Do you know what you are feeding your kids?

When my oldest was between the ages of 3 and 4, she began to act out very badly. Extremely bad at times. She once, threatened me that she “would hit me with a hammer in the head until I was dead!” Our kids aren’t allowed to watch anything much more violent than Disney. I was very concerned and took her to a counselor that diagnosed her with ADHD. I researched everything I could on the subject. I understood some of the diagnosis but not with everything. My mother in law suggested that I look into The Feingold Diet. I bought his book Why Can’t My Child Behave and instantly started reading it. Within a few days, I had most of us on this diet. I was so shocked to read  about the ingrediants in most processed food. I was speachless for a while.

The diet was going great and we INSTANTLY saw a change in our oldest. She was paying attention and alert to everything around her. She was nice to be around too. I learned a lot while doing the diet. Unfortunately, we were only to stick to the diet for about 6 months due to gutting/moving into our new house, convenience and cost but the  long term effects are still visible to all those who have known us a long time. She is still an avid learner and loves sports as long as she is challenged. We will occasionally go back to the diet when we see her behavior get out of hand.

Now we are getting to what this post is really about. I am going to show you some pictures of some things I have come across the last couple of days.

This is Trisodium Phosphate. It is sold in home improvement stores in the cleaners/paint remover asiles. The Wikipedia definintion of this product is as follows: Sodium phosphate (TSP, E339) is a cleaning agent, food additive, stain remover and degreaser. Trisodium phosphate was at one time extensively used in formulations for a wide variety of consumer grade soaps and detergents, but ecological problems have largely ended that practice, at least in the western world. Substitutes are not as effective, but the raw chemical can be bought in bulk to add to underpowered detergents. TSP is still sold, and used, as a cleaning agent, but during the late 1960s in the United States,^{[citation needed]} government regulators in seventeen states determined that overuse led to a series of ecological problems.^[3] 

The next 2 pictures are taken in my house as I was about to throw some boxes away.

 

 

This is 2 major name brand cereals. Most people give these cereals to their infants that are learning to pick things up with their fingers and snack. The “KIX”s love to “CHEER”io when they learn to eat with these cereals. As you can tell, they are made by the same company and they support heath and the enviroment. Didn’t I see that TSP is NOT safe for the environment? Ok, so why are we feeding this to our children? I, probably like you, thought that these were safe, nutritional, alternative to all that sugary stuff in the fun boxes. I have held out on buying these sugary types of cereals because, well, because they are full of sugar, preservatives, colors (don’t get me started on red#40 or some of the others) and who knows what else is in “artificial flavors”.

I thought I was buying good when I bought these products because of the vitamins and minerals, they were name brand and were made by a very big company that seemed to care about the things I do. I knew that one of these products were in my Feingold diet but my publishing date is outdated now. I have a feeling this isn’t in the safe list anymore. I am very concerned about what my kids eat. Why are all of us not more concerned, I can understand that convenience is HUGE. It is here too but I do try to steer clear of obvious things, like trisodium phosphate. Maybe it’s something that you didn’t know. I didn’t know any of this til I read the Feingold Diet.

Maybe that is why I am here as Because Mama Said So.  I am here to help others understand that it’s not everything you think something is. Whatever the reason, maybe I helped one more person see the junk that is being fed to our children and passed off as a good thing.

Happy, HEALTHY Kids

My husband wrote a blog recently and I was in a conversation on Twitter about the same time on the subject of vaccines. Just to go ahead and throw it out there, our children don’t have vaccines and they will not get them until they are adults, then that would be their wish to do so. I am very adamant about their health and well-being. I love my children more than words could ever describe. So wouldn’t it make sense that we would do everything in our power to protect them? We feel we are. See, at the age of 15 months our oldest child got sick from daycare. It started out as a cold, then became an upper respiratory infection, then bronchitis, then it became pneumonia. Our beautiful little girl was so sick. During all this, she had developed an ear infection and several types of yeast infections because of all of the antibiotics. By the time she turned 2, she was much better and hadn’t had any infections in a couple of months. So the responsible parents we were, we took her in to get her vaccines caught up. She had been so sick that we had to put her routine vaccines on hold till she was better. Her first set of shots was the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella). That was a Friday and she began her fever right away around 101-102. We just assumed it was going to wear off and decided to spend the weekend at the beach with my husband’s family. By Saturday afternoon, her fever had not changed at all and we were out of Tylenol. My husband decided to go down the street to a grocery store for some more. When he came back, K1 had her feet under my shirt on my ribs (she was so hot). He asked was she ok. I had not actually looked at her, but she wasn’t whining and complaining, so I had said I think so. That’s when things completely changed and not for the better. My husband scooped her up into his arms yelling at me to call 911. His mom began mouth-to-mouth. K1 was a dark purple/blue color and foam was coming from her mouth. She was completely non-responsive. When the paramedics got there, she was conscious but lethargic. Her temp was 106.5 when they took it. They put her in the ambulance and we took off the hospital. When we got there, she was a rush patient. We went straight in and the nurses and doctors started poking and prodding her. Her temp was 105.1 at that time. They ran every test imaginable. The only thing they came up with was febrile seizure, which is caused by a fever. This was the same fever she had since her vaccine. The fever started within 30 minutes of the shot and it never was less than 101. One doctor was asking about recent activities and we included the vaccine. He told us then that was more than likely the cause of this seizure.

From there, we started do lots of research on seizures and on vaccines. The two was mentioned a lot together. A LOT. We were lucky, the seizure that K1 had doesn’t cause damage, many times, the seizures from the vaccine does. While doing the research, we discovered that vaccines contain such things as mercury and embryos. Neither of which, I really want to put in my child. We decided at that time we were going to postpone vaccines for a while till we could get as many facts as we could find. I learned that vaccines, in a first world setting, is not needed. In a first world setting, you have plumping, septic/sewage, electricity, doctors, hospitals, medicines and such clean things. Before the 1950’s polio was a death sentence, there hasn’t been a confirmed true case of polio since then. What we have now, are the side effects of any of these diseases. Where do we catch them? Inside of a syringe in a vaccine. K1 had chickenpox the day after receiving her vaccine for chickenpox. In a first world setting, we are clean and getting cleaner every day. We do not live in a place where outhouses are still being used that soaks into the ground and then into the water. We do not live in a place where people have open sores that ooze with no medicine or medical treatments. Yes, I know we have homeless and underprivileged that live in these conditions, but they do have access to free clinics and medicines. Plus most were not born into these conditions and at some time have received vaccines.

With all of this being said. Do I believe vaccines are for everybody? No, I don’t. They are not for my family. Are they for your family? Maybe, I don’t know. They are a personal choice that a parent has the right to make. Unfortunately, the CDC, most doctors, schools, daycare’s want you to think your child is protected by these vaccines and that they are mandatory. They are not. They are a choice. Not a simple choice, but none the less, a choice. The state of South Carolina told us that we have to have vaccines before any of our children could enter the public school system. That is not true. Children can attend school without vaccines. You may have to provide the state with a health form, a declaration of exemption. You will have to have a reason, either medical or religious. Most cases, religious can be a simple “I don’t belive in my heart that it is ethical to inject a dormant disease into my child”.

I know this post is very controversial. Please read this and understand this is the choice my husband and I have made for the health of our children. This is the right thing for us. What you choose for your child is up to you but do know there is more to the vaccine than what you traditionally hear from your pediatrician. In the end, I hope I have helped somebody make a decsion or helped someone to look for more information. There is no reason to not know everything before putting something in your child.

http://www.nvic.org/