Natural Family News

You may have noticed we have a new advertiser. I highly recommend visiting their site. They have really cute items for sale. My husband’s favorite is a t-shirt that says “I make milk. What’s your superpower?” I like a lot of the homebirth and attachment parenting items. Just click on the link to head over there and find out if there’s something there you like.

Well, you shouldn’t be eating them anyway, but if you’re nursing it’s especially important that you avoid eating trans-fatty acids. A recent study shows trans fatty acids (trans fat) prevent infants from absorbing essential polyunsaturated fatty acids such as DHA (docosahexaenoic acid), which are required by infants’ brains. Trans fatty acids are found in deep fried foods, baked products like pies, pastries, cakes, biscuits and in some margarines.

If so, you could be part of Bill Nye’s drive to collect 1000 hybrid owner testimonials by Earth Day. My son would think being part of anything Bill Nye was involved in was the coolest thing on Earth. Unfortunately, we dont have a hybrid. But if you do, you should definitely check out this program.

You would think with some of the billions of dollars in the U.S. budget that we would have developed some great alternative fuel sources by now. Biodiesel? Solar? Wind? Sure, some of these things are plugging along. But SO SLOWLY.

Maybe that’s because out of the billions of dollars that could be spent developing alternative fuels that would really work, the government, instead, is pouring money like water into subsidies for companies making synfuel, an outdated product that will most likely never benefit anyone. And yet companies continue to make it because the government pays them to do it.

Bella Online’s breastfeeding editor has written an excellent article on her experience with nursing and cavities. Since two of my children had similar teeth issues, I can identify with her guilt and struggles. My daughter, who had her first major dental work done at 15 months is now almost 6. She has several adult teeth, which so far seem to be okay. I wish there had been more information available on this subject when she was 15 months old. We didn’t wean, but it would have been nice to know there were others out there facing the same problem.

We all know that breast is best. And I, in no way, want to promote the use of formula when breastfeeding is an option. But I wish I had this option when I had to go on medication that required me to stop nursing. I’m sure this would have been better than what we used, instead.

MELVILLE, N.Y., March 10, 2006 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX News Network/ — The Hain Celestial Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: HAIN) today announced plans to introduce and roll out a line of Earth’s Best(R) Organic Infant Formula. The organic milk-based powder formula is patterned after breast milk for easy digestion and meets all FDA requirements for complete infant nutrition including vitamins, minerals and healthy fats. Certified USDA Organic, the Earth’s Best Infant Formula is produced without the use of antibiotics, no genetically engineered ingredients and no artificial flavors, colors or preservatives.

“We’ve been working on an organic infant formula for a long time and are pleased to offer this important product for newborns,” said Irwin D. Simon, President and Chief Executive Officer of Hain Celestial. “Our Earth’s Best brand now offers a broad product line to start babies on an organic path including infant, toddler and kids products with formula, juices, jarred vegetables, fruits and blends, cereals, cookies and bars, crackers, applesauce and soups-all with age-appropriate formulations.

Earth’s Best, the leading brand of organic baby and toddler foods sold in natural food stores, is a trusted name with pediatricians and parents alike. Look for Earth’s Best Organic Infant Formula in the spring. It’s the Earth’s Best Way to Grow(TM) toward A Healthy Way of Life(TM).

I’m truly afraid of what this means for the organic market. Sure, initially, people will think it’s great. They’ll be able to buy organic products for probably half the price. But what happens next? Does Whole Foods go out of business? Are organic producers forced to outsource their manufacturing and production? I just don’t like it. I won’t be buying my organic products there.

Medical Journal: Autism Rates Decline as Mercury Removed from Childhood Vaccines
Independent Analysis Refutes Institute of Medicine Claims of “No Relationship,” While Mercury Still Used in Flu & Other Vaccines

TUCSON, AZ — A new study shows that autism may be linked after all to the use of mercury in childhood vaccines, despite government’s previous claims to the contrary.

An article in the March 10, 2006 issue of the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons (JPandS.org) shows that since mercury was removed from childhood vaccines, the alarming increase in reported rates of autism and other neurological disorders (NDs) in children not only stopped, but actually dropped sharply – by as much as 35%.

Using the government’s own databases, independent researchers analyzed reports of childhood NDs, including autism, before and after removal of mercury-based preservatives. Authors David A. Geier, B.A. and Mark R. Geier, M.D., Ph.D. analyze data from the CDC’s Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) and the California Department of Developmental Services (CDDS) in “Early Downward Trends in Neurodevelopmental Disorders Following Removal of Thimerosal-Containing Vaccines.”

The numbers from California show that reported autism rates hit a high of 800 in May 2003. If that trend had continued, the reports would have skyrocketed to more than 1000 by the beginning of 2006. But in fact, the Geiers report that the number actually went down to only 620, a real decrease of 22%, and a decrease from the projections of 35%.

This analysis directly contradicts 2004 recommendations of the Institute of Medicine which examined vaccine safety data from the National Immunization Program (NIP) of the CDC. While not willing to either rule out or to corroborate a relationship between mercury and autism, the IOM soft-pedaled its findings, and decided no more studies were needed. The authors write: “The IOM stated that the evidence favored rejection of a causal relationship between thimerosal and autism, that such a relationship was not biologically plausible, and that no further studies should be conducted to evaluate it.”

As more and more vaccines were added to the mandatory schedule of vaccines for children, the dose of the mercury-based preservative thimerosal rose, so that the cumulative dose injected into babies exceeded the toxic threshold set by many government agencies. Mercury is known to damage nerve cells in very low concentrations.

The concern about vaccines may actually be underrated, as it is generally acknowledged that the voluntary reporting of such disorders has resulted in vast underreporting of new cases. For example, the Iowa state legislature banned thimerosal from all vaccines administered there after it documented a 700-fold increase in that state alone. California followed suit, and 32 states are considering doing so. Up until about 1989 pre-school children got only 3 vaccines (polio, DPT, MMR). By 1999 the CDC recommended a total of 22 vaccines to be given before children reach the 1st grade, including Hepatitis B, which is given to newborns within the first 24 hours of birth. Many of these vaccines contained mercury. In the 1990s approximately 40 million children were injected with mercury-containing vaccines.

The cumulative amount of mercury being given to children in this number of vaccines would be an amount 187 times the EPA daily exposure limit

Between 1989 and 2003, there has been an explosion of autism. The incidence of autism (and other related disorders) went from about 1 in 2,500 children to 1 in every 166. Currently there are more than a half million children in the U.S. that have autism. This disorder has devastated families.

In 1999, on the recommendation of the American Academy of Pediatrics and U.S. Public Health Service, thimerosal was removed from most childhood vaccines as a “precautionary” measure – i.e. without admitting to any causal link between thimerosal and autism.

The Geiers conclude that mercury continues to be a concern, as it is still added to some of the most commonly-used vaccines, such as those for flu:

“Despite its removal from many childhood vaccines, thimerosal is still routinely added to some formulations of influenza vaccine administered to U.S. infants, as well as to several other vaccines (e.g. tetanus-diphtheria and monovalent tetanus) administered to older children and adults. In 2004, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences (NAS) retreated from the stated 1999 goal of the AAP and the PHS to remove thimerosal from U.S. vaccines as soon as possible…As a result, assessing the safety of TCVs [thimerosal-containing vaccines] is a matter of significant importance.”
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NOTE: The Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons is the peer-reviewed quarterly journal of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS), a non-partisan professional association founded in 1943.

Prepublication copy of article posted here which includes links to the VAERS and CDDS databases.

Australian coaches are encouraging netballer (is that volleyball) Janine Ilitch to give up nursing her 6 month old baby before competing in the Commonwealth Games.

Really, what business is it of theirs? She isn’t planning to take the baby with her. She plans to pump. They are “concerned” that she will lose too much weight, but I have a hard time believing that’s truly what’s behind this. Maybe they just don’t like the image of one of their athletes expressing milk. I just can’t believe that this is being made into such a big issue.

A recent study shows that toddlers as young as 18 months will help others out of empathy, rather than a desire for praise.

Presumably, they are more likely to exhibit this behavior if they’ve been exposed to it in their lives, but I had some questions after reading the study. I wonder what different backgrounds the children came from. Is this something genetically encoded or something that is behavioral, in nature? Would children raised with attachment parenting be more likely to show this empathy? If they’re less likely or no more likely, what, if anything would that say about attachment parenting?

What do you think?

If you’re in Los Angeles, you can now rent a car fueled by biodiesel (basically, filtered vegetable oil). While biodiesel costs slightly more than regular fuel, cars can go 400-800 miles on a single tank.