natural remedies that really work

When our family started following the Feingold program almost 2 years ago, I never realized how avoiding food additives would change how we do so many things.  Shopping and eating a different way are one thing, but in almost every medication in our medicine cabinet were dyes and flavorings.  Experience had already told me that my youngest son did not respond well behaviorally to medication; now that we had made the diet link it made so much more sense why he had such a difficult time.  At first I worried a lot about what we would do if he got sick again, but slowly we are discovering there are ways to manage illness and still avoid the "nasties" often added to children's medications.  Here are a few things we've learned.

1. Eating right does lead to better health.

When we started Feingold, all of us were on some kind of long term medication.  My trips to the pharmacy were not just once in awhile, they were sometimes several times a week.  What I thought was normal childhood ailments were actually our bodies' response to too many toxins in our food.  We have seen a drastic decrease in trips to the doctor and pharmacy, and I've been able to wean us off many medicines whether for allergies, heartburn, or other chronic problems like maintance antibiotics for my daughter's UTI's.  FG is even great for relieving anxiety, PMS symptoms, and moodiness.  Ask me how I know.

2. If a prescription is necessary, there are ways around food dyes and flavorings.

This takes some creativity and certainly cooperation with your family doctor.  Compounding pharmacies can be a great help if something special is needed for a child who has reactions to food dyes.  There are other options like asking for a pill or capsule that may be given to an adult and adjusting it down to a child-sized dose.  Tylenol and ibuprofen are both available in dye free pills, and these can be cut to make a child-sized dose and mixed into yogurt or applesauce.  (Always check with your doctor for the right dose.)  The Feingold program does a wonderful job in supporting parents with ideas to use if they have sick children who need help getting the right medication.  It takes a change of mindset to go the extra mile in making medication requests: these things are really NOT good for my child, just like some kids can't take penicillin and others can't do gluten.  So far our son has not had to take any antibiotics, but I have all these things in mind if and when the time comes.

3. There are vitamins and supplements available free of fillers and artificial ingredients.

When we started FG, my son need additional iron.  He was on iron drops, which had artificial flavoring, and this was the last thing I removed from his diet before we were following FG 100%.  Removing the artificial flavoring did make a difference in his behavior.  After some searching and talks with the doctor, I found small capsules he could swallow (even at age 3) that were the right dose for his weight and needs.  Kirkman Labs and Freeda make additive free vitamins and supplements, and there are several things offered on websites like Vitacost, iherb, and Pure Formulas that will help families with their supplement needs.  We love Pure Formulas--free shipping!

4. Natural remedies are a good first step before medication.

Please use your discretion and do your own research as I offer these ideas.  If a child is desperately sick, they need to see a doctor.  Strep throat is nothing to mess around with, for instance.  But for coughs, colds, fevers, and other common ailments there are other things you can try before calling the doctor.

-Honey is great for coughs.  Really, really, really great!
-Oil of Oregano helps relieve sinus pain, stuffiness, and pressure.  This should be applied topically to children's skin rather than by mouth.  Please read up on it before trying, but I can say from my own personal experience it does help.  My kids have not used it--yet.
-Ginger and even baking soda can help calm an upset stomach.  I buy empty capsules and fill them to make things go down more easily, because baking soda mixed in a drink does not really taste very good. We've also discovered taurine helps my oldest son's MSG reactions but my husband has also used it for stomach upset and says it works great.
-Baking soda actually relieves my food-related headaches more than Tylenol or ibuprofen.  I recently learned that cream of tartar may have the same effect but have yet to try it.  Do not use baking soda if you need to be on a low sodium diet.
-Digestive enzymes are one idea to try for chronic heartburn or other health-related problems caused by GERD.  I was able to wean myself off of Nexium using these.
-Probiotics are great for tummy issues as well as yeast-related concerns.

5. If you or your children struggle with allergies, do what you can to reduce the allergy load.

My oldest son really struggled with this.  Once we eliminated MSG (which did cause some sinus symptoms), cut out artificial ingredients in our food, and cleaned our heating ducts, he started to feel much better.  The child who once had to take nasal spray, Singulair, and allergy meds can now get by with NOTHING!!!

These are just a few ideas to get started on the path to feeling better when illness rolls around...without ingesting dyes or flavorings!