In the tradition of Michael Pollan, Mark Hyman, and Andrew Weil, pioneering integrative pediatric neurologist Maya Shetreat-Klein, MD, reveals the shocking contents of children's food, how it's seriously harming their bodies and brains, and what we can do about it. And she presents the first nutritional plan for getting and keeping children healthy--a plan that any family can follow.
Alarming new studies show the dramatic rise of chronic disease in children, from allergies and ADHD to mental illnesses and obesity. A traditionally trained pediatric neurologist and a parent herself, Dr. Maya encountered the limits of conventional medicine when her son suffered a severe episode of asthma on his first birthday and began a backward slide in his development. Treatments failed to reverse his condition; so Dr. Maya embarked on a scientific investigation, discovering that food was at the root of her son's illness, affecting his digestive system, immune system, and brain. The solution was shockingly simple: heal the food, heal the gut, heal the brain--and you heal the child.
Recent changes in growing and processing food are harming children's intestinal microbiomes, immune systems, and brains, contributing to chronic disease. Dr. Maya's plan started with the soil, using fresh foods and nature to heal her son from the inside out and the outside in. Since then, she has successfully helped chronically ill patients from around the world.
Revealing the profound connections between food, nature, and children's health, Dr. Maya explains how food is constantly changing children's bodies, brains, and even genes--for better or for worse. She also shares success stories from her practice and tips as a working mother of three on stocking healing foods (from veggies to chocolate), reading labels, and getting even picky eaters into the new menu.
This paradigm-shifting book empowers you to transform your child's health through food and to ensure the long-term well-being of your children and the entire family.
About the Author :
Maya Shetreat-Klein, MD, is an integrative pediatric neurologist with a medical degree from Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Board certified in adult and child neurology as well as pediatrics, she completed the University of Arizona's two-year fellowship in integrative medicine, founded by Andrew Weil, MD, and now serves as faculty. She lectures internationally to medical professionals and lay people on environmental health and toxins and on healing with food and nature. She runs Brainmending, her healing practice and urban farm in New York City.
Rachel Holtzman is a Chicago-based writer, editor, recipe tester, and consultant whose focus is helping chefs, restaurants, wellness experts, and other forward-thinkers find their narrative. After seven years working as an editor at Penguin Books and ELLE magazine-and a brief turn in the kitchen at Gramercy Tavern-she combined her love of language, food, and snuggling with her two pugs during regular office hours.
Marguerite Gavin is a seasoned theater veteran, a five-time nominee for the prestigious Audie Award, and the winner of numerous AudioFile Earphones and Publishers Weekly awards. She has been an actor, director, and audiobook narrator for her entire professional career. With over four hundred titles to her credit, her narration spans nearly every genre, from nonfiction to mystery, science fiction, fantasy, romance, and children's fiction. AudioFile magazine says, "Marguerite Gavin...has a sonorous voice, rich and full of emotion."
Review :
"The Dirt Cure is a game-changer when it comes to children's health. Carefully researched and compellingly written...A must read!"
-- "Mark Hyman, MD, director, Cleveland Clinic Center for Functional Medicine and New York Times bestselling author"
"The Dirt Cure will forever transform the way you think about children's health...Dr. Shetreat-Klein turns the prevailing paradigm on its head by outlining how fresh food, rich soil, and contact with nature can reverse the growing epidemic of chronic childhood illness. Filled with unexpected twists, fascinating science, and hands-on advice, her book gives you all the tools you need to get your kids healthy and keep them that way."
-- "Andrew Weil, MD, New York Times bestselling author"
"Dr. Shetreat-Klein has written a tour de force prescription for creating a more nourishing environment to fight and prevent chronic disease in kids and adults. The Dirt Cure upends many cherished but flawed notions that have crept insidiously into the collective consciousness of citizens of the technological age. She combines cutting-edge science and medicine with common sense to illustrate the intimate, visceral connection between the health of the natural world that surrounds us--our terrain--and our own health. After reading this book, you'll understand that we are not isolated from the chemical fabric that connects all life on our planet. As the environment sickens, so do we. As the environment thrives, so do our children, and so do we."
-- "Robert K. Naviaux, MD, PhD, codirector of the Mitochondrial and Metabolic Disease Center, UCSD School of Medicine"
"If you are a parent, or planning to be one, The Dirt Cure is your nutritional bible. Under the wise guidance of Dr. Shetreat-Klein, you can save your kids from a vast array of physical/emotional chronic illnesses, not only now when they're still young but for the rest of their (longer and healthier) lives."
-- "Dr. David Edelberg, author of Healing Fibromyalgia"
"Shetreat-Klein, a pediatric neurologist who completed a fellowship in integrative medicine...at the University of Arizona, convincingly argues the case for a dirt-filled but chemical-free life. She practices what she preaches, preparing a gluten free, dairy-free, soy-free dinner for her food-allergic family every day. This meal is organic and environmentally friendly...this is a...[listener]-friendly book...Let there be dirt!"
-- "Booklist"
"Shetreat-Klein, an integrative pediatric neurologist, states in this well-argued health book that the modern fixation on cleanliness can be harmful...She shows how the use of antibiotics and medications, as well as exposure to toxins, has had the effect of limiting human exposure to bacteria that helps the immune system function...The text is full of scientific information presented in a fun and informative way, giving concrete evidence that good food can transform one's life."
-- "Publishers Weekly"
"What happens when a rigorously trained New York City pediatric neurologist learns the truth about health and healing? She gets her hands dirty (literally planting vegetables) and heals not only her son but her patients as well. The Dirt Cure is an exhilarating book that had me cheering from page one. Don't go to the pediatrician without it!"
-- "Christiane Northrup, MD, New York Times bestselling author"
