'The Milk and Cookie Illness' Epidemic: How A lot Sweet Is Your Baby Ingesting?

By Julie L. Wei, MD, Particular to On a regular basis Well being

As an Ear Nostril and Throat (ENT) surgeon who sees as much as 30 children per day, I’m all too acquainted with the diseases that have an effect on our youngsters. A lot so, that I've give you a brand new identify for such childhood maladies — Milk and Cookie Illness (MCD).

MCD consists of ear, nostril, and throat complaints that mimic precise infections and sickness on account of sugar and dairy consumption earlier than bedtime.

A Sugary Scourge: Sinus Signs

When my household moved to Orlando final June after 10 fantastic years in Kansas Metropolis, I used to be not sure of the prevalence of Milk and Cookie Illness in Florida. Along with having fun with a busy surgical procedure follow, I had had the pleasure of serving to Kansas and Missouri kids and households finish their persistent affected by cough, runny nostril, stuffy nostril, recurrent croup, sinus infections, respiratory difficulties, sore throats, and different issues. I used to be decided to proceed my follow in Orlando and Central Florida.

Hundreds of kids have these sinus signs within the absence of fever or optimistic strep exams, and are nonetheless in a position to go to high school though they’re “sick.”  I’ve met and handled numerous kids who, regardless of seeing many specialists and being handled with quite a few nasal steroid sprays, allergy medicines, inhalers, and different medicines, are nonetheless by some means unable to utterly eliminate their persistent signs — the essence of Milk and Cookie Illness.

So it’s bittersweet for me to report that MCD is alive and nicely right here in Florida. I’m assured that it’s prevalent throughout our nation and doubtless affecting virtually each baby. Why? As a result of so lots of our youngsters are usually not solely hooked on sugar, however are additionally consuming their weight in sugar! Actually!

You Are What You Drink – and Eat – at Bedtime

For a number of years I’ve been telling households that consuming milk earlier than mattress is REALLY unhealthy for a kid or anybody after 12 months of age. Why? Think about milk sitting at 96.8 levels Fahrenheit for just a few hours, combined with some abdomen acid.  It is going to in all probability curdle and kind yogurt-like clumps, and it will probably reflux again as much as the kid’s throat.  Ingesting milk with sugary snacks is a standard night and bedtime routine for American kids.

I’ve spent years observing that when children cease consuming sugar and dairy within the evenings and earlier than mattress, many are utterly “cured” of their ENT signs. Even when they aren’t cured, at the very least it makes it clear to somebody like me what their actual medical issues could also be.

My aim is to extend mother and father' consciousness that late-night dairy and sugar are additionally the possible culprits of their children' indigestion. Together with ENT and digestive issues, extreme sugar consumption results in weight problems, adopted by hypertension, and even diabetes.

Including Up the Sugar Totals

I consider MCD is a disaster, a severe epidemic dealing with our youngsters.  As soon as I began asking mother and father about their kids's diets the issue turned clear. So many kids are consuming and consuming extra sugar than most of us would deem wholesome. I requested mother and father to fill out a questionnaire about it:

What does your baby devour all through the day on most days?  Verify all that apply:

• Danimal or some sort of yogurt drink
• Go-gurt
• Cheese “stick”
• Apple juice
• Lemonade
• Candy tea
• Soda
• Orange juice and some other juice
• Gatorade
• Capri-Solar

Now repeat for what they get at daycare or in preschool…

Every single day, in virtually each clinic appointment, I test the above checklist after which I add up the gadgets to get the approximate variety of grams of added sugar a toddler is consuming in a given day.

Most of the kids I meet eat and drink between 150 to 200 grams of added sugar a day, and that's solely counting juices and flavored milk! The human digestive system was by no means meant to course of a lot sugar, which signifies that your baby’s abdomen wants much more time to get these items out of the abdomen into the intestines.  So whereas that fermenting sugar and processed liquid sits round within the abdomen (and will get extra rancid with every passing second) it will probably come again up and trigger signs that may mislead docs into treating bronchial asthma, allergy symptoms, or no matter else we predict could also be unsuitable.

The Sugar-Water Eating regimen

Each baby in America is in danger as a result of they're unknowingly consuming a ridiculous and ultimately life-threatening quantity of sugar day by day in “harmless” liquids which can be just about simply sugar water  –   juice containers, pouches, lemonade, sodas, and fortified “water."

Every single day I meet mother and father who inform me that their 3, 5, 8, or 12 12 months outdated “received’t drink water” or is not going to eat “vegetables and fruit.”  This era of oldsters has misplaced to the meals trade and stopped being answerable for their baby’s consuming and consuming habits. Every single day I inform households, “In case your baby received’t drink water now, she or he will in all probability not drink water over sugary drinks for the subsequent 90 years…”

Shifting and exercising is essential, however let’s be clear. No baby can transfer sooner and train sufficient to burn all of the energy consumed by guzzling these sugary drinks (see my chart under). Till the federal government and FDA step in and regulate conveniently packaged, extremely processed drinks with falsely reassuring labels like “No Sugar Added," and “100% juice,"  our solely alternative is to inform each dad or mum to boycott and cease this epidemic, and educate our youngsters to make higher selections.

Make Higher Decisions

We’re all too busy to consider how a lot added sugar our youngsters are consuming day by day, however that is what we MUST get busy excited about.  Save a toddler. Mannequin and encourage good consuming and consuming habits. Take your children to the grocery retailer and take a look at the meals labels collectively to decide on gadgets decrease in sugar at any time when doable. Prepare dinner at house. Eat nicely. And please, drink nature’s good drink: water.

I’m happy to report that I’ve shared my profession epiphany with numerous households who’re implementing these recommendations, and plenty of have seen their kids recuperate into the wholesome our bodies they have been born with and decrease persistent remedy use. Much less time spent seeing docs is extra time for enjoyable, studying, and dwelling a fulfilled and nice life.

Vitamin IS the one complete answer, and when partnered with appropriately prescribed medicines and surgical procedures, is what America wants – and we wanted it yesterday. Assist your kids be wholesome, at present and day by day, by decreasing their liquid sugar consumption, avoiding milk and cookies earlier than bedtime, and dealing on dwelling A More healthy Wei.

Julie Wei, M.D., is a Pediatric Otolaryngologist who believes each baby has the correct to symptom-free respiratory and sleeping. She lays out the foundations for this weight-reduction plan and way of life in her ebook, A More healthy Wei, and on her web site. You too can discover Dr. Julie on Twitter and Fb.