I wanted to take this opportunity to share with you a little about our Physician Assistant, Amy Speer.  She has been a welcome addition to the Healthy Kids Pediatrics team. Her skills, training and expertise are a natural complement to what I desire to accomplish through Functional Medicine while allowing us to extend more personalized care to all our patients.

Amy graduated with a Bachelor of Science in PA Studies from UTMB Galveston, is NCCPA certified and is currently studying for her Boards in Functional Medicine. Working in many medical environments including Family Practice, has given Amy the opportunity to work with a large variety of patients.

Amy shares that prior to her joining the staff at Healthy Kids Pediatrics her two children were patients of Dr. Bain's. She felt led to join Healthy Kids Pediatrics after I found the root of her son's underlying health concerns, made some changes to his treatment plan which made such improvement in her son's medical concerns. Always, the learner, she recognized that joining the staff would also complement what she was already learning through her Functional Medical courses and allow her to put that knowledge to good work assisting our patients to achieve wellness and good health. We found that our philosophies were very much the same and the rest is history. 

Amy enjoys working out, cooking, crafting, reading and learning about all of the interesting things that come up over the course of the day like essential oils, homeopathy, etc.

Here is a salad recipe that the husband of our Practice Administrator, Eileen Kranzberg, has made for the Healthy Kids Pediatrics staff. 

They call it Denny's Salad.

Denny's Salad 

Spring mix lettuce

Thinly sliced purple onion

Diced Braeburn apple

Golden raisins

Goat Cheese crumbles

Sliced Strawberries

Chopped walnuts or almonds

Meat (optional) or cooked salmon (can be placed on salad after tossing)

Toss salad

Dressing:

Olive oil

Balsamic Vinegar

Lemon juice

Honey

Pepper

Mix to taste

Switching to natural cleaning options can save time, money, and reduce chemical exposure.

Here at Healthy Kids Pediatrics we use Young Living's Thieves Cleaner in non-patient areas.  It is a mixture of Clove, lemon, cinnamon, Eucalyptus and rosemary.  We share the solution proportions below.Remember to always keep your cleaning solutions, even natural ones, out of reach of children and pets because some mixtures could become toxic if taken internally or an irritant to the skin.

In the mean-time we asked our patients on Facebook for their tips for easy, natural cleaning.

General Household Cleaners

Dr. Bronner's peppermint Castile liquid soap, lemon essential oil and oregano essential oil all mixed in water and a glass spray bottle

Vinegar and water with essential oils (different kinds depending on mood and purpose) in a spray bottle.

Thieves household cleaner (By Young Living).

Vinegar & hot water in a spray bottle & baking soda!

Also diffusing Young Living Essential Oil, Thieves to clean the AIR of germs and viruses!!! IPurification and Thieves are two that work wonderfully.

Straight vinegar for kitchen and bath.

Baking soda and peroxide for bleaching ceramic sink.

Laundry

Laundry detergent is , baking soda, Castile soap and essential oil.

Baking soda added to laundry for a boost of cleaning power.

Mopping Solution
Borax (about a cup), a little bit of dish soap, hot water and about 5 drops of essential oil (lemon, cinnamon or thieves).

Carpet

Baking soda with essential oils as carpet freshener before vacuuming.

Dishwasher

To clean your dishwasher effortlessly, fill a dishwasher safe bowl or jar with 2 cups of vinegar and set on the top rack of the dishwasher. Run through on a hot cycle with no other dishes in the dishwasher to clean and remove the musty odor.

As mentioned above, here at Healthy Kids Pediatrics, we use Young Living's Thieves Cleaner in non-patient areas.

The solution is 30:1

NOTE: 30 to 1 means 30 parts water and 1 part Thieves Cleaner. Always test a hidden area on fabrics, upholstery or carpets.

Hand Cleaner: (1 to 1) 1/2 cup cleaner to 1/2 cup water

Floors: 1 capful cleaner to 6.25 cups water

Fabrics, Carpet spotting: 1 capful cleaner to 2 cups water - Test a small hidden area to test for colorfastness before using.

Carpet: 1 capful cleaner to 6.25 cups water - Test a small hidden area to test for colorfastness before using.

Glass: 1 capful cleaner to 5 quarts water

Proportions don't have to be exact. Use more or less as needed.

Do you have any other natural cleaning tips?  We'd love for you to share them in the comments!

Dr. Bain of Healthy Kids Peditrics in Frisco, TX recommends the following books for healthy eating and healthy living.

1. Eat Healthy, Feel Great By William Sears, MD, Martha Sears, RN From the creators of the acclaimed Sears Parenting Library comes a handbook that gives kids the tools to make their own wise food choices. Includes quick and easy recipes.
2. Let's Get Real About Eating By Laura Kopec, ND, MHNE, CNC  Finally, a book that breaks down everything we've heard and gets straight to the fundamentals of what we eat and how we feel. This book will not only open your eyes to what we eat, how it is grown, manufactured, and packaged but also the impact it has on our health, and then goes one step further and actually tells us what we can do about it. Whether you're ready to take baby steps or make major changes, this book tells you how- plain and simple.

3. Eat Like a Dinosaur by Paleo Parents Don't be fooled by the ever-increasing volume of processed gluten-free goodies on your grocery store shelf! In a world of mass manufactured food products, getting back to basics and cooking real food with and for your children is the most important thing you can do for your family's health and well-being. It can be overwhelming when thinking about where to begin, but with tasty kid-approved recipes, lunch boxes and projects that will steer your child toward meats, vegetables, fruits, nuts and healthy fats, Eat Like a Dinosaurwill help you make this positive shift.

4. Special Needs Kids Eat Right by Judy Converse, MPH, RD, LD Any parent of a child with autism, Asperger's, ADHD, sensory processing disorder, or other developmental disabilities knows that special-needs kids often have food sensitivities and can be very fussy eaters. Plus, they've been told to avoid such common ingredients as gluten and casein, making it even harder to give them the balanced, healthy meals all children need.
   
   Now, Judy Converse, a registered, licensed dietitian, offers new advice and guidance on how to use food as an essential tool for development.

Dr. Bain recently listed to the entire "Gluten-Summit" which was presented by NY Times best-selling authors, world-renowned scientists and doctors and nutritionists.

The nearly 30 hours of interviews provides answers you'll need to start the conversation to determine whether gluten impacts your health.

Here are Dr. Bain's notes from the summit.  You can purchase your own copy of the nearly 30 hours of interviews here.

Wheat is very low in health-promoting phytonutrients, most genetically modified.

Many studies have found modern wheat linked to obesity, celiac disease and diabetes.

Triggers very odd symptoms, commonly misdiagnosed as other problems.

Circulating immune complexes (CIC): The are formed even in healthy people; CIC cause vasculitis, nephritis,arthritis, dermatitis - caused by systemic inflammation.

High fermentation = promotes bacterial overgrowth of the small bowel (SIBO): dysbiosis, contributes to fibromyalgia and IBS.

Gluteomorphins - protein polypeptides cross blood brain barrier, "morphine like substances/endorphins" in the brain, linked to symptoms of mental fog, food cravings, addictive eating behaviors, seen in autism and schizophrenia.

It contains a Super Starch called Amylopectin A -how we get big fluffy bread, biscuits and cinnamon rolls.

Einkorn, heirloom wheat from biblical times ("Our daily bread") not consumed any more.

Instead we eat Dwarf  "Franken"Wheat, product of manipulation and hybridization , creating short, stubby, hardy, high yielding wheat plants with much  and higher amounts of starch and gluten and double the chromosomes for all sorts of new odd proteins (28 vs 14 chromosomes).

Norman Borlaug 1970 Nobel Prize winner for engineering this modern wheat promising to feed millions of starving around the world - instead contributed to obesity and chronic illness.

It contains a form of Super Gluten that is very-inflammatory.

Gluten is the sticky protein in wheat that holds bread together and makes it rise.

The old Einkorn wheat codes for the small number of gluten proteins (also those least likely to trigger celiac disease and inflammation).

The new dwarf wheat contains double the chromosomes and produces a large variety of gluten proteins including the ones most likely to cause celiac disease.

Gluten can trigger full blown inflammation leading to autoimmune disease and celiac disease (antibodies to wheat-adaptive immune system).

Gluten can trigger low grade inflammation - gluten sensitivity (innate immune system).

Wheat contains a non-gluten glycoprotein or lectin (combination of sugar and protein) called wheat germ agglutinin (WGA). Whole grains, peanuts, kidney beans, and soybeans are high in lectins. Cow's milk, nightshade vegetables (like potatoes and tomatoes) and some seafood also contain fairly high amounts of lectin. In fact, estimates are that about 30% of our foods contain lectins, and about 5% of the lectins we eat will enter our circulation.

Lectins are a problem because they are sticky molecules that can bind to the linings of human tissue, especially intestinal cells. In so doing, they disable cells in the GI tract, keeping them from repairing and rebuilding, leading to erosion of the intestinal barrier (leaky gut), and thus contributing to development of food sensitivities.

Because the lectins also circulate throughout the bloodstream they can bind to any tissue in the body ­- thyroid, pancreas, collagen in joints, etc. This binding can disrupt the function of that tissue and cause white blood cells to attack the lectin-bound tissue, destroying it. This is an autoimmune response.

 The lectins in wheat for example, are specifically known to be involved in rheumatoid arthritis.

Lectins have also been linked to heart attacks, weight gain, fatigue/low energy.

HLA DQ2 and HLA DQ8 -30% of population have at least 1 positive genetic marker predisposing them to celiac disease.

Add Genetic susceptibility to environmental triggers, including lifestyle choices, nutrient poor diet, overuse of antibiotics, ibuprofen, NSAIDs, acid blocking drugs, with high consumption of the super gluten containing wheat is the perfect storm for inflammatory diseases.

The super gluten crosses our leaky gut, gets exposed to the immune system which triggers the inflammatory cascade. This inflammation is not selective, so it starts to attack our cells, leading to further potential for a myriad of chronic diseases.

Gluten Free Processed Food is not the answer = healthier junk food - high glycemic load, it is still cookies, cakes.

Spelt and Sprouted Grain bread is a better option or better yet, get a bread maker and experiment with your own gluten free bread making. There are lots of recipes on line.

"If you suspect a Gluten intolerance or allergy, call Healthy Kids Pediatrics for a nutritional consultation.  972-294-0808"