I was watching a Rick Stein DVD recently about food in Vietnam, and it was mentioned in passing that the Vietnamese don't suffer from food allergies. None of them breaks out in spots if they eat nuts, none of them is wheat intolerant, and none of them is allergic to shellfish milk or eggs. It just doesn't happen!
So why is it that almost every 1st world child seems to be intolerant of something or other, breaking-out in spots, or permanently in anaphylactic shock.
The easy answer is that it's due to what they EAT. I very much doubt if these conditions are a result of the air we breathe, or the water we drink, or even the clothes we wear. No, it's more than likely to be as a result of some cleverly hidden chemicals in what they are consuming.
When our first son, Kimbo, was born (1971) I went straight out and bought Dr Max Bircher-Benner's book 'Children's Diet' (Bircher-Benner was the man who invented Muesli). It was filled with common sense and intelligent research, and suggested that children should be given a diet based around fresh fruit, vegetables, and cereals.
The book was written around 1945 (?), so E Numbers were probably still thin on the ground, but these days they seem to be in everything.
Today I would much rather my grandchildren ate a carrot from the garden than any of those sugar-laden, factory-made, snack-bars/sweets that come in multi coloured packs with smiling Disney cartoon characters plastered all over them. In fact I would go as far as saying that all food products that use cartoon characters to attract children should be avoided like the bloody plague.
Cartoon characters + multi-coloured packs + E Numbers + TV ads = dangerous rubbish..... Simple.
We amuse ourselves in the office by reading out the list of chemicals in our fizzy drinks and sweets that litter the desks. Sometimes we get so high we have to peel ourselves off the ceilings.
ReplyDeleteLooking at the picture above, I notice that although the Vietnamese may not have E Numbers, they certainly have pollution and tobacco smoke to deal with.
DeleteCro - I absolutely agree with all that you have written 100%.
ReplyDeleteAbout two thirds of the so called 'food' in supermarkets is not food at all - its a mixture of sugar, salt and various chemicals.
There is a cereal here in NZ called 'FruitLoops' that contains 60gms of sugar per 100gms of product (I have read the label) - which is another way of saying that this cereal is 60% sugar.
Imagine showing a video to the authorities where a parent fills their childs cereal bowl with 60% sugar and 40% of carbohydrate day after day - the parents would be arrested for child abuse. But this crap is sold every day around the world in supermarkets - makes my blood boil.
And I'm betting there are Disney cartoon characters on the boxes too.
DeleteMy daughter in law gets fruit bars for our grandson, because he won't eat fruit, guess what he eats here, yep fruit!. We do not eat process food here.
ReplyDeleteMy eldest son suffered his first reaction to peanuts when he was 18 months old and I gave him peanut butter thinking it would be good for him……prior to that he had only had home made good food! ( maybe the odd jar of baby food too if I am honest!!)
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely agree Cro. I was a war child and therefore had none of the fancy stuff to eat - just plenty of veggies from the garden, eggs (and old hens) from our chickens and cake which my mother made. I tried to rear my son on the same kind of diet and he is now vegetarian and lives on pulses, vegetables and fruit - and in his mid fifties is quite healthy. Today's children run the gauntlet of advertising and pressure from their peers as well as working mums who buy quick ready meals because they have no time for anything else. What is wrong with a good, healthy casserole with masses of veg, a couple of tins of pulses of some kind and a small amount of meat. Lasts for two or three days and is little trouble to make.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree more; sometimes I inwardly despair when I see young people at the supermarket checkout.
DeleteAbsolutely agree. I remember one mum saying 'oh we don't eat gourmet food' when I told her I was cooking shepherd's pie for dinner. Shepherd's pie gourmet? Thankfully my two never had allergies. Obviously because of all that 'gourmet' (ie real) food. btw - we don't own a microwave either.
ReplyDeleteI do own a microwave, but it's only used for reheating couscous or last night's curry leftovers; never for heating ready meals.
DeleteBircher-Benner was the original fruit and nut-case. My daughter was raised on these principals, and all it did was make her somewhat over-weight and food obsessed up until a certain age. She craved any food with cartoon characters on the box, having been denied them from birth, but I must say I have to agree with you.
ReplyDeleteExcellent point my good man.
ReplyDeleteWhen I see what is being fed to my grandchildren it makes me shudder.
ReplyDeleteDitto, and in the cause of diplomacy it's not always easy to say anything!
DeleteAmen. We are poisoning ourselves (and our children) with our processed-food diets. You're entirely right. If any package of food has a cartoon character on it, it should not be eaten. Lately some have been recommending avoiding any food that has it's own TV commercial. That's good advice too.
ReplyDeleteits also our environment everything is too clean nowadays parents freak out if children get a bit mucky , thankfully my three offspring are only allergic to organisation and tidyness . I think their mum is to thank she never could get the hang of cleaning the house...
ReplyDeleteYes indeed b and bt I have always practiced what my GP calls "A Studied Neglect" and raised my own and many foster children to be hale and hearty. A young woman came to visit our smallholding a couple of weeks ago and used a whole packet of those disinfectant wipey-things on her four year old's hands and face throughout an hours visit. (While feeding him wotsits and chocolate biscuits on demand--oh yes and he only drinks "pop")
DeleteSo right! And why are so many people suddenly affected by staple foods such as milk products and wheat? Someone told me the other day that they add extra gluten to flour. There are now rows of "free from" foods in the supermarkets now (not free from E numbers) Is it something we are doing to our crops or animal food? The schools have rows and rows of inhalers for children with asthma. I never knew anybody with breathing problems when I was at school. I must admit to getting a bit fed up of listening to people's dietary difficulties and we seem to be the only family that don't have any)
ReplyDeleteMaybe they should add a 'Free from all additives' shelf.
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So much of the processed food is GMO'd in the US. I try to only eat organic and raise what I can in the summer. I am not a very good gardener, but I try. Growing up most all our food was home raised and canned or frozen for the winter months. My mother would feed 5 with one chicken and that was a fried chicken! We had lots of veggies to go with. I have a sister-in-law that thinks potatoes only come out of box! I feel so sorry for my nephew. He will never know what real food is!
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ReplyDeleteMuch of the answer is actually probably due to what children don't eat - they don't eat enough dirt nowadays, seriously, on vegetables etc, that promotes a healthy and not over-sensitive immune system.
ReplyDeleteMany "E numbers" are just natural chemicals given a number. Same applies to many chemical names. All food is chemical, water is a chemical, so is oxygen. A long complicated chemical name does not make something dangerous. Deoxyribonucleic acid anyone? It's in everything.and everyone.
Having said all that, I personally avoid pesticides and herbicides as much as I can, but this attitude that a chemical name you don't understand means danger is crazy. Everything has a chemical name. Water can be called dihydrogen oxide.... wow, scary? Organically grown bananas, by the way, like all bananas, contain plenty of known carcinogens with long and complicated chemical names for completely natural components of the fruit. Don't stop eating them though. Dosage is the key, not the name.