Parenting Healthy Brains And Bodies On A Budget!
Table of Contents
Do not underestimate the power of creating a routine of small but impactful habits for your child to support their health! In this interview, Madiha Saeed, MD, shares with us parenting healthy brains and bodies – how we can put a child back into balance and reduce inflammation, with easy, cost-effective solutions that we can incorporate into their daily activities.
When dealing with neurodevelopmental challenges, we often feel hopeless and clueless on where to start. It leaves us questions like, “What am I going to do?” or “How am I going to afford this?”
If you find yourself confused about the complexity of dealing with various health conditions, then a good starting point are the simple solutions that Dr. Saeed shares in this podcast. They are easy to implement with little to no additional cost. This foundational approach can go a very long way in helping your child feel better and will support all of the other efforts you are making to help your child thrive.
In this episode, Dr. Saeed walks you through the routine she has with her family. These behind the scenes show you how practical these routines can be!
So please join me and listen (or read the transcript if you prefer) to the practicing board-certified family physician, health influencer, international speaker, and author of many amazing books, Dr. Madiha Saeed, as she talks about Parenting Healthy Brains and Bodies on a Budget!
- The difference between the prefrontal cortex and amygdala and their functions.
- Cost-effective activities for children that support their overall health and wellbeing.
- How the dopamine we get from social media leads to negative neuroplasticity in the long run.
- How creating a healthy daily routine makes the most difference.
- And much more…
Show Notes for this Podcast
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- Prefrontal cortex vs amygdala (07:33)
- Basic and cost-effective activities that support overall health and wellbeing (13:21)
- The dangers of dopamine bursts from social media (15:06)
- Daily routines that should not be underestimated (18:55)
- Incorporating a game into practicing healthy habits (26:15)
Resources and Links to Parenting Healthy Brains and Bodies
The Holistic Rx: Your Guide to Healing Chronic Inflammation and Disease
The Holistic Rx for Kids: Parenting Healthy Brains and Bodies in a Changing World
The Qur'anic Prescription: Unlocking the Secrets to Optimal Health
The Pandemic Prescription: Restoring Hope from the Qur'an, Sunnah and Science
Adam's Healing Adventures: From Sickness to Health
Adam's Healing Adventures: The Power of Rainbow Foods
Adam's Healing Adventures: Gratitude is a Super Power
Tiny Habits: The Small Changes That Change Everything by BJ Fogg
The Holistic Kids Show Podcast
Articles Related to Parenting Healthy Brains And Bodies On A Budget
Holistic Parenting: Parenting Healthy Brains and Bodies in a Changing World
Simple Steps to Remove Toxicants
10 Ways to get More Sleep – and Help Your Child Sleep Too
How learning to cook can empower your child
More about Dr. Madiha Saeed
Madiha M. Saeed, MD, also known as HolisticMom, MD, on social media, is a practicing board-certified family physician in the USA, health influencer, international speaker, and author of The Holistic Rx: Your Guide to Healing Chronic Inflammation and Disease and the children’s functional medicine book series, Adam’s Healing Adventures and to other international books, empowering the world towards healthier living. Her current online platforms reach millions of people.
Dr. Saeed is the director of education for Documenting Hope and KnoWEwell. She sits on multiple medical advisory boards including Wellness Mama. Dr. Saeed and her children speak internationally at the most prestigious holistic conferences, summits, radio, podcasts (including Mind Body Green), newspapers and the United Nations recently published her paper on religion and the food system. She is a regular on the international Emmy-winning medical talk show the Dr. Nandi Show. Dr Saeed's children host “The Holistic Kids' Show” podcast, interviewing the biggest names in the functional, holistic, and integrative medicine world, and helping kids empower and educate other kids.
00:00 Tara Hunkin:
This is the My Child Will Thrive podcast. And I'm your host, Tara Hunkin, certified Functional Nutritional Therapy Practitioner and mother. I am here to share with you the latest research expert advice, parent perspectives, resources, and tools to help you on your path to optimizing the health and development for your child with ADHD, autism, sensory processing disorder, learning disabilities,
or other neurodevelopmental disorders. My own experiences with my daughter combined with as much training as I can get my hands on, research I can dig into, and conferences I can attend have helped me to develop systems and tools for parents like you who feel overwhelmed trying to help their children. So, sit back as I share another great topic to help you on your journey.
A quick disclaimer, please keep in mind that the information provided is for information and educational purposes only. It is not intended to diagnose or treat your child and is not a substitute for working with a qualified practitioner. This episode of the My Child Will Thrive podcast is brought to you by the Autism, ADHD, and Sensory Processing Disorder Summit. You can sign up for free to watch 10 days of expert interviews and masterclasses at mychildwillthrive.com/summit.
Now on with the show. I want to welcome everybody back to the My Child Will Thrive podcast. I am so thrilled to have today with me, Dr. Madiha Saeed. She is also known as the HolisticMom, MD, on social media as a practicing board-certified family physician in the US, a health influencer, an international speaker, and author of The Holistic Rx: Your Guide to Healing Chronic Inflammation and Disease, along with a whole pile of other books, which we're going to talk about in a minute. And she also it, part of that is the children’s functional medicine book series, Adams Healing Adventures, and to other international books empowering the world's towards a healthier living.
Her current online platforms reach millions of people. Dr. Saeed is the director of education at Documenting Hope, an organization we know and love and also of KnoWEwell. She sits on multiple medical advisory boards, including Wellness Mama and her children speak internationally at the most prestigious holistic conferences, summits, radio, podcast, (including Mind Body Green), newspapers and at the United Nations.
Recently, they, they recently published her paper on religion and the food system, which is really exciting. She is a regular on the international Emmy- winning medical talk show, the Dr. Nandi Show. And she is, her children host The Holistic Kids' Show podcast, which I'm excited to be doing in the the near future, which interviews the biggest names and functional holistic in the integrative medicine world, and they help empower kids and educate other kids on a more healthy living lifestyle.
So thank you once again for joining us here at the My Child Will Thrive podcast.
03:10 Madiha Saeed:
Thank you so much for having me again. I am so incredibly honored. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I love what you're doing, so this is a huge honor for me to be here.
03:21 Tara Hunkin:
Well, we appreciate your time because I know you just recently had another baby and you often are juggling a lot of things and you and I were just talking about this, it's hard to juggle the work and life and a healthy, holistic lifestyle.
So we decided that today, that's what we're going to talk about, is we're going to do just sort of revisit what we talked about last time, which the last time you and I talked was sort of like in the midst of the pandemic, your book Prescription for Kids came out. What's the, the full title of that again?
03:55 Madiha Saeed:
The Holistic Rx for Kids: Parenting Healthy Brains and Bodies in a Changing World.
04:00 Tara Hunkin:
Yes. So we talked about that and we dove into a number of the different issues that, that we're all having to deal with these days.
I'm going to just sort of quickly touch base on that and where we're all at. But then we just want to talk about, practically speaking, what can we do day-to-day without getting overwhelmed and without having to dig too far into our bank accounts to support the fundamentals of that healthy lifestyle?
04:29 Madiha Saeed:
Absolutely. And boy, do we need it now more than ever. We are living in a crazy changing world that every day it seems like it's changing. And, and now with AI coming out and all of these like crazy new inventions, I'm telling you, it's just going to continue to change.
So I mean, if we just look at the statistics, it's really scary. You know, specifically for our children, chronic disease has quadrupled among children since 1960s and in the next, you know, couple years, 80% of kids will have a diagnosed chronic health condition. Obesity is on a rise, cancer is on a rise.
All of these chronic health conditions on a rise, our children's bodies are sick, but also their brains are getting sicker. I know this is something me and you dive on, it's so scary that the, you know, there's an increased risk of ADHD and neurodevelopmental, depression, suicide, behavioral problems, and there's so much that we can do in our everyday life to help prevent those and improve those if your child is suffering from it.
And a lot of times it happens. As a family physician, when my, I was dealing with my own chronic health conditions, I felt hopeless and I'm like, where am I going to start? What am I going to do? And anytime I would, you know, open up a book or listen to a podcast, they would tell me all these really complex things that I was like, how am I going to even afford this in my own budget, despite me and my husband working, you know, 80 hour work weeks and growing this family and trying to just keep my head above water. That's when I put in a mission that I'm going to try to find those pieces that I can incorporate in my own lifestyle and in my family's lifestyle that are the biggest bang for your buck.
And that's why I'm so honored and thankful to talk about this because that's when I started getting hope back and I was like, oh, this is doable. It's not that complicated. If I can do it, anybody can. And so there's so much hope, so much hope so we can reverse these statistics and, and really empower our children and our families.
06:35 Tara Hunkin:
Yes, I think that's one of the things that I love about what you do is because you have brought your children into the education field as well, they are now educating because it is so much easier when it's peer to peer as well. So we'll talk a bit about what they're doing and the books and the the other series too at the end so that other parents can reach out to those resources because especially as our kids get older and they have the ability to make more independent choices, educating them is key.
They're still not going to always make the choices that we would love for them to make because their brains aren't fully matured.
07:10 Madiha Saeed:
Absolutely.
07:11 Tara Hunkin:
But if they have the base knowledge, I always believe that they will come back around to make the right choices in the end because they'll figure it out, right?
They, they, they learn how their body feels and how they, their behavior is, or their emotions are their emotional regulation in one state versus another. And and that's really what we want to teach them in the end.
07:32 Madiha Saeed:
Absolutely. Because when it comes to our children's decision, what they wear, what they choose to eat, the decisions that they make and how they feel is all really dictated by their brain. So we want our children to be made the right decisions and less of the wrong ones, even though some wrong ones will help them, you know, grow and understand. But there's two main critical players of the child's brain that's involved in decision making, which is called neuroeconomics.
And that is your prefrontal cortex and their amygdalas. So the prefrontal cortex is the developed part of the brain. It's responsible for rational decision making skills. It's examines the pros and the cons and helps their children think through their actions after taking a look at the whole picture.
While the amygdala is the more a reactive part of the brain that is responsible for these primitive, impulsive fight and flight reactions. And then you, in order to make a thought out decision, they need to inform healthy habits. They need to have both of these pieces working together. And, but unfortunately today's life, our children's lifestyles are completely outta balance.
And they're eating more terrible junk food than ever before. You know, we're having less diet variety, lack of sleep, lack of nature, lack of exercise and play, negative social environment, increased exposure, exposure to these toxins inside and outside the home is all leading to this imbalanced child. And that imbalance also leads to chronic inflammation, which is one of the underlying reasons for chronic disease.
So this inflammation is really disconnecting our children's brain connections between the prefrontal cortex and amygdala. And our children are now leaving these, you know, out of control lives. They're unable to use their whole brain to make a logical decision. They're fostering an "everybody hates me" mentality, more anger, poorer relationship, decreased empathy. And so anything that heightens this inflammatory response that leads to chronic inflammation can then compromise these two pieces.
And so what I've done in my own house is I use science, right? So we talked about chronic inflammation and we talked about how that can affect a children's brain and their body, which you've probably had lot of people talk about.
But if you can put a child back into balance with their lifestyle, with easy, cost effective things that we can incorporate into their everyday lifestyles, just like we're teaching them to brush their teeth, why not we teach them these tactics and that way you have less inflamed child, a child with more energy, more power, you know, they're healthy enough to really create change.
And, and you know what, what's really awesome is that when you do that, exactly what you said, you've given them now the foundations that they choose to come out and experiment, but then at least they've had these foundations, they're going to see how they feel, they know how they feel, amazing.
And then as soon as they start to get off balance, they're immediately, you've taught them those skills that they need to put themselves back into balance. And again, these are easy, fast cost effective tips that anybody incorporate.
I myself live, I mean I cook for a family of nine on a daily basis. One with my boobs right now, but you know, eight with my hands. So, but, but still feeding your family a night on a regular basis is can be really expensive. And, and you, and you, especially with all the other crazy things that I'm doing, you want something that's quick, fast, easy, cost, effective, that's going to empower the child and your family's, you know, mitochondria, optimize their genetics, optimize their microbiome, lower chronic inflammation so they can have the energy and health to do what they want to do.
11:27 Tara Hunkin:
So let's, so let's talk about that. Let's talk about those basics that we can do almost every day, if not every day, that aren't going to cost a fortune, but are going to support that, that overall health and wellbeing. And here I often will talk about it as, as your base camp. So the things you can always fall back on or that you want to be doing all the time, it's like your safe space before you try to climb that mountain again.
It's where you can reacclimatize and get back on track. So if parents who know their children are struggling with their behavior or they're struggling with asthma or eczema or any of the things that we're, we're seeing chronically in our kids today, what are those base things that they can be doing that aren't going to break the bank?
12:14 Madiha Saeed:
I think one of the most powerful pieces that I have educated parents over the years and their children is the power of positivity and perspective. So I, our children are growing up in this world that we are wake up with negativity. Our social media is filled with negativity. You know, they, they go to school, there's negativity, you know, other homes are focused on all the things the kids are doing wrong and our children are really losing their grasp of sense worth, you know, self-worth and you know, self-esteem.
So if we can, you know, through the science of neuroplasticity a, help them form and organize these synaptic connections instead with negativity and fear, but then replace that with positivity and gratitude, it is huge. So immediately when you wake up in the morning, say 10 things that you're thankful for, super simple.
And that's the most cost effective, most powerful thing that we can do is teach our children the perspective that, you know, either your perspective can be your pain or your perspective can be your power. So immediately when they wake up, say 10 things that they're thankful for during, while, while they're doing their chores, we're singing our thankful song.
You know, at the end of the day we, we go through all the things you know that they're thankful for. So then really creating a habit so then we can consciously change that subconscious, from instead of thinking negative all the time to thinking positive because we know that chronic stress and negativity disconnects these two main pieces of decision making that decreases empathy and impulsiveness and poor decision making and leads to unhappiness.
And then, you know, then, then they're reaching for their phones or these quick instant fixes like, you know, checking, you know, messages and getting those dopamine bursts that then lead to these chronic use of short term, you know, fixes then going back to low self-worth and inflammation and disease. So we gotta break that cycle and I feel like one of the foundations of that is immediately when they wake up in the morning say 10 things that they're thankful for every day.
14:28 Tara Hunkin:
Yes, I really like that. It's, I think it's a one, it's, it's relatively easy and you just have to remember to get in that habit and I'll, I'll reference or make a little reference to BJ Fogg in his Tiny Habits, he creates little recipes. So if you want to learn to do something new on a daily basis, you say, I'm, after I do this, I will then say my two things.
So when their feet hit the, the floor, when they're getting outta bed, that's their trigger to say there are 10 things, their gratitude, there are 10 gratitude things first thing in the morning. So you can implement that right away with your, with your kids. I just want to touch on the point about the social media in particular and the dopamine hit.
So just in terms of when you talked just about about what you can do to create positive neuroplasticity, what does social media and that, and if you can explain what they get in terms of the dopamine hit of the, the, the reward system of social media and the way it is actually designed and what that does to, to basically negative neuroplasticity, which is basically train the brain to do something we don't want it to do.
15:33 Madiha Saeed:
Absolutely. But because unfortunately our digital lives are disconnecting us from what really matters most, this then leads to the secure, you know, lack of secure attachments, lack of family time. We become addicted to the internet. It really promotes this mindless activity that disconnects us from a like higher level brains.
And studies have actually shown that this excessive screen time can actually harm a child's health, increasing obesity, mood disturbances, and disrupting their sleep, specifically with that blue light. And you know, adolescents now are spending more and more time, they've actually done studies where ages from 19 to 32 show that the more social media that they use, the lonelier they felt and more depressed and especially with the excess stress that our children are dealing with today.
And if we don't teach them those appropriate tools to manage that stress for them, that they then obviously grab the social media or because checking out the, you know, the likes and how many peoples viewed your posts and how were the comments and the positive comments, those are all quick dopamine hits. And then, you know, 'cause you're stuck in the self literally you need that so you hit, you get the dopamine hit and then what happens is that it then falls away and then you gotta get it again and then again and again.
So yes, for a short time it may feel, oh like this is amazing. But in the long run statistics have shown that you know, you, it really does disrupt a child's and our health and overall wellbeing.
17:12 Tara Hunkin:
Now it is, it is a difficult habit to break once they get into it. So the earlier people are addressing that and and the longer you can wait to give your children access to those things, the better for sure.
17:25 Madiha Saeed:
Absolutely. Absolutely. That's what we definitely want to try to do as late as possible because again, we gotta push toward push away those bad habits and you can get those dopamine fixes again from like eating bad food and our gadgets and other addictions. But if we can teach them these other stress management techniques that instead of pulling and then being mindful, right? I think that's another big piece of the puzzle is sticking, you know, being mindful to the usage of this and am I just really picking this up just because I'm sad? Am I lonely? Am I, you know, stressed? And then again, if we can connect that and have a child and ourselves truly be mindful of why we're reaching for these devices and giving them then those other things that we can do to help them with those short term releases that can really help to get rid of some of that and focus on things that are actually more beneficial in the long run to get those better dopamine fixes.
18:38 Tara Hunkin:
Yes. That that's, that's, that's the goal for sure. So if, first thing that that we're doing and also hopefully lasting at night is, is gratitude and, and having a positive mindset. What would be the next thing on your list of things that, that people could be doing with their families?
18:55 Madiha Saeed:
Oh wow. So immediately when they, again, what we like to do is create this routine and a routine and a ritual can help you create these healthy habits that if you do over the long run it can create huge benefits. So we talked about gratitude. The other thing is get up and my kids and I try to get early morning sunshine. Super, super important.
We know that early morning sunshine really helps to balance our hormones, lowers that chronic inflammation. I mean we actually have outside, we have a little trampoline, they can go out there and jump up and down, you know, for some of those, the lymphatic flow and then they can grounding, we go out there without our shoes on. It really again sets them for the rest of the day to help them ground.
'Cause I remember grounding is super important to lower chronic inflammation because that helps to transfer those electrons from the ground into your body, helps, helps to sleep better, lowers the pain, balances the nervous system. And now you're outside, you're spending time in nature. So here, just by going outside, bouncing on that you've actually, you know, decreased stressed,
it can help you digitally detox 'cause now you know, and then you know you're out there, you're not on your devices in the more first thing in the morning and increases their sense of peace. So the other thing we love to do is incorporate, you can even do that before or after even we try to even do it outside with the kids, is pause and be present and incorporating that mindfulness and showing your child, okay, this is what you feel like in this moment. So staying calm and being present can actually help bring your nervous system back into balance and de-stress.
So again, do you see, just by the act of going outside in the morning, you can now incorporate all of these beneficial tactics, right? That are really beneficial for us. We love to pray, you know, incorporate the meditation, the different types of mindfulness, what am I hearing right now? And at that time it's so much fun because they're hearing different types of birds and they're hearing, you know, like the singing of the birds and the leaves, you know, and the wind and the fun stuff that the kids can see, you know, like the little animals that are walking past.
It's so much fun to incorporate those really positive experiences and now you're connecting with their child and your family first thing in the morning. So that's what we love to do. And then if, and you know, during the summertime go out there if there's garden, we also like to garden, you know, pick the produce and then use that then in our meals.
So that's another positive things that we love to do is, you know, and other things that we can easily do to help, you know, stabilize and improve our heart rate variability, you know, is, you know, chanting and laughing and you know, breathing. So all of these things are really powerful ways to optimize your health and wellbeing, lower those cortisols and really connect with each other. And then we move inside and then that's when we have to start getting ready for school. That probably takes, what, 20 minutes at the most?
So do all of those things. And even just starting off with just, you know, 10 minutes of meditation, mindfulness is doing, sitting outside, doing that, but you're now you're connecting. And then we'll make our breakfast, the kids will get ready for their lunches and then focusing on tons of vegetables, clean protein, healthy fats, are simple things that you can do. Again, focus on the things that they can have, not the stuff they can't have.
And really crowd that out. My kids make their own lunches and that's when they also start doing their their, their routines, right of their chores. You know, unload the dishwasher that will decrease your own stress and then keep the house a little tidy and that way I have more energy to do the rest, everything the rest of the day.
So it's really powerful. And then, you know, you're going throughout your day once a week. We love to at least get out into the parks, go for a hike is another thing we love to do. And just remember all of these things are super simple, you know, detoxification, shower, like right before, depending on when a child likes to shower, we can use that and really pump up our shower regimens. My older children will love to just, you know, they use, they take a scoop of a coconut oil and swish it around in their mouths.
The younger ones can't do that for long. But another one, dry brush, dry brushing before they get into the shower, they love the hot and cold. I mean mine are boys so just getting them to shower is a big deal. But then once they get in the hot and cold, they love the hot and cold and they, they, and then for them it's like a challenge.
How many minutes can I do mom? I did it this time, I did it for that time and do the hot and cold again. That's really beneficial for your detoxification systems. And then even taking their Epsom salt baths right before they get to go to bed and then prioritizing that sleep and is really important, giving your children that to, to know that your body deserves that.
So my seven-year-old knows that, you know what, I'm starting to feel tired, even if it's early this time, I need to listen to my body, I'm going to go to sleep. And so he'll do his little routine and then go straight to bed. But again, if you notice, these are all things that can be incorporated into what we're already doing that are cost effective, that are super easy and, and really, really beneficial.
24:55 Tara Hunkin:
You know, when you go through all those things that you're talking about, the they're, it's not that no one ever talks about them, but, but you realize how simple and how part all those things are part of your day, but you just don't necessarily structure it in a way that is actually healthy.
And some of the things don't happen because you're distracted by technology or, or something else. So it doesn't necessarily get prioritized. But when you look at it like that and you think about the fact that you've now, like you said, by just going outside and being in nature, all the things that you've addressed and then by just preparing their own food and doing that in the kitchen, you have the ability to put in whole foods and, and try to balance, balance what's in there as well.
And them having some, some input into that while the same time having a little bit of oversight a little, which is always the, you know, you, you say we have these macronutrients, you know, which of these match, you know, here are some examples of each, each of the things. Which one do you want to choose today?
That is what's so powerful about all that. And the fact that obviously bathing and sleeping are things that hopefully we do almost every day. Sleeping every day, just changing the way we go about doing those things slightly without any additional costs—
26:13 Madiha Saeed:
Absolutely.
26:13 Tara Hunkin:
—can have such a huge impact.
26:15 Madiha Saeed:
It can have such a huge impact. And I mean again, it's these, you are doing these things anyway so to give your kids the tools. So just like they're learning to brush their teeth right before they go to bed in the morning time. Now let's add in some oil pulling, let's go ahead and add in, you know, when you take a shower,
these are the steps that just change up the steps and just those small things and making it, you know, incorporate a game. For my boys, they're all, it's all a game, right? We're going to go outside, they love to, even if it's cold outside, I'm in Chicago, we try to get it done during the winter times for them it's a game they run out there and they're like,
let's check this. I do it, I stay out here. You know, for to, to really build some of that hormesis, you know, which is a little bit of stress with that gives you great results in the long run. But again, these are simple things that we can do to incorporate into their everyday daily routine that are really powerful.
And again, those looking at those macronutrients and you know, in their lunches, I think what we started to do that is so cost effective and really easy and fun and the kids will really love to get into it, is growing your own microgreens and your broccoli sprouts. It's so much fun. It's like a chemical experiment on your, like you can't kill broccoli sprouts.
I can kill a lot of other things. And you know, sometimes gardening, especially when you're busy, it's really difficult to garden. But the, one of the most cost effective things that, and the funnest things for the kids to see every day is growing your own microgreens and broccoli sprouts. So it's really, you just take a tablespoon or two tablespoons in like a mason jar, right?
With a cat with a screen cap on it and in three-fourths cup of water. I just let it soak, dump it out the next day, turn it in a 45 degree angle away from the sun. You just wash the wa, wash it, rinse it out twice a day, two times twice a day, put it back on there within a week, the five days you have the entire thing that is packed with sprouts.
And that's again something that kids can easily, I throw the sprouts into everything. And normally if you get that, you know, outside at Whole Foods or different farmers markets, they can be really cost, they're really costly. But if you grow them at home, so much more cheaper, packed with phytonutrients because we know that just a little bit has like a hundred times more sulforaphane than the regular broccoli.
28:53 Tara Hunkin:
Yes.
28:54 Madiha Saeed:
So again, that's, can be snuck in. Like if your kids are eating sandwiches, you can stick that in there. You can put that in I, whenever I make chili, I'll stick that in there. Whenever I'm doing ground beef or any type of protein, I'll throw it in there, I'll throw it in the burritos with their cassava flour wraps, I'll throw it on tacos.
So we're now you're sneaking in all this beneficial phytonutrients and sulforaphane into their, what they're, whatever they're already eating. Again another cost- way, effective ways to include, include those macronutrients into whatever they're already doing. So it's so much fun.
29:26 Tara Hunkin:
Yes, I, well always love those things that they, you can speak in there that eliminate the need for any supplementation because the reality is supplementation is super expensive and it's also super difficult with most kids because they just don't either aren't able to swallow the supplements or they don't tolerate the taste or texture or whatever it might be.
So broccoli seeds, sprouts are so good for that 'cause they, they are so nutrient dense and have a lot of things that, for those that aren't in the know about that I'm going to support methylation. Which is a challenge for a number of the kids that, of the parents that are listening today. So. Well we have gone over a lot.
Again, as usual, I want to before you, we wrap up, I want to talk about more about your books because you really are prolific author, it's really inspiring. There are, you have so many amazing resources out there and I don't want, we will link to all of them in the show notes, but I want you just to walk us through the series of books that you have and who they're for so that those that are listening can go and collect the ones that they can, they can best use or gift them to friends and family that they know can use them as well.
30:39 Madiha Saeed:
Absolutely. You know, when I was having baby after baby after baby and I still wanted to benefit the world and as I was learning about it, I started incorporating it into my daily routines. So I was just collecting all the science and, and I'm like,
why don't I just write, put these in books 'cause I went part-time in my clinic. So then I thought, so I can raise my family and I have a sugar daddy for you know, the main income. So that's, it was so nice to like, as I was learning about it, as I was healing my own chronic conditions 'cause I've had Lupus,
Hashimoto's, severe digestive issues, acne, eczema, Seborrheic dermatitis, all of these chronic health conditions. And as I was navigating that as a family physician, I saw how difficult it was to really, you know, know where to start. And that's when I, the first book that I wrote was called The Holistic Rx: Your Guide to Healing Chronic Inflammation and Disease.
That's the best of Functional Integrative Holistic Medicine that covers over 80 conditions for all ages.
31:42 Tara Hunkin:
Amazing.
31:43 Madiha Saeed:
Awesome. And homeopathic supplements, acupressure points, aromatherapy for 80-some conditions for all ages. And that was a by book on, okay for me that was I, cause I needed something to guide my patients. And so as I was doing that I started compiling it a book and that came, that was my first book.
And then I wrote the Holistic Rx For Kids: Parenting Healthy Brains and Bodies in a Changing World. Then I started, the pandemic hit and I started writing these books with my children and it's the Adam's Healing Adventure children's book series. So the first one is the Power of Health from Sickness to Health. The then the second one is the Power of Rainbow Foods and then the third one that just recently came out is theGratitude is a Super Power.
And these are things that your, your family can then incorporate into their everyday daily routine. I mean this here is the latest one, they're really cute, they're easy, they're packed with color and simple things again that they, they can incorporate, oh I disappeared, incorporate into their daily routines that will be empowering again, simple things that they can do every day.
And this started doing that with the kids. So I have three of those books out and then I realized that there was no books for the Muslim audience. So that's when during that I wrote one about the pandemic and then the one that came out a couple months ago was also called The Qur'anic Prescription: Unlocking the Secrets to Optimal Health, which is really everything that we talk about, functional medicine, how to take care of the body and eat.
We are eating real foods that God made, giving it sleep, decreasing the stress through prayer, meditation, mindfulness, like all of that stuff would put it in the perspective for Muslims, specifically. And that is being translated into four different languages currently. And then, yeah and then just working on some kids, some cooking books right now.
So it's just a lot. So that's like the seven books that I have written. And then, yeah, it's so much fun. And then I started a podcast with the kids because I was like, what am I going to do with them during the pandemic to continue to build instead? 'Cause a lot of a lot of kids regress during the pandemic.
I'm like, let me use this time, now they're with me at home. What can I do to help empower them with, you know, these life skills that I was learning myself. So the kids started the, the "The Holistic Kids' Show" podcast. Currently they have 90 episodes and that they've done, my oldest currently is 15 then where they started it when the youngest was six years old.
So now he's, you know, he just turned 10. So they've been doing it a little bit over the, over three years. So it's, it's really awesome how much now knowledge and ex, you know, experience they have. So again, that's something that I really wanted to throw out into the world to get our kids involved in this conversation because I feel like there's a lot of adults talking to adults and adults talking to children,
but there's not a lot of children talking with adults. Two children or you know, children talking to children, four children. And so that's what I really want to throw out. There's lots of amazing resources. I actually even started a social media page with my mother-in-law because in that this house we have three generations and my mother-in-law, we have a Holistic Urdu, MD, channel that that's where we get the millions of views and to really get to people all over the world.
So yes, there's three generations in this household educating the world about health and wellness and I just had my fifth boy so he will be joining the crew. So the hoping that the Holistic Kids' Show podcast and all these children's books will continue for years to come because now I have other kids, I will have kids for another 15, 20, you know, 15 years at minimum.
35:46 Tara Hunkin:
It's just a, you know, you just keep on having, you know, they just keep on joining the family business.
35:52 Madiha Saeed:
Having children, to you know, take over the podcast, podcast books,
35:57 Tara Hunkin:
All the other ones, go to college and then they'll be done college while—
36:02 Madiha Saeed:
—And I still have now a 15 year old as soon as my seven year old turns 15, this one will be able to like join in. So I got a little plan.
36:13 Tara Hunkin:
That's perfect. You really well thought, thought out for sure.
36:16 Madiha Saeed:
Lots of resources there.
36:16 Tara Hunkin:
Well given, given everything you have going on, I so appreciate you joining me again today. And like I said before, we will link to all of the books in the show notes. I highly recommend them. They are fabulous resources, research fact like these, these are not just ideas, these are it's science that we can incorporate but it's very approachable the way that you do it through your books and obviously your conversations with us as well. So I really appreciate your time and I can't wait to do it sometime again in the future.
36:50 Madiha Saeed:
Thank you so much for having me. I am so incredibly honored. Literally just talking to someone who's like-minded and talking to others that are like-minded, puts fire in my soul to continue this.
So even despite being a little sleep deprived with the newborn, you know, sleep wakes of cycle, I am so thankful to have to be here with you today 'cause it adds fire to my soul. So thank you for all the amazing work you're doing to supporting all of us. I'm so thankful.
37:15 Tara Hunkin:
Yes, feeling is mutual. Bye for now. Thanks for joining me today. If you've enjoyed this episode, please support us by subscribing and giving us a review on your podcast platform of choice. This is Tara Hunkin and I'll catch you on the next episode of the podcast or over at mychildwillthrive.com/ where you can find articles and the free My Child Will Thrive Toolkit too.
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00:00 Tara Hunkin:
This is the My Child Will Thrive podcast. And I'm your host, Tara Hunkin, certified Functional Nutritional Therapy Practitioner and mother. I am here to share with you the latest research expert advice, parent perspectives, resources, and tools to help you on your path to optimizing the health and development for your child with ADHD, autism, sensory processing disorder, learning disabilities,
or other neurodevelopmental disorders. My own experiences with my daughter combined with as much training as I can get my hands on, research I can dig into, and conferences I can attend have helped me to develop systems and tools for parents like you who feel overwhelmed trying to help their children. So, sit back as I share another great topic to help you on your journey.
A quick disclaimer, please keep in mind that the information provided is for information and educational purposes only. It is not intended to diagnose or treat your child and is not a substitute for working with a qualified practitioner. This episode of the My Child Will Thrive podcast is brought to you by the Autism, ADHD, and Sensory Processing Disorder Summit. You can sign up for free to watch 10 days of expert interviews and masterclasses at mychildwillthrive.com/summit.
Now on with the show. I want to welcome everybody back to the My Child Will Thrive podcast. I am so thrilled to have today with me, Dr. Madiha Saeed. She is also known as the HolisticMom, MD, on social media as a practicing board-certified family physician in the US, a health influencer, an international speaker, and author of The Holistic Rx: Your Guide to Healing Chronic Inflammation and Disease, along with a whole pile of other books, which we're going to talk about in a minute. And she also it, part of that is the children’s functional medicine book series, Adams Healing Adventures, and to other international books empowering the world's towards a healthier living.
Her current online platforms reach millions of people. Dr. Saeed is the director of education at Documenting Hope, an organization we know and love and also of KnoWEwell. She sits on multiple medical advisory boards, including Wellness Mama and her children speak internationally at the most prestigious holistic conferences, summits, radio, podcast, (including Mind Body Green), newspapers and at the United Nations.
Recently, they, they recently published her paper on religion and the food system, which is really exciting. She is a regular on the international Emmy- winning medical talk show, the Dr. Nandi Show. And she is, her children host The Holistic Kids' Show podcast, which I'm excited to be doing in the the near future, which interviews the biggest names and functional holistic in the integrative medicine world, and they help empower kids and educate other kids on a more healthy living lifestyle.
So thank you once again for joining us here at the My Child Will Thrive podcast.
03:10 Madiha Saeed:
Thank you so much for having me again. I am so incredibly honored. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I love what you're doing, so this is a huge honor for me to be here.
03:21 Tara Hunkin:
Well, we appreciate your time because I know you just recently had another baby and you often are juggling a lot of things and you and I were just talking about this, it's hard to juggle the work and life and a healthy, holistic lifestyle.
So we decided that today, that's what we're going to talk about, is we're going to do just sort of revisit what we talked about last time, which the last time you and I talked was sort of like in the midst of the pandemic, your book Prescription for Kids came out. What's the, the full title of that again?
03:55 Madiha Saeed:
The Holistic Rx for Kids: Parenting Healthy Brains and Bodies in a Changing World.
04:00 Tara Hunkin:
Yes. So we talked about that and we dove into a number of the different issues that, that we're all having to deal with these days.
I'm going to just sort of quickly touch base on that and where we're all at. But then we just want to talk about, practically speaking, what can we do day-to-day without getting overwhelmed and without having to dig too far into our bank accounts to support the fundamentals of that healthy lifestyle?
04:29 Madiha Saeed:
Absolutely. And boy, do we need it now more than ever. We are living in a crazy changing world that every day it seems like it's changing. And, and now with AI coming out and all of these like crazy new inventions, I'm telling you, it's just going to continue to change.
So I mean, if we just look at the statistics, it's really scary. You know, specifically for our children, chronic disease has quadrupled among children since 1960s and in the next, you know, couple years, 80% of kids will have a diagnosed chronic health condition. Obesity is on a rise, cancer is on a rise.
All of these chronic health conditions on a rise, our children's bodies are sick, but also their brains are getting sicker. I know this is something me and you dive on, it's so scary that the, you know, there's an increased risk of ADHD and neurodevelopmental, depression, suicide, behavioral problems, and there's so much that we can do in our everyday life to help prevent those and improve those if your child is suffering from it.
And a lot of times it happens. As a family physician, when my, I was dealing with my own chronic health conditions, I felt hopeless and I'm like, where am I going to start? What am I going to do? And anytime I would, you know, open up a book or listen to a podcast, they would tell me all these really complex things that I was like, how am I going to even afford this in my own budget, despite me and my husband working, you know, 80 hour work weeks and growing this family and trying to just keep my head above water. That's when I put in a mission that I'm going to try to find those pieces that I can incorporate in my own lifestyle and in my family's lifestyle that are the biggest bang for your buck.
And that's why I'm so honored and thankful to talk about this because that's when I started getting hope back and I was like, oh, this is doable. It's not that complicated. If I can do it, anybody can. And so there's so much hope, so much hope so we can reverse these statistics and, and really empower our children and our families.
06:35 Tara Hunkin:
Yes, I think that's one of the things that I love about what you do is because you have brought your children into the education field as well, they are now educating because it is so much easier when it's peer to peer as well. So we'll talk a bit about what they're doing and the books and the the other series too at the end so that other parents can reach out to those resources because especially as our kids get older and they have the ability to make more independent choices, educating them is key.
They're still not going to always make the choices that we would love for them to make because their brains aren't fully matured.
07:10 Madiha Saeed:
Absolutely.
07:11 Tara Hunkin:
But if they have the base knowledge, I always believe that they will come back around to make the right choices in the end because they'll figure it out, right?
They, they, they learn how their body feels and how they, their behavior is, or their emotions are their emotional regulation in one state versus another. And and that's really what we want to teach them in the end.
07:32 Madiha Saeed:
Absolutely. Because when it comes to our children's decision, what they wear, what they choose to eat, the decisions that they make and how they feel is all really dictated by their brain. So we want our children to be made the right decisions and less of the wrong ones, even though some wrong ones will help them, you know, grow and understand. But there's two main critical players of the child's brain that's involved in decision making, which is called neuroeconomics.
And that is your prefrontal cortex and their amygdalas. So the prefrontal cortex is the developed part of the brain. It's responsible for rational decision making skills. It's examines the pros and the cons and helps their children think through their actions after taking a look at the whole picture.
While the amygdala is the more a reactive part of the brain that is responsible for these primitive, impulsive fight and flight reactions. And then you, in order to make a thought out decision, they need to inform healthy habits. They need to have both of these pieces working together. And, but unfortunately today's life, our children's lifestyles are completely outta balance.
And they're eating more terrible junk food than ever before. You know, we're having less diet variety, lack of sleep, lack of nature, lack of exercise and play, negative social environment, increased exposure, exposure to these toxins inside and outside the home is all leading to this imbalanced child. And that imbalance also leads to chronic inflammation, which is one of the underlying reasons for chronic disease.
So this inflammation is really disconnecting our children's brain connections between the prefrontal cortex and amygdala. And our children are now leaving these, you know, out of control lives. They're unable to use their whole brain to make a logical decision. They're fostering an "everybody hates me" mentality, more anger, poorer relationship, decreased empathy. And so anything that heightens this inflammatory response that leads to chronic inflammation can then compromise these two pieces.
And so what I've done in my own house is I use science, right? So we talked about chronic inflammation and we talked about how that can affect a children's brain and their body, which you've probably had lot of people talk about.
But if you can put a child back into balance with their lifestyle, with easy, cost effective things that we can incorporate into their everyday lifestyles, just like we're teaching them to brush their teeth, why not we teach them these tactics and that way you have less inflamed child, a child with more energy, more power, you know, they're healthy enough to really create change.
And, and you know what, what's really awesome is that when you do that, exactly what you said, you've given them now the foundations that they choose to come out and experiment, but then at least they've had these foundations, they're going to see how they feel, they know how they feel, amazing.
And then as soon as they start to get off balance, they're immediately, you've taught them those skills that they need to put themselves back into balance. And again, these are easy, fast cost effective tips that anybody incorporate.
I myself live, I mean I cook for a family of nine on a daily basis. One with my boobs right now, but you know, eight with my hands. So, but, but still feeding your family a night on a regular basis is can be really expensive. And, and you, and you, especially with all the other crazy things that I'm doing, you want something that's quick, fast, easy, cost, effective, that's going to empower the child and your family's, you know, mitochondria, optimize their genetics, optimize their microbiome, lower chronic inflammation so they can have the energy and health to do what they want to do.
11:27 Tara Hunkin:
So let's, so let's talk about that. Let's talk about those basics that we can do almost every day, if not every day, that aren't going to cost a fortune, but are going to support that, that overall health and wellbeing. And here I often will talk about it as, as your base camp. So the things you can always fall back on or that you want to be doing all the time, it's like your safe space before you try to climb that mountain again.
It's where you can reacclimatize and get back on track. So if parents who know their children are struggling with their behavior or they're struggling with asthma or eczema or any of the things that we're, we're seeing chronically in our kids today, what are those base things that they can be doing that aren't going to break the bank?
12:14 Madiha Saeed:
I think one of the most powerful pieces that I have educated parents over the years and their children is the power of positivity and perspective. So I, our children are growing up in this world that we are wake up with negativity. Our social media is filled with negativity. You know, they, they go to school, there's negativity, you know, other homes are focused on all the things the kids are doing wrong and our children are really losing their grasp of sense worth, you know, self-worth and you know, self-esteem.
So if we can, you know, through the science of neuroplasticity a, help them form and organize these synaptic connections instead with negativity and fear, but then replace that with positivity and gratitude, it is huge. So immediately when you wake up in the morning, say 10 things that you're thankful for, super simple.
And that's the most cost effective, most powerful thing that we can do is teach our children the perspective that, you know, either your perspective can be your pain or your perspective can be your power. So immediately when they wake up, say 10 things that they're thankful for during, while, while they're doing their chores, we're singing our thankful song.
You know, at the end of the day we, we go through all the things you know that they're thankful for. So then really creating a habit so then we can consciously change that subconscious, from instead of thinking negative all the time to thinking positive because we know that chronic stress and negativity disconnects these two main pieces of decision making that decreases empathy and impulsiveness and poor decision making and leads to unhappiness.
And then, you know, then, then they're reaching for their phones or these quick instant fixes like, you know, checking, you know, messages and getting those dopamine bursts that then lead to these chronic use of short term, you know, fixes then going back to low self-worth and inflammation and disease. So we gotta break that cycle and I feel like one of the foundations of that is immediately when they wake up in the morning say 10 things that they're thankful for every day.
14:28 Tara Hunkin:
Yes, I really like that. It's, I think it's a one, it's, it's relatively easy and you just have to remember to get in that habit and I'll, I'll reference or make a little reference to BJ Fogg in his Tiny Habits, he creates little recipes. So if you want to learn to do something new on a daily basis, you say, I'm, after I do this, I will then say my two things.
So when their feet hit the, the floor, when they're getting outta bed, that's their trigger to say there are 10 things, their gratitude, there are 10 gratitude things first thing in the morning. So you can implement that right away with your, with your kids. I just want to touch on the point about the social media in particular and the dopamine hit.
So just in terms of when you talked just about about what you can do to create positive neuroplasticity, what does social media and that, and if you can explain what they get in terms of the dopamine hit of the, the, the reward system of social media and the way it is actually designed and what that does to, to basically negative neuroplasticity, which is basically train the brain to do something we don't want it to do.
15:33 Madiha Saeed:
Absolutely. But because unfortunately our digital lives are disconnecting us from what really matters most, this then leads to the secure, you know, lack of secure attachments, lack of family time. We become addicted to the internet. It really promotes this mindless activity that disconnects us from a like higher level brains.
And studies have actually shown that this excessive screen time can actually harm a child's health, increasing obesity, mood disturbances, and disrupting their sleep, specifically with that blue light. And you know, adolescents now are spending more and more time, they've actually done studies where ages from 19 to 32 show that the more social media that they use, the lonelier they felt and more depressed and especially with the excess stress that our children are dealing with today.
And if we don't teach them those appropriate tools to manage that stress for them, that they then obviously grab the social media or because checking out the, you know, the likes and how many peoples viewed your posts and how were the comments and the positive comments, those are all quick dopamine hits. And then, you know, 'cause you're stuck in the self literally you need that so you hit, you get the dopamine hit and then what happens is that it then falls away and then you gotta get it again and then again and again.
So yes, for a short time it may feel, oh like this is amazing. But in the long run statistics have shown that you know, you, it really does disrupt a child's and our health and overall wellbeing.
17:12 Tara Hunkin:
Now it is, it is a difficult habit to break once they get into it. So the earlier people are addressing that and and the longer you can wait to give your children access to those things, the better for sure.
17:25 Madiha Saeed:
Absolutely. Absolutely. That's what we definitely want to try to do as late as possible because again, we gotta push toward push away those bad habits and you can get those dopamine fixes again from like eating bad food and our gadgets and other addictions. But if we can teach them these other stress management techniques that instead of pulling and then being mindful, right? I think that's another big piece of the puzzle is sticking, you know, being mindful to the usage of this and am I just really picking this up just because I'm sad? Am I lonely? Am I, you know, stressed? And then again, if we can connect that and have a child and ourselves truly be mindful of why we're reaching for these devices and giving them then those other things that we can do to help them with those short term releases that can really help to get rid of some of that and focus on things that are actually more beneficial in the long run to get those better dopamine fixes.
18:38 Tara Hunkin:
Yes. That that's, that's, that's the goal for sure. So if, first thing that that we're doing and also hopefully lasting at night is, is gratitude and, and having a positive mindset. What would be the next thing on your list of things that, that people could be doing with their families?
18:55 Madiha Saeed:
Oh wow. So immediately when they, again, what we like to do is create this routine and a routine and a ritual can help you create these healthy habits that if you do over the long run it can create huge benefits. So we talked about gratitude. The other thing is get up and my kids and I try to get early morning sunshine. Super, super important.
We know that early morning sunshine really helps to balance our hormones, lowers that chronic inflammation. I mean we actually have outside, we have a little trampoline, they can go out there and jump up and down, you know, for some of those, the lymphatic flow and then they can grounding, we go out there without our shoes on. It really again sets them for the rest of the day to help them ground.
'Cause I remember grounding is super important to lower chronic inflammation because that helps to transfer those electrons from the ground into your body, helps, helps to sleep better, lowers the pain, balances the nervous system. And now you're outside, you're spending time in nature. So here, just by going outside, bouncing on that you've actually, you know, decreased stressed,
it can help you digitally detox 'cause now you know, and then you know you're out there, you're not on your devices in the more first thing in the morning and increases their sense of peace. So the other thing we love to do is incorporate, you can even do that before or after even we try to even do it outside with the kids, is pause and be present and incorporating that mindfulness and showing your child, okay, this is what you feel like in this moment. So staying calm and being present can actually help bring your nervous system back into balance and de-stress.
So again, do you see, just by the act of going outside in the morning, you can now incorporate all of these beneficial tactics, right? That are really beneficial for us. We love to pray, you know, incorporate the meditation, the different types of mindfulness, what am I hearing right now? And at that time it's so much fun because they're hearing different types of birds and they're hearing, you know, like the singing of the birds and the leaves, you know, and the wind and the fun stuff that the kids can see, you know, like the little animals that are walking past.
It's so much fun to incorporate those really positive experiences and now you're connecting with their child and your family first thing in the morning. So that's what we love to do. And then if, and you know, during the summertime go out there if there's garden, we also like to garden, you know, pick the produce and then use that then in our meals.
So that's another positive things that we love to do is, you know, and other things that we can easily do to help, you know, stabilize and improve our heart rate variability, you know, is, you know, chanting and laughing and you know, breathing. So all of these things are really powerful ways to optimize your health and wellbeing, lower those cortisols and really connect with each other. And then we move inside and then that's when we have to start getting ready for school. That probably takes, what, 20 minutes at the most?
So do all of those things. And even just starting off with just, you know, 10 minutes of meditation, mindfulness is doing, sitting outside, doing that, but you're now you're connecting. And then we'll make our breakfast, the kids will get ready for their lunches and then focusing on tons of vegetables, clean protein, healthy fats, are simple things that you can do. Again, focus on the things that they can have, not the stuff they can't have.
And really crowd that out. My kids make their own lunches and that's when they also start doing their their, their routines, right of their chores. You know, unload the dishwasher that will decrease your own stress and then keep the house a little tidy and that way I have more energy to do the rest, everything the rest of the day.
So it's really powerful. And then, you know, you're going throughout your day once a week. We love to at least get out into the parks, go for a hike is another thing we love to do. And just remember all of these things are super simple, you know, detoxification, shower, like right before, depending on when a child likes to shower, we can use that and really pump up our shower regimens. My older children will love to just, you know, they use, they take a scoop of a coconut oil and swish it around in their mouths.
The younger ones can't do that for long. But another one, dry brush, dry brushing before they get into the shower, they love the hot and cold. I mean mine are boys so just getting them to shower is a big deal. But then once they get in the hot and cold, they love the hot and cold and they, they, and then for them it's like a challenge.
How many minutes can I do mom? I did it this time, I did it for that time and do the hot and cold again. That's really beneficial for your detoxification systems. And then even taking their Epsom salt baths right before they get to go to bed and then prioritizing that sleep and is really important, giving your children that to, to know that your body deserves that.
So my seven-year-old knows that, you know what, I'm starting to feel tired, even if it's early this time, I need to listen to my body, I'm going to go to sleep. And so he'll do his little routine and then go straight to bed. But again, if you notice, these are all things that can be incorporated into what we're already doing that are cost effective, that are super easy and, and really, really beneficial.
24:55 Tara Hunkin:
You know, when you go through all those things that you're talking about, the they're, it's not that no one ever talks about them, but, but you realize how simple and how part all those things are part of your day, but you just don't necessarily structure it in a way that is actually healthy.
And some of the things don't happen because you're distracted by technology or, or something else. So it doesn't necessarily get prioritized. But when you look at it like that and you think about the fact that you've now, like you said, by just going outside and being in nature, all the things that you've addressed and then by just preparing their own food and doing that in the kitchen, you have the ability to put in whole foods and, and try to balance, balance what's in there as well.
And them having some, some input into that while the same time having a little bit of oversight a little, which is always the, you know, you, you say we have these macronutrients, you know, which of these match, you know, here are some examples of each, each of the things. Which one do you want to choose today?
That is what's so powerful about all that. And the fact that obviously bathing and sleeping are things that hopefully we do almost every day. Sleeping every day, just changing the way we go about doing those things slightly without any additional costs—
26:13 Madiha Saeed:
Absolutely.
26:13 Tara Hunkin:
—can have such a huge impact.
26:15 Madiha Saeed:
It can have such a huge impact. And I mean again, it's these, you are doing these things anyway so to give your kids the tools. So just like they're learning to brush their teeth right before they go to bed in the morning time. Now let's add in some oil pulling, let's go ahead and add in, you know, when you take a shower,
these are the steps that just change up the steps and just those small things and making it, you know, incorporate a game. For my boys, they're all, it's all a game, right? We're going to go outside, they love to, even if it's cold outside, I'm in Chicago, we try to get it done during the winter times for them it's a game they run out there and they're like,
let's check this. I do it, I stay out here. You know, for to, to really build some of that hormesis, you know, which is a little bit of stress with that gives you great results in the long run. But again, these are simple things that we can do to incorporate into their everyday daily routine that are really powerful.
And again, those looking at those macronutrients and you know, in their lunches, I think what we started to do that is so cost effective and really easy and fun and the kids will really love to get into it, is growing your own microgreens and your broccoli sprouts. It's so much fun. It's like a chemical experiment on your, like you can't kill broccoli sprouts.
I can kill a lot of other things. And you know, sometimes gardening, especially when you're busy, it's really difficult to garden. But the, one of the most cost effective things that, and the funnest things for the kids to see every day is growing your own microgreens and broccoli sprouts. So it's really, you just take a tablespoon or two tablespoons in like a mason jar, right?
With a cat with a screen cap on it and in three-fourths cup of water. I just let it soak, dump it out the next day, turn it in a 45 degree angle away from the sun. You just wash the wa, wash it, rinse it out twice a day, two times twice a day, put it back on there within a week, the five days you have the entire thing that is packed with sprouts.
And that's again something that kids can easily, I throw the sprouts into everything. And normally if you get that, you know, outside at Whole Foods or different farmers markets, they can be really cost, they're really costly. But if you grow them at home, so much more cheaper, packed with phytonutrients because we know that just a little bit has like a hundred times more sulforaphane than the regular broccoli.
28:53 Tara Hunkin:
Yes.
28:54 Madiha Saeed:
So again, that's, can be snuck in. Like if your kids are eating sandwiches, you can stick that in there. You can put that in I, whenever I make chili, I'll stick that in there. Whenever I'm doing ground beef or any type of protein, I'll throw it in there, I'll throw it in the burritos with their cassava flour wraps, I'll throw it on tacos.
So we're now you're sneaking in all this beneficial phytonutrients and sulforaphane into their, what they're, whatever they're already eating. Again another cost- way, effective ways to include, include those macronutrients into whatever they're already doing. So it's so much fun.
29:26 Tara Hunkin:
Yes, I, well always love those things that they, you can speak in there that eliminate the need for any supplementation because the reality is supplementation is super expensive and it's also super difficult with most kids because they just don't either aren't able to swallow the supplements or they don't tolerate the taste or texture or whatever it might be.
So broccoli seeds, sprouts are so good for that 'cause they, they are so nutrient dense and have a lot of things that, for those that aren't in the know about that I'm going to support methylation. Which is a challenge for a number of the kids that, of the parents that are listening today. So. Well we have gone over a lot.
Again, as usual, I want to before you, we wrap up, I want to talk about more about your books because you really are prolific author, it's really inspiring. There are, you have so many amazing resources out there and I don't want, we will link to all of them in the show notes, but I want you just to walk us through the series of books that you have and who they're for so that those that are listening can go and collect the ones that they can, they can best use or gift them to friends and family that they know can use them as well.
30:39 Madiha Saeed:
Absolutely. You know, when I was having baby after baby after baby and I still wanted to benefit the world and as I was learning about it, I started incorporating it into my daily routines. So I was just collecting all the science and, and I'm like,
why don't I just write, put these in books 'cause I went part-time in my clinic. So then I thought, so I can raise my family and I have a sugar daddy for you know, the main income. So that's, it was so nice to like, as I was learning about it, as I was healing my own chronic conditions 'cause I've had Lupus,
Hashimoto's, severe digestive issues, acne, eczema, Seborrheic dermatitis, all of these chronic health conditions. And as I was navigating that as a family physician, I saw how difficult it was to really, you know, know where to start. And that's when I, the first book that I wrote was called The Holistic Rx: Your Guide to Healing Chronic Inflammation and Disease.
That's the best of Functional Integrative Holistic Medicine that covers over 80 conditions for all ages.
31:42 Tara Hunkin:
Amazing.
31:43 Madiha Saeed:
Awesome. And homeopathic supplements, acupressure points, aromatherapy for 80-some conditions for all ages. And that was a by book on, okay for me that was I, cause I needed something to guide my patients. And so as I was doing that I started compiling it a book and that came, that was my first book.
And then I wrote the Holistic Rx For Kids: Parenting Healthy Brains and Bodies in a Changing World. Then I started, the pandemic hit and I started writing these books with my children and it's the Adam's Healing Adventure children's book series. So the first one is the Power of Health from Sickness to Health. The then the second one is the Power of Rainbow Foods and then the third one that just recently came out is theGratitude is a Super Power.
And these are things that your, your family can then incorporate into their everyday daily routine. I mean this here is the latest one, they're really cute, they're easy, they're packed with color and simple things again that they, they can incorporate, oh I disappeared, incorporate into their daily routines that will be empowering again, simple things that they can do every day.
And this started doing that with the kids. So I have three of those books out and then I realized that there was no books for the Muslim audience. So that's when during that I wrote one about the pandemic and then the one that came out a couple months ago was also called The Qur'anic Prescription: Unlocking the Secrets to Optimal Health, which is really everything that we talk about, functional medicine, how to take care of the body and eat.
We are eating real foods that God made, giving it sleep, decreasing the stress through prayer, meditation, mindfulness, like all of that stuff would put it in the perspective for Muslims, specifically. And that is being translated into four different languages currently. And then, yeah and then just working on some kids, some cooking books right now.
So it's just a lot. So that's like the seven books that I have written. And then, yeah, it's so much fun. And then I started a podcast with the kids because I was like, what am I going to do with them during the pandemic to continue to build instead? 'Cause a lot of a lot of kids regress during the pandemic.
I'm like, let me use this time, now they're with me at home. What can I do to help empower them with, you know, these life skills that I was learning myself. So the kids started the, the "The Holistic Kids' Show" podcast. Currently they have 90 episodes and that they've done, my oldest currently is 15 then where they started it when the youngest was six years old.
So now he's, you know, he just turned 10. So they've been doing it a little bit over the, over three years. So it's, it's really awesome how much now knowledge and ex, you know, experience they have. So again, that's something that I really wanted to throw out into the world to get our kids involved in this conversation because I feel like there's a lot of adults talking to adults and adults talking to children,
but there's not a lot of children talking with adults. Two children or you know, children talking to children, four children. And so that's what I really want to throw out. There's lots of amazing resources. I actually even started a social media page with my mother-in-law because in that this house we have three generations and my mother-in-law, we have a Holistic Urdu, MD, channel that that's where we get the millions of views and to really get to people all over the world.
So yes, there's three generations in this household educating the world about health and wellness and I just had my fifth boy so he will be joining the crew. So the hoping that the Holistic Kids' Show podcast and all these children's books will continue for years to come because now I have other kids, I will have kids for another 15, 20, you know, 15 years at minimum.
35:46 Tara Hunkin:
It's just a, you know, you just keep on having, you know, they just keep on joining the family business.
35:52 Madiha Saeed:
Having children, to you know, take over the podcast, podcast books,
35:57 Tara Hunkin:
All the other ones, go to college and then they'll be done college while—
36:02 Madiha Saeed:
—And I still have now a 15 year old as soon as my seven year old turns 15, this one will be able to like join in. So I got a little plan.
36:13 Tara Hunkin:
That's perfect. You really well thought, thought out for sure.
36:16 Madiha Saeed:
Lots of resources there.
36:16 Tara Hunkin:
Well given, given everything you have going on, I so appreciate you joining me again today. And like I said before, we will link to all of the books in the show notes. I highly recommend them. They are fabulous resources, research fact like these, these are not just ideas, these are it's science that we can incorporate but it's very approachable the way that you do it through your books and obviously your conversations with us as well. So I really appreciate your time and I can't wait to do it sometime again in the future.
36:50 Madiha Saeed:
Thank you so much for having me. I am so incredibly honored. Literally just talking to someone who's like-minded and talking to others that are like-minded, puts fire in my soul to continue this.
So even despite being a little sleep deprived with the newborn, you know, sleep wakes of cycle, I am so thankful to have to be here with you today 'cause it adds fire to my soul. So thank you for all the amazing work you're doing to supporting all of us. I'm so thankful.
37:15 Tara Hunkin:
Yes, feeling is mutual. Bye for now. Thanks for joining me today. If you've enjoyed this episode, please support us by subscribing and giving us a review on your podcast platform of choice. This is Tara Hunkin and I'll catch you on the next episode of the podcast or over at mychildwillthrive.com/ where you can find articles and the free My Child Will Thrive Toolkit too.
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