I’ll never forget when my cousin came over for a sleepover
when I was 6 years old, and her bag contained a bottle of
Flintstones vitamins! I was so excited to have some as my
mom did not have them in our pantry. Twenty minutes
later, the whole bottle had been consumed by the two of
us, and I’ll always remember my mom and aunt raving and
arguing about what to do and whether to bring us to the
emergency room! Now as an educated nutrition coach, the
reaction that we had as children, and our parents concern is
no surprise. This candy-disguised-as-supplement is, quite
plainly, poison. I realize poison sounds like a dramatic label
for this seemingly benign pill that was part of many of our
own childhoods. However, consider these facts:
FACT: artificial colours and flavours are also known as
excitotoxins for what they do to our brains. They are linked
to neurological disorders such as Parkinson’s disease and
Alzheimer’s. A growing brain is FOUR TIMES more sensitive
to excitotoxins.
FACT: glucose syrup is the first ingredient. Ingredients
by law have to be listed in order of what it is primarily
made out of. This means, these “vitamins” are quite plainly
high-fructose corn syrup in a capsule. The implications
of HFCS include increased blood fats which lead to heart
disease, and diabetes.
As David Katz MD has been quoted, “this is the first generation
of children whose parents are predicted to outlive
them”. albeit the issue of the mortality rate of our children
is a multi-headed monster, we simply cannot afford to continue
in this direction and the best solution is to be aware
and educated as consumers. Label reading is a great start.
And when it comes to supplementation, we sought the advice
of world renown paediatrician Dr. William Sears, who
had this to say. “Before buying any supplement for your
body or your child’s, take a look at the bottle. The bottle
should have a link to a website that shows clinical, peer-reviewed,
gold standard research on that product –that it gets
into the bloodstream and that it does good things for you.
If the supplement cannot provide that, run.”
So what supplement does Dr. Sears recommend? Juice
Plus, whole food based nutrition that includes juice powder
concentrates from 25 different fruits and veggies. Juice plus
is available in a capsule or in delicious, vegan gummies that
are perfect for little ones. If you want to know more about
Juice Plus please contact bebo mia and we will help you get
started!
