Environmental Chemicals and Food Allergies

Unsuspected Causes of Obesity

Adrienne Sprouse, M.D., M. Ed.Manhattan Health Consultants

New York, NY(212) 725-5744

Statistics

• Childhood obesity has more than doubled in children and tripled in adolescents in the past 30 years

• This rapid increase cannot be attributed to genetics

• More than one-third of children and adolescents are overweight (increased body weight/height) or obese (increased fat)

Think About the Obese Children You Know

• Is obesity their only diagnosis, or do they also have other medical problems ?– Ear infections– Sore throats– Runny noses– Facial redness– Asthma– Skin rashes– Behavioral/Psychiatric problems

DARK CIRCLES UNDER THE EYES

EYE WRINKLES

RED CHEEKS

RED EARS

AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR

Video of Boy Eating Tomato

• Feminized breasts• Aggressive behavior• Multiple undiagnosed food allergies• Multiple sensitivities to environmental

chemicals• Insight on the part of the child as

treatment progressed• Mother’s weight loss as she implemented

a Rotary Diversified Diet of organic tolerated foods for her son, and removed chemical exposures from the home

13

Animal Studies With Low-Dose Chemical Exposure

Evidence for Obesagens

NHANES National Health and Nutrition Examination

Survey

Important Question for 21st Century Healthcare

“No Longer a question of whether the patients before you have chemicals in their bodies.”

“The question is how many, and what are the health consequences?”

Adrienne Sprouse, M. D., M. Ed.17

How Do Environmental Chemicals Get Into Our Bodies?• What we eat or drink• What we breathe• What gets absorbed through our skin• Maternal/Fetal transmission• Implantation of medical devicesOnce they enter our bodies, they enter our

bloodstreams and circulate to every organ causing multi-system and sometimes metabolic dysfunction.

ESur

Food Allergy, Food Addiction, Obesity

• Fixed Food Allergy 10%– Each and every time you eat the food,

symptoms occur

• Cyclic Food Allergy 90%– Symptoms depend on frequency and

amount of the food–Milk, wheat, corn, egg

Rinkel Wheel

Rotary Diversified Diet with Organic Foods

• A single organic food is eaten at each meal on a 4-day schedule-see handout

• The child can help select the foods to be tested• Food families are separated by one day• Amounts for a 10 year-old child are suggested• A diary is kept by the child and caretaker• Symptom-causing foods are eliminated for at

least one month or allergy shots are developed• Non-reactive foods are incorporated into the diet

once every 4 days• Weigh the child every 2 weeks

Summary

• Obesity is not simply a matter of too many calories consumed versus not enough calories burned

• Genetics cannot account for the runaway increase in obesity in America

• Obese children typically have other health issues

• Environmental chemicals and food allergies are unsuspected causes of obesity and other concurrent medical problems and must be diagnosed and managed to control the obesity epidemic