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Rawpower


Do childhood vaccines create healthier or sicker children? 7 ways to naturally immunise your family.

by Anand Wells, Live Food Education

Whether children should be immunised (with pharmaceutical concoctions) is a hotly debated subject. Recently a family member was so upset with our decision to not traditionally immunise Bodhi (our 5 month old baby boy) that they won't speak to me anymore. They believe that we are being very irresponsible and are putting his life at risk. The divide between pro-immunisation and anti-immunisation camps can run deep.

While I don't doubt that vaccinations can reduce certain diseases in the population, Runi and I have serious concerns about their safety and effectiveness and have chosen build Bodhi's immunity naturally.

An enlightened doctor I know said that governments are only interested in vaccinating the "herd" to be seen to be preventing outbreaks of polio, measles etc, however, they are not interested in reporting many of the documented and suspected side effects of immunisations including autism, narcolepsy, seizures, brain inflammation, mitochondrial dysfunction to name but a few.

In addition to this, an uncontrolled survey in Germany of 10,598 participants showed that unvaccinated children are far less affected by common diseases (including allergies, hay fever, asthma/chronic bronchitis, neurodermatitis (itchy skin), Otitis media (middle ear infections), Sinusitis, Herpes, Warts, Polyps and fungal infections) than vaccinated children. http://www.vaccineinjury.info/vaccinations-in-general/health-unvaccinated-children/survey-results-illnesses.html

Is it possible that vaccines are disrupting and compromising our children's delicate immune systems and are causing a whole host of other health problems and is there another way to protect children from potentially dangerous childhood diseases?

Runi and I have chosen to boost Bodhi's immune system naturally. My personal experience is that a properly functioning immune system can ward off most disease or lessen the intensity and duration of disease when it strikes.

So how can you immunise your children and yourself naturally? Here is what we are doing:

1/ When pregnant eat an excellent organic whole food, high raw diet. (Please note that I am not advocating a vegan or even a vegetarian diet unless that works for you). Make sure you are getting enough folic acid (B9) vitamin B12, iron, calcium, zinc, vitamin D and essential fatty acids in particular. We chose to supplement all of these key nutrients just to be on the safe side.

2/ Breast milk - Once baby is born, breastfeed him/her to full-term. Ideally three years or more. This is undoubtedly the safest immunisation available, especially if your diet is alive and high in the important nutrients.

3/ Homeopathic immunisation - We chose to immunise Bodhi homeopathically. It  is non-toxic and safe and according to an Australian study effective.

4/ Whole Food - Once eating only offer children fresh whole organic foods with a high percentage (70% or more) raw. Food can be medicine or poison: steer clear of all refined products including sugar, wheat, pasta, most bread, commercial pasteurised dairy and oils. Include LOTS of leafy greens, green juices and green smoothies. Leafy greens are perhaps the most medicinal foods on the planet. I highly recommend getting in a good juicer like an Oscar and a good blender like the Semak Vitacrush. This is not an expense; it is an investment in your family's health.

If you are lucky enough to start your child early you will be creating a very positive food imprint for them. Studies have shown that when stressed, adults often revert back to types of food they were fed when upset as an infant. Imagine going for greens when you feel stressed instead of cake, bread, chips, "bad" chocolate or other common comfort foods!

We have already mixed green juice and green smoothie with breast milk and given Bodhi a taste of what is coming and he seems to like it.

5/ Superfoods and supplements - Here are key the nutrients your child will require. We will be supplementing Bodhi with the following:

- Vitamin B12 for healthy red blood cells, a good nervous system and good growth and development (especially important for vegans)

Vitamin D (in winter or sunless conditions only) - Very important for the immune system and bone development

- The essential fatty acids DHA and EPA for brain and eye development. If you are not vegetarian Krill Oil is one of the best sources. One of the best plant based sources of DHA and EPA is marine phytoplankton such as Oceans Alive. Another source of non-animal DHA is micro algae including spirulinachlorella and AFA algae such as E3Chia seeds and hemp nuts are high in other essential fatty acids but not DHA or EPA . The great news is that most of these ingredients can be put into a child's smoothie or juice without them even noticing.

6/ Sunshine - we take Bodhi out in the sun (often naked) most days to make sure he is getting enough vitamin D. Breast milk is very low in Vitamin D and most breast fed babies are deficient in this very important vitamin. Obviously we take him out when it is not too hot so he doesn't get burnt!

7/ Earthing - for the Earths negatively charged electrons (which help reduce inflammation and free radical damage) and electro-magnetic radiation protection. Bodhi gets plenty of Earthing when I carry him for morning and evening barefoot walks as well as dips in the river and ocean. In the evening he sleeps on an Earthing Bed Pad which we have wrapped around his cot mattress.

As you can see from these photosBodhi is a picture of health and I am confident in our decision, to not vaccinate and build his immune system naturally.

Having said that, I am in no way offering this information as prescription or medical advice. It is simply what Runi and I are choosing to do.  I also didn’t vaccinate my first two children who are both grown up now. I recommend that you do your own research and make your own decisions.

If you are interested in finding out why vaccines are potentially dangerous and what the government and doctors are not telling you, Dr Mercola's website is a good place to begin) 

Also I highly recommend the documentary ‘The Greater Good” You can watch the trailer here

Stay well!

Anand

 


Experiments on a raw food diet – which is the best approach for you?


by Anand Wells, Live Food Education

It will be eight years this January 2012 since I embarked on a high raw food diet. In that time I have experimented with a wide variety of approaches including low fat, high sugar (from fruit), low sugar and higher fat, vegan and non-vegan, 75% raw to 100% raw.

So which is the best approach? I would have to say all of them and none of them. I have experienced the healthiest, happiest eight years of my life since eating a high raw, whole food diet and it appears to me that avoiding processed foods is more important than getting obsessed with what percentage raw I am eating. In retrospect, perhaps it would be more accurate to say the best approach is to remain aware and flexible and act accordingly. My body’s requirements change over time and what works for me today may not work tomorrow. If I am stuck in an ideology of how I “should” be eating, I may ignore or miss by body’s signals and innate wisdom.

I am currently on an 80% – 90% raw food, low glycemic diet that includes animal protein (eggs, goats kefir, fish) and lots of cultured veggies and this is working very well for me. If anything I am feeling better than when I was experimenting with a 100% raw vegan approach.

What has been a constant through out my eight years of experimenting are the following seven things:

  1. I have completely avoided refined/processed foods 
  2. I have maintained a high percentage of raw food 75% or more
  3. Leafy greens have remained central to my diet (including juices, salads and smoothies)
  4. I haven’t drunk coffee or alcohol or taken pharmaceutical or recreational drugs
  5. I have exercised on a regular basis
  6. Animal protein has remained under 10% of my diet
  7. I have eaten organic wherever possible

By sticking to the above guidelines I have had more energy and been healthier than I was during my 20s and 30s with cold symptoms only showing up 3 times in the eight years as opposed to 1-3 times a year!

A typical day might look like this:

  • Lunch – A big green salad with avocado, dulse or nori seaweed and sometimes some with some lightly baked local fish – I often drizzle my salads with apple cider vinegar and hemp oil and when out of Australia I will sprinkle hemp nuts on top as well.
  • Dinner – usually involves more green salad, green juice, sometimes some steamed sweet potato or kelp noodles or 100% buckwheat soba noodles.

For more inspiration and recipe ideas take the Live Food Challenge.

Bon Appetite!

Anand

 


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