There is hardly a disease in the books that does not respond well to treatment that includes cod liver oil; not just infectious diseases but also chronic modern diseases like heart disease and cancer. Cod liver oil provides vitamin D that helps build strong bones in children and prevent osteoporosis in adults. The fatty acids in cod liver oil are also very important for the development of the brain and nervous system. “If you want to prevent learning disabilities in your children,” said David Horrobin, distinguished medical and biochemical researcher, “feed them cod liver oil.”

Cod liver oil contains more vitamin A and more vitamin D per unit weight than any other common food. One hundred grams of regular cod liver oil provides 100,000 IU of vitamin A, almost three times more than beef liver, the next richest source; and 10,000 IU vitamin D, almost four times more than lard, the next richest source. Of course, cod liver oil is only consumed in small amounts, but even a tablespoon (about 15 grams) provides well over the recommended daily allowance for both nutrients.

In addition, cod liver oil contains 7 percent each of the elongated omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA. EPA is the precursor of important prostaglandins, localized tissue hormones that help the body deal with inflammation; and DHA is extremely important for the development and function of the brain and nervous system. So it is no surprise that in numerous studies cod liver oil has proven to be a powerhouse in fighting disease.

Good for What Ails You

Cod liver oil greatly improves heart function to prevent heart disease and to treat it even in advanced stages after a heart attack or heart surgery. Cod liver oil alters the linings of the arteries in such a way as to improve healing after damage. This is attributed to the omega-3 fatty acids but vitamins A, D and K all have important roles to play in facilitating mineral absorption, improving muscle function and supporting elasticity of the blood vessels. The inflammation-reducing prostaglandins made from EPA help mediate the inflammatory response in the arteries. In other studies the heart-protective effect has been associated with changes in the muscle response to serotonin, increasing the heart’s ability to “relax.”1-15 In a study with rats, treatment with cod liver oil actually caused artery-blocking atheromas to become smaller and blood vessel diameter to enlarge.55 Weston Price noted that heart attack deaths increased during periods when the vitamin A content of the diet was low. Cod liver oil can provide vitamin A on a continuous basis throughout the year.

Many of the conditions addressed by cod liver oil are considered related under the title Syndrome X. These include obesity, hypertension, insulin resistance, adult onset diabetes and stroke. Evidence is accumulating that these diseases of modern civilization are the result of high levels of omega-6 fatty acids and low levels of omega-3 fatty acids along with deficiencies of fat-soluble vitamins. We may be paying a very high price for our rejection of parental wisdom to take our cod liver oil.

In numerous studies, the elongated omega-3 fats found in cod liver oil have been shown to improve brain function, memory, stress response, immune response, allergies, asthma, learning and behavioral disorders, including bipolar syndrome and manic-depression.

Cod liver oil is most famous for contributing to bone health, preventing and reversing rickets in children and osteomalacia in adults.16, 17 Before the discovery of cod liver oil as a source of vitamin D, many children suffered greatly with deformed bones. Osteoporosis responds to vitamin D and to cod liver oil. Sufficient elongated omega-3 oils found in cod liver oil are one of the keys to keeping and rebuilding bone.18, 19 In women, higher levels of vitamin D from cod liver oil improve bone mineral density.20

Two of the symptoms of low levels of vitamin D are bone pain and muscle pain. This may manifest as pain in the legs, muscle weakness and difficulty climbing stairs. Numerous studies have shown improvement in muscle pain, muscle strength and bone pain scores with cod liver oil.40, 41

Cod liver oil is effective in treating arthritis as well. Researchers funded by Great Britain’s Arthritis Research Campaign found that the elongated omega-3 fatty acids in cod liver oil reduce both pain and damage in inflamed joints.56

Pregnant women using cod liver oil have infants with a lower risk for juvenile type 1 diabetes.21 This effect was found only in mothers taking cod liver oil, not in mothers taking multivitamin supplements. Cod liver oil taken by nursing mothers improves the fatty acid profile in breast milk to promote optimal brain development and also increases levels of vitamin A to prevent infections. Interestingly, cod liver oil does not provide increased vitamin D in breast milk.23,24

Cod liver oil given to infants after birth and during the first year had no protective effect against type 1 diabetes but it nevertheless is an important source of nutrients for optimal infant health.22 In more than forty trials, vitamin A has been shown to reduce morbidity and mortality of children.25 Cod liver oil was the supplement of choice in many of these trials. Books on feeding infants published in the 1930s and 1940s routinely recommended cod liver oil, starting with 1 teaspoon at the age of three weeks. It was Dr. Spock who threw this wisdom out the window by recommending vaccinations instead of the powerful nutritional support of cod liver oil. Few modern books on infant care mention the importance of the fat-soluble nutrients in this wonderful superfood.

As for treating diabetes in adults, cod liver oil has been used in a number of trials with both insulin-dependent and non-insulin-dependent diabetes. In both conditions, cod liver oil improved glucose response and other markers of the disease.26-31 Vitamin A in cod liver oil helps promote healing and protects the retina; both problem areas in the diabetic patient.

Cod liver oil has lowered blood pressure induced by stress-elevated levels of cortisol.32-35 Cod liver oil given to rats reduced intraocular pressure suggesting a use in prevention and treatment of glaucoma.36 Vitamin D in cod liver oil promotes absorption of calcium and magnesium, thereby lowering blood pressure.

Colitis responds more effectively to the type of omega-3 fatty acids in cod liver oil than to medication.37-38 Cod liver oil should be the first protocol for this condition as well as irritable bowel syndrome and Crohn’s disease.

Topically applied, cod liver oil contributes to improvement in skin quality and faster wound healing.39 An excellent treatment for diaper rash and other skin conditions is cod liver oil mixed with zinc oxide; and cod liver oil taken orally helps maintain soft skin and minimize wrinkles.

And what about cancer? All the nutrients in cod liver oil help prevent cancer. Vitamin A has been part of every successful alternative cancer therapy so far. In a study in China, use of cod liver oil was found to be protective against childhood leukemia.57 In a study of Norwegian men and women, consumption of cod liver oil was found to protect against lung cancer.58

Practical Aspects

Eating fish will not provide the levels of nutrients that are found in cod liver oil. Even in heavy fish-eating populations, the addition of cod liver oil improves health.42-43 And taking fish oils is not the same as taking cod liver liver oil. One tablespoon of regular cod liver oil and one-half tablespoon of high-vitamin cod liver oil provide the amount of elongated omega-3 fatty acids found in twelve 1,000 mg fish oil capsules.

As for vitamin D, body oils of fish can be good sources as long as you are willing to eat a lot of them. One-half pound of fatty herring or sardines gives a dose of vitamin D equal to that of about one tablespoon of cod liver oil. But salmon oil has one-fifth the potency of cod liver oil.

One concern about taking cod liver oil is the presence of contaminants: heavy metals (such as mercury, cadmium and lead), PCBs and so forth. Fortunately, consumers need not worry when it comes to cod liver oil. All cod liver oils in the US must be tested according to protocols of the Association of Analytical Communities (AOAC) and approved free of detectable levels of 32 contaminants before they can be imported into this country. Furthermore, mercury is water soluble. It may be present in the flesh of fish, but it is not present in the oil.

Another concern is rancidity. Cod liver oil can become rancid if improperly handled. In a 1988 study, peroxide values (indicating rancidity) ranged from a low of 2 to a high of 44.7.44 Nevertheless, properly handled cod liver oil is relatively stable. It contains 21 percent saturated fatty acids and 57 percent monounsaturated fatty acids, which provide stability. The fishy smell of cod liver oil is due to the presence of small amounts of fish protein and is not a sign of rancidity. To ensure that your cod liver oil is fresh, avoid buying the large economy size or the end-of-season sale item. Buy cod liver oil in small dark bottles and keep them in a cool dark place. Cod liver oil need not be refrigerated after opening if it is used up quickly–within two months.

Virtually all cod liver oil imported into the US comes from Norway, and while all of it is safe, there are different grades, depending on vitamin levels. The lighter oil from the “top of the barrel” has a lower molecular weight, goes rancid more quickly and has lower levels of vitamins, while the heavier oil, which sinks, is richer in vitamins. The heavier oil is what Dr. Price referred to as high-vitamin cod liver oil. It contains double the amounts of vitamin A and D as regular cod liver oil. Virtually all cod liver oil imported into the US is the lighter, “top of the barrel” variety. The Norwegians keep the best for themselves!

Whenever taking cod liver oil, remember the findings of Dr. Price. He noted that he did not get good results from cod liver oil unless he gave it concurrently with high-vitamin butter. Just why this is so is a matter of speculation, but we do know that the very unsaturated fatty acids found in cod liver oil cannot be effectively assimilated and stored in the tissues without the presence of adequate saturated fatty acids, the kind that would be provided by butter. This means that even regular butter would help support cod liver oil therapy; but Price found that the combination of cod liver oil with high-vitamin butter, from cows eating rapidly growing green grass, was nothing short of miraculous, reversing tooth decay and bringing patients back from the brink of death.

I do not find it hard to take Carlson’s cod liver oil on a spoon, but for many, the big challenge is how to get this oily substance down. One technique is to add cod liver oil to a small amount of water or fresh juice, stir and then quickly send it down the hatch. If you can’t bring yourself to take cod liver oil on a spoon or in water, then use the capsules. For babies and small children, use an eye dropper.

Old Research Brought to Light

In researching this article, I had the great fortune to stumble upon a book published in the 1930s; it is truly exciting to come upon material found and lost and found again. Ultraviolet Light and Vitamin D in Nutrition, by Katharine Blunt and Ruth Cowan, published by the University of Chicago, contains fascinating material, including a chapter on the research of Mrs. May Mellanby published in 1918 in The Lancet II, page 767.

The book describes the work of scientists E. M. Honeywell, A. F. Hess and C. E. Bills (after which the Bills’s Scale for determining antirachitic value for vitamin D is named) who studied all aspects of fish oil potency, production and seasonal distribution. Early in their research they discovered that oil extracted from cod when the fish were fat in the summer contained much lower amounts of vitamin D. Summer oil scored 100 on the Bills scale but winter oil scored above 1,000 and some oils scored 20,000. Their conclusion: “For a fish of a given size, antirachitic potency varies inversely with the amount of fat or oil in the liver.” In other words, the less oil in the fish, the more concentrated it was.

In one fascinating study, they found that fish kept in darkened aquariums and fed on trimmed raw veal muscle had the same amount of vitamin D as free-swimming fish exposed to sunlight. So how the fish obtain vitamin D remains a mystery. Perhaps they are able to extract it from microscopic plankton and algae.

It is important to note that the amount of vitamin A in cod liver oil does not have any consistent relation with the amount of vitamin D. In numerous samples, oils rich in vitamin A were poor in vitamin D, and oils rich in vitamin D were poor in vitamin A.

According to the book, in 1922 the US imported about 1.8 million gallons of cod oil and cod liver oil. By 1927 this amount grew to almost 5 million gallons based on data from the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce of the United States Department of Commerce. Cod oil is rancid oil used in the tanning industry, not for human consumption. The figures don’t distinguish the difference, but most of the increase was in the edible cod liver oil due to research showing its benefit in preventing rickets. According to the Commerce Yearbook of 1928, “Medicinal oil production has increased greatly, and the advance in its price has lessened the supply of common cod oil for tanning.”

In 2000, America imported only about one tenth that amount (less than half a million gallons), indicating a huge decline in use.

In 1930, when the book was compiled, the technology was just being developed to determine vitamin D potency. The accepted value as of August 31, 1929 was “one rat unit of vitamin D” defined as “that amount of vitamin D which, when uniformly distributed into the standard vitamin D deficient diet-ration, will produce a narrow and continuous line of calcium deposits on the metaphyses of the distal end of the radii and ulnae of standard rachitic rats.” “Potent cod liver oil” is defined as that containing one of these rat units per 0.75 mg. The International Units started out as rat units!

Testing of 18 oils in use at that time showed great variations in potency. Fortunately, today we have methods of standardization and much better methods of transportation and storage to improve the amount of vitamin D and freshness of our cod liver oil.

Eat Your Eggs

In 1929, researchers tested a variety of foods for vitamin D content and found the second most potent source of vitamin D was egg yolk. The book describes studies in which Hess both cured and prevented rickets in rats by giving them egg yolks. He also gave prophylactic treatment to 12 infants to forestall development of rickets in the winter months, which his experience had taught him to expect in the great majority of bottle-fed infants. He gave them one egg yolk added to their regular formula starting in December. None of the 12 developed rickets in March as expected and, unlike prior years, blood phosphates remained stable at summer values.

About this same time, Johns Hopkins University investigators cured seven African-American children of rickets, in most cases severe, by adding one or two eggs daily to their diet of milk and cereal.

Like the vitamin D in cod liver oil, the amount of vitamin D in egg yolks also varies. Researchers in Kansas looked at four groups of hens: one group got sunlight in the yard plus 30 minutes under a quartz mercury vapor lamp producing UV-B light; another got sunlight through glass plus 30 minutes under the lamp; the third group got sunlight alone; and the fourth group got sunlight under glass alone. Eggs from hens under glass produced rickets in rats. Those with considerable UV-B prevented rickets completely and those with less (no lamp) caused the development of slight rickets. Only the sunlight plus lamp completely prevented rickets, showing that the natural UV-B in Kansas did not provide sufficient light for optimal vitamin D. Giving cod liver oil to the chickens had the same effect as exposure to UV-B light. Cod liver oil as two percent of the ration increased levels of vitamin D in the egg yolks fivefold.

The surprising conclusion is that chickens should either be given sunlamp treatment or cod liver oil. Poultrymen and consumers alike need to recognize that the axiom “an egg is an egg” is a mistaken one. Rather, “an inadequate ration may yield impoverished eggs as well as animals.” The authors suggest that eggs be graded by vitamin content. What a concept! Too bad no one listened. What would they think of our so-called “organic” eggs from hens raised in barns, never exposed to light and given “all-vegetarian” feed?

Meet Mrs. Mellanby

The most fascinating part of this little book is the chapter describing the experiments done in England by a Mrs. May Mellanby. Her husband, Dr. E. Mellanby, was the author of over 400 studies and the first to control rickets with diet. Cod liver oil had been used for centuries as a remedy but the specific application to rickets was first demonstrated by Dr. Mellanby. (Control of rickets using UV-B light was demonstrated almost simultaneously by investigators at Columbia and Johns Hopkins University in 1921.) In his research into rickets in dogs, he discovered the mineral-blocking effect of phytic acid in grains and legumes. Dr. Mellanby demonstrated that diets containing high levels of cereals, especially oatmeal, and lacking vitamin D, are the most effective producers of rickets. If vitamin D is inadequate there is poor tooth development, but Mrs. Mellanby then went on to prove that no matter how much cereal is fed, if vitamin D is adequate tooth formation is normal. Mrs. Mellanby believed that as cereals increase in the diet, vitamin D must also be increased to offset their anticalcifying effects–think of the implications of this research on today’s baby-feeding habits, where infants are given cereals as their first food but denied egg yolks until they are one year old!

Mrs. Mellanby also determined that vitamin D must be present from conception in order for proper tooth formation to occur. If vitamin D is absent during the early gestational period, the enamel cannot form properly, and it cannot be repaired by giving vitamin D later.

In her initial studies Mrs. Mellanby used dogs as the source of data but she later examined more than one thousand “baby” teeth from children. She divided these teeth into four categories–normal, hypoplastic (slightly underdeveloped), moderately underdeveloped and grossly underdeveloped. Only 149, or about 14 percent, of the total 1,036 were sound. About one-quarter were slightly underdeveloped, but nearly two-thirds were moderately or grossly underdeveloped.

It is more difficult to examine teeth in place, but of 266 adult teeth examined by Mrs. Mellanby, not one was sound. The teeth were extracted only for purposes of straightening the teeth, which means that they were erupting in a jaw that was underdeveloped. Thus, children with narrow faces most likely have underdeveloped teeth. Tooth structure and later decay are directly related. Prevention of cavities must start in the womb.

Curing Cavities

A final plum from this most fruitful book regards secondary dentine. Secondary dentine, a less well-organized form of tubular dentine, is produced throughout life as a patching material where cavities have begun, where the overlying enamel has been worn away, and within the pulp chamber as part of the aging process. Sometimes when cavities occur, production of secondary dentine can “heal” the decayed spot or rebuild portions of the tooth that have worn away. If vitamin D is adequate, secondary dentine will be well calcified. If vitamin D is lacking, dentine will be of poor quality or not present at all.

There is some evidence that the mineralization of dentine may depend on calcium derived from saliva rather than blood; in other words, it is deposited from the exterior rather than the interior of the tooth. The book describes studies by Dr. C. L. Pattison who, working with Mrs. Mellanby, determined that the calcium content of saliva doubled or even tripled when the diet contained adequate vitamin D from cod liver oil.

Downside

Now that I have told you all this good news about cod liver oil, I need to comment on the research surrounding its possible toxicity. Over-elevated serum levels of vitamin D are a possibility if you combine summer or southern sun and cod liver oil. So if you are spending a lot of time out in the sun during the summer months, it’s probably best to cut back on the dose. If you are unsure, you should test your blood levels of vitamin D.

Cod liver oil is no longer recommended in Great Britain and in the US pregnant women are advised to avoid most vitamin A and vitamin A-containing foods, including cod liver oil. Both countries have adopted this policy because of the recognized teratogenicity (may cause birth defects) of retinoic acid, a synthetic form of vitamin A. But low vitamin A also causes birth defects. In the developing countries, such as Brazil, Pakistan and India, vitamin A deficiency is widespread, afflicting millions. A 1992 survey of the US population determined that 50 percent of Americans consume 19 percent or less of the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) or 400 IU.

The original study showing birth defects associated with intake of mostly synthetic vitamin A exceeding 5,000 IU daily was published November 23, 1995 in the New England Journal of Medicine.46 Other studies showing an association of birth defects with vitamin A concerned topical creams containing vitamin A derivatives such as Accutane, or extremely high doses of A used in animal studies.47-52

A later study, less well publicized, from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), found no association with birth defects in women who took up to 10,000 IU of vitamin A during pregnancy. Because few women took more than 10,000 IU, researchers could not determine whether higher doses were a problem. Later Mills and others continued their research and determined that after serum testing and determining safe serum levels, women taking 30,000 IU of preformed vitamin A from animal foods (not beta-carotene) daily had the same blood levels of A as healthy pregnant women in the first trimester who had healthy babies. The conclusion is that a dosage over 30,000 IU vitamin A daily may be teratogenic for a certain few, but anything up to that amount is safe.53-54

Thus if you are or may become pregnant, limit cod liver oil intake to not more than a total vitamin A value of 30,000 IU. If using my favorite brand, Carlson Labs cod liver oil, that would equal the amount of vitamin A found in 12 teaspoons or 4 tablespoons, more than anyone would ever take. If using high-vitamin cod liver oil, the limit would be 2 tablespoons. Two tablespoons of regular cod liver oil provide 15,000 IU vitamin A, 2600 IU vitamin D and 6 grams of mixed omega-3 fatty acids, safe for pregnancy and good for mom and baby.

There is one situation in which high levels of vitamin A are not recommended and that is the condition of certain types of liver disease in which there is altered vitamin A metabolism. This is frequently the case with alcoholism. Alcoholics should not take high doses (not more than 1-1.5 tablespoons of regular cod liver oil) and what they do take should be accompanied by zinc supplements. The enzymes needed for vitamin A metabolism in the liver are zinc dependent.

The most likely culprits for production of birth defects in humans are topical and oral vitamin A analogs, not cod liver oil. Researchers have criticized the original 1995 study, from which governmental policy has been derived, for overstating the negative effect. Only 1.4 percent took supplements exceeding 10,000 IU a day, not a large enough sample from which to draw conclusions. However, it is important to never combine cod liver oil or vitamin A from supplements with oral or topical medications for acne or other skin disorders treated with retinoic acid derivatives.

If you sunbathe regularly and have found that your vitamin D levels are within the normal range, do not use cod liver oil unless you are willing to test and retest to determine that your blood levels of vitamin D have not gone too high. We do not know enough to say whether or not sunbathing and cod liver oil work synergistically or antagonistically. If you decide to get lots of sun and also use cod liver oil, please send me your vitamin D tests for my continued research. Cod liver oil use is safe in most of the US and all of Canada in winter but it should not be combined with other sources of vitamin D without careful testing and monitoring.

Price Was Right

Dr. Price was right. . . we all need to take cod liver oil (and eat plenty of good butter). For growing children, and for almost every disease condition, cod liver oil is the number one superfood, the supplement of choice.

Dosages and Dangers

If pregnant or pregnancy is possible, limit cod liver oil intake to not more than 30,000 IU A per day. Two tablespoons of regular cod liver oil, one tablespoon high-vitamin cod liver oil is a dose that is safe and adequate for pregnant women and, in fact, all adults. There is no indication that anyone needs a dose of cod liver oil exceeding two tablespoons except in certain special circumstances. More is not better.

Infants and growing children can tolerate higher-per-pound doses of vitamin D and cod liver oil. Recommended dosages are as follows: one teaspoon from birth to six months, two teaspoons from six months to three years, one tablespoon from 4-10 years and two tablespoons thereafter during winter months or when not sunning.

Never combine sources of vitamin A. Vitamin A and its derivatives are found in skin lotions and creams, oral medications and vitamin supplements. The 30,000 IU limit is from all sources.

If you sun regularly and spend winter months in the South, you need to find another way to get elongated fatty acids (such as organ meats). You really do not want too much vitamin D. High doses of cod liver oil are used to promote atherosclerosis in animal studies. Too much D is too much D.

When using a UV-B meter and sunning to raise vitamin D, you will need the Vitamin D and Sunlight protocol. Cod liver oil can be reduced or eliminated depending on your location and exposure times.

Cod liver oil mixed with zinc oxide is better for the skin than any of the prescription medications, and safer.

For further information about cod liver oil and vitamins A and D, particularly with regards to dosages, see <a href=”http://www.westonaprice.org/basicnutrition/clarifications.html”>Vitamin A, Vitamin D and Cod Liver Oil: Some Clarifications

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44. Luley C, Klein B, Hanisch M, Prellwitz W. Fatty acid composition and degree of peroxidation in fish oil and cod liver oil preparations.Arzneimittel-forschung. 1988;38:1783-6.
45. Bjerve KS. n-3 fatty acid deficiency in man. J Intern.Med.Suppl 1989;225:171-5.
46. Rothman KJ, Moore LL, Singer MR, Nguyen US, Mannino S, Milunsky A. Teratogenicity of high vitamin A intake. N.Engl.J Med. 1995;333:1369-73.
47. Orfanos CE, Zouboulis CC, Almond-Roesler B, Geilen CC. Current use and future potential role of retinoids in dermatology. Drugs 1997;53:358-88.
48. Die-Smulders CE, Sturkenboom MC, Veraart J, van Katwijk C, Sastrowijoto P, van der LE. Severe limb defects and craniofacial anomalies in a fetus conceived during acitretin therapy. Teratology 1995;52:215-9.
49. Mills CM, Marks R. Adverse reactions to oral retinoids. An update. Drug Saf 1993;9:280-90.
50. Heckel S, Favre R, Weber P, Dellenbach P. [Teratogenicity of retinoids. A case and review of the literature]. J Gynecol.Obstet.Biol.Reprod.(Paris) 1993;22:43-7.
51. Nau H. Embryotoxicity and teratogenicity of topical retinoic acid. Skin Pharmacol. 1993;6 Suppl 1:35-44.
52. Pinnock CB, Alderman CP. The potential for teratogenicity of vitamin A and its congeners. Med.J Aust. 1992;157:804-9.
53. Miller RK, Hendrickx AG, Mills JL, Hummler H, Wiegand UW. Periconceptional vitamin A use: how much is teratogenic? Reprod.Toxicol. 1998;12:75-88.
54. Wiegand UW, Hartmann S, Hummler H. Safety of vitamin A: recent results. Int.J Vitam.Nutr Res. 1998;68:411-6.
55. Knapp HR and others. The Effect of Cod liver oil on the Development of Atherosclerosis in an Animal Model. Proceedings of the AOCS, Ed WEM Lands, AOCS 1987, pp 35-40.
56. http://www.animalrights.net/print/articles/2002/000068.html
57. Shu XO and others. A population-based case-control study of childhood leukemia in Shanghai. Cancer 1988 Aug 1;62(3):635-44.
58. Veierod MG, Laake P, Thelle DS. Dietary fat intake and risk of lung cancer: a prospective study of 51,452 Norwegian men and women. Eur J Cancer Prev 1997 Dec;6(6):540-9.

Reprinted with permission from the Weston A Price Foundation

In an effort to set the record straight, the AVN, which is contacted by more than 10,000 Australian parents each year who question this procedure, would like to give you the 10 most common reasons why the parents who contact us have chosen not to vaccinate.

1 - Vaccines have never been tested.

The gold standard of medical science is the double blind crossover placebo study. This test has never been performed on any vaccine currently licensed in Australia. In an astounding leap of logic, contrary to all rules of science, vaccines are assumed to be safe and effective and therefore, it is considered to be unethical to withhold vaccinations for the purposes of testing them.

2 - Vaccines contain toxic additives and heavy metals.

The list of vaccine ingredients includes toxins such as formaldehyde, a substance which the Queensland Poisons Control Centre has said was “unsafe at any level if injected into the human body”; carbolic acid, also a strong poison which was implicated in deaths and serious injuries in a recent Sydney hospital mishap; aluminium which is linked with the development of Alzheimer’s disease and allergies; and Thiomersal, a mercury-based preservative which is a known neurotoxin and whose inclusion in vaccination sparked a series of Congressional hearings which saw the US Government and the AAP (American Academy of Paediatrics) call for its immediate withdrawal from any vaccine product and which was withdrawn over two years ago in the USA from any over-the-counter medicines . It was also withdrawn from the American Hepatatis B vaccines, Engerix and HB Vax II, though their Australian counterparts which are still being injected into children here today, are only just being made mercury free or mercury reduced (though the old, mercury-laced stocks will be used up rather than being withdrawn from use).

3 - Vaccines are contaminated with human and animal viruses and bacteria

All childhood vaccines, apart from the Hepatitis B (which is genetically engineered and carries with it a different set of problems,) are cultured on either animal tissue, a broth of animal and/or human blood and blood products or the cell lines from aborted human foetuses. None of these culturing methods is able to guarantee an uncontaminated vaccine. In fact, it is well known that many foreign viruses and bacteria can and do contaminate vaccines. Almost none of these contaminants have been studied. The few which have been leave many parents concerned about the long-term effects of injecting these substances into their children. For instance, SV 40 (simian or monkey virus 40 – just one of 60 monkey viruses known to contaminate the polio vaccines) has been linked with cancers in humans; there is a chicken retrovirus which contaminates the measles and mumps vaccines called Reverse Transcriptase. This substance, an ancient non-human DNA code, is thought to switch on the HIV virus and cause it to become AIDS in humans; AIDS itself has been linked with a virus called SIV (Simian Immunodeficiency Virus) which contaminated both the polio and smallpox vaccines; the current MMR (measles mumps rubella) and other vaccines which contain bovine (cow) blood products are thought to be able to spread the human and always fatal form of mad cow disease, Creutzfeld-Jacobs disease, more readily than eating contaminated meat.

4 - Vaccines can cause serious immediate side effects.

As long as there have been vaccines, there have been reports of serious side effects following their administration. These side effects include (but are not limited to) convulsions and epilepsy, permanent brain damage, anaphylactic (life threatening allergic) reactions, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), retinal and brain haemorrhages (now being confused with Shaken Baby Syndrome) and death.

5 - Vaccines can cause serious long-term side effects.

According to medical reports, children are now less healthy than they have ever been before. More than 40% of all children now suffer from chronic conditions , something that was unheard of prior to mass vaccination. Vaccines have been associated with such conditions as Asthma, Eczema, Food Allergies, Chronic Ear Infections, Insulin Dependent Diabetes, Arthritis, Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis, Autism, Attention Deficit Disorder, Ulcerative Colitis, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Hyperactivity, Schizophrenia, Multiple Sclerosis, Cancer and a raft of other chronic and auto-immune conditions which are experiencing dramatic rises in incidence.

6 - Vaccines do not necessarily protect against infectious diseases.

For many years, parents were told that once a child was fully vaccinated, they would be protected for life. That has now turned into a series of life-long boosters that are still not able to protect either children or adults from infectious diseases. For the very real risk of both short and long-term side effects from vaccines, parents are asked to allow their children to be given vaccines that at best, will provide a temporary sensitisation to illnesses and at worst, can make their children more susceptible to both opportunistic and infectious illness. As evidenced by the recent whooping cough outbreak in SA, the only Australian state which actually records vaccination status in cases of infectious illness, 87% of all those who contracted whooping cough and whose vaccination status was known were fully and appropriately vaccinated. In fact, Australian government statistics have shown that the majority of outbreaks in Australia occur in those who have been either fully vaccinated or were too young to be fully vaccinated.

7 - Doctors, as paid salesmen for vaccine products, are no longer considered to be trustworthy arbiters of their safety and effectiveness.

Doctors are currently receiving several payments from the government to push vaccines. These include $6 for reporting vaccinations to the Australian Childhood Immunisation Register (ACIR), a national database which tracks vaccination status in our children and which has been called “a back-door Australia Card”; $18.50 on top of their Medicare rebate for vaccinating a child on time; and a bulk payment at the end of each year based upon them having a practice vaccination rate in excess of 80%. These payments can add up to many tens of thousands of dollars in a busy inner-city practice.

As a result of this grossly unethical situation, doctors can no longer be thought of as objective when it comes to this issue. Parents no longer trust that their doctors will recommend that they vaccinate simply because it is the best thing for their child rather than the best thing for the doctor’s bottom line.

8 - Pharmaceutical companies have paid for almost all vaccine research to date.

Just as the tobacco companies paid for corrupt and incorrect research which purported to show that tobacco and tobacco products were safe for human consumption, so too the pharmaceutical companies have paid for and produced almost all of the research into vaccines. While the Australian government continues to spend literally hundreds of millions of dollars a year in promoting and implementing vaccination campaigns (an example is the $292 million earmarked for vaccination against Meningococcal this year alone!) and little or no money on independent research, parents will continue to mistrust the research that has been performed by vested interests. After all, companies are by their very definition commercial concerns which are motivated by profit. There is nothing that would make a pharmaceutical company intrinsically more ethical and therefore more trustworthy than a tobacco company.

In addition, it is a little-known fact that the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), the government body which licenses and registers vaccines and other medical products, does not perform any tests whatsoever to verify pharmaceutical company claims of safety or effectiveness.

9 - Doctors and health professionals rarely if ever report vaccine reactions.

In discussions with representatives of both ADRAC (The Adverse Drug Reactions Advisory Committee) and the SAEFVSS (Serious Adverse Events Following Vaccination Surveillance Scheme), the two government bodies charged with keeping track of reactions to vaccines and other drugs, the AVN’s representatives were informed that less than 10% of all adverse reactions are ever reported. This means that the government’s claims of vaccine safety are admittedly 90% incorrect. In addition, the AVN’s adverse reactions database currently contains details on more than 800 serious adverse vaccine reactions. Not one of these reactions was ever reported by the doctors or health professionals involved. Parents cannot rely on data with that wide a margin of error when they are dealing with the health and well-being of their children.&

10 - Some childhood illnesses have beneficial aspects and therefore, prevention may not necessarily be in the best interests of the child.

Measles, for example, has been used in Scandinavian countries to successfully treat such autoimmune conditions as eczema and many studies have performed which show that children who do not contract measles naturally as a child are more likely to suffer from certain cancers later in life. In addition, recent studies have shown that contracting the common childhood illnesses help to prime and strengthen the immune system in a way that vaccinations just cannot do. This priming means that children are much less likely to suffer from the now common allergic and autoimmune conditions that plague them today. Conditions such as asthma, diabetes and cancer. In addition, vaccinated mothers cannot confer passive immunity to their children even if they have contracted the wild form of the disease. This immunity used to protect all children during their vulnerable first months and years. Now, a vaccinated mother will give birth to a child who will be susceptible to these infections when, prior to vaccines, they would normally have been immune.

Vaccination is a medical procedure. It should never, ever be mandated. Nor should there ever be any coercion, financial or social penalties for those parents who have chosen, as is their right under the law, not to take the above risks on behalf of their children.

Unvaccinated children continue to be among the healthiest children in our society. They are no more the carriers of disease than any other healthy person. It is the government’s responsibility to do the necessary research to ensure that procedures they are recommending for all Australian families are as safe and effective as they possibly can be. It is also their responsibility to keep vested interests honest. On both counts, this government has failed in its duty of care to our most vulnerable resource – our children.

Every one of the points raised above deserves critical examination and public discussion and the parents who ask these questions deserve respect, not vilification.

References:

1. - C. Wilson; Chronic Exposure and Human Health (1993), McFarland & Company taken from Our Toxic Times Feb 1997 pgs 18 & 19
2. New Scientist, 2/11/96 “Dirty Secrets”
3. Aluminium phosphate but not calcium phosphate stimulates the specific IgE response in guinea pigs to tetanus toxoid.; Allergy 1978 Jun;33(3):155-9
4. Studies on the toxicities of aluminium hydroxide and calcium phosphate as immunological adjuvants for vaccines.; Vaccine 1993;11(9):914-8
5. Staying Below the Limit-Manufacturers to Remove Mercury Used in Vaccines; By Lauran Neergaard; The Associated Press; July 8, 1999.
6. Federal Register: April 22, 1998 (Volume 63, Number 77)
7. Hepatitis B Immunization Linked to Autoimmune Rheumatic Diseases Two abstracts being presented at the 62nd Annual Meeting of the American College of Rheumatology (held November 8-12, 1998, in San Diego, California)
8. First central nervous system demyelination and hepatitis B vaccination: a pilot case control study; REVUE NEUROLOGIQUE (Paris) 2000;156(3):242-246
9. Simian virus-40 linked to human giant cell tumors; Genes Chromosomes Cancer 2000;28:23-30.
10. SV-40 and Polio Vaccine; http://www.ccid.org/ASV40.html
11. Washington Post ; December 9, 1995; Unexpected Protein Found in Measles-Mumps Vaccine
12. Aids: the big mistake?; May 28, 2000, The Sunday Times
13. Children ‘face BSE risk from infected jabs’ Daily Express March 30, 2000
14. Vaccines not containing human albumin and vaccines to avoid the risk of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, European Journal of Pediatrics; Volume 159 Issue 3 (2000) pp 222-222
15. Vaccine Information Statement (VIS) http://www.cdc.gov/nip/publications/VIS/default.htm “As with every medicine, vaccines carry a small risk of serious harm, such as severe allergic reaction or even death. Seizure (jerking or staring)————6 of every 10,000 doses (or 1 in 333 fully vaccinated children)”
16. Pediatrics 1997 Nov;100(5):767-71 MMR2 immunization at 4 to 5 years and 10 to 12 years of age: a comparison of adverse clinical events after immunization in the Vaccine Safety Datalink project. The Vaccine Safety Datalink Team.
17. Immunological aspects of demyelinating diseases. [Review] [171 refs] Annual Review of Immunology. 10:153-87, 1992.
18. J Okla State Med Assoc 1996 Apr;89(4):135-8; Perverse reactions to pertussis vaccine by government medical agencies; Sepkowitz S
19. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology 1999 Feb;103(2 Pt 1):321-5; A clinical analysis of gelatin allergy and determination of its causal relationship to the previous administration of gelatin-containing acellular pertussis vaccine combined with diphtheria and tetanus toxoids.; Nakayama T, Aizawa C, Kuno-Sakai H
20. Baraff, LJ, Ablon, WJ, Weiss, RC; Possible temporal association between diphtheria-tetanus toxoid pertussis vaccination and sudden infant death syndrome; Pediatric Infections Diseases; Jan-Feb 1983; 2 (1) 7-11.
21. Characteristics of DPT Postvaccinal Deaths and DPT-caused Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS): A Review William C. Torch, Reno, NV, Neurology 36 (Suppl 1) April 1986
22. Give us this day our daily germs; Graham A.W. RookA and John L. Stanford; Immunology Today 1998, 19:113-116
23. Lancet, June 29, 1996

Reprinted with permission from the Australian Vaccination Network

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.”

Bernardini wakes us up to the fact that children were once much healthier than they are now. Today we don’t even know what a healthy child is and these diseases have become so common we don’t realize how unusual they were in the 1950s. Bernardini not only does a good job of opening our eyes to the problems with children’s health today, but he gives us tools and ideas we can use to help our children have optimum wellness.

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.

I particularly enjoyed his “Food for Thought” sections. He dares to tell you the politics behind many of our government policies and how they are harmful to children. He gives his opinion on how policy should be changed to be safer. In his chapter on The Ancestry Factor he even talks about sexual preference and the biological and physiological reasons for the propensity towards homosexuality–as appeared in the Pottenger cat studies.

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.

While The Truth About Children’s Health is incredibly informative, some may be frightened by the book’s emphasis on toxins and the dangers in our children’s world today. Bernardini is very knowledgeable in this area due to his background, which includes medical training and a degree in Environmental Sciences and Engineering. He worked as an Environmental Engineer for seven years and his broad base of expertise in medical and scientific subjects has helped him learn the real causes of and solutions to many health problems. So while The Truth About Children’s Health contains some frightening realities about our toxic world and its possible effects, the book also empowers its readers and gives wonderful advice about how to bring optimum health to our children. Because this information could make an incredible difference in our children’s lives, Bernardinis’s book is the book I would recommend to any new parent.

The Truth About Children’s Health is available from the Price-Pottenger Nutrition Foundation
Reprinted with permission from the Weston A Price Foundation

The easiest way to get a child to enjoy and appreciate a wide variety of foods on a nutrient-dense diet is to raise them that way from preconception - that means you making those healthy food choices from at least 6 months before conceiving your child! However, you might not have learned about traditional foods until they were a little older. Or perhaps you have a spouse or other family member actively sabotaging your best efforts at providing healthy fare. Whether you have to hide certain foods and take the “stealth nutrition” approach with older children or are looking for a way to get even more nutrient density into your meals when the kids help cook, there are many routes you can take.

Tame the Sugar Monster

The first step in helping children to eat more nutrient-dense foods is to tame the sugar monster. Children naturally have a higher need for carbohydrates than adults, but they often strongly express that need in terms of cravings for sugar and refined carbs. To reduce empty carb intake, first switch your children from store-bought foods to homemade ones. Next, switch from table sugar and corn syrup to rapadura and honey or maple syrup, then gradually reduce the amount in the recipe while upping the fat content if the recipe will accommodate it. You can slowly cut the amount of sugar called for in most recipes by half over a period of a few months without children noticing a drastic change. Once the children have adjusted to a lower sugar intake, you can begin switching snacks from high carb choices such as cakes and muffins to higher fat and protein snacks such as coconut oil fudge or a smoothie. If you have to take an intermediate step, move from choices like chocolate cake to carrot cake, then move to high-fat snacks. They still get something slightly sweet and it feels like a treat, but it’s a much healthier choice.

New Tastes and Textures

There are many nutrient-dense foods that children (and some adults) initially reject because the flavor or texture is unfamiliar. For some children, this can change with time, but for others it is a constant battle for the parent facing constant rejection of the food they prepare. Here are some good ideas for getting down nutrient-dense items that aren’t familiar to the modern-day palate.

Cod Liver Oil and Butter Oil

• Mix with an equal amount of fruit juice concentrate or blackstrap molasses. They are so strongly flavored that it covers the taste.
• Offer one jiggler (see recipe below), cracker, or chocolate chip afterwards for taking it without complaint.
• Mix into a smoothie.
• Mix into a small amount of orange juice.
• Sprinkle on top of eggs.
• Mix with a soft-boiled egg yolk and serve in an egg cup.
• Use a flavored cod liver oil. Most children are more accepting of the cinnamon or orange flavored than the plain.
• Butter Oil can be melted on top of toast or in a bowl of hot cereal.

Vegetables

• To help get good fats into your child, make avocado pudding. Mix mashed avocado, banana, stevia or honey and cocoa powder until it has a pudding (custard or blanc-mange) consistency.
• Add sautéed veggies to your spaghetti sauce, marinara, pizza sauce, or other tomato-based sauce and simmer until completely tender. Puree with a food processor, blender, or stick blender until smooth, if you need to hide it entirely.
• Add spaghetti squash to any pasta dish.
• Place finely chopped spinach into lasagna. Thaw, squeeze thoroughly, chop and place in the meat sauce or as a separate layer in the lasagna.
• Green smoothies hide the taste of leafy greens nicely. Using a berry as the fruit hides the green color.
• Also use the smoothie mix to make popsicles or shaved ice for snowcones.
• Put shredded carrot or zucchini into banana breads and other baked goods. This is especially helpful for baked goods that need extra moisture.
• Add shredded and cooked zucchini, carrots, eggplant, and mushrooms into cooked ground (minced) meat dishes such as tacos and sloppy joes.
• Add shredded and cooked carrots or squash to macaroni and cheese.
• Puree greens such as kale into a salad dressing made in your blender.

Organ Meats

• Grind (mince) in a ratio of one part organ meat (liver, heart) to three or four parts ground (minced) meat. Great for making strongly-flavored dishes like spaghetti, meatballs, meatloaf, and tacos without a noticeable change in taste or texture. A tomato-based sauce hides liver especially well.
• Make chicken liver pate as a dip for veggies or crackers.
• Briefly soak liver in buttermilk or lemon juice and rinse before using.

Coconut Oil

• Make warmed chocolate milk by combining any combination of dairy milk/cream or coconut milk/cream, honey or maple syrup, cocoa powder and coconut oil on the stove and heat until warmed through and the coconut oil has melted.
• Use it to fry or scramble eggs.
• Melt on top of any hot drink.
• Make a low-sugar egg custard dessert and add an extra tablespoon or two of coconut oil to the recipe.
• Use it in place of any fat for cooking.
• Make coconut oil candy by combining coconut oil, nut butter, cocoa powder, cacao nibs, raw butter, shredded coconut, raw honey, and anything else you would like. Portion into ice cube trays or pour into a lined 8×8 inch (20×20 cm) pan and place in the fridge to harden.
• When making a fruit- or dairy-based smoothie, mix the coconut oil with the egg yolk before adding any other ingredients. This will emulsify the oil and keep it from clumping.
• Make coconut milk into jigglers.

Bone Broths

• Make reduction sauces or dips from pan drippings and a small amount of stock with every meat dish.
• In the winter, heat stock up and serve it as a drink. Melt a little coconut oil on top.
• Cook your grains in stock instead of plain water.
• In the winter, serve a small soup course every night before dinner.

Raw Dairy

• Pour leftover raw milk smoothie into popsicles or place into ice cube trays and make snowcones.
• Make kefir cheese and use it as cream cheese replacement in dips.
• If your child drinks juice, add a splash of whey to provide minerals.

Novelty and Creativity

Finally, sometimes presenting new dishes in kid-friendly ways will entice them to try new things. Small things such as making meatloaf in muffin tins instead of a loaf shape often gets better reviews from kids. Here are some recipes that get rave reviews from guests at our table who are not familiar with traditional foods:

Jigglers

3 cups coconut milk
4 Tbs plain gelatin
1 tsp vanilla
¼ cup raw honey, or to taste

Place coconut milk into a saucepan and sprinkle gelatin over top. Allow to sit undisturbed for 15 minutes to soften, then bring to a boil, stirring regularly. Turn off the heat, cool for 15 minutes and stir in vanilla and raw honey. Pour into a greased 9×13 inch (23×33 cm) pan and chill until set. Once set, you can cut into squares or shapes with cookie (biscuit) cutters.

Barbeque Glazed Turkey Meatballs

My whole family loves this recipe and this is my husband’s favorite meatball recipe. While it is true that cooking the sauerkraut does kill the probiotics, the vitamins and minerals are still retained. This also makes an awesome appetizer when made into small balls and baked, then put in a crock-pot with the jelly mixture to keep warm until serving. You can include one or two ounces (28-57 g) of grated beef liver in with meatballs if you use minced beef, but I have found that minced turkey is too moist to allow the meatball to hold together with the inclusion of the liver, and the taste of the liver can be more noticeable since turkey is so mild.

1 lb minced beef or turkey
3/4 cup sauerkraut, well-drained and finely chopped
6 Tbs barbecue sauce, recipe below
2 Tbs coconut or red palm oil
3 Tbs – ½ cup grape jelly or plum jam

Heat oven to 375F/190C. Oil a jelly (swiss) roll pan and set aside. In a medium bowl, combine the meat, sauerkraut and 3 Tbs of the barbecue sauce. Shape mixture into meatballs about ¾ to 1-inch/1.5-2.5 cm in diameter. Bake about 25 minutes. They will still be pink in the center.

Meanwhile, heat remaining 3 Tbs barbeque sauce, coconut oil and jelly (jam) in a large skillet over low heat until the jelly (jam) melts. Add meatballs, carefully turning and continuing to heat until the meatballs are hot, no longer pink in the middle, and completely glazed.

Mama’s Secret Barbeque Sauce

This is my version of my mother’s recipe. The pickle juice is the secret ingredient.

1 cup ketchup (tomato sauce)
½ cup chicken stock or water
2 Tbs Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbs rapadura or honey
1 Tbs coconut oil
1 Tbs dill pickle juice
1 Tbs prepared yellow mustard
1 Tbs lemon juice
1½ tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp Kelp with cayenne granules, optional (or kelp powder with a pinch of cayenne)
Dash pepper

In a small saucepan, combine all ingredients and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down to low and simmer for about 30 minutes. Adjust sweetness to your family’s taste preference. Makes about 2 cups. This freezes well.

Sloppy Joes

My kids love this sloppy joe recipe. And I love that it’s a great way to get veggies into them in a way they love. When I serve this recipe, my kids normally each eat a full adult serving. This freezes beautifully.

2 Tbs coconut oil
1 cup (or more) cabbage, finely shredded
½ onion, diced
1 celery rib (stalk), finely diced
¼ bell pepper (capsicum), finely diced
1 carrot, grated
½ lb/250 g ground (minced) beef
2 ounces/55 g beef liver, finely chopped or grated, optional
½ cup ketchup (tomato sauce)
1 Tbs rapadura, optional
1 Tbs lemon juice
½ Tbs white vinegar
½ Tbs Worcestershire sauce
½ Tbs prepared yellow mustard
1 tsp salt
Dash pepper
4 or more sandwich rolls, split, optional

In a large skillet, heat the coconut oil over medium heat. Cook the cabbage, onion, celery and green pepper (capsicum) until it is completely soft, about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add beef and liver and brown until meat is no longer pink. Drain if needed. Stir in the ketchup (tomato sauce), rapadura, lemon juice, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, salt and pepper. Cover and simmer for 10-20 minutes or until cabbage is completely tender and the flavors are blended.

Spaghetti Sauce

If you need to hide the veggies in the sauce, brown the beef and liver in a separate skillet and set it aside until the sauce has cooked for 30-40 minutes and the vegetables are completely tender. Puree the sauce then add in the cooked meat and simmer 15 minutes or until it reaches the desired consistency.

¼ lb/125 g or less beef liver, optional
3 tbs coconut oil
1 large onion, diced
2 medium carrots, chopped or shredded
1 cup fresh mushrooms, sliced or diced, optional
1 medium bell pepper, chopped
1 large zucchini, shredded or cubed
2 ribs (stalks) celery, finely chopped
1 lb/500 g ground (minced) beef
2 cans (14 1/2 ounces/400 g each) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 can (15 ounces/425 g) tomato sauce (puree)
1 can (6 ounces/ 175 g) tomato paste
3 cloves garlic, minced
½ - ¾ tsp salt
½ tsp fennel seed, crushed
1/8 tsp pepper
2 tsp Italian Seasoning

In a food processor, pulse the beef liver until finely ground (minced). Set aside. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook veggies in oil, stirring occasionally, until tender. Add beef and liver and cook until no longer pink; drain fat if needed. Stir in remaining ingredients. Cover and cook on lowest heat for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Uncover and stir well. Cook uncovered on high heat, stirring often, until sauce is desired consistency. This freezes well.

Forbidden Chicken

My little girl, who isn’t fond of chicken legs, loves this recipe. It’s the sesame seeds. I fixed this for lunch and accidentally left off the seeds, and that was the first thing she asked for when I brought her plate to the table. I quickly retrieved the seeds from the fridge and made everything right again.

4 chicken breasts, 4 chicken thighs or 8 drumsticks
¾ cup tamari
2 Tbs coconut oil or butter, melted
1 Tbs curry powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1 garlic clove, pressed
2 dashes hot (chilli) sauce, optional
¼ cup sesame seeds

Preheat the oven to 350F/175C degrees. Arrange chicken skin side up in one layer in a baking pan. In a small bowl, whisk together everything but the sesame seeds. Spread the mixture over the chicken and chill for a few hours. Sprinkle sesame seeds over the chicken and bake uncovered for 30-40 minutes for breasts, 35-45 minutes for drumsticks or 40-50 minutes for thighs, until chicken is golden and a thermometer registers 165F/75C in the thickest part of the meat.

nour·ish (nûrsh, nr-)
1. To provide with food or other substances necessary for life and growth; feed.
2. To foster the development of; promote: “Athens was an imperial city, nourished by the tribute of subjects” (V. Gordon Childe).
3. To keep alive; maintain: nourish a hope.
Originating from Latin Nutrire which means to feed or suckle

Beginning with the central reason we take food into our bodies: to Nourish ourselves: “to provide with food or other substances necessary for life and growth”. The needs of a 50 year old meditation teacher are very different from the needs of a swiftly growing 6 year old or a rapidly changing, physically active 16 year old.

Our attitude to the reason we eat is reflected by our actions and inevitably influences our children. If we focus on the real reason we eat, no doubt they will too. If we use food to control our emotions, treat food as drug, overeat or undereat to temporarily change our awareness, they will too. If we are clear that food is for Nourishment, they will be too.

What Are We Nourishing?

What do we intend to “foster the development of; promote”? And what will the choices we make in this moment create in a future moment?

Connecting with Nature

My favourite game as a child was one we called Witch’s Brew. My sister and I would procure as many different ingredients as we could find in our garden and solemnly mix them with water in a pot we kept behind the water tank. As we added each ingredient we talked about it’s magical qualities and what it would help us create. We made up poems and whispered childish spells over our cauldron which gave us a mysterious power over of our imaginary world. It may have been imaginary but this game certainly Nourished (developed) my love of nature and connection with her bounty. When we pretended to drink the concoction we were re-enacting the alchemy our mother performed in the kitchen every day.

Children love to play. Children love to create. When food is being prepared and served, we can share the fun: we can focus on the beautiful, strong body we are creating; we can talk about how this food was grown; and the love that we put into it as we prepare it and how it will help us make our bodies. We can imagine the connections between us and our Great Mother Earth through the food she gives us. Our children may guide us in choosing the best way to describe and play act this alchemy. Some may like to talk about the powers the food will give them, others might like to imagine gifts that spirits and fairies have left for them in the ingredients we’re using. It helps to grow some foods so children can be part of every stage of this magical process.

Being Together

The world over, eating together is how we commune. There is no denying the feeling of abundance and connection that a group of people sharing a spread of delicious food brings. When children eat alone, they miss out on this feeling. Feeding children before the adults or relegating them to the children’s table and feeding them different foods to adults denies them one of the gifts of Nourishment - togetherness. If each person shares in the same meal, they each take on the energy of that meal, connecting them with each other and with nature through the food.

Taking a moment before eating to acknowledge connection with each other and to thank the food for its life is one way to Nourish togetherness. Asking that each person at least try everything on their plate is another. That way everyone present has honoured each ingredient used for the meal which now is part of their body as it is everyone else’s. If a child doesn’t like everything on their plate, that’s fine, they can have more of what they do like and later some equally Nourishing dessert. Home made ice-cream, custard or smoothie made from raw dairy, free range pastured eggs and rapadura are tasty and Nourishing options.

As children grow, they will begin to eat communally with other children. This is a difficult issue: we are called to balance connection with protection and teach our children how to do so. It is a balance we must attend to case by case. Leading by example, we can avoid commenting on other’s foods negatively and focus on sharing our own food and ideas with compassion. It is a risk that comparison and superiority - the ego’s favourite game - will rear its ugly head. Perhaps just naming the game is enough when we, our children or their friends head down the track of divisiveness.

Growing Diversity

Chinese traditional medicine practitioners know about the importance of taste. Each taste Nourishes each element or type of energy in the body. Sour Nourishes the Liver energy, Sweet the Spleen, Bitter the Heart, Salty the Kidney, Pungent the Lung energy. Too much or too little of each taste will weaken each energy and disturb the balance they have with each other. Talking about taste with our kids helps them to bring awareness to the complex conversation we all have with the foods we eat.

Children love the Sweet taste: they are designed to suckle sweet breast milk as babies. The sweet taste Nourishes the Spleen or digestive energy so it’s understandable that children favour this taste. Building a strong digestion is their body’s primary job in early years. Chinese medicine connects the digestion with the nervous system, learning and thinking. A lack of this flavour will leave wanting the development of the brain and gut, and hence their ability to ‘digest life’. However, excess sweet taste causes weakness. Many people believe sweet food is children’s food. Kids eat lollies and that’s that. It is true that children love the sweet taste and can consume much more than adults before they become satiated of the desire. Giving them nutrient dense sweet foods will help them reach satiation naturally. Refined sugar will only cause addiction.

Considering the wisdom of Chinese Medicine, excess sweet food will cause weakness and lassitude in the body and mind.

Weak Spleen energy causes:

• Easy bruising - lack of strong but supple boundaries in the capillaries,
• Prolapse of organs - the Spleen’s holding energy is compromised,
• Allergies - weepy, snotty over-reactivity of the immune system due to weak boundaries

People with weak Spleen energy lack strong emotional boundaries, suffer from weakened will, laziness and cowardice. They lack the very attributes they need to resist the temptation of many modern non-foods, not to mention drug and emotional addiction, moral ambiguity and spiritual apathy. In fact, it is this very weakness in the body which causes desire for more and more Spleen weakening foods. Focusing on strengthening the spleen in childhood will immunise our children from many modern ills. Fortunately, animal foods such as quality pasture raised eggs and chicken, pork and raw dairy foods taste sweet and strengthen the Spleen more than other sweet foods. So you can have your cake and eat it - as long as it’s not always cake.

Guiding them gently to build other tastes is a long process. The order in which children develop tastes differs for each child but generally they develop in this order: sweet, sour, salty, bitter, pungent. Very young children don’t tend to want pungent food but ask any Thai mother and they’ll tell you they get used to it.

As an infant begins to be interested in food, they may reach for your plate. Encouraging them to try all different tastes at an early age will help with taste diversity later. If you’re eating foods that an infant can easily digest, this will only Nourish them. When a child’s teeth reflect their readiness to eat grains (they have molars) they can eat bread. Before this time, it may help to avoid it as a main food.

Using play will help encourage children to become used to different tastes. Talking about what the taste’s colour is will engage a 4 year old. Taking imaginative journeys into the body with the taste as they eat it will help older children. Using the Chinese guide and explaining the special powers each taste energy have will begin many wonderful conversations with any child over 8. Make it up. Who knows your intuition will probably be right: Brussel Sprouts just may make your blood shine with a glow that we can see on the outside.

Teenagers will agree that balancing all the tastes will, like a mixed farm or biologically diverse eco-system, ensure a stronger, more sustainable body.

The Tangled Web

We don’t exist in a vacuum. There are many influences our children will assimilate into their vision of the world. How do we deal with what we may see as destructive influences without causing harm ourselves? How do we protect and not suppress? And how do we remain a part of our community without diluting our choices?

Gifting

Often children are given food as ‘treats’ from well meaning friends and family. It is a very strange custom to offer as a ‘treat’ a refined sweetened food that is little more than poison. How do we acknowledge the gift without offending but at the same time, protect our children from the damage such non-foods can do?

When children are very young, friends and family need to be approached gently and away from the situation. Sharing our preferences and requesting their support is tough but failing to do so will inevitably cause disharmony which will more likely be placed upon the shoulders of the children. Suggesting other gifts and treats that are made with unrefined sweeteners will go a long way to helping those who support us to align with our wishes.

As they grow, children will be exposed to non-foods more and more. We can take each opportunity to teach the importance of choosing life affirming foods. Using stories and pictures to explain the damage refined sugar or vegetable oil do to the body for example, will help. My children know I’m a Super Hero. My pseudonym is The Nourisher - whose arch enemy - The Junk Food Giant - is set to take over the world. We have an agreement that when the Junk Food Giant comes to them (they are offered junk) they will thank the person offering for the gift but decline the food. They then come home and tell The Nourisher what they did. A big victory celebration ensues, culminating in The Nourisher concocting some healthy home made sweet treat and rewarding them for their bravery. This game is a lot of fun. By the way, you’re welcome to borrow the name. It’s only imaginary anyway: The Nourisher’s greatest victory will be when each family on the planet has a Super Hero wielding their powers of Nourishment to support the other Super Heroes in their family and field of influence.

Older children can be encouraged to make their own sweet treats to share with their friends and family. Gifting is a two-sided game, and treats made by hand will mean so much more than rubbish bought at a shop.

Culture is something we create together. As parents, we can create the culture we wish our children to be Nourished by. We can choose those aspects of our common culture we wish to expose our children to and we have to right to protect them from those aspects we don’t. At the very least we can educate them of the consequences of their choices, tempering our cautions with positive messages about life affirming decisions. Relying on children to choose from the common culture what is best for them is not appropriate. It is neglectful to leave our children to decide what choices are best for themselves. Not the least of which reasons for this is the fact that our bodies are not sophisticated enough to discern between real food and chemically concocted corporate trickery. We need to ask ourselves, where does our responsibility stop?

Power

Whew! Big issue here. How many times has The Nourisher been accused of over-controlling food choices, causing emotional damage to children by denying friends and family the ‘right’ to poison them? Countless, my friends, countless. How many times have my children adamantly refused to eat what is on their plate? Quite a few.

The important thing to remember is that a well Nourished person needs not control. When a person is playing power games, they are not getting what they need. Rather than engage in battle, we can find out what a child really needs when they are making a grab for power. Many children, especially those between 4 and 10 years old, want to assert more control over their food. They may refuse to try new foods or cry every time they sit down to dinner. Adding to their already distressed state by punishing or controlling them will not Nourish their needs. We can find out what their needs are and work with them to get them met. Younger children may respond to play, older children may enjoy leading the rest of the family in food choices. But all children will enjoy being involved in making the food, taking on more and more responsibility as they grow. If they know what they’re eating, they’re more likely to enjoy eating it.

The same goes with family and friends. Often they need to share with your children and food is a great way to do this. While neither we parents, nor our children should be responsible for others’ needs and feelings of rejection when they’re not met, we have needs too. Acknowledging their needs and stating our own will go a long way to bringing peace but giving in to others’ insistence will only cause resentment.

Self Nourishment

As children grow into adults, they are able to make more of their own decisions around food. There comes a time when they are exposed to many different types of food and food-like substances. Now comes the real test: if they have learned that food affects their body; if they’ve spent time inside their body, feeling the effect of different foods; if they understand the needs of their physical form and have respect for it; surely they will be guided to the best choices. They’ll watch their friends treat food as a hole filler or a drug. They’ll witness wicked marketing techniques designed to control their bodies and its desires. There will come a time when we will withdraw from responsibility for food choices and our children will confidently stride into the world, trusting their ability to create strength, abundance and peace through the alchemy of eating.

Animal Food

It is fashionable, at the moment, to eat a more vegetable based diet. While this may be apropriate for a full grown human with a more sedentary lifestyle such as our 50 year old meditator, it is not for growing children and fertile adults.

Every isolated, pre-industrial culture studied by Weston A Price early last century, from every region on the Earth, had particular sacred foods for children and fertility. All these foods were animal foods, high in animal fat and dense in fat soluble vitamins, cholesterol and minerals. Weston Price found groups of the same racial stock who had been exposed to modern foods (sugar, flour, vegetable oil and tea), suffered disease and growth retardation identical to those he observed in his ‘civilised’ countrymen.

By eating nutrient dense animal foods, our children will grow up with strong bones, cavity-free teeth, good immune systems, and balanced nervous systems and hormones. They won’t be prone to allergies, addiction or chronic disease all of which were unknown to our more Nourished ancestors. Examples of these nutrient dense foods are butter and raw milk from grass-fed cows, eggs from pasture-fed chickens, bone broths, seafoods and meat with its full contingent of fat. In short, our children need these foods to create their bodies in the way that their genetic blueprint dictates. Luckily, they love these foods very much.

Confusion comes when they come across children and adults who choose to not eat animals.

There is a risk that opposing attitudes may grow between animal eating families and vegetarian families (remember that children’s TV show, ‘Dinotopia’: the goodly, law abiding citizens within the city walls were vegetarian and the crass, base, ill-mannered outlaws ate meat).

Explaining to children the function of less dense, vegetable based diets as a natural expression of a more spiritually focussed life - or as a way to more easily affect one, as their religious inventors intended - will help them develop understanding and compassion for this choice.

As animal-eating people, we choose to create the physical form first, which is how we respect Nature and the ‘natural way of things’, as our ancestors did. We may later, naturally, as we enter the end of our life and no longer need to create or re-create the physical form, wish to diminish the denseness of our connection with matter and Nourish the spiritual. However, never will changing our diet make us closer to God, nor will abstinence from any natural desires. On the contrary, forcing nature to bend to our will only cause corruption. The history of our churches demonising sexuality and forcing abstinence and the consequence of this is a point in fact.

Making conscious choices as to how the animals we eat live and die and expressing gratitude for their part in the circle of life, helps to celebrate our choice to honour the physical AND the spiritual.

Praying with gratitude to the animal as we eat it, exposing children to traditional hunting and farming cultures and taking them to farms we get our animal foods from will lessen the ’separation between life and death’ which our culture imbibes in them.

Some children may not like the taste of some animal foods. Again, training tastes by asking that they at least try it and then giving them another nutrient dense option will make sure they’re Nourished.

What you Nourish Grows

“How do they become one flesh? As if she were gold receiving purest gold, the woman receives the man’s seed with rich pleasure, and within her it is nourished, cherished, and refined. It is mingled with her own substance and she then returns it as a child!” - St. John Chrysostom.

But the Nourishment doesn’t stop there. Think of the kitchen as the womb of the family. Children are continuously Nourished, cherished and refined until they are truly able to take full responsibility for their own Nourishment. We have given them the gift of consciously performing this incredible alchemical gift of recreation that is preparing and eating food, consciously becoming one flesh with all that is, over and over. This way, we all live a life of abundant meaning, where spirit and matter are one. Blessed Be.

Answer: 8 liters a week for 2 children is about a gallon a week–this is perfectly fine.

Question: I understand that commercial dehydration methods oxidize cholesterol in powdered milk. However I am wondering what happens with cholesterol in milk when milk is just pasteurized and not powdered. Does cholesterol still get oxidized? Jasmina

Answer: I do not know for sure, but it is quite possible that some of the cholesterol is oxidized during pasteurization, as this is done by rushing a thin layer of milk across a super heated plate. So there is lots of exposure to oxygen.

Question: Also I would like to know whether milk used for making raw cheese is usually homogenized or not. Jasmina

Answer: Regarding cheese, the answer is no for most natural and hard cheese varieties like Cheddar. However for some soft cheeses the milk is homogenised. Homogenisation does two important things for the manufacturer.
1. Increased yield of high fat and high moisture varieties. For example tarditional feta cheese has a moisture level of 50-54%, that is half water. Homogenised fat cheese can easily be 65% moisture so nearly 2/3rds water. A nice way to increase profits.
2. Homogenised fat is whiter and so homogenisation is often used where the consumer prefers white to yellow cheese.

Question: I will be 60 yrs old on 15 July 08. My Doctor tells me I need to reduce my cholesterol.
On 11 Jan 08, my total chol. was -7.4, Trig -0.9, HDL -2.3, Chol/HDL -3.2, VLDL -0.4, LDL -4.7
On 21 Apr 08, my total chol. was -5.8, Trig -1.1, HDL -1.6, Chol/HDL -3.6, VLDL -0.5, LDL -3.7
I have been using good coconut oil for a couple of years but it doesn’t look like it has helped reduction of my cholesterol. I stopped using it sometime before January. After that, my cholesterol went down. I started weight training sometime in March and have been taking 2 capsules every day of good krill oil, maybe that helped? Anyway, I really would like to bring it closer to 5 and increase my HDL. Can you tell me some foods to include and foods to avoid to reduce my Cholesterol? Regina

Answer: I would not worry about your cholesterol. For women, the higher your cholesterol, the longer you live. Sally

Question: My kids love seafood, but how much seafood can they eat without getting affected with mercury levels? Mum

Answer: If you have good gut flora, you are protected from mercury in fish. I would not stop eating fish but be sure to get some lacto-fermented foods in their diet.

Question: I have been convinced of the benefits of raw milk for a long while now, but now that I am pregnant I am worried about toxoplasmosis and passing this to my unborn baby. What do you advise during pregnancy? Nisha

Answer: We recommend one quart per day of raw whole milk from pasteured cows for pregnant women. The key is that the cows are on pasture, then there is no risk of pathogens. Sally

Question: If I can’t drink or source raw milk, is it better to drink pasteurised organic rather than nothing at all? Nisha

Answer: It is better to eat cheese, yoghurt and bone broths. But if you do drink pasteurized milk, it should be WHOLE milk. Best, Sally

Question: Is raw milk which has soured due to age (in the refrigerator) still just as good as fresher raw milk which has been allowed to sour on the counter for a day or two?

Answer: My guess is that they are just as good, but I don’t know of any research on this. Sally

Question: I have been making Beet Kvass, and my family loves it. But a found that when I start using it
daily (1/4cup) that after about 1 day, I become very constipated, and nothing herbal or food wise seems to undo the constipation, the only thing that works is to stop taking the beet kvass. I’d like to understand why this might be happening so that I can supply my body with what it needs and be able to successfully drink the beet kvass, because I really love the taste of it and also love the health benefits as a fermented drink that it can give me. My family does not have this reaction. Could Sally shed some light on what could possibly be the nutritional need that I need to address to be able to avoid this problem.. I don’t have any health issues, and normally I have no problem with constipation. Jane Schmitt

Answer: This is really a mystery. The overwhelming reaction to beet kvass is that it helps constipation. Of course, you should stop for the time being. Perhaps do a course of probiotics and then try the beet kvass again? Let me know what happens. Sally

1. Breastfeeding

Breastmilk provides the best nutrition for your baby, it protects baby from illness and infection, and is available instantly at the right temperature with no need for packaging or chemicals for preparation or sterilisation.

There are also numerous benefits for the nursing mother: an increased sense of bonding with your baby; a decreased risk of developing breast or ovarian cancer, heart disease and osteoporosis; and stimulation of hormones which alleviate the symptoms of tiredness and depression that often occur in the weeks after birth.

In the early days of breastfeeding, most mothers need to use breastpads to absorb leaking milk while feeding or in the case of let-down. Cloth breastpads are reuseable, soft, absorbent and gentle on tender nipples.

If breastfeeding is not possible for you, look into organisations such as Mother’s Milk Bank or make your own nutritious baby formula.

2. Use more cloth nappies and cloth wipes or go Nappy Free!

Nappies

Single-use nappies generate an enormous amount of waste that sits in landfill for decades if not longer. Reduce waste by using cloth nappies. This is also a great way to save money (unless you get addicted to buying the great variety of gorgeous and very cute modern cloth nappies that are now available!).

The white towelling squares of the time of our own babyhood and earlier were the ultimate in reuseable cloth. These nappies would be used for a number of babies and when there were no more babies in the house, they would continue their useful life for wiping up spills and as dusting rags.

Modern cloth nappies come in a range of shapes and styles – the OzCloth Nappies site has collected all the most frequently asked questions to provide you with a good introduction to the topic and can help you to decide which nappies will best suit your lifestyle, fashion sense and budget!

Washing cloth nappies is easy and straightforward – no more dunking in the toilet and soaking in buckets of chemicals followed by boiling in a copper! Tip off the solids into the toilet, store the nappy in a dry pail till there is a washerload’s worth, then wash using a small amount of detergent and no fabric softener. Be energy efficient and hang the nappies to line dry outdoors and take advantage of the antibacterial and bleaching action of the sun.

You can ease into cloth nappies by using them at home only, but most people find that they soon want to show off their cute cloth nappies when out and about as well.

New fabrics such as hemp and bamboo provide alternatives to cotton if your baby’s skin reacts to cotton nappies.

In general, cloth nappy babies toilet train earlier than babies who wear disposables.

Wipes

Use cloth wipes moistened with a little warm water or a spritz of a solution made from essential oils or a decoction such as camomile tea. They can be washed together with the nappies. Buy a stash or make your own by cutting up an old Tshirt. Knit fabric does not fray too much so there is no need to finish the edges. To make a longer lasting cloth wipe, take two layers of fabric, at least one must be absorbent (such as cotton, flannelette, bamboo or hemp fabric) but the other may be something like microfleece or polar fleece and sew them together.

Go Nappy free

If you want to reduce nappy usage even further, you may like to begin early pottying with your baby – something you can do right from birth. This is called elimination communication or infant potty training and takes advantage of the fact that babies are aware of their elimination right from birth. By responding to your baby’s squirms and fussiness and offering them a potty or other alternative, you will reduce nappy use and many people find that their babies are completely toilet trained during their second year (rather than into their third or fourth as is the case for many disposible nappy wearing toddlers), thus reducing both resource usage and waste. For more information: Raising Baby Nappy Free.

3. Chemicals in the home

Offgassing

Many many products such as carpet, treated fabrics, chipboard and compressed wood furniture, paints, stains, glues and plastics release a variety of toxic chemicals into the air, sometimes for weeks or even years after production. These chemicals include formaldehyde and benzene, and as a group are known as VOCs – volatile organic compounds. The offgassing that occurs from these products is a particular concern around babies as they breathe faster and shallower than adults, so take more into their lungs. Select new products for your baby based on organic products or those that have been treated to minimise offgassing.

If standard products are your only option, then air them well for at least several weeks before using them with your baby and then only use them in a well-ventilated room.

Skin products

Supermarket and pharmacy shelves are stacked with bottles and jars of creams, lotions, soaps, balms and other such stuff for your baby’s skin. Many are concocted from synthetic chemicals and more and more children are becoming sensitised and intolerant of such chemicals.

Most babies do not get very dirty – at least not until they are crawling around and playing in the mud! Consequently, they do not need soaps and shampoos to remove dirt and will be fine with a warm bath in plain water. This will not dry the skin so much and less moisturiser, if any, will be needed. Purchase items with natural products where possible, or make your own.

Diluted apple cider vinegar is a great way to clean baby’s hair and control/reduce cradle cap, but in general warm water should suffice while they are little.

Cleaning products

Most household cleaning jobs can be performed with warm water, vinegar, sodium bicarbonate, soap and a bit of elbow grease! A comprehensive list of green cleaning recipes and methods can be found here.

4. Babywearing

Dispense with a heavy bulky pram or stroller and hold your baby close and comfortably using a sling, pouch, wrap or other baby carrier. The use of slings calms babies and makes it possible for a parent to have one or both hands free to attend to other children or tasks around the house. They are also very convenient for carrying a baby on outings to the beach, the shops or when dropping off and picking up older children at school with no need to struggle with putting up or collapsing a pram and loading it into the car.

A fun quiz to help you decide which carrier would be best for you is at Thriving Babies

5. Clothing

A number of new, sustainably-produced fibres such as hemp, bamboo, wild nettle and others, are now used in baby clothing so look out for them as well as for organic cotton and wool.

Babies grow so quickly that their cute little clothing no longer fits well before it is worn out. Reduce resource usage in growing or making fibre, manufacturing and transport of clothing by passing on the outgrown items to another family. If you don’t know anyone with a child smaller than yours, consider giving clean good condition clothing to a charitable organisation such as St Vincent de Paul or the Salvos, or use your local Freecycle group to pass items on to someone else who will use them.

Repair favourite clothing – don’t be alarmed by the thought of needle and thread or a sewing machine! Make a feature of a patch or use a novelty button if you can’t find a perfect match. Check online for detailed instructions for making clothing repairs.

If there is an item of clothing that you or your child is particularly fond of, then you can reuse the fabric in another item of clothing or a quilt. There are numerous online communities dedicated to reconstructed clothing. One blog I enjoy about the topic is Consumption Rebellion and and an ever changing source of inspiration is at the Reconstructed Clothing Tribe.

6. Baby led solids

When your baby begins to eat solid foods, there is no need to be dependent on bought jars of pureed baby food. Indeed, there is no need for mushed food at all. Give your baby pieces of food to hold and to nibble or chew at. Try the approach of baby led solids.

Including your baby in family meals from early on develops a sense of inclusion and family bonding. It also saves time and makes food preparation easier enabling your child to develop the muscles and techniques of chewing which later are important for good speech development.

7. Co-sleeping

No need for a dedicated nursery for your newborn – have your baby sleep in the same room as you. Not only can you lie and watch the incomparable beauty of a sleeping baby, but you can reduce the disturbance in the night when you have to get up for feeds and nappy changes.

Follow the guidelines for safe co-sleeping and enjoy snuggling up to your baby with no need to even get out of bed on a cold night to breastfeed. Read Dr Sarah Buckley’s article: The Cosiness of Co-Sleeping

8. Children’s toys and playthings

Select only a small number of toys and try to find ones made of natural materials to reduce the amount of plastics in your child’s environment. Simple items with a variety of uses that stimulate the imagination, such as wooden blocks, soft dolls and coloured cloths (not to mention the perennial favourite of cardboard boxes!) generally have a greater ongoing appeal to children than complicated items with a single use.

Give your child real things to play with and to use – measuring cups and a bowl of water (in a water-friendly place and warm weather!), saucepan lids and chopsticks (instant drum kit), paper and tape… Make your own playdough with the child in a variety of colours – even add sparkles if you wish. Keep a box of old clothes for dressing up: include hats, scarves, glasses frames, shoes, capes, shirts, belts, pants, etc. and be prepared to participate with your child(ren) amid gales of laughter. Have a box (regularly culled) of recycling and discarded items for craft. Buy masking tape in bulk, make your own glue (flour, water, salt), reuse fabric, paper, string and more.

Many regions have a Toy Library where, for a small annual fee, a variety of high quality toys and games can be borrowed. You can try out different toys and puzzles prior to purchase, or just borrow, play and return.

9. Real activities

Include your toddlers and children in gardening, cooking and other real activities. Encourage their help to grow food such as lettuce and herbs for the family. You might set aside a special patch for each child and they can choose what to grow – vegetables, flowers, herbs. The most delicious vegetables are always those that you pick and eat straight from your own garden!

From toddlerhood and up, children enjoy helping in the kitchen: cooking, measuring, stirring, and even washing up. It may take longer to cook and clean up with your little helper at your side, however, the investment in time while your child is young will pay off later when they value their own capability in cooking and being able to prepare food from scratch.

10. Spend time, not money

Possibly the most important gifts we can give to our children are our time and attention – both resource and waste-free. Cliché though it may seem, children grow up quickly so spend more time with them having experiences and spending less money on stuff.

There are many things to do with your children: sing songs, dance, go for a very slow walk and view the wonders of the world at a toddler’s pace, read a book, read a poem, tell a story, cook together, build sand castles together, throw pebbles into puddles, make a daisy chain, blow a dandelion clock, climb a tree, roll down a hill, collect stones, draw leaves, make collages, look at things through a magnifying glass, make leaf boats and float them in the bath tub…the list is endless.

Taking simple steps like these towards greener parenting will leave our world in a better condition for our children, so remember to Reduce, Reuse, Repair, Reconstruct and Recycle.

She then mentioned that she had had a 37 hour labour followed by a caesarean and was dealing with severe breastfeeding pain when she met her baby.

How realistic is that?

Unfortunately it’s very realistic. In fact, with caesarean rates at around 30% and even 50% in many private hospitals as well as other intervention in around 80% of births, babies are born into this kind of experience every day. This, however, is not the way nature intended it. Left to birth naturally, women and babies can experience enormous love and, yes, ecstasy during the birthing process.

I have written about my experiences of birthing and early mothering in relation to nutrition before but never ventured into the experience of birth itself. Perhaps at some time I will feel able to put into words the gifts of awe and power that my three birthings bestowed upon me. For now, I’ll leave it up to great women such as Sarah J Buckley.

If you’re looking for a comprehensive book about birth “Gentle Birthing, Gentle Mothering” is it. Including some 27 essays about the many facets of birth, Sarah J Buckley’s manifesto contains the answer to almost any quandary you or your support people may have about your birthing and parenting choices.

A prolific writer, Sarah has published most of the work in the book in several publications around the world over the past 10 years. She has kept each essay intact but has updated and reworked them slightly, offering them as chapters in her book. The book’s value as a resource is immeasurable because you can copy one or two articles at a time to give to your family, midwife or doctor if need be. Each article is well researched and referenced and Sarah points to many avenues of further learning in her excellent resources section.

The book is a wonderful balance of Sarah’s personal experience of birth and parenting, and her scientific research into the medical aspects of pregnancy and birth such as ultrasounds and epidurals. Maybe you have wondered whether, indeed, ultrasound is as safe as your obstetrician says – Sarah presents the research and the questions raised and argues that, in fact, there is certainly cause for concern about the possible long term effects of the frequent, high powered ultrasound scans that are conducted throughout most women’s pregnancies today.

Chapter 13 “Undisturbed Birth - Mother Nature’s Blueprint for Safety, Ease and Ecstasy” is my favourite essay and worth buying the book for. It traces the beautiful hormonal dance a naturally birthing body performs if left well alone. It also speaks about what happens if it is tripped up and trampled on by well meaning but overbearing dance partners ie. obstetricians.

Sarah tells the story of a natural birth; of what each stage of birth feels like if hormones are left to express themselves naturally, climaxing in a rush of ecstasy and love when a new human emerges and breast feeding begins. This is not “a nonsense”. This is not a fairy story. This is in fact more realistic than the stories of terror and violence most modern women tell (or don’t tell).

Sarah’s story of birth is quite realistic. This story promises to bring about great healing. This story promises that it is realistic to expect following a naturally ecstatic birth to “fall in love” with your child. And I promise it is most definitely realistic to expect that reading Sarah’s book will bring you closer to birthing in the way nature intends. I whole hearted recommend this book for any women intending to birth or any person intending to support a women who is birthing. In fact, I recommend this book for any person whose deepest wish is to heal the earth because for Sarah and her contemporaries, to heal birth is to heal the earth.

Dr Sarah J Buckley is a GP, mother of four and author of “Gentle Birth, Gentle Mothering: The wisdom and science of gentle choices in pregnancy, birth, and parenting.”

You can purchase her book from sarahjbuckley.com

You can read more articles by Sarah Buckley here.