Aspartame

Aspartame is masquerading in many "diet" and "sugar-free" foods and also in things like yogurt, children's chewable vitamins, Crystal Light and other powdered drink mixes, ketchup, salad dressings, Slim Fast, protein drink mixes, children's medicines, and of course coffee sweeteners and some creamers.

According to several sources, aspartame
-is the most dangerous artificial sweetener on the market
-accounts for 75% of all adverse reactions to food additives reported to the FDA
- many of these reactions include seizures and death
- the most common reported symptoms are headache, dizziness, nausea, numbness, muscle spasms, weight gain, rashes, depression, fatigue, irritability, insomnia, vision and hearing problems, heart palpitations, breathing difficulties, anxiety attacks, slurred speech, tinnitus, vertigo, memory loss, joint pain
-plays a role in the triggering or worsening of the following conditions: brain tumors, MS, epilepsy, CFS, Parkinson's disease, diabetes, Alzheimer's, mental retardation, lymphoma, birth defects, and fibromyalgia

It is composed of three chemicals: aspartic acid, phenylalanine, and methanol

Aspartic acid (40%) is an free excitatory amino acid that can cause serious chronic neurological disorders.

Phenylalanine (50%) is an amino acid normally found in the brain, and ingesting it in such excess can overload the brain, causing serotonin levels to decrease, leading to emotional disorders. Even one use of aspartame can raise phenylalanine levels in the blood enough to affect the brain.

Methanol/Wood Alcohol (10%) is a deadly poison. The absorption of methanol into the body is sped up considerably when free methanol is ingested. IT breaks down into formic acid and formaldehyde in the body. An EPA assessment of of methanol states that "it is a cumulative poison due to the low rate of excretion once it is absorbed. Both formic acid and formaldehyde are toxic." One liter of an aspartame sweetened beverage contains about 56 mg of methanol. Formaldehyde is also a known carcinogen, and can cause blindness.

This is scary, especially considering how many children's products have this ingredient. Read all your labels carefully, and avoid anything with aspartame.

Sources: The New Optimum Nutrition Bible by Patrick Holford
Global College of Natural Medicine publications
http://aspartamekills.com/

Raising Vegan Babies

Many people wonder how safe it is raise their children on a vegan diet. We are all made to believe that we NEED meat and dairy for survival!! It can be a scary transition, because of course you want the absolute best for your child. Well, rest assured that a vegan diet is perfectly safe (and in fact much healthier than the standard American diet) for your children and for you.

Check out Keep Kids Healthy, a great website about all sorts of health issues for kids.
Another great resource is Veg Family, addressing all sorts of issues and ideas for raising a vegan family, from diet to activities to nutrition and health.
Parenthood.com has a great article, with tons of other links and resources for raising vegan/ vegetarian kids, too.

Also, check out the books I've recommended in previous posts, which all have sections on raising vegan kids!!!

You might be asking, "will my child get everything he or she needs?" The answer is a resounding yes. First, the main thing meat has to offer is cholesterol. Your bodies external intake of cholesterol should be zero, as the body makes all the cholesterol it needs to function on its own. Otherwise, the protein is the easiest thing to come by from non-animal sources. Everything is packed full of protein. Scroll halfway through this page for an excellent chart showing protein content in animal vs. plant foods.

Now on to dairy. Dairy and eggs also offer high levels of cholesterol. In addition, they can be packed full of harmful hormones and antibiotics which can actually harm your child's growing body. Otherwise, dairy is a source of calcium, and sometimes vitamin D or other added vitamins. Luckily, soy milk, and rice milk are fortified with the exact same amounts of vitamins and calcium, making for an easy switch. Even better are the natural sources of calcium and vitamins also known as fruits and vegetables. Dark leafy greens are excellent sources of calcium, as are almonds, figs, beans, rice, and many other fruits and vegetables.

It is easy to get all the nutrients/ vitamins you need on a plant based diet. The important thing is to eat a variety of fruits, vegetables, and grains. If your diet is balanced, then your children will be healthy too. Especially for nursing moms, as long as you are eating the right amounts of fruits and vegetables, and laying off the refined sugars, caffeine, added salts, alcohol, and processed foods, your baby will be super healthy and free of artificial hormones and antibiotics.

For more info on how to balance your diet and make sure you are getting the right servings, check out Vegan Health, and the many books I continually recommend (search the "vegan resources" tag on this page's side bar).

**Though I am neither a doctor nor a nutritionist, my knowledge and suggestions come from an accumulation of information acquired from the books listed in previous blogs and the many articles I reference on the blog.**