WARREN KING, L.Ac.

Raising Healthy Children
by Warren King, L.Ac. 

I love working with children. They have so much life force and vitality, it usually doesn’t take much to stimulate the body to heal itself. Of course being healthy before and during pregnancy is an added boost to the child. It is good to cleanse the mother of toxins before conception and make sure their are no deficiencies of vitamins, minerals and essential fatty acids during pregnancy.

Just last week I saw a pregnant woman whose baby was breach. I had her hold a quartz crystal pointed down over her abdomen and visualize the baby’s head going downward, she called the next day to report that the baby had turned. That shows how baby’s are so sensitive, so the environment of a child must be protected, whether is be from TV or words that are not comforting and uplifting.

The birth experience should be protected as well. Childbirth should be a high and holy experience for all and is not a disease. Often in hospitals the child is taken from the mother, instead of being placed to her breast immediately and washed with chemical shampoos, and eyes doused with antibiotics. Breast feeding is so important for the baby, physically and emotionally, it should really be required in almost all cases when possible.

Babies are often giving a hepatitis B vaccination at birth. That is a disease you may get as an IV drug user or prostitute, but why give a newborn, whose immune system isn’t even developed a shot like that before they have even been properly introduced to the earth. The child will likely get another 48 different vaccines by the time they are 6. This is a grand experiment and nobody knows what kind of chronic or autoimmune diseases may manifest from these injections. Why do we need a chickenpox vaccine?  Just so parents don’t have to miss a few days of work. Fortunately mercury is being removed from most vaccines, but now aluminum, a know neurotoxin, is replacing it.

The first foods given after 6 months should be organic and easy to digest, and free of common allergens. Strained squash, peas, carrots and brown rice are often good first foods. Sometimes I have the mother add some seaweed, like nori, to the baby food for minerals.  Wheat, corn, milk products, peanuts, oranges, sugar and meat are not good to add in infancy. Formulas often have sugar and low quality fats like palm oil and a base like milk or soy that is not a good source of nutrition for a baby. Young children should get used to drinking water, but not tap water which often has chemicals added such as chlorine and fluoride as well as unintentional chemicals such as prescription drugs. Even toothpaste has a warning saying to use only a pea sized dose and call poison control is swallowed. What child doesn’t swallow any toothpaste and chemicals are readily absorbable in the mucous membranes of the mouth.

Children’s immune system need challenges to develop. That is why young children get infections regularly. A fever is not illness, it is the body’s healthy immune response to an attack. The body is learning what is me and what is not me. If you take tylenol or other drugs to lower a 102 fever, when the body wants 104, then you stop a natural process and may trade in an acute illness with something more chronic.

Children don’t often need to take much besides proper nutrition. A good chewable multi, some calcium magnesium, often some acidophilus and fish oil is all that many children need for healing. Homeopathy works wonderfully in children and can be added for colds, flu, rashes, ear infections, stomach aches, etc… Of course there are other healing modalities such as acupressure, laser acupuncture, reflexology, herbology, and chiropractic.   Flower essences are amazing for working on emotional issues and conflicts.

I saw a child last week that needed herbs that are usually reserved for adults with adrenal exhaustion. The child looked depleted and needed many remedies, some for detoxing.  Finally the mother admitted taking a drug to abort the baby.  The doctors had never seen a baby born after taking that drugs, but then they said it probably didn’t do any harm.

I have seen children who were very sick from poisoning from having a mercury amalgam filling placed in the teeth. Occasionally I’ll see a child with headaches that shows up having lead poisoning. But these cases are rare.  I’m working with a child with ADHD and temper issues that is related to yeast and food allergies. The mother has seen results rather quickly but is wondering if she should just try the drugs as avoiding wheat, corn, soy, red meat and milk products is just too hard for him. All I could do is assure her that these foods will eventually come back with time and just try her best with the diet.

Probably more important that all of this physical healing is the emotions, the mind and the soul. A child that feels that she is a victim will have issues, physically and emotionally and relationshipwise her whole life.  We tell small children not to cry. That is the beginning of blocking natural emotions and will eventually dam up the energy and create disease. Children should learn that they attract to themselves what they put out.  Children shouldn’t be told that they are bad, that is their essence, they may make mistakes, which is expected, but at their core they are loveable.

Children don’t often do what we say, the become what we are. So let us not partake of the toxins of the world, physical or emotional. Let us do our own inner work on our own inner child so we don’t have to foist our unresolved issues onto the next generation. And let us have faith in a higher power that can heals us and open up our intuition so that we can make right choices for ourselves and our children.

Homeopathic Medicine:
Small Wonders for our Small Wonders

Many parents consider homeopathy a necessity for healing their children as well as themselves. Homeopathic medicines can be quick and effective for treating many childhood illnesses and are available individually or in kits that come with a users guide for the products. The tablets are quick dissolving and pleasant tasting. Some of the most common remedies contained in the kit are:

ACONITUM NAPELLUS
For initial stages of fever and inflammation, red sore throat, swollen tonsils, coughs and tonsillitis.

APIS
For red inflamed, burning or stinging insect bites.

ARNICA MONTANA
Helps relieve shock and trauma from injury and speeds the healing process of bumps, bruises, sprains and swelling. Arnica ointment may be used in conjunction with the tablets.

BELLADONNA
Used for sudden onset of symptoms with hot red skin and flushed face. Child may have sore throat, cough, aches and fever.

CHAMOMILLA
Effective in treating symptoms of teething, including inflamed gums, drooling, skin rashes, fever, irritability, bowel problems and colds. It is also good for colic and certain digestive problems.

CALCIUM PHOS
Used for delayed or painful teething, ‘growing pains’, and headaches.

FERRUM PHOS
The number one remedy for inflammations, sore throat, stuffy nose, paleness, weakness and fever with gradual onset of symptoms.

HEPAR SULF
For treating certain head colds, croup coughs, sore throats, earaches, and laryngitis. Helps with teenage acne.

PULSATILLA
This remedy is indicated for many childhood ailments including colds, earaches, congestion, colic, stomach pains and gas.

Homeopathic Medicine for Infants and Small Children by Dana Ullman is a suggested easy to read book for parents. It gives basic help for first aid, seasonal illness and childhood diseases. Included is a complete guide for the treatment of more than 75 physical, emotional and behavioral homeopathic remedies to use.

The Healing Wonders of Medicinal Plants

The essence of natural herbal therapy is to activate the body’s own self-healing powers. Some of the most powerful medicines are not located in prescription drugs but in common herbs found in your kitchen or your local health food store. They may be available as tinctures, teas, capsules, fresh or dried.

Some of the most commonly used herbs for childhood illnesses are:

CATNIP
Good for restlessness and colic in infants and small children. It has a calming effect on the nervous system and is used for fevers and in producing perspiration without increasing heat in the body and also for its action in inducing sleep.

CHAMOMILE
A pleasant tasting tea used to calm the nerves and for menstrual cramps. It is one of the best herbs for soothing an upset stomach, for colic in babies and for inducing sleep. It is an effective sedative with no harmful side effects.

CALENDULA OINTMENT
Calendula ointment is good to keep on hand as a first aid remedy. It is an antiseptic for the skin and useful for cuts, scrapes, burns, blisters, bruises and bug bites. It also Speeds tissue healing.

ECHINACEA
This herb stimulates the immune response, increasing the body’s ability to resist infection and is a natural antibiotic for both bacterial and viral infections. It improves lymphatic filtration and drainage and it helps remove toxins from the blood.

ELDERBERRY
Good for the immune and respiratory systems. When used for colds and flu, it acts to increase blood circulation, promotes sweating and brings down fevers. It also works as an expectorant, anti-catarrhal and anti-inflammatory agent.

GARLIC
Garlic is nature’s antibiotic and when used topically helps to relieve the discomfort of painful earaches. Taken internally, it exerts broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity against many types of bacteria, virus, worms and fungi.

GINGER
Settles upset stomachs and indigestion, relieves intestinal gas, congestion, throat and bronchial irritation and is great for stopping nausea and vomiting. It promotes perspiration and helps reduce fevers.

GOLDENSEAL ROOT
Has a natural antibiotic ability to kill germs and stop infections in the body. It helps to soothe and heal the mucous membranes of the nasal area, bronchial tubes, throat, intestines, stomach and bladder. (It should not be used by pregnant women.)

PEPPERMINT
A sedative for the stomach and aids digestion, relieves gas, intestinal cramping, diarrhea and heartburn. It is excellent for nausea and makes a very soothing, warming, refreshing tea.

Study on Food Sensitivities in Children
by Warren King L.Ac.

Dear Parents,

Thank you for allowing your child to participate in this study on food sensitivities which I think can potentially help millions of children in America. Enclosed you will find both the result of you own child’s food sensitivities as well as the averages on each food for the 10 children in the study (see chart at bottom for averages.) It was not my intent to specifically have your children change their diets, but since you requested the results you will have to wrestle with your own response.

Unfortunately the American diet has degenerated to such an extent that foods that were considered occasional treats or were not considered foods at all are now the staples in our modern (SAD) Standard American Diet. Children are supposed to be healthy, but we have become accustomed to many conditions that are becoming normal, but shouldn’t exist in children at all: fatigue, sinus and ear infections, frequent colds and flues, skin problems, asthma, headaches, irritability, hyperactivity, attention deficit, to name a few.

I will not go into the root causes of these things right now, but these food sensitivities, which can often be healed over time, are triggers for many of these symptoms. Many so called chronic and acute health conditions can amazingly totally disappear after avoiding many of these trigger foods, with noticeable results in anywhere from 1 day to 1 month. It may be too hard to actually totally eliminate a certain stressful food, but cutting it down from daily to just once or twice a week is still beneficial. One interesting note is that when you do add a stressful food back for the first time, it is then that you may notice the symptom, like stuffy nose, fatigue or anger.

In general it is foods eaten the most that children become sensitive to. It was interesting checking my own children against the class average. Of the children tested only 20% could handle wheat, but both my children were fine with it, as we don’t eat very much wheat, and hardly any white flour products. But my children did show sensitive to brown rice, which we probably eat in some form on a daily basis, but only 20% of the other children showed sensitive to brown rice.

So, in general you will notice that the class averages are broken into 2 columns, one that over half could handle (“yes” meaning compatible and those that under half could not handle (“no” indicating stressful on the system). I will briefly go over the list and make some comments of why these results probably showed up.

Sugar is the number one enemy of children. It is an anti-nutrient, meaning that it is so unbalancing and refined that the body must lose vitamins and minerals just to process it. It leads to blood sugar imbalances, mood swings, paralyzes the white blood cells and immune system. The average teenage boy consumes 34.5 teaspoons a day, girls 24.4. It has dozens of names by which it is hidden and slipped into all children’s foods. Often it is not even labeled at all. Sucanat is a form of sugar, but less refined, in many so called “health foods,” which this study shows is just as bad as white sugar.

Milk is a major cause of childhood health problems, interestingly my daughter, who has never drank milk showed no allergy to it. Part of the problem is homogenization and pasteurization which alters the protein, some can handle goat milk. Soy milk usually is good, Eden makes a rice and soy blend that has no sweetener. You can also find almond, rice or oat milks. There is even rice (rice dream), soy or oat (oatscream) ice cream available.

White vinegar showed bad for all children and is what you will find in all low quality dressings, ketchup and mustard. Umeboshi plum vinegar tested well for all and is actually healing to the system, the next best choices for vinegar are brown rice or apple cider vinegars.

Canola oil was used to lubricate guns and heavy machinery during World War One. The long chain fatty acids are toxic to the liver and can even cause scar tissue in the organs in just 10 years of use, Canada genetically engineered rapeseed oil, called it Canada Oil, or canola and somehow got the FDA to call it safe. It is cheap to produce, thus you find it in practically everything. Olive oil was beneficial for all but one child and is very healthy, as is sesame oil for most. Never use hydrogenated oil, like margarine, as these will stay hard in the body and block the cells and organs from obtaining nutrients and releasing toxins and cause general hardening and inflexibility in the body.

Chocolate is a South American drug and is addictive and cause serious blood sugar and mood problems, and may lead to other addictions down the line, first coffee and cigarettes, then others. It contains a chemical called theobromine (meaning food of the gods) and is the same chemical our brain produces when we fall in love. No wonder depressed people are attracted to it.

Artificial colors, additive and preservatives stress the liver and are not meant for our bodies, especially children.

Corn fructose is too quick in the blood stream and can cause hypoglycemia and mood swings, this is the sweetener used in soft drinks (along with caffeine).

Oranges and Bananas are tropical fruits very high in sugar and cooling to the system, and they can not grow in Minnesota and are not in harmony with our environment. This holds true also for other tropicalfruits like kiwi, papaya, mango, pineapple, dates and figs, although lemon and lime are usually beneficial, perhaps because they have no sugar content.

Peanuts usually show to stress the liver and often have a toxic mold called afflotoxin, which can be bitter, so most peanut butter covers this over with lots of sugar. You can get good nut butters from almond, sunflower, sesame seeds (tahini, found in hummus spread with chickpeas) and others such as hazelnut and cashew butter.

Red meat is stressful on most children’s systems and takes a lot of work and a long time to digest. In autopsies of teenagers killed in the Korean War it was found that many of them had arteries clogging already. It starts from infancy, even from the palm and coconut oil in the baby formula.

Kidney and Pinto beans the most popular, are higher in fat and harder to digest than some of the more digestible legumes such as Kidney and Pinto beans the most popular, are higher in fat and harder to digest than some of the more digestible legumes such as azuki beans, green lentils, chickpeas (garbanzo), black beans and soy of tofu.

Wheat contains a large molecule called gluten which many people are allergic to. It is the gluten that makes bread stick together in dough. Since wheat is often children’s main staple, often amazingly positive changes take place in the body, mind and emotions when it is removed. It is found in almost all breads, crackers, noodles, pastries and desserts. spelt is an older form of wheat, even mentioned in the Bible, that has not been genetically engineered and is often tolerated by those sensitive to wheat gluten. The health food stores have yeast free breads, tortillas and noodles with spelt. There is also rice noodles, crackers and yeast free sourdough rye breads, crackers and noodles that can be found. Kamut is another relative of wheat that is well tolerated if spelt is not. I neglected to test corn in this study, but this is a major food allergy for many people, If wheat shows sensitive, there is a good chance that corn will too.

Yeast is used to raise most breads and baked goods, a sensitivity often indicates the presence of Candida Albicans in the large intestine, which is a yeast hat often ower grows especially after antibiotics (also found in commercial meats), high sugar and fruit juice consumption and chlorinated water. It is this yeast that often causes all these food sensitivities in the first place, often in the presence of other pathogenic organisms. There is a book on children and yeast by Dr.Crook, who also wrote The Yeast Connection.

Tomato is an acidic causing fruit that is stressful on the body. Often children eat lots of it in sauces along with white vinegar and sweeteners. It has been implicated in arthritis, sometimes along with its cousins: potato, eggplant and peppers.

Honey although a bit better than sugar, enters the blood stream too rapidly. It is better to use more the complex carbohydrates found in northern fruits like apples, pears, berries and grain malts made from barley and rice and maple syrup (the real stuff), which interestingly is a very locally grown food and was almost universally tolerated by all the children.

Carob is similar to chocolate in color and flavor, but more balanced in its mineral composition and was tolerated by half the children.

Poultry and eggs were ok for most children, although tofu and legumes and fish were even better as a protein source.

Stevia is a sweetener extracted from an herb from Paraguay. It is incredibly sweet to the tongue (15 times sweeter than sugar) and comes in powder or drops. It is thought to even help blood sugar balance. The FDA is stalling on approving it as a sweetener so for now can find it in the supplement section of health food stores. Artificial sweeteners like Sweet and Low and Nutrisweet are dangerous, especially for children, they can excite brain cells until they die and break down into formaldehyde.

Umeboshi plum vinegar is made from the brine of a sour plum in Japan and is in the health food stores, it also comes in a paste of whole plums. It is often used medicinally in home remedies and is mineralizing and alkalizing, so it counteracts the negative effects of sugar in the body, which is demineralizing and acidifying.

It seems that the best diet for the average child would consist of whole grains, certain beans, vegetables, fish and poultry and some eggs and local northern non tropical fruit. Some of the foods that you may not be familiar with can be obtained in the health food section of the super market or in a health food store or natural foods coop. Don’t be fanatical, but a good two weeks avoiding or greatly restricting the food that showed sensitive are often enough to see dramatic changes in a child’s health and behavior.

Thank you again for allowing your child to assist in this groundbreaking research.

Percentages of children who could and could not tolerate certain foods