Thursday, August 26, 2010
A Good Excuse to Play in the Dirt
My son's health seems much more vibrant when he's had plenty of time to play outdoors. While the first thing that comes to mind is Vitamin D, I have suspected there's much more to it. I have tried supplementing his wintertime diet with Cod Liver Oil, but he's still not the same. It turns out playing in dirt offers health and brain benefits. There is an interesting article called "Breathing soil bacteria makes you smarter" on Mother Nature Network. After reading this, you may want to roll up your sleeves and join your kids (or someone else's) in the sandbox.
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Thanks for the link, more evidence for me to share with my husband. I'm a country girl; he is a city boy. And to make matters worse, his mom is a bacteriologist. So he lives in fear of dirt and bacteria and I think the 5 second rule should be made law. :)
ReplyDeleteAlea,
ReplyDeleteThere is a great book called "Good Germs, Bad Germs" by Jessica Snyder Sachs. It's absolutely fascinating and talks about many of the problems we have caused from going to war with the bacterial world. Also, the book "Gut and Psychology Syndrome" by Dr. Natasha Campbell McBride has some interesting chapters on gi flora and health.
I suppose you are already familiarized with the hypothesis that links autism with vitamin D deficiency: http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/health/autism/autism-information.shtml. I mention it since somewhere in the information posted there it is said that activated vitamin A (hence cod liver oil) should be avoided. No doubt dirt is better than sterilization, but I wouldn't discard vitamin D3 so quickly without aiming first to 100 ng/ml level of 25(OH)D (through direct D3 complements) given the personal (clinic?) cases reported there. I am no MD though.
ReplyDeleteMy best wishes,
Andrés
Thanks Andres. I have heard that before. I still suspect we get so much more from the sun and the outdoors than just vitamin d.
ReplyDeleteNo doubt about that, but I have to insist (last time, I promise) that you shouldn't dismiss D3 importance yet. Please, at least read this link: http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/newsletter/yet-another-autism-case-report.shtml. I know it is not a peer-reviewed published study, but it doesn't feel like a faked treatment report to me.
ReplyDeleteMy best wishes,
Andrés