ORGANIC Strawberries Toxic Little Secret

 I am often asked, “Is Ayla as sensitive as her Dad?”  (Ayla is 21 months old, and her dad is my chemically sensitive son, Joshua.)

My reply, up until this point in time, has always been, “We really don’t know. She’s only had organic food and drinks since birth.” I am now able to answer this question with certainty, “Yes, Ayla is as sensitive as her dad.” 

If any of you have been to Heirloom Food Co., you know Ayla to be soft spoken, sweet, gentle, calm and focussed. She is also very busy exploring the world around her and is a joy to spend time with. I know... I spend a lot of time with her.

Most recently, Ayla’s mom gave her organic strawberries for a snack. Shortly thereafter, our soft spoken, sweet, gentle, calm and focussed child turned ugly. She became uncontrollably angry with bouts of crying in between. At one point she even resorted to banging her head against the kitchen table. These uncontrollable behaviors are reminiscent of her father long ago as I was attempting to learn exactly what caused my son’s dual personality. 

Ayla’s Mom was shell shocked. Why would organic strawberries have such an affect? Ayla often ate other organic berries with no change in her overall personality and behavior. I decided to do a little research and what I learned may surprise everyone.

Organic strawberries have a toxic little secret. “They come from plants that spend time on nurseries that use ‘millions of pounds of toxic chemicals,’ including methyl bromide before being transplanted to organically managed field.” This is according to a New York Times article that you can read here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/23/us/farmers-seek-to-raise-standards-for-berries.html?_r=2&ref=sanfranciscobayarea&

It seems that organic strawberries are not so organic after all. The moral of this story is, if you desire your chemically sensitive child to remain healthy and happy, avoid store bought organic strawberries. Instead, plant your own or buy from your local organic farmer and enjoy the sweet, unique flavor of what a real organic strawberry tastes like without any of the side effects.

Let me also say, that I think all of our children are sensitive. Some of us are simply more aware of the causes linked to their sensitive nature thanks to Joshua and Ayla.

For more information about sensitive children and reactions to toxins in our food, water and environment, read Joshua’s Lessons - Raising a Healthy Child in a Toxic World. It just may open your eyes to the truth.

The Toxic World of Organic Strawberries

I am often asked, “Is Ayla as sensitive as her Dad?”  (Ayla is 21 months old, and her dad is my

chemically sensitive son, Joshua.)

My reply, up until this point in time, has always been, “We really don’t know. She’s only had organic food and drinks since birth.” I am now able to answer this question with certainty, “Yes, Ayla is as sensitive as her dad.” 

If any of you have been to Heirloom Food Co., you know Ayla to be soft spoken, sweet, gentle, calm and focussed. She is also very busy exploring the world around her and is a joy to spend time with. I know... I spend a lot of time with her.

Most recently, Ayla’s mom gave her organic strawberries for a snack. Shortly thereafter, our soft spoken, sweet, gentle, calm and focussed child turned ugly. She became uncontrollably angry with bouts of crying in between. At one point she even resorted to banging her head against the kitchen table. These are all behaviors that were reminiscent of her father long ago while attempting to learn exactly what caused my son’s dual personality. 

Ayla’s Mom was shell shocked. Why would organic strawberries have such an affect? Ayla often ate other organic berries without a change in her overall personality and behavior. I decided to do a little research and what I learned may surprise everyone.

Organic strawberries have a toxic little secret. “They come from plants that spend time on nurseries that use ‘millions of pounds of toxic chemicals,’ including methyl bromide before being transplanted to organically managed field.” This is according to a New York Times article that you can read here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/23/us/farmers-seek-to-raise-standards-for-berries.html?_r=2&ref=sanfranciscobayarea&

It seems that organic strawberries are not so organic after all. The moral of this story is, if you desire your chemically sensitive child to remain healthy and happy, avoid store bought organic strawberries. Instead, plant your own or buy from your local organic farmer and enjoy the sweet, unique flavor of what a real organic strawberry tastes like without any of the side effects.

Let me also say, that I think all of our children are sensitive. Some of us are simply more aware of the causes linked to their sensitive nature thanks to Joshua and Ayla.

For more information about sensitive children and reactions to toxins in our food, water and environment, read Joshua’s Lessons - Raising a Healthy Child in a Toxic World. It just may open your eyes to the truth.

Strawberries - Sweet & Toxic

Did you ever wonder why a happy, content and loving little child can turn into a monster before your eyes?  White sugars and refined pasties have this effect.  What about fresh fruit?  

Fruit is supposed to be good for us, isn’t it?  However, although all fruit may be created equally, not all fruit is grown equally, and there is a huge difference between fruit that is grown organically and fruit that is sprayed with all sorts of toxic poisons.

Strawberries for instance is one fruit that I will ONLY eat if they are organically grown.  My sensitive children have taught me well that conventional strawberries have the potential to change behaviors, and with unruly behaviors come learning disabilities. Allow me to share two experiences that may open your eyes to the possibility that a bowl of fresh strawberries may be poisoning our children’s minds and bodies.

When Josh was young, I noticed that conventional strawberries had an emotional effect upon his behaviors; they would make him cry and sob.  For hours he had no control over his emotions.  I quickly learned that the only strawberries my sensitive little son could eat without a reaction were those that were grown organically.  The strawberries in my strawberry patch caused no reaction! 

Fast forward 25 years and my two-year-old grandson is visiting from Denver. Connor is a happy, content, loving little body.  He is a joy to spend time with. He, like his Uncle Josh, is a highly evolved sensitive little being, one who is quite fussy about what he will allow himself to eat.  My daughter is constantly trying to introduce new food groups into his diet and goat yogurt with strawberries was one he happily consumed.  For two days I fed him a half a cup of this delicious new snack. Like a little bird, Connor opened his mouth willingly.  

By day two, Connor’s behavior turned ugly. He cried and hit; anger was spewing all over the place.  I no longer recognized my grandson. It was then that I decided to read the yogurt label.  The strawberries were not organic.  I immediately eliminated the yogurt and Connor soon stopped his unruly behavior.  

It took two days to completely detox the poisons from his body; soon I had my content, happy and loving little boy back.  Life was good again.  

Children love to learn and Connor is no exception.  We sit together for hours with books, letters and puzzles; his little mind absorbs everything I teach him.  Imagine however, trying to teach a child who has just been poisoned by toxic chemicals.  My point is, can something as simple as a bowl of fresh fruit cause irrational behaviors and learning disabilities?  I think it is time to consider the possibility.

Strawberries can be sprayed with 50 highly toxic chemicals.  They may look pretty on our plates, but they can be poisons to our bodies.  Would we ever consciously choose to poison our children?  Maybe its time to consciously choose to stop. You can see a list of the worst sprayed fruits and veggies here:

http://www.greenhealthspot.com/2008/01/which-fruits-an.html

Art Can Be Hazardous to a Sensitive Little Body

Chemically sensitive children can respond to many environmental factors. School can be hazardous, as reactions to chemicals can emerge in both the physical and emotional bodies. Eventually, over time, these reactions can create an imbalance in their own belief system about who they are and the safety of the world they live in.

It takes time and patience to deal with a chemically sensitive child; yet what better use of our time than to ensure a child’s health and happiness?

One of my sensitive little clients recently reacted to glue and finger paints in his classroom. Red raw cheeks and lips were the outcome. His little body was quick to send this chemical out through his skin, which is not a bad thing of course. And yet for his mom, it was another clear message how chemicals of many sizes and shapes negatively affect him.

Oftentimes, this type of poisoning can lead to emotional outbursts and uncontrollable behavior. Luckily, this was not the case, as he had been detoxing his system for quite a while and his body was quick to expel the culprit through his largest organ, his skin.

What is a mother to do when she has a chemically sensitive artistic little boy who loves to color and draw? This “enlightened” mom knew just what to do. She researched natural art supplies. These powerful little sensitive children don’t have to go without. They simply have to go with the cleanest. This is the site that tested out best for him:

http://www.clementineart.com/?display=products

I am grateful for those in the world who recognize that the more we work toward cleaning up our environments, the healthier we will all be in the end…

What's Water Got To Do With It?

Everything!!!

When Josh was little, he learned to distinguish the taste of pure water and impure water. His taste buds were so acute that he was able to know what was good for him and what was not. He used this information to his advantage.

The beginning of the school year - Second Grade.

It was September. Joshua's behavior turned sour, very sour. He came home from school each day throwing himself on the floor, with bouts of uncontrollable crying. He spent a lot of time in his room. He was unbearable to be around.

After a few hours he could calm down and rejoin the family without incidents; weekends were free of this behavior. I knew it had to be coming from school. My questions were consistent:

Were they painting?
Could you smell anything at school?
Were you using anything different in the classrooms?

His answers were the same, "No mom, I don't notice anything." It continued to be a mystery for two weeks. Each day was like the last, Joshua unable to control his emotions.

At the end of two weeks Joshua said, "Mom, the water at school tastes funny."

"STOP DRINKING THE WATER."

Josh arrived at school the next day with a water bottle and a note allowing him to have his own water. This was 20 years ago. It was not considered trendy to be carrying a bottle of water around with you. Josh's health was more important.

A week later, I met with Josh's teacher to explain the situation. She stopped me cold. "You don't have to explain anything. Since you took Josh off the water, his grades have gone up." How confirming for all of us! We are not crazy!

And then in December, the water company sent a notice that there had been a chemical spill in one of their wells. No worry, we'll just increase the standards for that particular chemical. Now who is the crazy one? Why would that be an acceptable practice? How many other children were affected by this water without knowing it?

For years, Joshua was extremely careful about the quality of his water. Water is meant to flush and rehydrate the system. Once chemicals such as chlorine or rust inhibitors (not to mention toxic poisons) are added to any water, the body must now work to filter it. It is no longer able to be used for its designed purpose.

A funny thing happened more recently to Joshua. He has since grown and moved to West Hartford. He called me one evening with concerns about his overall health. He was feeling exhausted and had no ambition. He could not focus at class and his memory was declining. He just didn't feel well at all.

With the help of muscle testing, I finally got to the issue. "What are you drinking?" I asked. He admitted that he was having concerns over the quality of bottled water as well as the plastic in which it is stored. He made a conscious choice to buy a quality water filter and put it on his tap at home so he could begin drinking from it. Not a good choice! Even his quality water filter could not get all the toxins out of that water supply. Josh had poisoned himself!

"STOP DRINKING THE WATER!" These were words I had spoken 20 years ago with Josh. Here we were learning the same lessons. A week later, I gave Josh a call.

I could tell by the tone in his voice that we had gotten to the root of the evil. He answered the phone happy and full of energy. "I'm good mom, it was the water."

Yes, we are still learning after all these years. And that's okay. What's important is that we remember to take our water seriously.

Have you Been Blessed with a Sensitive Child?

I am blessed with a chemically sensitive child. He was my gift; my teacher who taught me the meaning behind the sensitivities. He came to share information with me so I could share it with you.

I believe that more and more children are showing signs of chemical sensitivities. They often look the same as ADD or ADHD and autism. So how would a parent know if the symptoms their child exhibits are nothing more than sensitivities to chemicals? The only way to know if your child is chemically sensitive is to clean up your act, your home and your environment. The cleaner our water, food and environment became, the healthier Joshua became, both physically and emotionally.

A chemically sensitive child's body needs purity because their filtration systems are sensitive. The more pure the food and drink, the less stress it causes on their liver and spleen. A sensitive person is easily clogged by chemicals and poisons. It's just the nature of the beast.

Alternative medicines such as herbs, vitamins, homeopathics and flower essence help Joshua begin to heal his over-clogged systems. From the beginning, I understood that allopathic medicines were chemicals, and chemicals were his problem. They were off limits to Josh's sensitive nature. I became in expert in the field of alternative therapies.

Yes. I know.. it's a lot of work to be clean in a toxic world. Like anything we partake in life, the more we do it, the better we get at it. Josh and I got really good at making healthy choices so Josh could be healthy. Allowing him the opportunity to live a happy life in a world full of toxins became my mission in life.

My own experiences have taught me that most parents believe they have neither the time nor energy to change their lives for their child. It is easier to give a child a drug to hide the problem. But is it? Are there long term effects to drugging our children? And can they ever be drug free if we don't get to the core of the problem?

Whatever time and energy I spent helping Joshua heal was well worth the effort.

Medicines That Helped Joshua Heal

Drugs were never an option for Josh. Drugs were chemicals and chemicals were the problem. We turned our attention to alternative healing being divinely guided into the world of natural foods and medicines.

My first memory of using alternative remedies was when Josh was very, very young.

Our home was on a long winding country road. Across the street was a field which was home to a number of horses who spent their time grazing in the grass. Josh was 2 years old when my friend and neighbor asked if she could take him for a walk to visit the horses. Within 10 minutes, Kathy was rushing in the door with Joshua in her arms. She was frantic.

She told me that within minutes of getting near the horses, his eyes started to water. Before long they took on the appearance of two golf balls, swollen in their sockets. We could no longer see his eyes, just a small slit from which he could look back at us. Yes, I was scared. I didn’t know what to do. For the first time I thought about rushing him to the nearest hospital. But then I thought, what would they have to offer him? I could never allow any one to administer chemicals with his history. And if they insisted, would the therapy cause more damage than the horses?

Not so coincidentally, I had recently purchased a book called “Everybody’s Guide to Homeopathic Remedies”. I ran to get my copy and looked up eye problems. I read that the homeopathic remedy called “Apis” might work for eyes that looked swollen as if they were filled with fluid. That’s how I would have described Josh’s eyes – filled with water. I went to my new kit and sure enough, it contained the remedy called “Apis”. I held the small bottle in my hands. And still I was scared.

Josh was staring at me through his two small slits trusting I would know how to help him. At that moment, he had more faith in me than I had in myself. I was entering unknown territory. I pushed my fears aside and popped a few pellets on Josh’s tongue. Within minutes I watched his eyes slowly turn back to normal. It was so quick, so easy, so healing, so non-invasive. That was the day I became a student of homeopathy.

From there, I found a homeopathic doctor that took Josh on as his patient. Dr. Bill loved a good challenge and Joshua fit the bill. Homeopathic remedies became our medicines of choice. I also became a student of herbal supplements and eventually introduced flower essences into our lives. Some of the products Joshua used during his most intense healing times were:

Cleansing Herbs:

Dandelion was used when he was young and sensitive. Dandelion is a gentle tonic to help cleanse the digestive and urinary systems. To this day, in small amounts, I feel it is safe enough for very young babies.

Burdock Root was used as he got older and the chemical sensitivities worsened. It was especially effective for the times when he had skin rashes and hives. It is deeper acting than dandelion and it seemed to be useful if chemicals entered his environment.

Yellowdock came into play when the chemical poisonings were extremely toxic. This was the period of swollen lymph nodes and cysts. Yellowdock helped to drain his lymphatic system so he could heal between poisonings.

Homeopathic Remedies

Josh's constitutional remedy from Dr. Bill was Staphasygria. This was the remedy for the very sensitive being whose senses were acute. Josh could taste and smell things long before the rest of us. It was also the remedy for those who could have outbursts of anger for no apparent reason. This too was a Joshua trait.

What Staphasygria did for Joshua was help him to move the chemical through the body more quickly. If we used it immediately after a chemical poisoning, Joshua symptoms seemed to be less severe and his emotions not as intense. We were pleased with the results we were experiencing.

Can any remedy ever heal chenical sensitivities? I don't think so. How can anything stop our bodies from reacting to a poison. This reaction is our body's way of speaking to us; it is a language. If we stop the language, we may continue to poison ourselves. And why would we want to do that? His remedy allowed him to heal from the poisoning more quickly. It was an answer to a prayer we had been asking for.

Some of the other remedies we used during his healing period included:
Apis - for swelling of the eyes when he came into contact with horses.
Cantharis - when his urinary system was affected.
Natrum Phosphate - to balance an over acidic body
Kali Phos - to help nourish his nervous system
Silicea - To help cleanse his body of poisons and chemicals

Flower Essences:
Emotions are stored in our body parts. Once stored, it is more difficult for the physical body to heal. Flower essences helped Joshua move this stuck energy so his body could heal physically.

Larch - to help maintain a state of confidence and security
Aspen - to calm his anxiety
Mimulus - to face his fears
Willow - to help him forgive

I realize that this type of healing is not for everyone. For those who choose different, however, it is a journey to self realization. What is self realization? It is the moment we recognize that the only one we can change is our "self". And in that moment of recognition, we begin to know that the journey to health begins with our first step toward love and forgiveness. I don't know any other way to get there.