As I told you earlier today, we have been trying to diagnosis why Kiddo was having some raging tantrums all of a sudden, and we thought we had the school issues resolved, but they were still occurring. So as providence had it, this book arrived RIGHT when we needed it! The author is a behavior nutritionist, or as he calls himself, "the last resort". When all else has failed, then people come to him. And miracously he can usually resolve the behavior issues! So I was very interested in reading the book and seeing if anything could apply to our situation!
Synopsis: Here’s a book for every parent whose child suffers from mood swings, allergies, ear infections, eczema, anxiety, tantrums, ADD/ADHD, picky eating, lack of growth, and a host of other physical, behavioral, or developmental problems.
Dorfman is a sought-after nutritionist, whose typical family in her practice comes to her after already having seen three or more medical specialists. What’s Eating Your Child? reveals the hidden connections between nutrition and chronic childhood ailments, while giving parents simple, straightforward tools, to understand and solve their children’s problems.
Grounded in cutting-edge science, and filled with case studies, What’s Eating Your Child? reveals that what children eat affects how they thrive. Included are:
Review: First, let me say "WOW". The things I had NO idea that could cause behavior changes in a child, was just brilliantly stunning! I was so enthralled that I devoured this book in 2 days, then went back and saw where Kiddo's behavior fit in, and looked for the causes. If you have kids, this is one of the four books you MUST have! Even if nothing ever applies to YOUR child, it might apply to a child in their class, a family member's child, or a friend's child!
I loved how the author broke the book down into chapters by areas of behavior issue, and gave a case study that any parent could relate to and how they tested and resolved the problem. She also gives you sidebars to address additional info, new studies or a list of behaviors. All together it makes the book VERY easy to read and one where it would be easy to copy sections to discuss with your child's doctor. My favorite chapter title was "Hyper and Annoying: Otherwise Known as Tyler and Oscar". You know with a title like that that the chapter will be easily accessible to non-medical readers!
Her advice on HOW to speak to your pediatrician was VERY helpful as well- don't overwhelm them with info. Ask pointed questions and if giving them a copy of a study, make it a 1/2 page document they can scan briefly. They don't have time to do more. And no, they may NOT have the answer- just like you and me, their brains can only hold so much info they can access at any given time, so if your child is reacting in a rare way to a food, they may not connect the dots. This is why parents need to study their child and their diets first, so they can provide the doctor with a valid list of combined symptoms, that will help him/her make a quick diagnosis.
Some of the more interesting things I learned:
Don't think this book can help you? See if your child has any of these behaviors:
Yup- ALL of these behaviors AND about 50 more, can be related to food sensitivities or allergies! Who knew?
And yes, the book really helped direct us in checking out Kiddo's diet and where some additional sugar may have come from and where it needed to be reined in. As she is now on Summer vacation, it is the perfect time for us to implement a drastically reduced sugar AND gluten diet, to see if it helps. While the school lunches were healthy and based on the USDA guidelines, the fact was that Kiddo was getting ALOT more bread, juice, ketchup (which she was NOT allowed at home) and fruit in sweetened juice than she had been getting when she wasn't at school.
This also could explain her meltdowns on the weekends (with drawl from sugar and excess gluten), and on days off. It also reinforced for me that we need to change to a different pediatrician, who is more understanding of these issues, and more importantly willing to write me a slip to ALLOW my child to bring her lunch, so I can make sure she is getting a healthy lunch of natural food like fruits and veggies, and less bread/artificial sugars. Not to mention drinking water or lactose free milk for snack and lunch, not juice!
Overall, I was VERY impressed with this book and I think it will provide us with the info we need to solve Kiddo's behavioral issues over the Summer. I truly recommend this book to EVERY parent!
About the Author: Kelly Dorfman, MS, LND is a leading nutritionist with twenty-nine years of clinical experience and a mother of three. Her specialty is developing nutrition and lifestyle strategies to address complex health problems from autism to bone loss to rare genetic disorders. Physicians and other medical professionals refer cases to her for insight when traditional methods do not attain optimal results
Disclosure / Disclaimer: I received this book, free of charge, for review purposes for this blog, from Workman Publishing.No other compensation, monetary or in kind, has been received or implied for this post. Nor was I told how to post about them.
Dorfman is a sought-after nutritionist, whose typical family in her practice comes to her after already having seen three or more medical specialists. What’s Eating Your Child? reveals the hidden connections between nutrition and chronic childhood ailments, while giving parents simple, straightforward tools, to understand and solve their children’s problems.
Grounded in cutting-edge science, and filled with case studies, What’s Eating Your Child? reveals that what children eat affects how they thrive. Included are:
- In-depth information on the surprising problems caused by gluten-intolerance, and—short of full-blown celiac disease—how difficult it is to diagnose.
- On why artificial sweeteners are worse than sugar
- Why soy milk is a poor substitute for cow’s milk
- How to cure sleep disorders with melatonin
- Cure hyperactivity with magnesium
- Avert anxiety with fish oil.
Review: First, let me say "WOW". The things I had NO idea that could cause behavior changes in a child, was just brilliantly stunning! I was so enthralled that I devoured this book in 2 days, then went back and saw where Kiddo's behavior fit in, and looked for the causes. If you have kids, this is one of the four books you MUST have! Even if nothing ever applies to YOUR child, it might apply to a child in their class, a family member's child, or a friend's child!
I loved how the author broke the book down into chapters by areas of behavior issue, and gave a case study that any parent could relate to and how they tested and resolved the problem. She also gives you sidebars to address additional info, new studies or a list of behaviors. All together it makes the book VERY easy to read and one where it would be easy to copy sections to discuss with your child's doctor. My favorite chapter title was "Hyper and Annoying: Otherwise Known as Tyler and Oscar". You know with a title like that that the chapter will be easily accessible to non-medical readers!
Her advice on HOW to speak to your pediatrician was VERY helpful as well- don't overwhelm them with info. Ask pointed questions and if giving them a copy of a study, make it a 1/2 page document they can scan briefly. They don't have time to do more. And no, they may NOT have the answer- just like you and me, their brains can only hold so much info they can access at any given time, so if your child is reacting in a rare way to a food, they may not connect the dots. This is why parents need to study their child and their diets first, so they can provide the doctor with a valid list of combined symptoms, that will help him/her make a quick diagnosis.
Some of the more interesting things I learned:
- bad behavior is frequently bad chemistry- the binary law of nutrition is that something is irritating the body or missing from the body.This is the basis to start to sort out your child's diet to see where the problem may be. Children can not express internal problems, but they CAN act out as a sign they are having them
- artificial sweeteners like aspartame, sucralose, saccharin, among others, can cause dizziness, MOOD changes, memory loss, depression, fatigue and INCREASED hunger. Some of that I knew already, but when you relate it to a child who can't seem to pay attention and appears hyper, you start to wonder!
- magnesium regulates blood sugar and promotes bone growth. It can often mellow out a hyper child (reducing blood sugar, reduces behavior outburst). White flour products are often LOW in magnesium, and most kids do not eat enough green veggies like spinach and chard, and most kids should get extra magnesium daily.
- if your child has low muscle tone, too much fiber can make things WORSE, and cause a host of colon problems.
- fishoil aka omega 3 fatty acids has been shown to treat hyperactivity, impulsivity, disruptive behavior and other learning problems. If the studies are kept up, it might one day REPLACE Ritalin! Again, alot of kids are not getting enough in their diets.
- if your child is not getting enough Zinc in their diet, they may have growth delays.
- every child shoud be taking a multi-vitamin to help offset any daily LOSES they may have of important minerals adn vitamins. Also gummy versions frequently have ADDED sugar and artificial colors, which can be irritating and cause allergic reactions in younger children! Who knew?
- The average person consumes 32 teaspoons of added sugar (processed sugar, added to our convenience foods) DAILY. That's about 3/4 cup of sugar! YIKES, no wonder our kids may seem hyper!
- more than 1 cup of juice per day
- more than 1 cup of sweetened milk per day, includes chocolate milk
- having a sweet breakfast (cereal, syrup, toaster pastries( and then having candy or dessert later during the day
Some signs your child is REACTIVE to sugar:
- Your child's behavior deteriorates after consuming alot of sugar, like at a birthday party
- You have a moody, aggressive, overly sensitive child who has a poor diet (ie is a picky eater)
- Your child prefers snacking to eating regular meals
- Your child throws tantrums begging for candy
Don't think this book can help you? See if your child has any of these behaviors:
- allergies
- belligerent/oppositional behavior
- chewing on clothing/objects
- clumsiness
- constant ear infections
- eczema
- gassiness/bloating
- overeating
- picky eating
- rashes
- reflux
- sleep problems
- temper tantrums
- tommy aches
Yup- ALL of these behaviors AND about 50 more, can be related to food sensitivities or allergies! Who knew?
And yes, the book really helped direct us in checking out Kiddo's diet and where some additional sugar may have come from and where it needed to be reined in. As she is now on Summer vacation, it is the perfect time for us to implement a drastically reduced sugar AND gluten diet, to see if it helps. While the school lunches were healthy and based on the USDA guidelines, the fact was that Kiddo was getting ALOT more bread, juice, ketchup (which she was NOT allowed at home) and fruit in sweetened juice than she had been getting when she wasn't at school.
This also could explain her meltdowns on the weekends (with drawl from sugar and excess gluten), and on days off. It also reinforced for me that we need to change to a different pediatrician, who is more understanding of these issues, and more importantly willing to write me a slip to ALLOW my child to bring her lunch, so I can make sure she is getting a healthy lunch of natural food like fruits and veggies, and less bread/artificial sugars. Not to mention drinking water or lactose free milk for snack and lunch, not juice!
Overall, I was VERY impressed with this book and I think it will provide us with the info we need to solve Kiddo's behavioral issues over the Summer. I truly recommend this book to EVERY parent!
About the Author: Kelly Dorfman, MS, LND is a leading nutritionist with twenty-nine years of clinical experience and a mother of three. Her specialty is developing nutrition and lifestyle strategies to address complex health problems from autism to bone loss to rare genetic disorders. Physicians and other medical professionals refer cases to her for insight when traditional methods do not attain optimal results
Disclosure / Disclaimer: I received this book, free of charge, for review purposes for this blog, from Workman Publishing.No other compensation, monetary or in kind, has been received or implied for this post. Nor was I told how to post about them.
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