Kids are very visual when it comes to eating. This makes feeding them easy if you create a rainbow of food. However, this can be challenging if you’re not the visually creative type. Here are some tips on putting together healthy, nutritious, and colorful meals for kids. The most important aspect of feeding your child is to add as many whole foods as possible and avoid anything overly processed. Unfortunately, processed foods and their fabulous colorful boxes and bags can persuade children to gravitate towards them. Do your best not to have these types of things in the house.

Talk to your kids about whole and processed foods. Ask them where they came from: store, tree, bush, or vine? These questions can lead to very lively talks at the supper table.

Why color?

Colorful foods are packed with many nutrients that allow us to function optimally everyday.

• Red: Folate, lycopene, and flavonoids. Lycopene has been shown to fight cancer cells. Folate helps to prevent birth defects, depression, and irritability. Certain types of flavonoids (or bioflavonoids) are known for their active and powerful antioxidant activity. Your heart will appreciate red colored foods as they may help to fight heart disease.
• Green: Lutein is an antioxidant found in the eye, therefore associated with sight. Eating lutein-rich foods will decrease risk of blindness. Green foods are packed full of nutrients and fiber. There are many green fruits and vegetables to choose from: avocados, spinach, broccoli, kale, kiwis, and many more.
• Yellow/Orange: Vitamin A and beta-carotene. Yellow foods are packed with beta-carotene, which the body converts into vitamin A. Vitamin A keeps the respiratory, urinary, and intestinal tracts healthy. This is a great help for the immune system.
• Purple/Blue: The flavonoids found in purple/blue foods aid in maintaining strong blood vessel walls. Eating blueberries may also help memory.

Next time you’re at the market, think about filling your cart with as much color as possible. This is easier if you keep to the edge of the store. With each meal you prepare, think of ways to color it up, perhaps by adding vibrantly colored peppers to your salad or blueberries to your morning cereal. Have the kids help you with this — they love to be creative and have a great imagination.

Introducing these colorful foods at every meal will set your child up for optimal health now and in their future. It will also allow for fewer sick days, which all parents appreciate!

Dr. Heather Manley received her medical degree from the National College of Naturopathic Medicine in Portland, Oregon in 2001. She is a practicing physician whose primary interest is preventative healthcare for families. She is the author of Human Body Detectives, her children’s educational series of story-telling books, ebooks, and iPhone/iPad apps. She also promotes wellness and naturopathic healthcare on her website drheathernd.com. She lives on the Big Island of Hawaii with her husband and two daughters. She is currently at work on the next Human Body Detectives adventure and is very excited for her upcoming launch of HBDs Go to School elementary curriculum. Follow Dr. Heather on Twitter and Facebook!

This is me enjoying a coconut oil massage in Boracay, Philippines.

I was born and raised in the tropics and whenever I think of home, I think about coconut oil. Never a beach trip goes by without my friends and I getting hour long coconut oil massages from the island massage therapists. The smell and texture of coconut oil gliding against your skin is very different from regular massage oils. It’s organic, light and absolutely soothing.

Coconut oil has been around for generations and has been used by millions as a staple in their diet–it’s a great source of fat, does not burn easily and very resistant to rancidity.

But isn’t coconut oil bad for your health? There had been bad publicity about the high saturated fat content of coconut oil, but research shows that the structural make-up of coconut oil in terms of fatty acids is actually very unique and not unhealthy at all. The fat composition of coconut oil is made up of Medium Chain Fatty Acids (MCFA), which make this particular oil behave differently once it has reached the digestive tract: because its particles are considerably smaller in size, it is easily digestible and does not require too much energy to get absorbed, thus putting on less strain in our digestive system. Dr. Nishant also wrote about it in The Skinny on Coconut Fat.

Are you vegan or lactose intolerant? Coconut oil is a great substitute for dairy additives to snacks. For instance, you can toss your homemade popcorn with coconut oil instead of butter. Sounds weird? Bet you didn’t know that coconut oil is actually used in movie theater popcorn here in the US, which gives it its distinct flavor!

Fountain of youth. Coconut oil is loaded with antioxidants and can be a great addition to your beauty regimen. Aside from its moisturizing quality, coconut oil is also composed of Vitamin E, which is a popular ingredient used in many beauty products that help prevent premature aging. My personal favorite coconut oil beauty regimen is rubbing a few drops of it on my nails, which is my organic version of what I learned from my grandmother who would break open Vitamin E capsules and rub the liquid onto her fingers for healthier nails and softer fingers.

Health boost. Coconut oil is composed of lauric acid, which researchers were very excited to introduce as a powerful immune booster. With its antimicrobial properties, coconut oil is a great shield from bacterial and viral infections.

Sit back, relax and enjoy the summer. Coconut oil is a great organic stress reliever. It’s soothing quality makes it a very popular massage oil. It is also extremely gentle even to the most sensitive skin, so don’t be afraid to rub a few drops of it against your temples to cure mental fatigue. It smells great, too!

Karla Mercado lives in New Mexico and is the author of Balancing Tenderfoot. She is passionate about human medicine, nutrition, and writing.

Photo by I woz ere.

Dr. Heather Zwickey has a Ph.D. in Immunology and Microbiology from the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver. She completed a post doctorate fellowship at Yale’s School of Medicine and currently serves as Director of Research at Helfgott Research Institute, Dean of Research at National College of Natural Medicine, and co-founder of a physician level vaccine educational service,  Vaccine Consult. We discussed vaccines, adjuvants (the additives in vaccines to induce an immune response) and the controversial Wakefield study.

WW: What is the most common question you hear from parents?

Is it healthy to give our newborns and infants so many shots? When parents look at the current CDC vaccination schedule, they notice that there are between four to eight shots at every single well-baby visit – at 2, 4, 6, 12, 18, and sometimes 24 months. That is 42 shots by the time they are three to four years old. Vaccine manufacturers are starting to reduce the number of shots by including more vaccines into a single shot. The multiple vaccine combinations are shown to induce an effective immune response, but the safety is still unstudied and unknown. The safety studies will not be complete until the vaccine is licensed and actually given to a large number of children. If these multiple vaccine combinations are found to be unsafe, they are then recalled. There is no way to test the safety ahead of time.

WW: Is there an alternative to the current CDC vaccination schedule?

Usually the alternative is breast feeding. If a parent is breastfeeding, they can often avoid many of the vaccines that are currently recommended.

WW: When a mother is breast feeding, which vaccines are still necessary?

This is where individualized medicine is needed. Every single patient has different risk factors that need to be considered when a parent is making an informed medical decision. If it were me, I would still vaccinate against polio because of the possible permanent neurological effects. A different vaccination that may or may not be needed is pertussis. Pertussis was much more deadly in the 1950s, but with the advent of antibiotics, it is much less deadly. Even with modern day anti-biotic treatment of pertussis, it is important for parents to ask themselves if they are okay with staying up late into the night with a child who could have whooping cough so bad that they are red to blue during six minute coughing fits and throwing up. Certainly there are pertussis outbreaks in certain communities. Whether pertussis is a vaccine required for a child, the decision must be, like all other vaccines, discussed with your physician. Ultimately parents must ask themselves, can they live with the permanent consequences of their decisions.

WW: Let’s talk about the Wakefield study.

In the 1980s, Andrew Wakefield did a large study on kids that have autism. He was looking for potential causes that were related to vaccination. On a side note, one of the public misconceptions is that there was mercury or thimerosol in the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine. There has never been mercury/thimerosol in the MMR vaccine. An observation was made that children developed autism around the time they received the MMR vaccine and so a responsible ingredient in the MMR vaccine was sought. Dr. Wakefield collected blood and stool samples from children to research any possible immunological response that could be attributed to the MMR vaccinations. Dr. Wakefield found antibodies to measles and may have found some live measles virus in some of autistic children in his study.

WW: The study (finding that vaccination causes autism) was dismissed by the Lancet Journal. Why?

There were a few problems with the study. The sample size was really small (at 12 autistic children). Also, Dr. Wakefield was paid by the parents of the kids to do the study. Although this was a blatant conflict of interest, this phenomenon is common in scientific research and even more so in medicine. Almost every new drug being studied is being paid for by a pharmaceutical company. It is rare to have purely independently funded scientific research. Regardless of Dr. Wakefield’s conflict of interest, he had a poorly designed cross-sectional study in a very specific group of autistic kids without a control group (who didn’t get the MMR vaccine). Another poor design aspect was that the evidence in blood and/or stool of an “adverse” reaction to the MMR vaccine is the same immune response you get in all children whether autistic or not.

WW: At the time of Dr. Wakefield’s study, was it known that there were measurable immune responses to vaccines in blood and/or stool?

Yes, they did know that an immune response could be measured through titers [a quantifiable concentration of immunoglobulins], but the medical community did not know, and they were surprised, that the immune response could be sustained at such an elevated level over one year after the MMR vaccination.

WW: What is the most common myth that “alternative” medicine practitioners hold and what does the actual science show?

Benedict Lust has this wonderful quote which he says, and I am paraphrasing here, “Who ever is so foolish as to put the putrid pus of another organism in their blood is crazy and they’re just going to get sick.” I think that there are a few things that stand out from teaching hundreds of alternative medicine students. First, it’s a downplaying of germ theory. Alternative medicine emphasizes the concept that disease is not from infectious agents, but that most disease is a result from an imbalance in your body’s overall health. I totally understand the belief that if you have a strong immune system, and are exposed to an infectious agent, you will not get sick. I would say that there are actually some very infectious diseases that if exposed to, no matter how strong or in balance you are, you will get sick and even have long term or permanent consequences.

The other misconception I see is that a homeopathic vaccination is going to give you a measurable titer or immune response to a microbe. I have not ever seen raw or even statistically analyzed results showing a homeopathically induced immune response. I am told that this data exists, but I have never seen this personally. When I do see these results, I will be cautiously excited, but I will also want to see if the results are scientifically reproducible. To me, an immunologist, the idea that you can give no antigen and get a response is not within my conception of probability. There are homeopathic studies out there that show symptom modulation suggesting an immune response is occurring, but quantifiable data has never been recorded.

WW: What is the most common myth that conventional medicine practitioners hold and what is does the actual science show?

Most medical doctors think that the current CDC vaccination schedule is used because it is somehow more healthy for the child. Actually, the whole schedule is set up based upon well-baby visits and convenience for the parents and doctors. The CDC vaccination schedule is not based upon optimal health of the child.

WW: What would be the ideal vaccination schedule?

Of course it should be based upon each individual child’s situation, but assuming that a parent is breast feeding and being health conscious, an optimal vaccination schedule would start between nine to twelve months. It definitely would not start at birth and be every two months. The argument made by most medical doctors is that the CDC schedule is from birth onwards because this is when these microbes are the most dangerous. If you are breast feeding and the child is in a low risk environment, most infectious microbes are not that dangerous.

WW: So how much breast milk is adequate to protect an infant from infections?

HZ: Research to answer that question is in process. They are looking at women who don’t produce milk and have to use supplementary milk from other mothers. A small study out of Sweden seems to show that any amount of breast milk is enough.

WW: When are adjuvants important?

Adjuvants are important in vaccines that are only protein and/or polysaccharide parts of bacteria or viruses. An example of this would be the Hib or DTaP vaccine. Adjuvants are not in “live” vaccines like the MMR, polio, or the influenza vaccine. One of the new adjuvants is a chemical called MF59 that is found in some makeup and beauty products. In Japan, MF59 it has been outlawed as it is a known carcinogen in laboratory tests. MF59 was used in some of the H1N1 flu vaccines and the hope was that it would be a good widespread test of MF59 safety. Since the vaccine came out after many people had already become infected with H1N1, MF59 never really got tested well in the general public.

GR: Often times bacterial vaccines are grown on a substrate that contains egg or other foods. Do you think there is a connection between adjuvants, manufacturing residuals and allergies?

HZ: There may be a connection between allergies and vaccinations not because of the adjuvants or manufacturing residuals, but because of the timing of the vaccinations. In an infant, a TH2 [allergy] response is much more likely than a TH1 response to a vaccination. The TH1 response is an immune response seen in a mature immune system. I also think that the timing of food introduction is very important in
determining food allergies.

Dr. Gibran Ramos completed his six year training and internship in Naturopathic and Chinese Medicine at National College of Natural Medicine. Dr. Ramos helps patients transform their lives and optimize their well-being at a private practice in Portland, Oregon.

Photo by Mai Le.

Got a question for us? Drop your tricky, random, wacky or plain confusing health question into the Suggest-O-Matic, leave a comment, or tag your tweet questions with #wellwire and our team of experts will answer them in this weekly column.

Q: Can you recommend a product to prevent me from getting sick? Something that I can take at the onset of an illness. Jennifer, Portland, Oregon

A: Before I answer your question, I want you to consider how getting a little sick might actually be a good thing. Sounds weird but naturopathic doctors actually encourage patients to get sick once or twice a year. Here’s why: during illness, your immune system goes back to school and learns about the new infectious agents going around each year. You could call it a “refresher” course for the immune system. In the long run, people who never get sick or hardly ever get sick may be causing their immune system to become more ignorant of what’s out there (or what may be going aberrant with in the body).

Over the course of a cold or flu the immune system is not only initially recognizing an illness, but also making immune markers (immunoglobulins) to that harmful agent for the rest of your life. These immunoglobulins will assist your immune system to remember that it has seen a similar infectious bug before and can later eradicate it. When the immune system is not allowed to run its full course for years, it may start to not recognize more serious cellular abnormalities. The most concerning abnormalities are cancer cells. There is a strong connection in the medical literature between abnormal cells like cancerous ones and latent (hidden) viruses. The immune system has to recognize that a virus has hijacked your body’s cell and kill it. The recognizing immune mechanism occurs through the immune system memory learned during that refresher course in school while a person is sick.

Naturopaths use an “immune booster” as a last resort if a patient tells us they are “constantly” getting sick. The immune booster could be a botanical, a glandular extract, a vitamin or mineral, or even a pharmaceutical drug. Using any substance in a manner that quickly eradicates an illness through by-passing the immune system’s natural course of events may be necessary to get a person out of an acute crisis, but over the long run, it may also be harmful.

That said, I’m not encouraging you to lick the seats in the subway! It’s important to remain balanced with your daily health routine: sleep well, eat well, move your body, take in sunshine and fresh air. What you do to encourage health will make the biggest difference, not the latest or greatest magic pill is, because immune boosters aren’t replacements for healthy living!

Dr. Gibran Ramos completed his six year training and internship in Naturopathic and Chinese Medicine at National College of Natural Medicine. Dr. Ramos helps patients transform their lives and optimize their well-being at a private practice in Portland, Oregon.

Photo by Mai Le.

Q Here in the Pacific Northwest, the damp winter weather seems to affect my sinuses. When the barometric pressure changes, I get an infection. How can I avoid or prevent these infections despite the seasonal weather change? I’m not taking any medication. Carol C Portland, Oregon

A You’ve hit the nail on the head! The key to your question is preventing sinus infections. Sinus infections occur when there is improper drainage of the sinuses. The sinuses contain holes through which the intra-sinus fluid that is produced, drains. If there is inflammation or an immune reaction, the tissue around these drain holes swells. When the fluid cannot properly drain, the fluid accumulates resulting in a closed cavity, (increasing pressure) and a festering infection.

Addressing the cause of chronic swelling of sinus tissue is the best way to prevent chronic sinus infections. The sinus linings are swelling and secreting excessive fluids and mucous for a reason and that needs to be figured out. Talk to your acupuncturist or naturopathic physician about being proactive, instead of reactive, in taking the necessary steps to keep your sinuses functioning well.

Dr. Gibran Ramos completed his six year training and internship in Naturopathic and Chinese Medicine at National College of Natural Medicine. Dr. Ramos helps patients transform their lives and optimize their well-being at a private practice in Portland, Oregon.

Photo by Gibran Ramos.

Dr. Gibran Ramos: We’ve been using water therapeutically for centuries. In Germany and France, there are towns that derive their names from their healing waters. The Norwegians and Swedes are famous for their saunas and some of the Turkish baths in Istanbul are hundreds of years old. The Native Americans used sweats to drive out illness.

Hydrotherapy is derived from the European baths and uses water at specific temperatures to achieve a desired physiologic response. Using Naturopathic principles, hydrotherapy promotes the body’s own ability to heal itself and return it to a state of balance. There are cold whole body rinses, alternating hot and cold baths, wraps, fomentations, sitz baths, steam inhalations, compresses, and many other methods. These techniques are meant to modulate certain white blood cells, change the body’s pH, increase movement and secretion of various metabolites, expand and contract blood vessels to move the blood, help to regulate blood pressure and increase peripheral circulation.

Hydrotherapy at home

During flu season, I tell my patients with a cold about home hydrotherapy. In the evening, take a regular hot shower and warm your body up completely. Then switch the water to cool or cold for 30 seconds. Turn the water back to hot for 3 minutes and then switch it back to cool/cold for 30 seconds. Keep alternating the hot and cold, ending on cold for up to three rounds total. Towel off dry and then climb into bed throwing on an extra blanket or two and even putting on a knit cap. Your body’s immune system will be activated by the shower. Of  course, always check with your doctor before performing home hydrotherapy.

Photo by Christine Dionese.

Over my recent holiday to chilly Colorado, I had the opportunity to spa as the Nordics do! After three days of intensely working out at the local athletic club I rewarded my sore muscles by stretching out in the sauna. While resting in the steamy room I sat there trying to talk myself into heading outside for a plunge in the pool. Keeping in mind the healing powers of water, I ran outside in my robe and dove in the community pool. Burr! Remembering Dr. Gibran’s suggestions I diligently re-entered the sauna hoping to shed more toxins. After two additional dips in the temperate pool I finished with a soak in the outdoor hot tub to relax.

Want to try it yourself? Head north! Nordic spas are popping up in colder latitudes along the United States Canadian border. If you find yourself in the northeast, try Le Nordik in Quebec, Canada to experience the traditional Finnish spa experience. Traveling east? Visit the Harrison Hot Springs Pools in British Columbia for a resort-like water therapy indulgence!

Dr. Gibran Ramos completed his six year training and internship in Naturopathic and Chinese Medicine at National College of Natural Medicine. Dr. Ramos helps patients transform their lives and optimize their well-being at a private practice in Portland, Oregon.

Christine M. Dionese L.Ac. specializes in integrative medicine, medical journalism and was the VP of marketing at WellWire LLC. Visit her wellness and lifestyle blog, Reaching Beyond Now.

Photo by Michael Lehet.

A long spell of deep cold knocked back the last of my greens and there’s a fairly even layer of deciduous leaves covering the ground, punctuated by bare limbs and decomposing stalks. My garden is pretty much hibernating.

But one of the bright points this time of year is my thyme, which looks sprightly despite the January gloom. Herbalists like to play around with lists. Example: if you only had three herbs to work with, which would you choose? Thyme is consistently on my lists. It’s incredibly easy to grow, tastes fantastic and makes powerful medicine.

In the kitchen

Most people are familiar with thyme (Thymus vulgaris) as a classic salad dressing and cooking herb. It’s standard in French stocks and sauces and it’s a staple of Mediterranean cooking. Tossing thyme onto vegetables before roasting elevates your meal.

Try these recipes as a starting point:

• Elana’s thyme salmon with leek coulis (gluten free)
• Mushroom risotto
• Lemony thyme cookies. A friend made a version of these over the summer (without the ginger) and it was really yummy, with a great, bright flavor.

Thyme’s medicine

Thyme helps support digestion. The compounds that give the plant its strong herbal smell also make your gastrointestinal tract do its job more efficiently. Thyme is broadly and fairly strongly antimicrobial, killing bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasitic worms.

If you’re worried about the flu, for instance, consider using it in Dr. Nishant’s antiviral soup. When taken internally, thyme also promotes excretion through the urinary tract, and helps disinfect on its way out.

One of thyme’s less-known uses—and one of my favorites—is as a respiratory aid. It soothes the lung’s mucous membranes, reduces spasms, fights pathogens and helps you cough out accumulated gunk. Take a large handful of fresh or dried herb, put it in a bowl and cover with boiling water. Then, with your head over the bowl and under a towel, breathe deeply to get the herb’s aromatic oils into your nose and lungs.

Externally, thyme makes a great skin wash or soak to help fight or prevent infections. While I prefer the fresh herb, it’s okay to cautiously use the diluted essential oil, no more than one drop at a time. Don’t do this if you’re steaming—I say from experience, as it burns like crazy!

In the garden

In many ways, thyme is a perfect garden plant.  It’s easy to grow in the ground or in pots, stays green year ‘round,  and doesn’t need fancy soil or a lot of water. It forms low mats of varying widths, with adorable tiny flowers like a miniature heather. Like many of its mint-family relatives, it feeds honeybees and other pollinators.

Grow thyme on any sunny windowsill, porch or patio. If you’ve got a bit of ground, try it between pavers—several varieties can handle moderate foot traffic—or grow over wide surfaces as a groundcover or low-maintenance lawn. Also consider interplanting it in your veggie or flower beds, where its aroma helps confuse harmful bugs.

Almost every sells a couple varieties of thyme, including common or English thyme, lemon thyme and usually at least one variegated variety. Farmer’s markets and food co-ops often sell plants, too; this is a great way to get the best varieties for your area, at the best prices, while establishing connections with local farmers.

Photo by Orna Izakson.

Dr. Orna Izakson, ND, RH (AHG) is a naturopathic physician, herbalist, gardener and writer. She specializes in respiratory issues, mood and women's health at Celilo Natural Health Center in Portland, Oregon.

Photo by Debbie Schiel.

My favorite seed catalog came in today’s mail: organic Floriani red flint corn, green meat radish, Bolivian rainbow pepper, purple bac choy, ruby streaks mustard. These are the reasons I started gardening–I was awed by the incredible diversity of life I could sustain on my little corner of earth.

There were other reasons too. After my urban upbringing, I longed for the pastoral and bucolic ideal of self sufficiency and thriftiness. And certainly there were the political reasons: getting off the corporate-food trough while promoting biological diversity and personal health.

But what really pushed me past reading and into action was a full-color catalog that arrived one Winter’s day. I saw purple carrots, speckled lettuces, striped snappy string beans, and a bright orange tomato that turned out to be an eggplant! If your vegetable education came largely from mainstream supermarkets as mine once did, you’ll understand my shock. Who knew there were purple potatoes, or that we could grow Thomas Jefferson’s beans or the Anasazi’s corn?

These days I’m a passionate gardener and my garden supports over 100 species. Here’s why you should tend a garden, even if it’s just a couple of plants:

1. Get outdoors. Being outside can help many health conditions. The sunshine lightens most folks’ moods and helps produce immune-building Vitamin D. Researchers find that people living near green spaces have much lower rates of diseases including asthma, depression, heart disease, migraines, and even urinary-tract infections.
2. Eat healthier. At WellWire we’re always recommending that you eat the rainbow and gardening is one great way to do it. Vegetables begin losing nutritional value as soon as the plant is plucked and produce from your own garden travels the shortest distance between place and plate. Also, many soils around the country have some well known nutrient deficiency—in western Oregon it’s selenium—which you can address easily in your home garden. Feed your soil, feed your plants, feed yourself.
3. Love those vegetables. Gardening is a great way to convert knowledge about the health benefits of veggies into the action of eating them. Researchers consistently find that garden-based education in schools makes children more willing to try, like and eat a diversity of vegetables. The same trick works with picky adults, too…
4. Grow your own medicine. That lovely lavender you’re already growing can improve digestion and fight depression. Thyme makes a great ground cover and fights off lung infections. Garlic, onions and their relatives support the immune system and the heart. Even weedy dandelion is medicine, helping the liver and the kidneys. And so much of this is so easy to grow!
5. Be more community-oriented. Scientists have found that spending time outdoors changes people for the better. Read here about how gardening transformed the English town of Todmorden and its inhabitants, building food security, ecological sustainability and community spirit.
6. Pure joy. Part of a healthy life is making sure there’s joy in your life, every day. And that is one of the best reasons out there for gardening. For me, that’s about the wonder of nature’s colors and textures, and the sheer awe of actively and literally keeping history alive. And it’s a wonderful gift to share with your partner or kids.

So as the year’s darkest days settle in, take time by the real or virtual fire to go through the words and pictures of the seed catalogs and feed your dreams of summer. Here is a short list to get you started.

• Fedco Seeds a Maine cooperative that offers great starter packets at fantastic prices
• Horizon Herbs offers one of the largest selections of medicinal plant seeds
• Native Seeds/SEARCH has a focus on traditional Southwestern crops including a huge variety of beans, corn and hot peppers
• Seeds of Change was one of the first glossy proponents of growing heirloom seeds
• Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds in Mansfield, MO boasts a catalog of 1400 varieties of vegetable and flower seeds
• Heirloom Seeds in Pennsylvania
• Southern Exposure Seed Exchange

Happy garden planning!

Dr. Orna Izakson, ND, RH (AHG) is a naturopathic physician, herbalist, gardener and writer. She specializes in respiratory issues, mood and women's health at Celilo Natural Health Center in Portland, Oregon.

Photo by Shermeee.

Concerned parents have been calling my office asking for advice on how to best treat their feverish, sniffling tots. Knowing what to look for will help you decide if home remedies are appropriate or if a visit to the doctor is in order. While it’s a natural instinct to give a sick child medicine, holding off at first is the best bet for their still developing immune systems.

“Illness is a natural part of life,” notes integrative pediatrician, Roy Steinbeck, “Suppressing symptoms at all costs is not a good idea.” When a pathogen invades the developing immune system, specialized memory cells are created to later recognize and ward off the invader. Parents will be happy to learn that about 80% of children’s immune related illnesses will heal on their own without the need for antibiotics.

Boost and protect your child’s immunity every single day

• Supplement with vitamin C and vitamin D3. Both are available in convenient chewable and naturally sweetened forms. 
• Eat plenty of superfoods rich in antioxidants
• Exercise activates the immune system. Get them running, jumping, and bouncing!
• Encourage frequent hand washing and keeping hands away from mouth
• Wash toys and pacifiers frequently 
• Give seasonal acupuncture treatments to protect and enhance immunity

Common ailments and what to do

The Common Cold: often begins with sore throat, a clear runny nose, body aches and fatigue. Fever or chills may be associated, although not as common as with flu. Here’s how to keep the cold from causing secondary respiratory infections:

• Acupuncture, cupping, and Chinese food therapy for prevention and maintenance 
• Black elderberry syrup for a sore throat
• A washcloth in warm water with 5 drops peppermint essential oil for chills

Ear Infection: marked by continual pulling on earlobes, cranky behavior, congestion and a possible fever. What to do:

• Acupuncture
• Ear drops

The flu: marked by fatigue, fever of 103-105 degrees, achy back and legs, nasal congestion, loss of appetite, possible nausea and vomiting. What to do:

• Homepathic oscillococcinum at the first signs and symptoms
• Contact your child’s primary care physician to discuss the development of their symptoms and decide what plan of action is best for your child’s individual case.
• Keep your child hydrated
• Watch that fever! If the fever steadily rises or lasts for more than 3 days consider this serious and contact your physician.

What do all three of these have in common? They all tend to be viral in nature, meaning your child can skip a round of antibiotics this year.

To help know the difference, here’s a guide to distinguishing the signs and symptoms of bacteria and viruses. Remember, it’s best to err on the side of caution, so if you’re feeling unsure, seek the advice of your primary care physician. Bacteria  or Virus?

While some symptoms can overlap, these major signs and symptoms as a pattern will help you distinguish between the two.

Bacteria

• Thicker, yellow or green secretions
• Fever
• Coughing of mucous
• Swollen lymph nodes

Virus

• Muscle aches
• Runny nose
• Headache
• Dizziness
• Cough

Still not sure or have questions? Don’t ever feel too shy to call your doc. All this aside, a little TLC goes a long way. Wrap your little one in a cozy blanket, place a washcloth on their forehead to soothe a fever, and spoon up some yummy home-made chicken or vegetable soup.

Like to look at the research? Pediatrics study cites ear drops more effective than other common treatments

Christine M. Dionese L.Ac. specializes in integrative medicine, medical journalism and was the VP of marketing at WellWire LLC. Visit her wellness and lifestyle blog, Reaching Beyond Now.

Photo by Sjdunphy.

Sunday dinners with my Italian-American family always included aunts, great aunts, countless cousins and my grandmother, yelling from the stove while stirring her sauce. We gathered around her table, feasting for hours on the generous servings she produced from the kitchen. While my grandmother’s cooking will always hold a special place in my stomach, it’s also been known to leave me with what us Italians called agita, or heartburn. As I grew older, I learned a few tricks to keep enjoying grandma’s cooking!

How we eat

“Mangia bene, vivi felice” as my grandmother would say! Eat well, live happy!

We learned from Dr. Gibran that the environment in which we eat shapes how our bodies will react to what we put in them. Enjoying our meals in a relaxed, slow paced manner is just what our digestive organs love! When we engage in irregular eating patterns, or rushed meals, it throws off homeostasis and creates intestinal ruckus.

A few tricks to keep eating what you love

• Consider the Japanese style of eating, Hari Hachi Bu, where folks eat only until they’re 80 % full. Smaller portions will ensure your ability to absorb the highest nutritional value possible without your digestive system doing much work.
• Eat smaller, more frequent meals to spark metabolism and keep you feeling energetic all day long. This style of eating balances the glycemic index, significantly decreasing your chances of developing diabetes. Still having trouble with portion control? Trick your brain into thinking you’re eating more by cutting your food into tiny pieces. Display your colorful veggies fanned or spread out around the plate to create an effect of abundance. You’ll still consume a healthy portion and feel satisfied.
• Add a little extra fiber to increase intestinal mobility. Lentils, beans, green leafy veggies, nuts, and seeds are great choices to get you started. Just remember: for about every 5 grams of fiber you add, follow up with about 8 ounces of fluid to keep from feeling full and bloated.
• Relax and focus on the food before you rather than activity around you. Enjoy the experience of eating and savor the taste.

Still need extra help? Digestive enzymes

Digestive enzymes are special enzymes that allow us to absorb nutrients while eliminating the waste components from our food. The common modern diet can be stressful, calling upon higher than usual amounts of digestive enzymes to be secreted. Eventually, the pancreas (responsible for enzyme secretion) becomes fatigued, needing our help. Supplementing with digestive enzymes can alleviate intestinal sluggishness and help common complaints such as heartburn, GERD, bloating, and belching. Ask your naturopathic physician or Chinese medical provider to suggest one that fits your digestion.

Want to eat your enzymes? Try adding the following to your diet

• Spices: ginger, cinnamon, spearmint, garlic, and peppermint
• Fruits and veggies: pineapple, papaya, Chinese dates, seaweed and rhubarb

On the go remedies

Need a quick natural way to safely settle your stomach on the go? Keep my favorite, personally tested remedies on you at all times!

• Nux Vomica: homeopathic remedy used for overeating or drinking. Great for belching, bloating, nausea and vomiting
• Alka-Seltzer Gold: this alkaline combo of sodium bi-carbonate, citric acid, and potassium bi-carbonate quickly alleviates bloating and that all too cloudy feeling described as the ‘food coma.’ Great if you’ve accidentally eaten something you’re sensitive or allergic to
• Ginger, peppermint and cinnamon tea: boil water, add herbs and sip. Voila, your cramping stomach will begin settling in minutes

Probiotics, the army in the digestive system

You’ve all heard of beneficial bacteria, sometimes referred to as healthy intestinal flora. These healthy bacteria, probiotics, are the infantry soldiers of your digestive army. Their job is to maintain order and keep harmful bacteria and other invaders from permeating the digestive lining.

If our healthy levels of bacteria have been diminished, invaders are now allowed to freely pass through the digestive walls. This possibly creates GI disturbance, weakened immunity, and a pre-disposition to other diseases. If beneficial bacteria are allowed to thrive, the digestive lining will remain protected from invaders and prevent unwanted illness.

Proper digestion

• Reduces risk for several types of cancers including stomach, pancreatic and colon
• Promotes proper hormone production and regulation
• Balances the glycemic index allowing for healthy weight maintenance
• Increases nutrient absorption to enhance health and prevent disease
• Reduces and eliminates reflux issues, indigestion, gas bloating
• Reduces auto-immune issues and chronic fatigue related issues
• Reduces overt signs and symptoms of clinical depression and anxiety
• Reduces the appearance of cellulite!

Great digestion is your meal ticket to optimal overall wellness!

Christine M. Dionese L.Ac. specializes in integrative medicine, medical journalism and was the VP of marketing at WellWire LLC. Visit her wellness and lifestyle blog, Reaching Beyond Now.

Photo by Ruta & Zinas.

I was recently on business in Bangkok when I awoke with the type of bone aching pain I thought could only happen in cheap Halloween movies.

I felt as though I had some form of the plague, avian flu or swine flu. With no idea where to go or who to see in Bangkok I made this simple -yet extremely powerful- antiviral, immune enhancing, microbe-crushing tea. I drank about a liter a day and was on my feet in 48 hours. Here’s how to make some of your own:

• Juice  a bunch of citrus for some serious vitamin C. Grapefruit, orange, limes or lemons work (I had to use pomelo in Thailand). Find your own proportions depending on what tastes good
• 3 inches of ginger peeled and finely chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic finely chopped
• 3 tablespoons honey
• Pinch of cayenne powder if you’ve started running a fever 

Add ginger, garlic,  to a saucepan and bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for 5 minutes. Strain and add the fresh juice, cayenne and honey. Sip until you feel human again!

For some more tips read Dr. Gibran Ramos’ awesome tips to maximize your immunity and Christine Dionese’s Chinese medicine immune boosting tips and Treating kids this flu season.

Dr. Nishant Rao is a co-founder of WellWire.com. He is a well-traveled naturopathic doctor and new father, practicing an integrative approach to create wellness in and around Los Angeles. Become a patient or discover his practice.