This section is a preview of my latest book entitled Disease-Proof Your Child:

We are molded by our childhood

"Whenour son Elliot was three, we already had a sickly child. He wassuffering from his seventh ear infection and had severe eczema sincehis first year of life. We had been to numerous specialists for his rawitchy skin and tried many medical treatments to no avail. My search fora better solution led me to Dr. Fuhrman. In only two months afterchanging Elliot’s diet his skin condition had disappeared. To oursurprise he never suffered another ear infection. It is not merelyElliot’s recovery that has moved us to write to you, it is ourenthusiasm and gratitude for the knowledge we have gained from you thathas given us an incredible sense of freedom and control over our ownand our children’s health."

Julie and Stuart Rayburn

As parents, we want what is best for our children. We would neverintentionally harm them. In fact, we make sure to get them the bestcare we know, read to them at bedtime and insist they wear theirseatbelts, but when it comes to children and food, somehow we don’tknow what is the best thing to do. Our children seem finicky and onlyeat cheese, pasta, chicken fingers or milk and cookies. At the sametime, we notice that they are frequently ill. They suffer fromrecurring ear infections, runny noses, stomachaches and headaches. Wenote their symptoms and haul them in to the doctor, who prescribes yetanother round of antibiotics. All this is normal for children —right?

Wrong!

This scenario may be “normal” for kids today, but it is not normal forhumans or any other species of animal that eats nutrient-rich naturalfoods designed by nature for that particular species. Scientificresearch has demonstrated that humans have a powerful immune system,even stronger than other animals. Our bodies are self-repairing,self-defending organisms, which have the innate ability to defendthemselves against microbes and prevent chronic illnesses. This canonly happen if we give our bodies the correct raw materials. When wedon’t supply the young body with its nutritional requirements, we seebizarre diseases occur. We even witness the increasing appearance ofcancers that were unheard of in prior human history.

Despiteour very best intentions, today there are dangers that well-meaningparents inflict on their children without even being aware of it.Certainly, people like you and me would never mean to do anything otherthan the best for our children, but every day in small ways, we maywell be causing harm to their precious little bodies. How does thishappen? Through the choices we make every day in what we decide to feedthem.

There is an issue of vital importance thatmost well-meaning parents don’t know about. They don’t know becausenobody has told them. The issue is this: the modern diet that mostchildren are eating today creates a fertile cellular environment forcancer to emerge at a later age. Trying to prevent breast, prostate andother cancers as an adult may not be possible because most risk factorscannot be changed at this late stage. The bottom line is that in orderto have a major impact, we must intervene much earlier, even as earlyas the first seven years of life. In other words, childhood dietscreate adult cancers. That’s right: when our children don’t eatfruits and vegetables and instead are fed junk food, the groundwork maybe laid for cancer and other diseases down the road.

The science behind these surprising statements is addressed in my book, Disease Proof your Child.This website section will only touch the tip of the iceberg. However,worth noting is the following dismal fact: many children today are veryoften recurrently sick with ear infections, allergies, asthma and then,later in life, may develop autoimmune illnesses such as lupus,ulcerative colitis and rheumatoid arthritis. This is not becausechildren just naturally pass around germs or have bad genes, but it isbecause their diets are inadequate. Antibiotics cannot prevent theseproblems. Only a diet of nutritional excellence can.

The most recent scientific evidence is both overwhelming and shocking.Apparently, what we feed or don’t feed our children during the growingyears has a greater impact on the dietary contribution to cancers thandoes nutritional intake over the next 50 years. Today, it is known thatboth children of American descent and from developed countries consumeless than 2% of their diet from natural plant foods such as fruits andvegetables. American children move into adulthood eating 90% of theircalories from dairy products, white flour, sugar and oil. Amazingly,about 25% of toddlers between ages one and two eat no fruits andvegetables at all. By 15 months, French fries are the most commonvegetable consumed in America! Have parents gone crazy?

This is shocking information, to be sure, but recent scientificevidence is just too powerful and compelling to ignore. Over the pasttwo decades convincing evidence has emerged which links autoimmuneillnesses, such as Crohn’s Disease, lupus and later-life cancers withprecise dietary factors from the first ten years of life. This meansthat we now know what factors help to create an environment in ourbodies which is favorable for cancers to surface later in life, and weunderstand the precise dietary factors that can prevent cancer in ourchild’s future. The worst part is that parents haven’t been informedthat what their children eat in the first ten years of life has such aprofound effect on their entire lives.

Autoimmunediseases, such as childhood onset diabetes, lupus, psoriasis andinflammatory bowel disease can develop as a result of feeding errorsearly in life and can cause more tragic health problems. Without thenecessary knowledge, detailing the dietary style that can prevent laterlife cancers, many parents are unfortunately feeding their childrendangerous, cancer-provoking diets.

My goal is toprovide priceless information to parents, so they can give theirchildren the greatest gift of all — the opportunity for a long andhealthy life. We wouldn’t allow our children to sit around the tablesmoking cigars and drinking whiskey, because it is not sociallyacceptable; however, we don’t think twice about giving them cola, friescooked in trans fat and cheeseburgers, regularly. Many children consumesoft drinks, doughnuts, cookies, cupcakes and candy on a daily basis.It is difficult for parents to understand the insidious, slowdestruction of their child’s genetic potential and the foundation forserious illness that is being built by the consumption of these foods.Most Americans don’t even contemplate that drinking soda, and eatingchips, junk food and fast-food meals may be just as risky (or more so)than letting their children smoke cigarettes.

Itwould be unrealistic to feel optimistic about the health and well-beingof the next generation when there is an unprecedented increase in theaverage weight of children in this country and record levels ofchildhood obesity. Most ominous were the results reported by the 1992Bogalusa Heart Study, which studied autopsies performed on childrenkilled in accidental deaths. The study confirmed the existence of fattyplaques and streaks (the beginning of atherosclerosis) in most childrenand teenagers!

For the majority of their lives, manyAmerican adults and children consume foods that are severely deficientin plant-derived nutrients. I have observed these nutrient levels inthousands of patients and have become shocked at the dismal levels insupposedly “healthy” people. Our bodies are not immune to immutablebiological laws that govern cellular function. Given enough time,disease will develop. Even borderline deficiencies can result invarious subtle defects in human health, leading to anxiety, autoimmunedisorders, cancer and poor eyesight, just to name a few.
 

The Development of Breast Cancer – A Childhood Event

Carcinogenesis,the process that leads to cancer, is believed to occur in a series ofsteps. It is a multistage process that begins with pre-cancerouscellular damage that gradually proceeds to more malignant changes. Thefirst step is the development of cellular abnormalities, whicheventually leads to cancer. This usually occurs during adolescence orsoon after puberty. Remember that unhealthful childhood nutritionalpractices cause excessive sex hormone production and early pathologicchanges in the breast tissue that set the stage for cancer many yearslater.

Studies have shown that the arrival ofpuberty at an earlier age is a significant marker of increased risk.Furthermore, there is overwhelming evidence that ovarian hormones playa crucial role, in all stages, in the development of breast cancer. Itis common knowledge among physicians that the earlier a woman matures,as measured by the age of her first menstrual period, the higher herrisk for breast cancer. Both early menarche and greater body weight aremarkers of increased risk of breast cancer.

Ominously,the onset of menstruation has been occurring at a younger and youngerage in Western societies during this century. For example, the averageage in the United States is now about twelve years; however, accordingto the World Health Organization, the average age at which pubertybegan in 1840 was seventeen. In addition, during the same time period,there has been an increased consumption of fat, refined carbohydrates,cheese and meat, and there has been a huge decrease in the consumptionof starchy plants, beans, fruit and nuts. A greater consumption ofanimal foods leads to a higher level of hormones related to earlyreproductive function and growth. These hormonal abnormalities persistinto adulthood. Uterine fibroids (or tumors) also develop from a dietdeficient in fruits and vegetables and heavy in cheese and meat. As theconsumption of meat increases and vegetation decreases, one’s risk offibroids increases proportionately.

Women are notthe only sex affected. The same increased risk, as a result of earlymaturation, is seen with both prostate cancer and testicular cancer. Ifwe grow and mature more rapidly, we increase our cancer risk and agefaster. We see the same pattern in lab animals; if we feed them so theygrow faster, they age rapidly, develop cancer and die younger.

Inother words, the stage is set by our poor dietary habits early in life.Breast and prostate cancer are strongly affected by our dietarypractices when we are young.
 

Fewer Animal Products, More Fruits and Vegetables

Wehave been indoctrinated since early childhood to believe that animalprotein is a nutrient to be held in high esteem. We have been broughtup with the idea that these foods are good for us if they help us growbigger and faster. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

Thepublic, as well as the media, is confused about this issue. Theycontinue to associate the term better nutrition with earlier maturityand larger stature resulting from our greater consumption of animalprotein and animal fats. These unfavorable trends are repeatedlyreported as positive events. For example, earlier writers andnutritionists have mistakenly equated rapid growth with health. Sciencehas demonstrated that an increased rate of growth is not a good thing.The slower a child grows, the slower he or she ages. Slower growth,taking longer to reach maturity, is predictive of a longer life inanimal studies. We are finding the same thing in humans: an unnaturallyrapid growth and premature puberty are risk factors for cancers andother diseases later in life. Evidence continues to mount that thesesame factors leading to early maturity and excessive growth inchildhood increase the occurrence of cancer in general, not just breastand prostate cancer. Excluding malnutrition or serious disease, theslower we grow and mature, the longer we live.

Humans,like other primates, are designed to consume a diet predominating innatural plant foods with their symphony of essential phytochemicals.Fresh fruits, vegetables, beans, raw nuts and seeds should form thefoundation of normal nutrition. Food preferences and tastes are formedearly in life and children learn to eat the diets eaten by theirparents.

Conclusion

Whenyou have a child, you have the unique opportunity to mold a developingperson. One of your greatest gifts to them can be a disease resistantbody created from excellent food choices beginning at youth. Earinfections, strep throats, allergies, attention deficit hyperactivitydisorders (ADD or ADHD), and even autoimmune diseases can be preventedby sound nutritional practices early in life. Common childhoodillnesses are not only avoidable, but they're more effectively managedby incorporating nutritional excellence into one’s diet. This is farsuperior to the dependence on drugs to which we are accustomed. Noparent would disagree that our children deserve only the best.

If you are a parent, you may want to follow this course of action:

• Read my book, Disease-Proof Your Child, as a source of sound nutritional information.
• Submit your questions in the “Ask The Doctor” forum on the website
• Interact with other members in our online support system.
• Try our new line of childrens supplements

Thesesteps are designed to assist parents in the challenges of raising ahealthy child in our world of insane eating habits and toxic foodchoices.

• Premium children’s vitamin-mineral supplement.
• 30 fruit & vegetable concentrates.
• NO Sugars!
• NO artificial sweeteners or preservatives.
• Free of allergens (no wheat, dairy, gluten, or soy).
• Great berry taste.
• Fun for kids to eat.
• No isolated vitamin A or beta carotene.
• Complete with all 30 essential vitamins and minerals.

• Your kids will LOVE them!
• Granulated powder easily mixes into young children’s food or drinks.
• Individually packaged servings preserve freshness and quality.
• Convenient for kids on–the–go.
• Berry flavored sticks are a TREAT for kids.
• Natures complete spectrum of carotenoids.
• Complete, natural antioxidant and phytochemical protection.

• Children under 12 – one Pixie–Vite daily
• Children over 12 and adults – two Pixie–Vites daily