The recent revelation of Arsenic in Apple Juice has parents concerned and frustrated.  Concerned because children are the single biggest consumers of juice; Frustrated because they think juice is 100% healthy.

I'm not going to debate whether I think the study from Dr. Oz is legitimate or not, as it probably is pretty accurate.  I think Juice is vastly misunderstood by 99.9% of the population.

Juice is not a health food!  Kids should not be drinking juice everyday, throughout the day.  The juice from fruit is actually the BAD part of the fruit; it's the fruit minus all the fiber, and micronutrients.  It's pure fructose. 

Only your liver can metabolize fructose so let me take you on a journey through your liver when you consume juice.  Your body first has to give up phosphates to start metabolizing the fructose making the waste product Uric Acid (causes gout) which blocks the enzymes from making Nitric Oxide (keeps your blood pressure low), when you can't make nitric oxide your blood pressure goes up.  Nova Lipogenesis gets activated and now you get fat.  When you consume fructose you are consuming fat.  Fructose increases inflammation in the liver by initiating an enzyme that is truly and appropriately named “Junk 1".  Free fatty acids form and populate muscles.  Some fat will not make it out of your liver, and you wind up with fatty liver, Non-Alcoholic Liver Disease.

Your pancreas starts working harder generating more insulin because your liver becomes insulin resistant.  The more insulin your pancreas makes the higher your blood pressure goes and it also generates more fat.  The higher your insulin goes your brain can't see it's leptin (the thing that tells your brain you are full) and you keep consuming calories because your body thinks it's starving.

Is it any wonder why the obesity epidemic is growing fastest in 2-5 year olds?  That young children are being diagnosed with diabetes, high blood pressure, gout, fatty liver disease, heart disease, insulin resistance, dyslipidemia, and high cholesterol? ALL of these things happen with chronic fructose exposure.

One thing you can do as a parent to help your kid's avoid pain & illness is to limit all beverage consumption to plain water, and milk.  It's probably the single most important thing you can do.  Offer fresh fruits and veggies.  Fructose is absorbed differently if consumed in its natural whole fruit form as the fiber attached helps slow absorption.

The state of California has just passed bill AB499, which allows children as young as 12 years old to be vaccinated with STD vaccines like Gardasil without parental knowledge or consent. So if you live in California, school or medical personnel would be allowed to vaccinate your child against a sexually transmitted disease without your ever knowing it.

I am shocked that the US Government feels they can pass this bill that would allow them to vaccinate without parental consent.  It violates a parent’s basic right to be involved when making decisions regarding their child’s health.

It makes me sick that pharmaceutical companies are so blatantly greedy that they are not getting enough profits from drugging 90% of the adult population, they are now going after our children...AND the government is 100% backing them up, because they themselves are just as corrupt and greedy.

The Government will pay Merck $108 dollars per vaccine, which Merck will profit abundantly, and taxpayers will pick up the bill.  What's worse if there is an adverse effect from the vaccine Merck and the Government assumes no responsibility, it's up to the parents at that point to carry the financial burden of injury or death. 

It may sound extreme to say "injury or death" but if you think about it, the probability of it happening is high.  A 12, 15, even an 18 year old will not know family history of allergies, auto immune conditions, or adverse reactions to vaccines or other medications. They are also not mentally or emotionally capable of asking the right risk vs benefit questions and are easily swayed by peers and authorities. 

What you should know about Gardasil
Gardasil has been on the market for 4 years. It's NOT a cancer vaccine.  It's a vaccine for 2 strains of HPV (human papillomaviruses) that in some cases could lead to cancer, the other 2 strains is for genetal warts which do not cause cancer.  There is absolutely NO PROOF that it protects against cancer long term.

There are 15 strains of HPV in existence that could lead to cancer.  Even if a girl is vaccinated with Gardasil they can still get cervical cancer from the 13 other HPV strains.

HPV is very common affecting 20 million Americans at any given time. 

Here is what they don't want you to know:  In most all cases, HPV clears up in as little as 2 years on it's own without any adverse health effects in most healthy people.  This makes Gardasil one of the most unnecessary vaccines on the market, and it's dangerous.

In the 4 short years Gardasil has been available there have been over 21,000 reports of death and adverse effects.  It's also estimated that 90-99% of incidents never get reported.  There is also an abnormally large list of risks associated with getting this vaccine compared to other vaccines.

What you can do to STOP this
Go to www.NVICAdvocacy.org and register today to take action.  This will keep you informed and give you the tools you need to communicate to the elected officials in your state.

If you live in California, take a few minutes and do this now:

           1)  Contact Governor Jerry Brown and ask him to VETO AB499. 
                Call: (916) 445-2841  -OR-  Email Web Form: http://govnews.ca.gov/gov39mail/mail.php

            2)  Then Register for the NVIC Advocacy Portal so you can receive updates
            3)  Use Social Media to spread the word

If your house is like mine, mornings are a whirlwind!

The bathroom is crowded with everyone trying to get ready for the day, then it's a race downstairs and out the door!....WAIT!  What happened to breakfast?

It's the most important meal of the day for adults and for kids!  But it's often an afterthought because our lives have gotten exponentially busier.

Breakfast is a healthy habit that will determine how your child will feel for the rest of the day!  If they don't eat breakfast they will be cranky, grumpy, sluggish, unable to focus, inattentive.  Kid's that don't eat breakfast are also 5 pounds heavier, exercise less, & choose unhealthy foods throughout the day.

Not all breakfasts are created equal!  Stay far away from juice, cereal, doughnuts, muffins, toaster pastries/waffles, cereal bars, & other things like that.... though they are convenient they offer no nutritional value and can actually make your child FEEL worse because they will get a huge rush of energy and completely crash an hour later.  Protein and fresh fruits and veggies are the key to starting their day off right!  Remember, happy healthy kids need a minimum of 7-9 servings of fruits & veggies daily, get a few in first thing. 

Here are my favorite quick and easy breakfast ideas:

1.  Dinner for breakfast.  If there is leftover dinner it's fair game for breakfast.  I've given my girls salmon with fresh tomato, and a glass of milk, grilled chicken and yogurt, you name it!  Some kids don't like breakfast food, so don't hesitate.

2.  Eggs and veggies.  Eggs are a snap to prepare in the morning.  Add a little cheese and a variety of veggies like spinach, tomato, peppers, red onion, broccoli, fresh basil or other herb, etc..the possibilities are endless.

3.  My girls favorite...Smoothies!  Portable and super quick.  Blend plain Greek yogurt, banana, frozen berries, milk, and 2-3 tablespoons of coconut oil.

I used to always cook with vegetable oils mostly because that's what my mom cooks with and that's the way I was taught to cook.  AND we've also been told that these vegetable unsaturated oils are more "heart healthy" and are supposed to protect us from heart disease. It turns out, that was a really BAD idea as they actually do more harm than good. 

Here is why.  Unsaturated oils like vegetable oil, corn oil, safflower oil just to name a few oxidize when exposed to any heat, even room temperature heat.    The problem with oxidation in oils is that it makes it rancid and produces Free Radicals.  Free Radicals are molecules that are missing a critical component and steal what they need from your healthy cells, altering your DNA which accelerates aging and over 90% of all diseases we suffer from today.  This is BAD, and why you should move your family away from these oils, and stop cooking with them.  Cooking with these oils accelerates oxidation which produces more Free Radicals.

One other really cool fact that I as a mom found really interesting is that Coconut Oil contains Lauric Acid, which is a natural compound found in breast milk.  Lauric acid is super important because it strengthens your immune system.

I've recently moved over to cooking with Coconut Oil.  Coconut Oil is saturated and heat stable so that it doesn't get damaged when you cook with it, and it does not oxidize... so NO FREE RADICALS are getting into my kids bodies destroying their healthy cells.  You can cook with it, bake with it, and mix it up for dressings and other healthy treats.

Other benefits:  
                                PROMOTES heart health
                                SUPPORTS the Immune System
                                Gives you ENERGY
                                SUPPORTS healthy metabolism
                                PROMOTES weight loss
                                MAINTAIN normal Cholesterol levels

It also doubles as an excellent moisturizer for your skin :)

Be choosy when purchasing Coconut oil.  I use Fresh Shores Extra Virgin Coconut Oil that I find in my local health food store.  Find one that is cold pressed, organic, made with fresh coconuts (instead of dried "copra" used in cheap oils), not refined or bleached.