Children have a remarkable ability to heal themselves; doctors and medication do not prevent or cure disease. When a child is given an antibiotic for an infection, you may think it is the antibiotic that cures the infection. It isn’t. It is the child’s immune system. The antibiotic just makes it a bit easier, but if the immune system does not do its job, the antibiotic will be useless. When a child is unable to cure herself or himself, a chronic illness will result. In our culture there are a number of stumbling blocks to a well-functioning immune system that creates self-healing. Many of these are the result of nutritional mistakes. What those are, and what you, as a parent, can do about them is the subject of this book. The key to a strong, healthy immune system is optimal nutrition.

These startling words are from Superimmunity for Kids, a new book by Leo Galland, MD, former director of medical research at the Gesell Institute of Human Development, New Haven, Connecticut, and now in private practice in New York City. Louise Bates Ames, associate director and cofounder of the Gesell Institute, comments in her forward that the book represents the wave of the future: "Certainly it is a clarion call for better nutrition for all children. . . . This book provides the newest, most detailed, specific, comprehensive, and authoritative information yet available on nutrition for children. . . . With increasing threats to their well-being from chemicals in the water, pesticides on fruits and vegetables, and other pollutants, children today need all the protection they can get. This unusual book will help you provide that protection."

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"With increasing threats to their well-being from chemicals in the water, pesticides on fruits and vegetables, and other pollutants, children today need all the protection they can get. This unusual book will help you . . . "

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In describing what he believes important in the modern diet, Dr. Galland says, "My own research and clinical work, and the work of many other researchers and clinicians, suggests that the key to a healthy immune system is found in substances called essential fatty acids, or EFAs." These must come from the foods we eat, specifically foods containing omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids.* omega-3 fatty acids are especially deficient in the American diet. Linseed oil is a fine source. However, Dr. Galland warns us that it is particularly perishable, must be dated, refrigerated, or frozen, and can be kept for only a short time. (It is so unsaturated, i.e. liquid, that it does not completely harden when frozen.) If the flavor is anything but mild it should be thrown out.

Also, we must consume all the nutrients required for EFA metabolism into the prostoglandins, which we need for balanced functioning of our immune systems. Proper EFA metabolism depends on "certain key co-factor vitamins – B-6, A, C, and E – and minerals – magnesium, zinc, copper, and selenium. . . . It is no accident that the foods that are naturally rich in the EFAs are also naturally rich in the EFA co-factor nutrients. Nuts, seeds, and beans are excellent sources of magnesium, copper, zinc, and vitamin E and B-6. Seafood is a rich source of all the minerals. If fresh vegetables are added for vitamins A and C, we have a balanced, EFA-strong diet that can’t be beaten for its immune-building effect. Unfortunately, American children today get most of their calories from sugar, processed cereal grains such as wheat and corn, processed oils, dairy products, and fatty meats."

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". . . Seafood is a rich source of all the minerals. If fresh vegetables are added for vitamins A and C, we have a balanced, EFA-strong diet that can’t be beaten for its immune-building effect. Unfortunately, American children today get most of their calories from sugar, processed cereal grains such as wheat and corn, processed oils, dairy products, and fatty meats."

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If a child’s diet is well supplied with both families of essential fatty acids and with all the co-factors needed for their proper metabolism and still the child exhibits symptoms of EFA deficiency, "then the culprit will almost always be the anti-nutrients . . . that not only have little or no nutritional value but also block or make EFA metabolism go awry." The following are anti-nutrients:

In clear language, Dr. Galland gives recommendations for nutritional programs for pregnant women ("Pregnancy: Optimally Nourished Mothers Produce Stronger Babies"); for infants to 6 months and 6 months to a year; for ages 1 to 5 and 5 to 12 ("Feeding Your School-Age Child"); and for adolescents. The two final chapters are "How Power-Packed Nutrition Creates Immunity for Life" and "Recipes – Including Snacks, Desserts, and Spreads: Your Greatest Challenge," the latter with basic information on meal planning that emphasizes the tremendous importance of an excellent breakfast.

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In allergy, some immune responses are abnormally hyperactive, whereas in a chronic infection, other immune functions are not active enough. It is important to understand that these two conditions often occur together. The problem is not usually that the immune system as a whole is too strong or too weak, rather, it is disorganized.

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This is an important book. It no only gives us vital information for our children’s nutritional needs, it relates nutrition to common adult diseases:

Health is more than the absence of disease. Health is the vitality that confers resistance to chronic disease. . . . Each age has its characteristic diseases. In childhood, infection and allergy are commonest; they represent a malfunction of the immune system. In allergy, some immune responses are abnormally hyperactive, whereas in a chronic infection, other immune functions are not active enough. It is important to understand that these two conditions often occur together. The problem is not usually that the immune system as a whole is too strong or too weak, rather, it is disorganized.

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"The scientific evidence suggests that all of today’s common diseases are caused by a common set of biochemical disturbances that have reached epidemic proportions in our culture. These disturbances produce different diseases in different people, depending on their inherited predisposition, their life experiences, and the quality of their nutrition. . . . Optimal nutrition in childhood is a gift that lasts a lifetime."

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Immune disorganization contributes to some of the commonest and most lethal adult diseases. . . . None of these disorders is primarily caused by impaired immune function, but they all involve the same derangements in cell chemistry that causes immune-system disorganization. If you look at the individual cells involved and at the prostaglandins they make – which, in turn, govern their growth and functioning – amazing similarities emerge among allergy, cancer, and circulatory diseases. The scientific evidence suggests that all of today’s common diseases are caused by a common set of biochemical disturbances that have reached epidemic proportions in our culture. These disturbances produce different diseases in different people, depending on their inherited predisposition, their life experiences, and the quality of their nutrition. . . . Optimal nutrition in childhood is a gift that lasts a lifetime.

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* Editor’s note: Readers may refresh their memories about essential fatty acids in past issues of NOHA NEWS: Winter 1987, "Structural vs. Storage Fats"; Fall 1987, "Fish, Oils, and Vision"; Fall 1991, "Stalking the Essential Fatty Acids."