{"id":4566,"date":"2016-05-31T11:45:37","date_gmt":"2016-05-31T18:45:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nebulous-oyster.flywheelsites.com\/?p=4566"},"modified":"2020-01-06T11:33:01","modified_gmt":"2020-01-06T19:33:01","slug":"dont-wash-your-hands-before-dinner-a-review-of-the-dirt-cure-by-maya-shetreat-klein","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jennifermargulis.net\/dont-wash-your-hands-before-dinner-a-review-of-the-dirt-cure-by-maya-shetreat-klein\/","title":{"rendered":"Don\u2019t Wash Your Hands Before Dinner? A Review of The Dirt Cure by Maya Shetreat-Klein"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cIt\u2019s a particularly nerve-racking time to be a parent,\u201d Maya Shetreat-Klein<\/a>, M.D., writes in the beginning of her new book, The Dirt Cure: Growing Healthy Kids With Food Straight From the Soil<\/em><\/a> (Atria Books, 2016). \u201cWith every new study, we\u2019re reminded that the incidences of children with diseases and behavioral disorders \u2026 is through the roof.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a mom of four children ranging in age from sixteen to six years old and attending three different schools (high school, middle school, and Waldorf kindergarten) in a small town in Southern Oregon, I see firsthand what these scientific studies show: my children\u2019s classmates are sick. They are suffering from debilitating food allergies, full body eczema, autism<\/a> and other brain dysfunction<\/a>, attention disorders, anxiety, and even suicidal tendencies. Childhood obesity is skyrocketing, asthma is on the rise, younger and younger kids have insulin pumps strapped to their hips. I just learned last week about a 3-year-old who came down with a painful case of shingles.<\/p>\n

\"Cover

Cover of The Dirt Cure by Maya Shetreat-Klein, M.D.<\/p><\/div>\n

Even if you don\u2019t have children, you can walk down any street in America and see evidence of how our kids really aren\u2019t all right: the 5-year-old who is too overweight to hoist herself onto the swing; the 6-year-old who wears an alert bracelet because his peanut allergy is so severe that the tiniest exposure could send him into anaphylactic shock; the 7-year-old with angry eczema all over her face, neck, and arms.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s going on?<\/p>\n

Why are our children\u2019s immune systems and brain functioning so compromised?<\/p>\n

When her youngest son developed asthma and speech delays just after his first birthday, Shetreat-Klein, a pediatric neurologist based in New York City, was desperate for answers. But the steroids and nebulizers her son\u2019s doctors prescribed didn\u2019t help. So she started doing the research herself\u2014looking beyond conventional medicine to what her son was eating, how he was spending his time, and what toxins<\/a> he was inadvertently being exposed to. That journey, she explains, is what prompted her to write The Dirt Cure<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt turns out that all of the things that are messy and dirty in the world, the very things we thought we needed to control or even eliminate to stay alive, are actually the very elements necessary for robust health,\u201d Shetreat-Klein writes.<\/p>\n

I pause for a minute to think of my friend Maria. She obsessively rubbed anti-bacterial\u00a0sanitizer onto her hands, batted her infant\u2019s fingers\u00a0out of his mouth because she did not want him to get germs, bleached everything, including his pacifiers. She thought she was being careful in always being so hygienic. Was she actually compromising her baby\u2019s health?<\/p>\n

\u201cResearch says that bacteria, fungi, parasites, insects, weeds\u2014and living, nutrient-dense soil full of all those elements\u2014play direct and critical roles in the health of our food, and by extension, the health of our children,\u201d Shetreat-Klein continues. \u201cInstead of developing new antibiotics, doctors are beginning to treat chronic disease using the opposite approach: bacteria, parasites, soil, even\u2014wait for it!\u2014stool.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"The

Let them eat dirt, says a new book called The Dirt Cure, by Dr. Maya Shetreat-Klein, M.D. Screenshot from The Telegraph: http:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/wellbeing\/diet\/let-them-eat-dirt-our-obsession-with-hygiene-is-jeopardising-our\/<\/p><\/div>\n

The Dirt Cure<\/em> weaves in stories about Shetreat-Klein\u2019s own children and the children she treats in her pediatric practice with practical advice about what to eat<\/a>, how and why to avoid conventional synthetic pharmaceutical medicines, and how to eliminate toxins from your family\u2019s food and water. Each chapter of The Dirt Cure<\/em> includes an advice list at the end called \u201cTake Home,\u201d and shaded boxes throughout the book make it more readable for busy parents. There are dozens of kid-friendly recipes at the end of the book as well.<\/p>\n

While I suspect a lot of the information in this book will be familiar to savvy readers who already know the work of food journalist Michael Pollan<\/a>, holistic medical doctor Andrew Weil<\/a>, M.D., and wellness doctor and bestselling author Mark Hyman<\/a>, M.D., I think it will be eye-opening to parents coming to these ideas for the first time, as well as anyone whose children are suffering from health problems that are the result of blindly following the status quo.<\/p>\n

If you think plastic-wrapped organic granola bars and highly processed organic soymilk are healthy food choices, The Dirt Cure<\/em> will make you think again.<\/p>\n

My only criticism of the book is that I would have liked for Shetreat-Klein to include a more detailed discussion about her views on the link between vaccines and immune disruption<\/a>. Though she mentions the theory that adjuvants in vaccines<\/a> are one of the reasons for the rise in allergies, she does not treat this topic at any length. Not discussing more thoroughly how vaccines are playing a role in the rise of autoimmune disorders<\/a> and not mentioning the ongoing medical debate about the current childhood vaccine schedule (medical doctors, like Jay Gordon<\/a>, M.D., Jim Sears<\/a>, M.D., Bob Sears<\/a>, M.D., Paul Thomas<\/a>, M.D., Aviva Romm<\/a>, M.D., Elizabeth Mumper<\/a>, M.D., David Berger<\/a>, M.D., and hundreds<\/a>, if not thousands<\/a>, of others have started pointing out that we may be causing more harm than good<\/a> by giving so many vaccines<\/a> to children at such young ages), or the possible link between the timing of vaccines<\/a> and regressive autism<\/a> strikes me as unfortunate omissions. Shetreat-Klein does cite some fascinating peer-reviewed science that explores the health benefits to humans of infectious diseases like mumps and measles (like this one<\/a>. A good summary of some of this science, by Suzanne Humphries, M.D., can be found here<\/a>). But I wish she had more thoroughly tackled the subject of vaccines<\/a>.<\/p>\n

That criticism aside, I highly recommend The Dirt Cure<\/em>. It\u2019s compellingly, readable, and full of important and useful information for both parents and for the medical establishment. I think it should be required reading for every medical school student, every pediatrician, and every parent in America.<\/p>\n

\"Dirt

Studies have shown that\u00a0babies who grow up with pets are less likely to develop allergies, possibly because of\u00a0early exposure to certain bacteria. Having a dog also gets kids outside more and playing in the dirt. Photo credit: Jennifer Margulis.<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cIt\u2019s a particularly nerve-racking time to be a parent,\u201d Maya Shetreat-Klein, M.D., writes in the beginning of her new book, The Dirt Cure: Growing Healthy Kids With Food Straight From the Soil (Atria Books, 2016). \u201cWith every new study, we\u2019re reminded that the incidences of children with diseases and behavioral disorders \u2026 is through the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":4567,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":""},"categories":[119,8349],"tags":[552,239,717,718],"yoast_head":"\nDirt Cure, Bacteria, Fungi, Parasites Play a Key Role in Human Health<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Bacteria, fungi, parasites, insects, weeds\u2014and 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