The Holistic Rx for Kids: Parenting Healthy Brains and Bodies in a Changing World

By Madiha Saeed MD

Written by an experienced holistic doctor who works with kids to get them off of medications (if possible), The Holistic Rx for Kids teaches parents how stressful, imbalanced lives are leading to inflammation, which results in problematic symptoms of the brain and body. By learning about children’s brain and body chemistry, we can optimize the immune system and lower overall chronic inflammation in our children’s bodies. Dr. Saeed discusses the foundations of raising a resilient children by addressing digestive health, detoxification, and the four S’s of stress management, sleep, social health, and spiritual health.

Order the book

Today’s children are sicker than ever. Clearly, medications alone aren’t enough to address children’s chronic health conditions. Instead, many parents, like Dr. Saeed have found that their children improve by following her holistic Rx:

Getting quality sleep
Building social support
Cultivating spirituality

Inflammation as a Root Cause

This book builds on Dr. Saeed’s first and bestselling book, The Holistic Rx: Your Guide to Healing Chronic Inflammation and Disease, which showed that inflammation is a major root cause in many chronic health conditions. This current book shows how imbalanced and stressful lives lead to inflammation and result in dysfunctional brains and bodies. To illustrate the importance of inflammation, Dr. Saeed writes:

When a child goes to the doctor, let’s say for a headache, the doctor prescribes an anti-inflammatory. What about for eczema? An anti-inflammatory. For pain? An anti-inflammatory. Allergies? An anti-inflammatory. Autoimmune condition like juvenile arthritis? An anti-inflammatory. Cancer? Anti-inflammatory. Get the picture?

She discusses how chronic inflammation hijacks your child’s brain, which is why behavior and inflammation are intimately connected. In addition, she explains how chronic inflammation damages healthy tissues, cells, organs, DNA and mitochondria, so it truly is a root cause of so many chronic health conditions.

Dr. Saeed writes about factors leading to chronic inflammation such as:

Lack of sleep
Lack of real social connections
Negative spiritual health

But she doesn’t just point out what’s causing so much inflammation and health problems, she offers sound and practical advice for addressing these factors that any busy parent can appreciate.

Digestive Health and Detoxification

Dr. Saeed points out that fixing your child’s brain actually starts in in the gut. “Taking out the bad stuff and adding in the good stuff”, that is, adding in foods that will help the body detoxify and removing inflammatory or toxin-containing foods can help lower overall inflammation, so that the child can optimize his brain and body function. Addressing root causes of chronic health conditions begins with changing the diet, which Dr. Saeed notes that she was taught very little about in medical school.

Optimizing the Immune System with the Four S’s

Dr. Saeed’s holistic Rx includes what she calls the four S’s: Stress management, sleep, social health and spiritual health. If any of these are out of balance, chronic inflammation can result. Fortunately, addressing them is not rocket science!

Stress Management

Managing stress is essential in any healing and disease-prevention program because thoughts, feelings, and emotions directly affect children’s physical health. By lowering stress with diet and lifestyle changes as well as certain therapies, inflammation is lowered as is the severity of health conditions.

Sleep

A good night’s sleep is crucial for healing because the body restores itself and essential processes take place during sleep. Dr. Saeed writes that:

This lack of sleep increases the chances of developing problems due to excess toxins, inflammation, and hormone imbalances; influences bad decision making; and contributes to negative emotions and even addictive behaviors.

Social Health

Social health is often overlooked in a fast-paced, online society, but a lack of it can cause extress stress (and thus inflammation). Dr. Saeed points out that:

Developing bonds of love, respect, and honor and being involved in a child’s life can help activate a sensory nerve in the child’s brain that releases oxytocin and natural opioids, which decrease stress response systems and provide the child with feelings of well-being and help the brain develop.

Spiritual Health

It is refreshing to see spiritual health addressed in a book written by an MD! Dr. Saeed believes that spiritual health is an important component of overall health (after all, she is the Holistic Mom MD), and she writes that:

Science has proven the importance of spiritual health and our children’s overall health. Gratitude and optimism strengthen the connections between the amygdala and prefrontal cortex, improving overall health and well-being.

Who This Book Can Help

This book is helpful for parents of children with:

Not only does this book show how a functional-medicine, root-cause approach can help with these conditions, but it also highlights integrative modalities such as supplements, homeopathy, acupressure, and essential oils that can complement your child’s conventional care to optimize health and healing. This helpful book belongs in your health-reference library.

About Madiha M. Saeed MD ABIHM

Madiha Saeed MD ABIHM is the Director of Education for the Documenting Hope Project. She is a board-certified integrative holistic family physician practicing in Illinois.

She graduated residency in family medicine from Indiana University School of Medicine, South Bend, and received the Resident Teacher Award from the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine in 2010.

She is a diplomate of the American Board of Integrative Holistic Medicine and holds a diploma in homeopathy from the Center for Education and Development of Clinical Homeopathy.

In 2010, Dr. Saeed joined Physicians HolisticHealth Alliance in South Bend, Indiana. As an integrative holistic family physician, Dr. Saeed witnessed the struggles each patient experienced as they sought to heal their underlying issues, and their frustration about where to begin. With her team at Physicians HolisticHealth Alliance, she was determined to get to the root of disease. She poured over hundreds of books from top professionals in holistic healing, delved into research studies, and examined the common factors in her patients’ numerous success stories.

Dr. Saeed’s enthusiasm is demonstrated in her numerous public speaking engagements and her growing social media presence as HolisticMom, MD . She has had numerous articles published in Holistic Primary Care magazine, which called Dr. Saeed “an emerging voice for the next generation of holistic physicians.” Dr. Saeed also writes for the Academy of Integrative Health and Medicine and is a member of their social media team. The AIHM has featured her in a member spotlight titled “Walking the Talk: One Member Brings Holism Everywhere She Goes.”

She is the author of the best-selling book, The Holistic Rx: Your Guide to Healing Chronic Inflammation and Disease and The Holistic Rx for Kids: Parenting Healthy Brains and Bodies in a Changing World. You can find out more about her and her practice at her website www.holisticmommd.com

Still Looking for Answers?

Visit the Epidemic Answers Practitioner Directory to find a practitioner near you.

Join us inside our online membership community for parents, Healing Together, where you’ll find even more healing resources, expert guidance, and a community to support you every step of your child’s healing journey.