Relationships
Repairing relationships with your children is often difficult as we age. In The Adult Chair's Episode #134, Michelle Chalfant discusses critical steps to healing broken relationships.
Dr. M
In life, we sometimes hurt or damage relationships. The ones that we often regret the most are the ones that are with our kids or other loved ones. The question is, is it possible to repair these relationships and if so how? In today's show, I discuss with you how to live from your Adult Chair and mend broken relationships with people that we deeply care about.
Michelle
The Microbiome and Mental Health Part 2
December 10th, 2018
How does a young person, mother or a mother's future offspring protect their microbiome from perturbation and disease while maintaining a healthy mind?
1) CRITICAL - Avoid all antibiotics, antacids and non steroidal anti inflammatory drugs where possible before becoming pregnant and during pregnancy as well. These drugs and many others adversely effect the healthy gut microbes.
2) CRITICAL - Eat a predominantly plant based whole foods diet
Looking back and Growing forward
December 10, 2018
8 years have passed since newsletter number one went live and it is time to reflect on what has transpired over this time.
I went back to look at the first few newsletters and one thing stood out to me. The current iteration of the Salisbury Pediatric Newsletter is significantly longer and much more philosophical about health and life. I am not sure if this is the result of age, knowledge or desire. Maybe all three. The direction seems to be a good one as readership continues to grow and positive responses come in.
Ending Triggers
December 3rd, 2018
This is a worthy podcast for all parents trying to take control of their trigger behaviors. We all know that we have times where we react to something that our children or spouse does that seems too powerful for the perceived slight or frustration. Being able to catch yourself mid reaction goes a long way toward deescalating any conflict. First, we have to recognize it, then you can begin to deal with it.
Dr. M.
I have great news for you. Yes we can end our triggers! In this show I share with you what a trigger is and what to do with them to end being triggered. Hallelujah! I even go into one of my triggers and how I walked my way out of it and transformed it. I share with you lots of examples that will help you to be able to transform and end triggers for good.
Michelle Chalfant
THE FIRST TWO THOUSAND DAYS FOR MOM AND BABY VIII
December 3rd, 2018
Pregnancy and Drugs
The moment a women becomes pregnant, her body's physiology changes to support the growth of the fetus. These changes have profound impacts on how she will metabolize drugs. Physiologically, her body increases fat volume, increases blood flow to the kidneys, decreases proteins like albumin in the blood, increases total body water, changes to hepatic detoxification enzymes and delayed gastric emptying. (Costantine et. al. 2014)
Stress, Psychiatry and the Intestinal Microbiome
December 3, 2018
Humans develop disease from many different routes including toxic exposures, genetics, poor nutrition, injury, microbial exposures and much more. One of the biggest risk factors for the development of disease is mental stress. Specifically, chronic stress of the psyche is traumatic to the cellular machinery of the body like the protective telomere tails of DNA strands or the functioning intestinal microbiome.
What I find fascinating is that stress, the brain, and the microbiome are intimately linked. In this two part series,
Nourish your Tribe
Volume 8, Letter 50.5
December 1, 2018
It has been 5 years of anticipation and patience leading up to today.
Nourish Your Tribe is officially available in paperback form on Amazon's website. Hardcover is available for preorder today likely shipping within 10 days at this link.
Reading Nourish Your Tribe will bring you to the detailed story of where we ruined the American food dream and replaced it with corporate taste driven garbage that is making us sick. This book is a "how to fix the problem" book for all Americans, especially parents. You will get a complete breakdown of where and how it broke down for us followed by a step by step plan that empowers parents to nourish their tribe in order to grow children with optimal physical and mental health.
Appleton Wisconsin School
The Appleton Central Alternative Charter High School Nutrition and Wellness Program experiment.
After having a discussion with a local head of a private school, I thought that I would discuss school food and an experiment that took place in Appleton,Wisconsin.
The W.K. Kellog Foundation funded an experiment in this charter school with the goal of assessing student behavior after changing the nutrition policy of the school and the food that was consumed.
From the study paper:
Appleton Central Alternative Charter High School (ACA) opened its doors in February of 1996 to give individualized attention to students struggling in the conventional school settings.
Mediterranean Diet
November 26th, 2018
Mediterranean diet is associated with improved grades for teenagers in Spain. These are the take home points from a study published in Acta Paediatrica by Dr. Adelantado-Renau this year.
The group looked at the effects of a Mediterranean diet on 269 thirteen year old teenagers as it related to sleep duration, quality and final test scores over a semester at school.
Directly from the citation: Greater adherence to the Mediterranean diet was associated with higher scores in language, core subjects,
Nature Deprivation Disorder
November 26, 2018
NOURISH YOUR TRIBE
is available for purchase (a week early) this coming Sunday, December 2nd at Amazon or Barnes and Nobles. I hope that you find it as stimulating as I do. It will make a great stocking stuffer for all parents.
Nature Deprivation Disorder
As we are getting closer to the end of the year and the cold strikes us hard in the face, we have a tendency to hunker down indoors and avoid the outside.
Part III of the Pollution Detectives
NOvember 19th 2018
One in five Americans works in or attends a K-12 school. If these schools were to adopt some existing but underused technology, we could see big reductions in the number of children and teachers needing expensive healthcare, and reduce the absenteeism rate in schools dramatically.
Back in 1995, the U.S. General Accounting Office used the term "Sick Building Syndrome" (SBS) to capture the cumulative health impact of irritated eyes, noses and throats, upper respiratory infections, nausea, dizziness, headaches and sleepiness that are the result of not enough fresh air in schools.
THE FIRST TWO THOUSAND DAYS FOR MOM AND BABY VII
November 19th, 2018
Sleep and Pregnancy
Let us look at sleep, an aspect of daily life that is critical to maternal memory formation, growth and repair of cells throughout the body including her baby.
Women are often challenged to get adequate sleep despite the rigorous demands of daily life including caring for children while they are actively pregnant. These demands often sap the energy that a women brings to each and every day making rejuvenating sleep critical to recharging her batteries.
Motivation and Thinking
November 19, 2018
Happy Thanksgiving to all! May it be joyful as you surround yourself with friends and family!
Children and teens often need motivation to change and grow. That is what great leaders offer them. We as a society of parents need to continue to learn to think and not accept nor assume. That is what great teachers do.
Complacency and comfort often rule people's minds. Walking outside in the cold or rain is work. The couch is not. What is the secret to motivation?
The Pollution Detectives
November 12, 2018
Part II of the Pollution Detectives: Lack of Pure Air In Schools Causes Students To Score Poorly On Standardized Test.
Locally, the school system of Rowan/Salisbury, North Carolina scores in the bottom quarter of the schools in the state[1], in a state that ranks (almost) in the bottom half of the country[2], in a country that ranks in the bottom half of the world's richest 35 countries[3].And a solution to this exists.
Literature Quick Bites
November 12, 2018
Literature Quick Bites
1) Updated car seat guidelines as quoted directly from the American Academy of Pediatrics.
1. All infants and toddlers should ride in a rear-facing car safety seat (CSS) as long as possible, until they reach the highest weight or height allowed by their CSS's manufacturer. Most convertible seats have limits that will permit children to ride rear-facing for 2 years or more.
2. All children who have outgrown the rear-facing weight or height limit for their CSS should use a
THE FIRST TWO THOUSAND DAYS FOR MOM AND BABY VI
November 5, 2018
Movement, Sleep and Pregnancy
Stress is a major problem with pregnancy outcomes as discussed in earlier chapters of the book. In this section we are going to look at two very important stress reducing lifestyle choices, physical activity and sleep stress. Physical activity while pregnant can come in the form of leisure time activity or during active work. In part two, we will look at sleep which is an aspect of daily life that is critical to maternal memory formation, growth and repair of cells throughout the body including her baby.
In School air pollution
November 5, 2018
In School air pollution by the Pollution Detectives - Here is an excellent article by my friend Francis Koster, Ed.D.
In the area of North Carolina where I live, the four school systems around me score in the bottom half of all the state's school systems on standardized tests. (1) Our state ranks 23rd in the nation (2) in a country that ranks in the bottom half of the world's richest 35 countries. (3)
This is true for half of our nation's schools, including those around you. These schools are not a grand place to send your kids or to improve your local workforce and economy.
Literature Review
October 29, 2018
1) Children's behavior linked to parent's excessive screen time use. Dr. McDaniel and colleagues looked at the amount of time parents spent on screens and the associated children's behavior.
"Our results suggest bidirectional dynamics in which (a) parents, stressed by their child's difficult behavior, may then withdraw from parent-child interactions with technology and (b) this higher technology use during parent-child interactions may influence externalizing and withdrawal behaviors over time."
Serendipity
October 29, 2018
Introducing Mark Allison!
As we progress on with our lives with open minds and open hearts, occasionally something or someone fabulous falls into your path. I tell my kids all the time to be open, humble and ready to receive gifts from others. For me this happened two weeks ago. A good friend of mine, Russell Greenfield, thought that Chef Mark Allison and I would be worth connecting
THE FIRST TWO THOUSAND DAYS FOR MOM AND BABY V
October 22, 2018
What are some special micronutrients to pay attention to during the first 1000 days before birth? Last week it was Vitamin D.
The next critical player on the list is folate which was covered in a recent article earlier this year that can be reread at this link.