super hero smoothies

That boy looks suspicious, doesn't he? Do you think he suspects that awesome smoothie he's drinking is nothing but good for him? Nope. He doesn't have any idea. All he knows is that it's a super hero smoothie and it's delicious.

We're sharing our four favorites. Both boys have one nearly every day. Sometimes I blend in some flax seed meal and sometimes I hide the vitamin D. They just suck them down.

Yoda
1 c. unsweetened almond milk
1/2 c. orange juice
1 banana
3/4 c. frozen mango chunks
2-3 stalks of swiss chard, stems removed

Batman
1 1/2 c. unsweetened almond milk
1 banana
3/4 c. frozen mango chunks
1/2 c. fresh or frozen blueberries
handful of spinach

Green Lantern
1 c. pineapple juice
1 c. unsweetened coconut milk
1 banana
3/4 c. frozen mango chunks
2-3 stalks of swiss chard, stems removed

Mace Windu
1 1/2 c. unsweetened coconut milk
1 banana
3/4 c. frozen blueberries
handful spinach
1 T agave nectar (optional)

Each recipe makes 2 to 3 servings. All measurements approximate. Color-coordinated straws (aka lightsabers) recommended.

let food be your medicine and medicine be your food

Hippocrates said this, according to the tote bag my fried Tracy brought to our boys' t-ball game tonight. In other words, eat right and you'll be well. The problem is, even health professionals can't agree on what eating right looks like. Some don't even think diet makes a difference, at least not for a three year old with chronic reflux. They'd rather prescribe the "real" medicine.

About a month ago Elliott was burping and refluxing so frequently, I timed these disruptions at three minutes apart for nearly two days straight. He was pointing to his throat and stomach saying, "Ouch." I felt terrible for him. But our family doctor didn't know what to do. He thought a stomach virus was aggravating his already delicate digestive system and it would subside soon. It did, but during his acute bout, the "wait and see" approach we've been operating under as a way to address E's ongoing chronic issue wore thin. As much as I hate intervention, especially after the boy has already been scoped and biopsied, I decided to make an appointment with another specialist for a second opinion. On a whim, I also decided to go hard core and completely eliminate dairy.

If we lived in the Far East, cutting dairy out of my son's diet would be a no brainer. No one in the Far East eats diary products. And, interestingly, practically none of the people who live there can tolerate them. Milk-drinking Americans have genetically mutated to digest lactose. Weird but true. It can be argued that we were never designed to drink the milk of other animals. But we do. And we love it.

This is where it gets really interesting. We drink big tall glasses of milk, we think we're downright healthy for it, and we suffer the consequences as the lactose wreaks havoc on our tummies. At least some of us. Elliott, for one.

Here's what we've discovered through our anti-cow experiment (which since we've begun, Elliott has been walking around the house singing "ei-ei-o," as if to say, finally you people are getting a clue): No dairy, no reflux. Tiny bit of dairy, within the hour, thrown up.

It's a little hard to believe that the solution to a chronic two-year problem could be this simple, but I think that's the health care system talking. In America, more is better: more doctors, more tests, more drugs, more interventions. Figuring out how to "cure" a condition by taking out a food group - one that's primary on the government's food pyramid, no less - seems downright hippie-like. Next we'll be moving to a commune and foraging for nuts and berries in the woods.

Interestingly, I have been rereading Barbara Kingsolver's book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle along with the seasons. Last week I finished the chapter on Late June, which was all about our dependence on cow's milk and lactose intolerance and so on. This weekend I listened to an incredible This American Life radio show explaining the American health care system called More Is Less (listen to it!), haphazardly chosen to accompany me while I washed a pile of dishes. And then today, completely unsolicited, a friend sent out this very provocative article by a physician who lays out more concerns about milk than I ever imagined existed. If God's trying to send me a message here, I'm getting it.

Hippocrates' idea of healthcare sounds pretty idealistic, if not like a downright fairytale. But maybe that has more to do with wanting what we want and not wanting to give up what we like. Lucky for me I have a three year old who doesn't get a vote. He's giving up ice cream and quesadillas and his beloved pizza. And I'm working on making up some delicious alternatives, because I know he feels better. Best of all, I didn't need to pay a specialist hundreds of dollars to tell me he needs medicine. Maybe I am a hippie afterall.

a new way of eating

After several divine encounters last week (truly amazing), I came to the conclusion that Elliott's body's pH is off and he is probably deficient in some essential minerals needed to naturally buffer acids and maintain normal pH. My Nancy Drew investigation led me further to conclude that this finding could account for his chronic reflux, his muscle tension and odd hand and eye movements and his regular tantrums. So as of Sunday we have radically changed his (and for the most part all of our) diet.

Two of my encounters last week were with people who live a raw food lifestyle. I had long and fascinating conversations with each of them and discovered later that this is the ultimate pH balancing diet. We are not going quite that far, but (for Elliott) we have cut all dairy, all gluten, all processed foods, as much sugar as possible, and all meat other than white meat chicken (locally raised without hormones). We are also giving him Omega 3 and a probiotic supplement and visiting an absolutely wonderful chiropractor twice a week (covered by insurance - another God send!). In less than a week, we have already witnessed giant leaps. No tantrums, less sleepiness, better attention. The afternoon of his first adjustment at the chiropractor he sat in the living room and put all of his matchbox cars in a perfect row (never done anything like that before) then leaned over them when Liam approached and said "Mine!" (another first) Maybe a coincidence, but it made me well up with tears of hope none the less.

Whether the marked improvements will continue remains to be seen, but I am 100 percent sure that moving away from easy dinners of pizza, quesadillas and chicken nuggets is better for all of us. And our lunchtime ritual of nutrient-rich smoothies - full of calcium and magnesium-rich spinach - has become one of my favorite parts of the day. Elliott sucks them down. And Liam (as long as they are not green - thank you blueberries) loves them, too. I highly, highly recommend this approach to adding good foods to a child's diet. There are so many smoothie recipes out there but I just make stuff up based on what we have.

Here is one of our recent favorites. All measurements are approximate since I don't measure anything.

Mmmm Good Green Smoothie
1/2 cup coconut milk (or almond milk)
1/2 cup orange juice
1 sliced peach
handful of fresh or frozen strawberries (no sugar)
1/2 banana
2 big handfuls fresh spinach
2 T flax seed meal

Smoothies are also a great place to hide supplements. I stir in the powder from vitamin D capsules and, for Elliott, a probiotic. All that good stuff and they have no idea. I love it!