgazette.com/life/Ditch%20disposable%20diapers%20cash/2775725/story.html