8 For Those Raising Children

In preparing for and during labor, and when taking care of small children, you should consult section 6 above. Optimum nutrition is doubly important for everyone involved after the birth. Sleep is likely to be interrupted until you all get into sync, breast milk has to be produced, and an infant has way too much energy for any one person to keep up with unless they are super-fit.

When breastfeeding

You will need extra Zinc and vitamin B6. Breastfeeding and being a parent counts as 'hard physical work' so for your diet use section 6. Loss of sleep and schedule disruption takes just as much out of you as hard labor.

If you want an optimally nourished child with a great immune system, you'll want to be breastfeeding on demand for a few years, so it's important to look after your own health.

If there is one single gift you can give to a child to boost her/his immunity, ensure long life, enduring health and strong intelligence, it is breast milk.

The balance of nutrients in breast milk in an optimally nourished woman is far superior to those in formula milks. One key factor is the high levels of essential fatty acids necessary for brain development. In fact, the discovery that breast fed babies later achieved better mental performance than bottle-fed babies led to the realization of the importance of giving infants high levels of essential fatty acids.

One great disadvantage of bottle feeding is the milk itself. The consumption of cows milk is strongly discouraged in infants because their digestive and immune systems are too immature to deal with this kind of protein –the result is often lifelong allergy. Not all such allergy is immediately apparent –the discovery that child-onset diabetes results from the immune system becoming allergic to a protein in cows milk and beef, and then cross-reacting with a virtually identical protein in the pancreas, resulting in the destruction of pancreatic tissue, has led to the understanding that milk and beef should even be avoided by breastfeeding women.

How often to feed, and when to stop

Optimal nutrition for infants depends on feeding 'on demand' i.e., when the baby wants to. Naturally, a baby will feed for a short time dozens of times a day. Human infants are designed to 'top up', not to eat great amounts twice daily.

Between four and six months old, it's good to introduce other foods to baby's diet. If you want to avoid allergies, start with foods that are easily digested such as pureed vegetables and fruit [except oranges]. Move on to include pureed pulses [such as houmous or pureed lentils], oatmeal porridge and them meat/fish or nut purees. Leave dairy produce and wheat products until last. Organic plain yogurt [no sugar] mixed with fruit is a good way to introduce dairy. Healthy babies, like healthy adults, need food that is fresh, unprocessed, additive-free, sugar-free, salt-free and low-GI.

When to stop breastfeeding? –For optimal intelligence, whenever baby wants to. World average is four years. (Children may suck for comfort after milk has stopped being produced; this is also nurturing.)

Nourishing the next generation

Is not easy unless you live in a community where people eat well and avoid school and TV. The single most important factor in kids eating rubbish is –where does it come from? Hopefully you are sensible enough not to buy junk yourself –otherwise you're being hypocritical. Here are a few examples of how different families have handled the problem:

1. "We don't allow junk food, alcohol or tobacco in our home –if the kids [or adults!] want to do any of that they must do it elsewhere. We've explained to them which foods cause cancer, diabetes etc, and that stuff like this is addictive. The rest is their free choice, but if we see their health deteriorate they get less spending allowance –the rest goes on vitamin supplements!"

2. "We moved to a remote place where nobody ever sees crisps or fries or cola –yes, such places do exist! If a kid has to walk 12 miles for a coke you'd be surprised how much they don't drink it."

3. "We only share our income if we can see that we approve of what it's being spent on. If the kids get ill, a part of the treatment is 'no junk'."

4. "We are constantly astonished by parents saying 'but they won't eat anything else' –as an excuse for buying poisonous crap for their kids. We only put good, wholesome food on our table. If the kids don't like what's on the table they can get someone else to pay for it –I'm not spending my cash on shortening their lives."

You may agree or disagree with these methods, but you will have to work out your own strategy, and it's best done in advance. Setting an example yourself is very important. Tell your relatives and friends in advance -no junk.