National Poison Your Child Day – Will You Participate?
by Dr. Richard Huntoon
Read National Poison Your Child Day – Will You Participate? by Dr. Richard Huntoon to learn more about Advanced Alternative Medicine Center and our Chiropractic office in Building 400, Pooler Park, Pooler, GA.
We look forward to serving you! Call - 845-561-2225.
t’s that time of year again, where we are all given the option of setting our children and our family up for a sickly Winter. As the title of this article says, National Poison Your Child Day is the holiday we choose to celebrate by giving out bags and buckets full of candy and other processed sugar “treats” to all the little children who come to our doors dressed in costumes that represent their alter egos or opportunities to dress like their heroes.
From a kids perspective, I’m all for it. They should have several days a year in which to do this. We, even as adults, deserve a day of being able to dress up like someone we don’t normally dress like for the sheer fun of it. As long as it is done in a respectful manner that doesn’t offend or hurt others, we should all do it. Letting go of the notion that we have to be the same all the time is healthy, and this is the time of year for “Letting go.” What is a concern is the rewards that are given during the time of “Trick or Treat.” This is what creates the problems. The question is, “Will you participate?”
The concept of giving away candy to children who recently seemed to have developed more allergy-type conditions, upper respiratory ailments and other conditions such as adult-onset diabetes before the children are adults, is something that needs to be considered. Not considering the potential downside of receiving large amounts of candy and the effect it has on the Immune System is just plane irresponsible. So I am writing this today to encourage you to consider celebrating the holiday, get the kids dressed up in whatever costume makes them happy and make it a game to see how much candy you can collect so you can simply throw it out. I realize this is quite the extreme idea, of which could potentially upset your little Ninja or Princess, but if you position it correctly, they will actually get excited about the idea. Before I get into how to handle the rewards of going door to door, I wanted to help you understand how eating refined sugar interferes with the functioning of your Immune System and how it sets the body up for more infection.
Every person has 3 major components that help to maintain balance within their digestive tract. These include good, healthy bacteria, such as E.Coli, along with two different classes of Fungus, known as Yeast and Candidia. Normally, a healthy person has a balanced amount of all three that enables the proper breakdown and assimilation of the foods eaten. But if your intestinal flora is out of balance, as a direct result of taking Antibiotics, you will have a digestive system that is deficient in bacteria and has excess amounts of Yeast and Candidia. This imbalance causes the person to have irrational cravings for sugar, and other simple carbohydrates, in an effort to feed and satisfy the excess Yeast and Candidia. What results is a body that produces too much mucus. This will stem from the excess Yeast and Candidia in association with consuming cheese, milk, vinegar, alcohol, especially beer, and other fermented foods. The mucus and overgrowth of Yeast and Candidia leads to lots of gas and bloating. It also causes stagnation or constipation. This, over time, will cause tiny micro-tears in the lining of your intestines, leading to a condition known as “Leaky Gut Syndrome.” This then follows with undigested food particles entering the blood-stream. When this occurs, a normal Immune Response will take place where the Immune System attacks the undigested food particles. This results in what is called Food Allergies. Since the Immune System is now attacking the undigested food particles needed to build health within the body, slowly over time, your Immune Response is lowered and you’re now more prone to developing infections. Compound the issue with the excess mucus from certain foods, and your body is now ready to trap infections that the Immune System isn’t strong enough to get to, nor does it have the ability to fight effectively. This leads to Upper Respiratory Infections, Lung Infections, Asthma, Pneumonia, as well as, Colitis, Diverticulitis and other Digestive System dysfunction. Since this is the time of year for the Lungs and Large Intestine to be most active, based on being the two components of the Metal Element in the Chinese 5 Element Theory, it is important not to stress either of them out in a negative way. Consuming large quantities (any quantity) of sugar is the quickest way to throw these two organs into crisis. Participating in National Poison Your Child Day and allowing your children to eat the candy they receive form Trick or Treating, will set them up for a Winter full of sickness and Antibiotics. What should a good parent do? You could say NO!
Allowing your children to partake in the dress-up aspect of Halloween is something every parent should enjoy. And taking the time to show them off to all the neighbors is fun for everyone. But what to do with the bags, buckets and baskets full of candy? One choice is to make a deal with your kids. For every piece of candy they collect, they get a certain amount of money, let’s say a nickel. Perhaps you can give them a specific amount for the whole amount of candy collected, something like $5.00 or $10.00. You decide. The rule is though that when they get home, you both go through the candy, and you can use the money as an influence to giving up the candy. Is it bribery? I wouldn’t call it that. If, when going through the candy, there are some natural treats, those they can eat. But for all the hard candy with concentrated sugar, you should consider, for the health of your children and your household, tossing all of it. It can be an opportunity to teach your children about proper foods, and what is not good to eat.
Another possible solution is perhaps you could convince them to donate the candy to “the needy children who can’t go Trick or Treating.” This works with the younger ones. Tell them a story about the “needy children” and see if you can teach your kids to give the candy away. Once you have them convinced, you could tell your kids you will bring it to those children. And then when they are at school, you could then simply throw the candy out. Either choice allows you to avoid setting your children up for a Winter of sickness, and allows you to teach them something valuable.
Consider what I have said here when making your decision to allow your children to go out Trick or Treating on Halloween. I think if you really consider the consequences of letting them eat any or all of the candy they receive, you’ll realize it is very important for their health and well being. Dealing with a sick child, especially when you don’t feel well yourself, is not a fun, nor an easy thing. Setting yourself up to have to deal with a sick child as Winter approaches is now up to you. Will you participate?
If you have any questions about anything contained in this newsletter, please contact me directly through docrick@spineboy.com where I will be happy to answer all of your health related questions.
For Your Health,
Dr. Richard Huntoon
