5 Most Awesome Baby Foods

Introducing solids to your child is a fun time. There are many nutritious options out there (that are convenient too) other then the ol’ rice cereal and jarred foods. It’s been awhile since I made my own baby food, but now with my youngest nearing the age of 6 months, I’m getting ready to dust off that food processor.  I wanted to share some of the best baby foods I’ve come across when researching and preparing those very first meals.

Breast Milk

Well, of course breast milk, silly. Just because a child is ready to try food doesn’t mean a mother should stop nursing. Quite the contrary actually, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the World Health Organization (WHO) recommend exclusive breastfeeding for six months (and continuing with nursing with the introduction of solids until at least 12 months).

"The very best food for the first year is breast milk," Loraine Stern, MD (Nutrition: What Every Parent Needs to Know.)

Tip: When making your own purees, try using that older frozen breast milk that needs to be used before it goes bad.

Avocados

Mild taste, smooth consistency, loaded with monounsaturated fats – avocados are a great first food to offer a baby. Plus they are simple to prepare. You can mash a ripe avocado with a little breast milk and viola. The fat composition is similar to that of breast milk too. 

Tip: If you want to get fancy – try mashing up a banana with the avocado. Neither one need to be cooked – super easy!

Sweet Potatoes

Sweet potatoes are awesome for many reasons . First, they are rich in beta-carotene which the body converts to vitamin A. This vitamin promotes good vision, healthy skin, normal growth and protection from infections. Secondly, babies love the soft texture of pureed sweet potatoes; it’s hard to go wrong when attempting to make this one. Third, sweet potatoes freeze/de-thaw well and they are cheap to buy.

Tip: Try using breast milk to adjust the consistency of the sweet potato puree. 

(Organic) Yogurt

Plain (not vanilla) organic whole-milk yogurt is another protein-rich option for baby - plus, it contains calcium and beneficial live active cultures. (Confused as to why yogurt made with cow's milk is OK for babies, but actual cow's milk isn't?  Since lactose is already broken down with the culturing of the yogurt, it is easy for babies to digest. This is also true for the majority of people with milk protein, casein and whey allergies – these are normally semi-removed or limited in yogurt.

Tip: The best age for yogurt is said to be around 9 months.

(Wild Alaskan) Salmon

You read that right – yup, fish! Fish used to be considered off limits because of the risk of allergies, but just like eggs, this thinking has changed. The American Heart Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics are solidly behind the idea of fish baby food (read this article to learn more). Of course, if your family has a history of asthma or allergies, it would be safe to wait.

Cold water fish like salmon are extremely high in omega 3/DHA which is needed for healthy brain, eye and nerve development. Also, fish contain all 9 amino acids, which means fish is the one few sources of complete protein. Baking the fish will maintain more of its nutrients.

Make sure of two things when purchasing: (1) the fish is wild and not farmed (2) there is no color added (this is common in salmon).

Tip: By introducing salmon at a young age, you are able to predispose a child to like it when they get older since food preferences are mainly developed by the age of 5.

Egg Yolk

The recommendations for offering babies eggs is changing. Check out the AAP clinic report here. Obviously, if your family has a history of egg allergies, it’s best to wait until after 12 months. But get this – the yolk of an egg does not contain the proteins that cause the allergy to eggs (egg whites contain 4 sensitive proteins).

Egg yolk is nutrient-dense and is rich in iron, DHA and of course, protein. They are also a great source of choline which plays an important role in brain development and function. Egg yolk is easy to chew and digest, it’s economical and totally versatile too.

Tip: You can hard boil and egg and simply pop out the egg yolk, mash it up mixed with breast milk or formula, and viola. You can also make an egg yolk scramble by separating the yolks and cooking on the stove.

The Serotonin Theory of Depression

I had originally posted this early last year, but I was inspired to repost this after reading an article on Green Drink Diaries where she shares her story of overcoming anxiety and depression. I strongly related to her journey and her blog is amazing (she talks in depth how she recovered from cancer in using alternative methods).

Many people think that exercise and nutrition have not all that much to do with their depression. That depression is not something that is in their realm to control (at least not without a bit of pharmaceutical help). I would imagine this is because of a theory out there that most medical professionals are reciting: there is a chemical imbalance in the brain that is making a person depressed. This is where I am going to start.
 
I would like to add - It is not my intent to be hurtful or inconsiderate to those people that are on medication and/or suffering from depression. We each have our own path and we can all learn from each other. Just the fact that someone is doing something about it makes a difference.
 

The following is not my opinion or wording. Please see throughout citations and review authors at the bottom of the page.
  

 

 

The Serotonin Theory
 

[1] The low serotonin theory arose because researchers understood how antidepressant drugs acted on the brain; it was a hypothesis that tried to explain how the drug might be fixing something. However, that hypothesis did not hold up to further investigation. Investigations were done to see whether or not depressed people actually had lower serotonin levels, and in 1983 the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) concluded that:
 
 
[8] "There is no evidence that there is anything wrong in the serotonergic system of depressed patients."
 
 
[1] The serotonin theory is simply not a scientific statement. It's a inferior theory—a hypothesis that has been proven incorrect.
 
 
[1] The fact that this theory continues to thrive is destroying the health of millions, because if you take an SSRI drug that blocks the normal reuptake of serotonin, you end up with the very physiological problem the drug is designed to treat–low serotonin levels. Which, ironically, is the state hypothesized to bring on depression in the first place.
 
 
[2] In 1996, neuroscientist Steven Hyman, who was head of the NIMH at the time, and is today Provost of Harvard University, published the paper Initiation and Adaptation: A Paradigm for Understanding Psychotropic Drugs, in which he explains this chain of events: once your brain has undergone a series of compensatory adaptations to the drug, your brain operates in a manner that is "both qualitatively and quantitatively different than normal."
 
[1] So, it's important to understand that these drugs are NOT normalizing agents. They're abnormalizing agents, and once you understand that, you can understand how they might provoke a manic episode, or why they might be associated with sexual dysfunction or violence and suicide, for example.

 

 
[3] Medical journalist and Pulitzer Prize nominee Robert Whitaker explains the history of the treatment of those with severe mental illness in his first book, Mad in America. His latest book, Anatomy of an Epidemic: Magic Bullets, Psychiatric Drugs and the Astonishing Rise of Mental Illness in America focuses on the disturbing fact that as psychiatry has gained ground, mental illness has skyrocketed.



[3] SSRI's have been shown to increase your risk of developing bipolar depression, according to Whitaker. Anywhere from 25 to 50 percent of children who take an antidepressant for five years convert to bipolar illness. In adults, about 25 percent of long term users convert from a diagnosis of unipolar depression to bipolar. 
 
 
[1] This is a serious concern because once you're categorized as bipolar, you're often treated with a cocktail of medications including an antipsychotic medication, and long-term bipolar outcomes are grim in the United States. For starters, only about 35 percent of bipolar patients are employed, so the risk of permanent disability is great.

 

[4] "It is high time that it was stated clearly that the serotonin imbalance theory of depression is not supported by the scientific evidence or by expert opinion.” - Dr Joanna Moncrieff, Senior Lecturer in Psychiatry at University College London

 
[5,6] Researchers Jeffrey Lacasse, a doctoral candidate at Florida State University and Dr. Jonathan Leo, a neuroanatomy professor at Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine -- studied US consumer advertisements for SSRIs from print, television, and the Internet. They found widespread claims that SSRIs restore the serotonin balance of the brain. "Yet there is no such thing as a scientifically established correct 'balance' of serotonin".


 
[5,6] According to Lacasse and Leo, in the scientific literature it is openly admitted that the serotonin hypothesis remains unconfirmed and that there is "a growing body of medical literature casting doubt on the serotonin hypothesis," which is not reflected in the consumer ads.
 

[7] Archives of General Psychiatry found evidence of increased serotonin activity in depressed persons. Furthermore, growing evidence suggests that it is an error to even talk about the brain having a single serotonin level.  Based on work with rats and mice, neuroscientists are increasingly moving to the view that there are different populations of serotonin neurons that are each independently regulated.
 
 
 
Exercise as a better antidepressant?
 
 
[9, 10] James A. Blumenthal, Ph.D. and his colleagues surprised many people in 1999 when they demonstrated that regular exercise is as effective as antidepressant medications for patients with major depression.  According to Blumenthal "Our findings suggest that a modest exercise program is an effective, robust treatment for patients with major depression who are positively inclined to participate in it.  The benefits of exercise are likely to endure particularly among those who adopt it as a regular, ongoing life activity."


 
[9,10] A very interesting finding concerns the group that received both Zoloft and exercise.  The subjects on Zoloft were more likely to again become depressed than the subjects who only exercised. 
 
 
[11] Michael Otto, a College of Arts & Sciences professor of psychology, says clinicians should consider physical activity as important and valid a treatment for depression. Otto argues that numerous clinical trials have shown that people with major depression who embrace routine exercise get better at the same rate as they do with antidepressants.
 
 
[11] A significant percentage of them could improve dramatically with exercise alone, and for patients who still require medication, it can increase the benefit, says Otto, one of a group of researchers calling for psychologists to include exercise programs in treating not just depressives, but people with anxiety and eating disorders.

What About the Placebo Effect…

[12] The debate about treating depression with drugs, psychotherapy, or a combination of both drugs and psychotherapy has raged on over the years. But a recent analysis of 39 studies of 3,252 depressed patients, presented at the American Psychological Association's (APA) 104th annual convention, found that 50 percent of the drug effect is due to the placebo response.

 

 
[13] The effectiveness of antidepressants is mainly in the placebo effect of treatment, not in the medication itself, according to Irving Kirsch.
 
 
[13] Seventy-five percent of the response to medication for depression was a result of the patient being in treatment, while at the most 25 percent of the response was a true drug effect, asserts Kirsch (a professor of psychology, and former UConn graduate student Guy Sapirstein)
 
 
[13] "This means that for a typical patient, 75 percent of the benefit obtained from the active drug would also have been obtained from an inactive placebo," -Kirsch "Whether the remaining 25 percent of the drug response is a true effect of the drug or a psychologically triggered response to side effects alone cannot yet be determined."

 

 
References Cited:

 

 
[1] Dr. Joseph Mercola, University of Illinois, Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine, Board Certified American College of Osteopathic General Practitioners, State of Illinois Licensed Physician and Surgeon
 
 

[2] Steven Hyman, neuroscientist, Provost of Harvard University. Initiation and Adaptation: A Paradigm for Understanding Psychotropic Drugs

 
[3] Robert Whitaker, Medical journalist and Pulitzer Prize nominee. Mad in America. , Anatomy of an Epidemic: Magic Bullets, Psychiatric Drugs and the Astonishing Rise of Mental Illness in America.
 
[4] Dr. Joanna Moncrieff, Senior Lecturer in Psychiatry at University College London.
 

[5] Jeffrey Lacasse, a doctoral candidate at Florida State University

 
[6] Dr. Jonathan Leo, a neuroanatomy professor at Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine. Consumer Advertisements for Psychostimulants in the United States. February 26, 2009
 
[7] Jonathan Rottenberg, Ph.D. The serotonin theory of depression is collapsing. Published on July 23, 2010
 
[8] National Institute of Mental Health, 1983

 

[9] James A. Blumenthal, Michael A. Babyak, Kathleen A. Moore, W. Edward Craighead, Steve Herman, Parinda Khatri, Robert Waugh, Melissa A. Napolitano, Leslie M. Forman, Mark Appelbaum, P., Murali Doraiswamy, K., Ranga Krishnan. Effects of Exercise Training on Older Patients With Major Depression. Archives of Internal Medicine, October 25, 1999

 

[10] Michael Babyak, James A. Blumenthal, Steve Herman, Parinda Khatri, Murali Doraiswamy, Kathleen Moore, W. Edward Craighead, Teri T. Baldewicz, and K. Ranga Krishnan. Exercise Treatment for Major Depression: Maintenance of Therapeutic Benefit at 10 Months. Psychosomatic Medicine, September/October 2000.

 

[11] Michael Otto, coauthor, with Jasper A. J. Smits of Southern Methodist University, of the clinical guide Exercise for Mood and Anxiety Disorders (Oxford University Press)

[12] 1996 Press Release, American Psychological Association

[13] Irving Kirsch. Listening to Prozac but Hearing Placebo: A Meta-Analysis of Antidepressant Medication, was published in the electronic journal Prevention & Treatment, http://journals.apa.org/prevention/, a publication of the American Psychological Association.

 

.

Natural Childbirth: Pain With Great Purpose



Something this size is supposed to come out naturally!?



After nine months (or more!) of growing, planning, dreaming, and preparing for such an awesome gift, the birth of a baby will most likely be one of the most rewarding and challenging moments in a woman’s life.  No matter how or where the baby is born.

With my first child, I did the expected, predictable thing. I went to a hospital and got an epidural. There’s no reason to go through the pain of childbirth if you don’t have to, right?

While we may not know for sure all the purposes of pain in labor, we would be reckless to think there are none.

With my second, I had a non-medicated, midwife assisted homebirth. I found out first hand what I had missed with my first. The pain experienced during labor does have a purpose, many in fact.

(No matter where, what, when, why or how –childbirth is a remarkable event and every woman should be supported in her decision. There are those out there wanting to belittle, condemn, scrutinize, and humiliate but these actions get us no where in the safety of mothers and babies. Instead, I ask you to read the list with an open mind and consider there is another option available to birth that doesn’t automatically necessitate drugs.)

The Pain Prepares You

When a women starts to feel contractions, the dull ache is a signal that it’s not just another day. When I felt I was in labor, it gave me time to gather up the things I needed and to make sure the support I needed was there. I also made sure to not to overexert myself that morning, to lazy around, take many showers and relax.

More importantly preparing myself mentally, physically and emotionally helped prepare me in a different way compared to my first medicated birth. There was a level of selflessness there that I didn’t have with my first daughter. I am in no means stating that all women who take medication are selfish – I am only speaking of my personal experience.

I knew no matter how painful labor was going to get, I was opting out of drugs because I wanted my baby to have the safest, most gentle birth possible. I wasn’t choosing pain because I am a masochist, I was choosing it because I wanted what I thought was best and most safe for my daughter.

For me, this altruism made room for me to grow into a better mother and wife.

This was what love meant after all: sacrifice and selflessness.

It did not mean hearts and flowers and a happy ending,

but the knowledge that another's well-being

 is more important than one's own.

The Pain Protects You

While I was in labor, the pain from contractions made me move, a lot. I was on my feet for most of the day. I walked outside, inside, upstairs, downstairs. I took a shower and then walked some more. When I did lay down to rest, my left side was more painful to lay on, so I laid on my right. All of my actions that day eased the pain a bit and helped me get from one contraction to the other.

This movement protected my body as well as my daughter’s. Since my movement was not restricted at all the entire process, I was able to help facilitate the baby’s decent. Using gravity in the process, movement also eases the pressure on the baby and on the birth canal.

It was extremely helpful to remember during my natural birth that my baby is not a passive but rather a very active participant in the process. I thought of pain as sort of a language between us.

The Pain Provides Natural Relief

Coping with pain during labor allows the body to increase oxytocin release, which in turn causes more effective, stronger contractions. This ultimately leads to the release of endorphins, a natural narcotic. Endorphins are endogenous opioid peptides that function as neurotransmitters (say that 5 times fast). They are normally released during exercise, excitement, love, orgasm and you guess it – pain.   

With my first child, the epidural wore off about half way through labor. The pain was excruciating. I was laying down, tied up to monitors, plastic IV’s, and a catheter. I had to lay there and deal with the pain until I was able to talk the nurse into calling for the anesthesiologist. If I combined the pain of getting the epidural, the pain of it wearing off, and the pain of a slower recovery, my first birth that was medicated was more painful then my second natural birth.

I understand that it may be difficult to understand that, but in my case – at home, naturally, the pain was gradual and manageable. I relaxed and breathed deeply while I swayed back and forth. Not only was this beneficial to me, but the deep breathing allows the baby to get lots of oxygen.   

The Pain Helps You Respond

When I used drugs with my first birth it disrupted what I should have been doing to have an efficient labor. I know this only because I experienced what labor was like without medication. There is no way in hell I would have laid on my back for 6 hours straight if I was having a natural birth. Laying down is not effective at getting a baby out, whether using drugs or not.

For me, when I was unable to feel contractions or feel the pressure of my baby, I was unable to respond to it. I laid there and waited for a doctor to tell me to push. My body wasn’t stimulated to produce optimal oxytocin and endorphin levels. I found that out when the epidural wore off. I went from zero to 1 million. I didn’t know how to react.

Once I removed the pain during the journey, I removed the signals my body needed to keep labor progressing and to protecting itself and my baby.

When I had a natural birth, it was like I knew exactly what to do. I distinctly remember leaning over the couch a going through a pretty intense contraction. Immediately following that, I stood up and changed positions – I knew that I had to respond in a different way.

Coping with the pain in labor helped me have an easier birth, I had an alert baby, and I felt healthier.

Pain is not just an unfortunate side effect of labor but instead it is an important piece of the normal process of labor and birth. I think it would be most valuable for women and babies if more people would talk about the benefits of pain during labor instead of attempting to escape it automatically.

Epidurals do carry medical risks as well as the interventions needed when deciding on pharmaceutical pain management. Personally, I find the bias encouragement women receive in pharmaceutical pain relief for their own good with little reference to the possible side effects for the baby very distressing. Luckily, many women when discovering that these drugs do cross the placenta are motivated to try other forms of pain relief, since harming their baby (even if it is remote) is  undesirable.

I found labor very bearable, especially when I knew it meant better health for my daughter. I no doubt that other women would feel the same way if they knew the benefits of pain in labor, to both themselves and their babies.

Rejoice not in the fact that you are suffering,

but in the confidence that the pain can be transformed.

The value lies not in the pain itself,

but in what you can make of it.

Is Lipgloss Harmless? A Homemade Recipe

lipglossnheels.blogspot

I wear a lot of lip gloss; I always have since I was 15. I never really questioned if it was natural or healthy to have a thick smear of petroleum on my lips for about 12 hours out of the day for years on end. Not until recently. Not until my daughter wanted to use it.

It’s amazing how much children can make you grow as a person; from questioning old habits to enlightening ideas on forgiveness. But that’s a completely different post.  

Heavy Metals and Contaminants

When you review a list of heavy metals like mercury, arsenic or lead in your mind you might not think about them being an ingredient in your beauty products.  

However, a recent study completed by our northern neighbor, Canada, found that lead was detect in 96% percent of the products they tested – 20% had arsenic, and 51% had cadmium.[1] [2] In one lip gloss there was more then 10 times higher then what was set as the limit for contaminants.

A German consumers magazine tested several popular brands of lip gloss and found several “poisonous substances” that according to the scientists can seriously affect and harm liver, kidneys and nodes if they arrive in a human body and remain there too long. These substances can even cause skin reactions and asthma.

It has been said that “lip gloss could be the possible cause of perhaps 90% of the cases of skin cancer of the lips diagnosed each year.”[3]

If you had the choice of knowing whether you are putting arsenic or lead on your lips on a daily basis, I’m sure you would – but this is undisclosed and beauty companies have no incentive to test for or release information delcaring that their products contain dangerous ingredients.[4]  

So, instead let’s focus on what is disclosed and remember that lip gloss is easily disgested. By that I don’t mean it is easy on the stomach, but rather it is placed on the lips and is easily consumed by drinking and eating throughout the day.

Breakdown of Common Ingredients

Petroleum Jelly

Petroleum jelly is a by-product of the mechanical set-up used on oil rigs. Did you know that in the European Union petroleum jelly is banned unless it is in its pure state. In the US, no requirement for refinement applies to petroleum in personal care products. [5]

PAHs, or polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, are common contaminants in petrolatum, also called petroleum jelly and sold under well-known brand names like Vaseline. Petrolatum is found in one of every 14 products on the market (7.1 percent of the products assessed by EWG), including 15 percent of all lipstick and 40 percent of al baby lotions and oils. [6]

Studies linking the petrolatum impurity PAHs to breast cancer is a Columbia University study in which researchers found that the breast tissue of women with breast cancer was 2.6 times more likely to contain elevated levels of PAHs bound to DNA. [6]

Petroleum is listed as a probable human carcinogen in the European Union's Dangerous Substances Directive (UNECE 2004). Environmental Working Group. [6]

Fragrance

Artificial fragrances can contain solvents, aldehyes and benzene derivatives which have been linked to birth defects and cancer. No agency regulates the fragrance industry. [7]

Methyl Paraben

Methyl Paraben is linked to cancer, allergies, immunotoxicity and is restricted in US, Japan, European Countries and Canada. Many children’s lip gloss is made in China. There are emerging concerns over neurotoxicity and endocrine disruption. [7]

Proplyparaben

Exposure to proplyparaben can cause cancer, reproductive toxicity, allergies and immunotoxicity. [7]

TITANIUM DIOXIDE

Research has shown this ingredient to damage the body's ability to defend itself against disease and repair tissue, to cause swelling and itching in some cases, as well as being a possible cancer hazard.[3] 

A picture of ingredients on my dinner table

My Homemade Lip Gloss Recipe

If you are interested in checking out your current bath and beauty products check out this helpful website: cosmeticsdatabase dot com.

I decided to make my own lip gloss since I tried to kick the habit and was unable to do so after so many years. It is a super easy recipe and I encourage you to try it. I even have used it as a base for a homemade Baby Vicks rub.

Ingredients:

Alba Un-Petroleum

Vegetable Glycerine

Organic Coconut Oil

Vitamin E Oil

Tea Tree Oil

Peppermint Oil

Alba Un-petroleum is an awesome base to use for lip gloss. I spent nearly 2 weeks attempting to track down beeswax to use as a base but found this much readily available. (I may eventually experiment with beeswax is it is a bit more natural, but I did not for this batch).



homemade mint lip gloss



I just put a dollop of alba un-petro in my jar, added a small glob of veggie glycerine (helps tremendously with hydration), then put some coconut oil in. It’s not very scientific but that’s what I like about it – I really don’t enjoy measuring things out. Since the coconut oil is semi-solid until heated up, once I put it in the jar I breathed heavy on it like you would do if you were attempting to heat your hands up in the wintertime outside. It melts in no problem

I added a few drops of vitamin E and tea tree oil (TTO has antiviral, antibacterial, and anti-fungus properties). Then I put about 10 drops of peppermint oil in. I stirred it up with the opposite end of a spoon (which my husband yelled at me for) and there you have it!  

References

1 Good & Well NYC. The most toxic cosmetic? Traditional lip glosses, finds study. May 17, 2011

2 Postmedia News. Arsenic, lead and mercury discovered in Canadian cosmetics: Study. National Post. May 16, 2011.

3 Dahl, Melissa. Not Just Lip Service: Gloss Can Invite Skin Cancer. MSNBC. Apr 30, 2008.

4 Robert, Roger. Is Lip-Gloss Dangerous. Beyond Jane. Aug 17, 2006.

5 David, Diana. Three Beauty Products You Should Avoid. Apr 2010.

6 Huget, Jennifer. Purely Cosmetic?. Environmental Working Group via The Washington Post. Jun 21 2004

7 Toxic ingredients in child’s lip gloss. Oct 26 2009. http://littlegreenblog.com/family-and-food/green-parenting/toxic-ingredients-in-childs-lip-gloss/

No Comparison: Natural Immunity VS Artifical Immunity

I recently got into a debate with a medical professional about the comparison of immunity through vaccination versus naturally acquired immunity.

She referenced her medical textbook which stated that there was no difference between the two.

How could someone truly believe that?! You don’t have to be a medical doctor to understand the very distinct differences between the two.

To think that receiving a vaccine is no different then acquiring the disease itself is misinformed and grossly deceiving.

Naturally acquired immunity is magnificent, multifaceted, and something scientists are still learning about to this day. I would fathom to guess we will never truly be able to understand it in it’s entirety.  

Our body’s immune system is a multifaceted interaction between molecules, cells, and organs. This system is efficient and is able to protect an individual from outside threats as well as internal cells.

Let’s compare the cascade of events/effects when a person acquires ‘immunity’ naturally versus artificially.


Non-specific VS Specific

Let’s first appreciate that our immune system can be classified into two parts: non-specific (innate, immediate response) and specific (acquired or antigen specific). These parts are complex and are constantly communicating and interacting – something to be said of the entire immune system.

When a person attains an infection naturally, the virus/bacteria/fungus must penetrate through physical barriers (skin), chemicals factors (nasal secretions, saliva) and biological features (flora in the GI tract).

The non-specific components make up the majority of immune resistance.

“In the 1980’s Paola’s team at the Pasteur Institute in Paris showed that 98% of the immune response triggered at the early stages of infection is non-specific. [1] 
Nature Medicine, April 2000

When a person receives an injectable vaccine – these barriers are bypassed; none of the body’s cells, organs or molecules that are part of the non-specific response is activated in a way that would happen naturally.

Thinking we can “trick” our bodies into becoming immune to a disease without any consequences is simply bad science.

“The non-specific defense system responds immediately to protect the body from all foreign substances, whatever they are. The non-specific system reduces the workload of the specific defense system, by preventing entry and spread of micro-organisms throughout the entire body” [2] 
Essentials of Anatomy and Physiology 

Definition of Immunity

Immunity; 1. Protection against infectious disease by either specific or non-specific mechanisms. 2. Pertaining to the immune system or immune response [3]
Dorland’s Medical Dictionary

It is impartive to note that the definition of immunity used in every standard dictionary includes both non-specific and specific components.

Relying soling on a vaccine would not fall into terms of this definition.


Ports of Entry

A vaccine is injected into the muscle of an individual, directly into the bloodstream.

This is quite the opposite of what would happen naturally. The majority of pathogens enter through a person’s mouth or nose which are heavily lined with mucous membranes, packed with IgA.

“IgA is the key defender against viral infections”[4]
Essentials of Medicine

In the events triggering natural immunity, a remarkable amount of biological events occur which trigger the body’s ability in developing true immunity. This happens before the virus or bacterial come in contact with the host’s bloodstream.


Antibody Production

Vaccines sole intent is to elicit an antibody reaction from the individual. However, it is still uncertain if elevated antibody titers confer immunity or protection from disease.

Natural immunity involves many organs and systems. This complex system is completely evaded when relaying on vaccines to confer protection.

There is no relation whatsoever between antibody count and incidence of disease. The researchers found people who were highly resistant with extremely low antibody counts, and people who developed the disease who had high antibody counts.

Dr. Burton also discovered that children born with a-gamma globulinemia (inability to produce antibodies) develop and recover from measles and other infectious or contagious disease almost as quickly as other children.[5] Dr. Alec Burton, published by the British Medical Council 

Life-Long Immunity

One of the fundamental features of the immune system is its ability to respond and remember an invading virus or bacteria.

A problem occurs here with the use of vaccines because T cells (memory cells) are extremely slow learners. The most recent research shows that the ability for a T cell to remember requires many encounters instead of one initial exposure.

“It is true that natural infection almost always causes better immunity than vaccines. Whereas immunity from disease often follows a single, natural infection, immunity from vaccines occurs only after several doses.” [6]Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia

“The antigens contained in many inject able vaccines will not produce an immune response sufficient enough to confer protection against infection. Of the 23 vaccines currently in routine use, 20 are delivered by injection and stimulate only systemic immunity”  [7]Avant Immunotherapeutics

“It is dangerously misleading and indeed the exact opposite of the truth to claim that a vaccine makes us “immune’ or protects us against an acute disease, if in fact it only drives the disease deeper into the interior and causes us to harbor it chronically, with the result that our responses to it become progressively weaker and show less and less tendency to heal or resolve themselves spontaneously” [8]Dr. Robert Moskowitz, Dissent in Medicine

Conclusion

Vaccines are touted as the biggest gun in our arsenal of preventative medicine; not nutrition, sanitation or daily lifestyle choices.


In response to my discussion with the medical professional that so confidently stated there is no difference between the response a vaccine elicits versus the naturally occurring immune response, I think it is evident that the stimulation by a vaccine is not even remotely close in duplicating the response received from natural exposure.

Personally, I think we would be much more effective at evading disease if we shift our focus from disease prevention and management to enhancing health and wellbeing. The importance of nutrition, exercise and positive lifestyle choices should not be down-played by modern medicine.

It is important to embrace the concept that many diseases are normal and natural, that they may actually strengthen the immune system and benefit the body.

With the rise of vaccines and antibiotics, people in developed countries have experienced fewer childhood diseases than ever before and scientists suspect that an immune system with no serious work to do is likely to become a renegade army, attacking whatever it encounters[9]
Newsweek, 1997

Several studies have shown that the incidence of asthma and allergies tend to rise in countries where childhood immunization rates are high. This has prompted researchers to suggest that certain infections may trigger immune changes that protect children from developing asthma and allergies later. Preliminary studies have shown a protective effect of measles and infections with intestinal parasites. [10]
Science News, 1997

Infection with an organism does not necessarily mean diseases, since the immune system in most cases will be able to eliminate the infection before disease occurs. Disease occurs only when the bolus of infection is high, when the virulence of the invading organism is great or when immunity is compromised. [11]

References:

[1]Degrave W. “A B-cell mitogen from a pathogenic trypanosome is a novel eukaryotic proline racemase” Nature

[2] Marieb, E. Essentials of Anatomy and Physiology, WB Saunders, 2000, Philadelphia.

[3] Ingelfinger, F.  Dorland’s Medical Dictionary  Saunders Press, 1999.

[4] Andreoli, T. Essentials of Medicine, WB Saunders, 2001, Philadelphia.

[5] Null G. Vaccines: A Second Opinion, 2000.

[6] Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia, www.vaccine.chop.edu.

[7] Choang K Avant Immunotherapeutics.

[8] Moskowitz R. Dissent in Medicine Contemporary Books, 1985 p.142.

[9] Underwood, A. “Why Ebonie cant breathe” Newsweek,  May 26, 1997

[10] Raloff, J. “Childhood Vaccinations” Science News  Jan 25, 1997

[11 Gene Mayer, Ph.D. IMMU

NOLOGY - CHAPTER ONE. INNATE (NON-SPECIFIC) IMMUNITY. Microbiologyand Immunology On-Line. University of South Carolina School of Medicine http://pathmicro.med.sc.edu/ghaffar/innate.htm

Quotes 1-10 were gathered from Keith Wassung. “Challenging the Theory of Artificial Immunity.” Dr. Wassung is a nationally known author and speaker in the field of health education and research. http://atlaschiro.com/great_stuff/challenging_the_theory_of_artificial_immunity/