Can our personal care products cause ill health?

Another good survey question.....Allison asks-

What sort of impact do things like deodorant and hairspray have on people?
I have been getting some dizziness/lightheadedness for a few months and have had some tests done.
I am starting to wonder if it is hairspray as it seems to be since I started using it though it could just be a coincidence.

Allison, good question.
It is well known that the many toxins in our mainstream personal care products can cause many and varied health challenges. These challenges can vary from skin reactions to major health risks.
I have quoted some of the studies done on personal care products in my Hidden Dangers book- in 1989 they found that about one third of all ingredients in personal care products were found to be toxic with 778 causing acute toxicity, 146 causing tumours, 218 causing reproductive complications, 314 biological mutation and 376 skin and eye irritation. More recently in 1997 they found 125 cosmetic ingredients suspected of causing cancer and many others birth defects. I wonder where those figures stand at 2010?

I went to a seminar tonight at the holistic health clinic my son Nathans practices from and the Doctor (holistic Dr.), that spoke mentioned how many baby boys are being born with defective sex organs due to all of the xeno estrogen's in our personal care products.

This is a huge topic and one that I will cover further in a webinar so stay tuned.

I was a major migraine sufferer all of my life up until 11 years ago when we converted our home to safety conscious products for Caleb's benefit. Andrew had never known me in all the time we'd known each other to go a month without a migraine. I have now been migraine FREE for 11 years with the exception of a couple of times when I was exposed to chemicals in concentrated doses outside our home.

The company that produces the products we use refuses to add any thing known to be toxic (they avoid over 3,000 toxic chemicals) so for that I am very grateful.

Due you due diligence and take the time to check what you are exposing your family to. For more information on this topic check out my book, 'Hidden Dangers' at www.hiddendangers.com.au

To a healthy home.....
Cheers,
Lillian

What are the challenges in avoiding environmental toxins and additives as children get older?

Today am going to tackle a question from Renee.

What are the challenges in avoiding environmental toxins and additives as children get older? Does it become easier as they become more able to self monitor and make critical decisions about use of products or consumables?

That's a good question Renee.
For us personally because Caleb was so defiant (as some others are I'm sure) it was a challenge to get him to conform initially , especially to taking some of the supplements. When he was younger and we started getting some herbal formulas that really were hard to take we tried to force them into him even by holding him down (not a good move).

When we found the products we are using now (and have been for 11 plus years) they were thankfully more palatable but I used little tricks like telling Caleb he would beat his Dad in an arm wrestle if he had his minerals. I actually used a bit of reverse psychology and asked him not to take too much or Dad would get upset, being competitive this worked a treat. As he got older 6-12 ish he willingly took them as he knew they made him feel better, some how kids sense this and read their bodies better than we do. Same went for foods and products we used around the house. Caleb just knew he felt better when we worked towards maintaining a healthy home.
I think at a young age if they understand WHY they need to supplement and WHY they need to eat healthier than other kids then they will be more cooperative.

I do remember Caleb throughout late primary and early secondary school NOT wanting to be different especially if he had to go on a school camp or school excursion.
I decided it was easier and more successful to allow him to make the best choices possible rather than have him embarrassed. On the whole he did well and made better choices because he didn't like the reaction he got if he did get too off track.

There were few times when it back fired but they weren't necessarily Caleb's fault like when he had a hot dog (full of colours and preservatives and nitrates) on white bread, white flour, sugar and preservative 282-- all a lethal combination.(Not a good outcome) but he was then actually old enough to understand what had happened and avoided them next time.

I feel you just have to work with the child and have them understand that certain foods and personal products are not good for their body and let therm experience the difference. Sometimes its worth letting them have or do something reactive at home to let them see the consequences. Over the years Caleb has eaten something he shouldn't have then said "Why did I do that?"

I have personally refused to buy toxic personal products in his teenage years that I knew were harmful but he has still managed to get hold of them somehow. Now that he is a young adult we do compromise. But funnily enough he keeps coming back to our non toxic products because the others give him dandruff and bad skin. He started a new skin care product from our range recently and raves about how good his skin looks and feels so I really believe given enough education they will work it out for themselves.

So in summary Renee in some ways it becomes easier and other ways not so. Give your children the information they need to make better choices.. gain their cooperation rather that trying to control them. Help them to believe in their own decision making and I'm sure that on the whole they will make the best choices (or at least learn from the mistakes they make)

Happy parenting,
Cheers,
Lillian

PARENTS FEEL ISOLATED AND NOT SUPPORTED BY SCHOOL OR COMMUNITY... WHAT TO DO!

Tonight I'm going to tackle one of the comments made in the survey about a parents biggest frustration. I thought of this comment as I have just been reading my book aloud . I'm recording it to make an audio book. (more about that later) I was feeling for those parents whose comments had touched me as the reality of how things were flooded back to me.

I really felt for this mother and what the family are going through, especially because I could relate so to them.
The mother said ... My biggest frustration is... "The isolation you face within the community- and other professionals intimating you as being a bad parent- that you are abusing your child- demanding that you need to medicate your child...actually SCHOOL IS MY BIGGEST FRUSTRATION... of their complete ignorance and understanding of children with challenging behaviours"

WOW!
Yes I could relate exactly to that, we experienced the exact thing with Caleb. From 2005-2008 Caleb went to 3 schools...3 in 3 years trying to find one that suited or understood him. These schools included both public and private. It didn't matter that we paid big dollars to send him there or that it was a public school, he just didn't cope or was it that they didn't cope! He got "asked to leave" the private school as the principal said "We don't tolerate children like Caleb in our School" and in his next school, a public secondary college, he got suspended so much that it wasn't worth him going back to complete 2008 (you can read about that in The Revolting Child) book.
Yes it is frustrating and yes you do feel isolated and NO ONE ,I mean NO ONE has the right to force you or guilt you or threaten you to medicate your child. This mother is right there is a lot of ignorance and lack of understanding. I am both a teacher and parent of a child that did not fit into the "box" and I implore teachers to please join us in understanding our children. Teachers play such a huge role and can make all the difference to how a child gets through these tough times. (get the 'Revolting Child' book to the teachers at your school)
There is so much that I can comment on and I don't want to write another book here :)....
but what are parents to do. We allowed Caleb to make the decision to leave school at 15 1/2 after we had done lots to help our situation at home, but of course for a younger child that may not be an option (unless you home school- a good option for some). So this mother might ask...what do we do?
I am going to share something that Caleb said when asked a question at a talk we did when we launched the book. He was asked "what made the difference, why did you turn things round?"
I can't quote his exact words but basically he said I wanted to make Mum and Dad proud and be good because they believed in me... I wanted to be the person they knew I could be.
Boy did hat make me teary.
So really my biggest tip here is.....
Ask your child how you can help, what they want, what their goals and aspirations are, what is important to them. Then show them total LOVE AND TOLERANCE, SHOW THEM THAT YOU BELIEVE IN THEM AND TRUST THEM AND YOU ARE ON THEIR SIDE ALWAYS.
Treat them with respect at home, allow them to tell their story and make decisions (according to age), gain their cooperation NOT control. Go and read part 6,7 and 8 of the book where we share all of this with you.
These simple principals along with taking care of the 'physical stuff, like diet, nutrition and a toxin free home' WILL make a difference.
Believe in yourself as a parent and believe in your child... that is the most important thing.
We have a saying here at home.... "What other people think of me is none of my business"
Happy parenting,
Cheers,
Lillian

ARE WE OVER MEDICATING OUR CHILDREN?

I was sent an article today from a good friend who is passionate about what is happening with the over medicating of our children. Shelley heads an association called CCHR- Citizens Commission on Human Rights.
She sent me an article published in today's paper about... children as young as one are being prescribed powerful anti-psychotic drugs . I will paste the article below.

Many of you know my passion for education in this area and that these toxic band aides are mainly not the answers. Our survey results indicated that most of you agree. The relevant results are as follows:-

• I believe that children are being over medicated for learning and behavioural challenges? - 82 votes (87.2%)
• The child in my care or a close friend/family member has been diagnosed with a condition like ADHD/ADD, autism, aspergers or any other learning or behavioural challenge? - 52 votes (50%)
• The child in my care is or has been on some sort of medication? - 28 votes (26.9%)
• I would like to see children with challenges being treated with a more natural and holistic approach? - 89 votes (94.7%)

Almost 95% believe we should treat our precious children with a more natural and holistic approach.

So I think it's safe to say WE DON'T WANT TO medicate our children.
The challenge is for a lot of families that they don't know what to do or where to start. Often they are not given alternatives to drugs by many of our mainstream practitioners. But thank goodness we now have so many alternative practitioners and even mainstream ones that don't believe in medicating.

One of my goals with what we are doing is to help and support these families so they will have some confidence and the tools they need to go and make the changes in their home that can improve the well being of not only the child with challenges but also the whole family. OVER THE COURSE OF THESE BLOG ENTRIES AND ALSO THE WEBINARS I WILL BE CONDUCTING I INTEND TO COVER ALL OF THE AREAS THAT WE CAN WORK ON TO CREATE a happy and healthy home. Much of this information is also in my books and I know many of you have read one or all of them. If you haven't feel free to check them out on www.hiddendangers.com.au

I will copy the article below for you to read as mentioned earlier.

From: DailyTelegraph
March 24, 2010

CHILDREN as young as one are being prescribed powerful anti-psychotic drugs that have been linked to deaths overseas.

Kids prescribed toxic drug cocktail
• EXCLUSIVE by Kate Sikora
• From: The Daily Telegraph
• March 24, 2010 12:00AM

CHILDREN as young as one are being prescribed powerful anti-psychotic drugs that have been linked to deaths overseas.
The strong medication is designed to quell psychotic episodes normally experienced by adults with schizophrenia and bi-polar.
There are concerns some doctors are illegitimately writing scripts for pre-schoolers and primary school children for unapproved medical reasons, such as behavioural problems or ADHD.
Figures provided by the Therapeutic Goods Administration showed up to 3351 NSW children aged under 18 were prescribed the drugs in 2007-08.
Of them, at least 62 toddlers aged five and under - including five one-year-olds - were prescribed the drugs in NSW in that period.
"You can assume children under 12 are illegitimately being prescribed these drugs for behaviour problems. It should not be the case," University of South Australia's associate professor in psychiatry Dr Jon Jureidini said yesterday.
"These drugs are not marketed or recommended by the TGA for that use."
Common medications such as Risperdal, Zyprexa and Abilify are not approved for children under five. The TGA has approved Risperdal to treat children with autism.
Side effects can be so severe in adults that elderly patients with dementia are warned they have a higher risk of sudden death.
In the United States, 45 children died while taking anti-psychotic drugs between 2000 and 2004.
Common side effects include excessive weight gain, low blood pressure, increased risk of diabetes and painful muscle spasms.
Royal Australasian College of Psychiatrists' Dr Louise Newman argued that in some cases there was a need for children and toddlers to be placed on the drugs.
"They could suffer neurological disorders where the brain might have lesions. It is wrong that we don't talk about children with depression and other psychological disorders," she said.
"I treat children who are suffering depression or they have behavioural issues because their parent is depressed."
In 2007-08, almost 10,000 children under 18 throughout Australia were prescribed anti-psychotic medication, costing the Government $3.4 million.
Professor Vaughan Carr from the Schizophrenia Research Institute said it would be "good to have first-rate drug surveillance in place to record (reasons) for the prescription" to track the growing problem.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Ageing said the prescribing of drugs was up to the doctor's discretion.

I don't know about you but I certainly don't like the idea of ANY children, especially toddlers being prescribed anti- psychotic drugs.
Let me know what you think.
Happy parenting,
Cheers,
Lillian

THE POWER OF OUR SUBCONSCIOUS MIND- HOW OFTEN DO WE USE THE WORD..."DON'T"

Hi everyone,
Just a thought I had while I was in my son Nathans clinic today getting some allergy testing done. (more on that later, I'll let you know how it went cause this is something we should all consider doing, especially for our sensitive children)
I had to lay still and quiet for 20 minutes while having 'Body Energy Balancing' done and contemplate the universe.
Nathan said something which made me think about the way we talk to others and how powerful our subconscious mind is. He said "Don't forget to take your watch off"

Recently I have been self correcting myself whenever I say..."Don't........"
I also notice how much others say "Don't......"
Instead he could have said,"Remember to take your watch off"
Let's think about that word "Don't" and how we use it and how often!

"Don't forget...... to do this or that or get this or that or be somewhere or do something"
What do you think our subconscious mind remembers about any of those phrases. It remembers the "forget" because as Andrew has often explained when he talks about our subliminal cd's that the subconscious does not recognise 'linguistic negatives' like don't' so in the phrase "Don't forget your phone" for example it is actually programing our minds to "forget the phone".

What about when we tell the kids "don't do that ....or ....will happen" what often happens?
"Don't do .....or you'll fall", "Don't do that ...or you'll hurt yourself", "Don't speak to me like that or I'll.....", If you don't ......I'll......."

So my tip is........how about we remember to say the outcome we want and not what we don't want. That goes for lots of things, even down to asking someone to remember to pick something up on the way home. (dare I say we should practice this on men!)

But most importantly lets think about how often we use the word "Don't" when talking to our children. Instead of "Don't do that or you'll hurt yourself" how about "Be careful so you will be safe"
"Don't forget to do your homework" or "Please remeber to do your homework",
"Don't be rough and hurt your sister' or "Play nicely and be gentle with your sister"
There are hundreds of examples. See if you catch yourself out over the next few days saying "don't" and if you do think of how you can turn it around so it is in positive language.
You may be surprised about the outcome :)
Cheers for now
Happy parenting,
Lillian

PARENTS ON AN EMOTIONAL ROLLERCOASTER- START WITH A FAMILY MEETING

With hundreds of comments and answers to questions it is a challenge knowing where to start.
I had lots of questions about food, diet, supplementation and how to keep your home free of toxins.
These were all important questions and I will answer them later. I will also cover these topics in the webinar series that I am currently working on.
Speaking of which I'd like some feedback to find out who is interested and the times that suit most best. I have had some feedback already that suggests later in the evenings when kids are in bed might be best, maybe around 8.30 ish?
I also had lots of questions about when we were coming to certain areas to do seminars, well my answer to that is if they are not local- SE QLD, we're not travelling this year- hence the webinars.
The webinars are going to be a way that we can get to more people all over the country so more on that later.

One strong message that came from your responses was that many of you feel like you are on an emotional roller coaster, having challenges with children 's behaviour and attitudes and others lack of understanding about what you are all going through.
Trust me I know how difficult it is and how disruptive it can be to your home life, your social life, your relationships and a BIG one at school.

For some it has meant broken marriages, being ostracised within the community, having no social life for parents or children and having children asked to leave schools or worst still being pressured to medicate. Each of these issues are huge and it upsets me to hear so many of you struggling. There is hope but there is no a magic pill that will make it all better. It is going to take work and a real team EFFORT FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY.
Whether you are a single Mum/child family (and there are a few of those) or whether you have a large family support group I suggest you all do one thing to begin with. So this is my TIP.....

Organise a family meeting to discuss the challenges you are all having, be open and truthful but MOST importantly be supportive of each other. There is nothing to gain from blaming anyone in the family as no one is to blame as such. What you want to gain from the meeting is mutual cooperation (not control). Ask each person what they want and need and how you can help them. Often it is not only the child with the challenges that needs the help, in different ways everyone in the family has their own challenges due to what is happening. Let everyone know that you are all going to share your thoughts or concerns and that it is important that each person listens and does not interrupt.

Let everyone air their thoughts- even a 4 year old can do this!! Remember let them say their bit, do not interrupt them, judge them or their response and take notes of everyone's concerns.
If you have a child that is having particular challenges...... ask them.... "What can I do to help, what do you need?"

This is a good first step for any family as often we don't ask each other what we want and need.
If there are 2 adults in the home discuss further together or otherwise find another adult that can support you, like a parent, sibling or good friend. You are not wanting someone to tell or lecture you just to be a support.

We will chat more about what to do to gain cooperation later so lets try this and perhaps we can share some thoughts or outcomes.
Until next time,
Happy parenting,
Lillian

First blog- sharing comments/results from helping families with challenging children suveys

Wow this is exciting. This is my first blog. I'm, still not sure how this all works so I'm hoping this gets to you :)
I would firstly like to thank all of those those participated in the surveys.
I'd like to start by sharing the results so far. I have had 390 responses to date and they are still coming in.
These are the results from the first lot of questions.
1) I am a parent/carer or a person concerned about children's welfare? - 77 votes (79.4%)

2) I am a parent/carer of a child with challenges? - 40 votes (41.2%)

3) I am a teacher/educator of a child with challenges? - 14 votes (14.4%)

4) The child in my care or a close friend/family member has been diagnosed with a condition like ADHD/ADD, autism,aspergers or any other learning or behavioural challenge? - 50 votes (51.5%)

5) The child in my care is or has been on some sort of medication? - 27 votes (27.8%)

1) I believe that children are being over medicated for learning and behavioural challenges? - 75 votes (87.2%)

2) I would like to see children with challenges being treated with a more natural and holistic approach? - 82 votes (95.3%)

3) I would like to learn more about how to have happy, healthy and harmonious children? - 63 votes (73.3%)

4) I have been to one of Lillian and Andrew Reekie's 'Hidden Dangers' seminars? - 52 votes (60.5%) 5) I have read one or all of Lillian Reekie's books- 'Hidden Dangers', 'The Best Me I Can Be' or 'The Revolting Child, A Blessing In Disguise'? - 67 votes (77.9%) With the other 2 questions that had to be answered I got 133 answers which were many and varied. It is these questions that I hope to be able to answer for you in this forum situation so that we can all learn from each other. I won't be using individual names but I will be drawing from your individual answers. Many of the answers and questions/concerns had a common link. Many were very emotional, I shed many tears and lots of answers proved to me that there is a dire need for help and support. The answers I have so far from the second lot of questions are helping me to work out how I can help you best so please keep those coming in. I hope you all have the Revolting Child E book now and have started reading. I look forward to hearing back from you when you have and we will be able to also discuss your thoughts together. This interactive forum was one way that you asked to be supported so please lets make it interactive with each of us participating and posting comments. I do just have one request please -- Can we please keep in mind this is not a forum for promoting specific companies and products, would you kindly leave that for now to personal conversations. That would be much appreciated :) So please respond so I know this is working and I will start answering your questions real soon. Cheers, Lillian