The Telegraph
by Eleanor Steafel

Source: Kristi White

It’s a nerve-wrecking time to be a parent. Every week, mothers are chastised with the seemingly endless list of chronic childhood illnesses their little ones might contract, from autoimmune diseases like eczema or asthma to nut allergies, dairy intolerances, to behavioural disorders such as ADHD.

But what if we could prevent early-onset health issues simply by making our kids roll around in the dirt? In her new book Healthy Food, Healthy Gut, Happy Child, Dr Maya Shetreat-Klein advocates a lifestyle centred around contact with the microbes present in soil.

“Parents today are keeping their children away from the things that are critical to their health,” says Dr Shetreat-Klein, a pediatric neurologist and mother-of-three from New York. “We are sanitising their lives with cleaning products, pesticides and antibiotics.”

Recent research from the journal Occupational Environmental shows that children exposed to bleach actually have more, not fewer infections – including a 20 per cent higher risk of coming down with the flu, she points out.

“Microbes, fresh food from healthy soil, time spent in nature, can improve our children’s health immeasurably. No drug can do what being in the forest can.”

In recent years, it’s become clear that the microbiome, the millions of microbes we carry in our guts, play a vital role in health and immunity, and the more diverse they are the better.

“Healthy immune systems like to meet and greet a lot of different organisms and compounds – that is what keeps them healthy. When there are fewer organisms and compounds in our gut, the immune system starts turning its attention to attacking our food and the things it’s exposed to in the environment,” says Dr Shetreat-Klein.

In her book, she shows how the over-sanitisation of our lives is depriving our guts of the biodiversity that can be found in healthy soil, making us more susceptible to conditions like allergies.

“In one teaspoon of soil there are as many microbes as there are people on the planet,” she says. “That is an incredibly biodiverse experience for our brains, our immune systems, our guts.

“Research shows that children who grow up on farms are less likely to have problems like allergies and asthma, not because there is more bacteria on farms but because the biodiversity of the bacteria in the soil they’re exposed to is tremendous.”

So while simply eating soil could not treat an allergy or disease, Dr Shetreat-Klein believes early exposure of children of the microbes found in dirt could help fend off common childhood disorders.

She suggests we eat food grown in rich organic, biodynamic soil which hasn’t been power washed to within an inch of its life, and help children to spend as much time as possible outside.

“Encourage them to play in the dirt. Join them if you are so moved! Make mud pies, and don’t be afraid to take a bite or two,” she says. “Spend hours a day in forests and parks, on mountains, and play sports on fields instead of astroturf.”

If anyone knows how a change in lifestyle can affect a poorly child, it’s her. As a pediatric neurologist, Dr Shetreat-Klein admits she initially knew little about nutrition.

“We get very little education in nutrition in medical school – anywhere from zero to a couple of hours,” she says. It wasn’t until her own son Erez began to encounter mysterious health problems at the age of one that she decided to explore how nutrition can affect not just our bodies, but our brains.

On his first birthday, Erez suffered a severe episode of asthma which marked the beginning of a downward spiral in his health and early development. “He started to have breathing issues and had a runny nose for 10 months straight,” she says. “He had been a really early speaker but he stopped gaining new words and started falling over a lot.”

Doctors put Erez on a cocktail of steroids and medication which seemed to make little difference, until a simple allergy test showed her little boy was suffering from a soy allergy so severe that it was actually inhibiting his brain function.

Just three days after removing all soy from his diet, his breathing issues had improved dramatically. A few weeks later, his issues had dissipated. He is now 10 and has no problems with asthma or balance.

Now, the way Dr Shetreat-Klein feeds her family has changed dramatically. Her husband and three children all hike at the weekends and spend as much time in the outdoors as possible, as well as keeping to a diet high in the vegetables grown in their garden. Although it hasn’t cured Erez’s allergy – he still must avoid soy completely – the experience taught her about the links between what we eat, how we live, and our physical health.

Dr Shetreat-Klein has since seen similarly startling results in her patients. “I had a patient recently who was having real difficulty in school both with focus and learning and really explosive behaviour. His parents wanted help with his behaviour, but also mentioned he had a history of eczema and ear infections.

“Because of that, I suspected it could be related to dairy as studies have shown there to be a connection between symptoms like ear infections and eczema with a dairy intolerance. The family cleaned up their diet and went dairy-free and by the end of the month they had a different kid. Their teacher thought they had put him on medication, there was such a change.”

Dr Shetreat-Klein doesn’t prescribe a dramatic change of lifestyle – and certainly doesn’t advocate vegetarianism or veganism – but believes introducing a diverse range of foods grown from healthy soil and plenty of time spent outside in nature will give a child’s gut the resilience the body needs to prevent typical childhood conditions.

“It’s not rocket science and it’s not magical. I want families to feel empowered through this book to take control of their children’s health. They think it is normal for their child to have one of these chronic conditions, but I want to let them know they can change that.”

5 ways to boost your child’s immune system

Nature
Get your kids outside playing in the dirt as much as possible, and don’t worry too much about them getting messy. It will provide an ongoing supply of beneficial soil microbes that help reboot their gut microbiome and immune systems.

Broth
Bone broth contains healthy fats which support immunity. Simmer bones in water for 6-8 hours (chicken) or 12-24 (beef). Use the mineral-rich broth as a base for soup, grains, or vegetables. Add a handful of mushrooms like maitake or shitake – and a small knob of ginger.

Eggs
The yolk of eggs is rich with cholesterol, important for immune and brain health. Eggs from pasture-fed chickens contain choline and omega-3s, critical for a balanced immune system, cognition and focus.

Bitter tastes
The peel of fruit and vegetables, leafy greens, chamomile tea, and dark chocolate contain bitter compounds that boost immunity, balance appetite and stabilize blood sugar. Tame the taste with a little fat and salt for fussy eaters.

Fermented foods
Fermented pickles, sauerkraut and live yogurt are probiotic-rich and boost your child’s gut microbiome, essential for overall immunity.

Healthy Food, Healthy Gut, Happy Child by Dr Maya Shetreat-Klein is published by Bluebird.

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