When I read integrative pediatrician Sheila Kilbane’s first encounter with PediaSure®, I choked with laughter, bc I personally know how awful the stuff tastes! [I thank Sheila for writing the second part of this post for me. She is a true advocate for children and parents in the best sense of the word.]
Sheila was on a long road trip three years out of pediatric residency and ran out of food. She was famished and forced to purchase something at a West Virginia gas station. She grabbed a bottle of PediaSure®. It seemed like the only “healthy” choice beside Little Debbies, Twinkies and HoHos. Despite being a pediatrician, until that moment she had never experienced PediaSure® or read the label.
(Pediasure is often recommended by pediatricians for underweight children).
She writes:
“I opened the bottle and began drinking before I finished pumping my gas. What ensued looked like a scene from a Jim Carrey movie. I gagged and nearly spewed the liquid contents all over my car. Then I read the ingredient list.” (source)
Read the ingredients of PediaSure®
Water, Sugar, Corn Maltodextrin, High Oleic Safflower Oil, Milk Protein Concentrate, Canola Oil, Soy Protein Isolate, Pea Protein Concentrate. Less than 0.5% of the Following: Short-Chain Fructooligosaccharides, Natural & Artificial Flavor, Cellulose Gel, Potassium Chloride, Magnesium Phosphate, Potassium Citrate, Calcium Phosphate, Calcium Carbonate, Tuna Oil, Potassium Phosphate, Cellulose Gum, Choline Chloride, Ascorbic Acid, Soy Lecithin, Monoglycerides, Salt, Potassium Hydroxide, m-Inositol, Carrageenan, Taurine, Ferrous Sulfate, dl-Alpha-Tocopheryl Acetate, L-Carnitine, Zinc Sulfate, Calcium Pantothenate, Niacinamide, Manganese Sulfate, Thiamine Chloride Hydrochloride, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin, Lutein, Cupric Sulfate, Vitamin A Palmitate, Folic Acid, Chromium Chloride, Biotin, Potassium Iodide, Sodium Selenate, Sodium Molybdate, Phylloquinone, Vitamin D3, and Cyanocobalamin. CONTAINS MILK AND SOY INGREDIENTS. (source)
The problems include these:
- Sugar is 30% of PediaSure’s calories and very weakening. Promotes abnormal weight gain (fat)!
- Next is Corn Maltodextrin, a GMO, highly processed allergenic filler that suppresses probiotics and spikes blood sugar.
- Safflower oil (again, most likely GMO).
- Dairy (unless it’s raw milk) is pro-inflammatory, often inflames the gut and inhibits the body from absorbing nutrients properly. Horrible for those who are lactose intolerant. Children who suffer from eczema, chronic runny nose, recurrent ear infections often consume a lot of dairy.
- Canola oil increases amyloid plaque build-up in the brain. It can make memory loss in Alzheimer’s patients worse.
- Soy protein isolate has been linked to allergies, thyroid problems. Soy is a known endocrine disruptor!
- Natural Flavor is highly processed and often MSG-forming and not meant for nutrition according to the FDA.
- Artificial flavors are chemical mixtures made with synthetic ingredients in a lab like petroleum.
- Carrageenan. Read this!
- Synthetic vitamins and minerals
How one mouthful of PediaSure® changed her practice
“Despite my gnawing hunger, I immediately threw the bottle away. There was no way I was putting that chemical tasting, sugar laden drink into my body. And to throw away a perfectly good can of ANYTHING goes fully against my nature; I normally don’t waste a thing.
“From that day forward, anytime a family came to see me in the clinic and the child was on PediaSure® , I did everything in my integrative pediatric power to get them off of it. First we would move them onto smoothies made with real food. Next we would decrease the amount of processed foods they were eating. And ultimately, we would get them predominantly eating fresh whole foods with smoothies used as an adjunct to a healthy diet. Once these kids were off processed foods, the clarity, energy, and vibrancy astounded everyone who knew them.” (source)
“It was no wonder I never could get well when my Crohn’s relapsed. Ensure is so full of sugar, processed corn products (80% of corn is GMO) and synthetic vitamins. All it did was continue to cause inflammation. Never, ever again!” ~A commenter on FB
Synthetic PediaSure®: terrible for the health of an underweight child
PediaSure® definitely contains many vitamins and nutrients, but many are created synthetically in a lab. Ensure is nearly just as bad.
We absorb nutrients much better when they come in natural forms like real fruits and vegetables.
Adding synthetic foods to our body creates more work for the liver, the main organ responsible for detoxifying the body.
A whole-foods diet instead of supplements and synthetic “foods”
Feeding a picky eater is a challenge.
It can sometimes be easier than you think to move your child over to wholesome, real foods as long as we do it slowly.
The most difficult part of creating a nutrient-dense “smoothie” that has a similar nutrient make-up as PediaSure® is finding a taste and texture that kids will drink. You see, the typical American child’s taste buds are constantly bathed in processed sugars.
This affects their taste preferences. However, once we begin giving their body more of the vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients they need in order for their cells to work properly, their taste buds begin to shift and their palates expand.
That’s where my methodology comes in. I advise parents to gradually decrease their children’s liquid calories so they will be hungry and eat more real food. Spinach, sprouts, fruits, nuts, and seeds pack a great deal of “real food” nutrients, vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients compared to cow’s milk or PediaSure®. And they taste a lot better, too!
I cover the process of transitioning to a whole foods diet in my book.
You can also take an online course that will support you in this process, Seven Steps to Healthy Kids and Happy Parents.
I come pretty close to replicating the nutrient content of PediaSure® when I developed what I call Dr. Kilbane’s Liquid Vitality™.
Please note: this information is intended for kids who are generally healthy but eat a lot of processed, pro-inflammatory foods as well as PediaSure®.
Dr. Kilbane’s Liquid Vitality™
Makes 3 servings. In a blender, mix:
- 2 cups fresh spinach (very mild tasting greens)
- 2 cups liquid – rice milk, almond milk, hemp milk, coconut milk (I love VitaCoco Coconut milk because of the ingredients and the creamy taste!)
- 2 tablespoons chia seeds (Omega-3s, fiber) (soaked) – start with 1 tablespoon and if the kids do well with the texture, gradually increase this to 2 tablespoons (blend well)
- 1 cup mango, fresh or frozen (probiotic, digestive enzymes, sweet)
- 1 cup fresh pineapple (probiotic, digestive enzymes)
- 2 bananas, fresh or frozen
- 1-2 tablespoon coconut oil (over 40 health benefits)
- 1 oz. sprouts (alfalfa, broccoli, pea, etc. – these can be sprouted at home from seeds) (or) 1 oz. of microgreens – don’t add the sprouts or greens the first time you make this. Wait until the kids are used to the other ingredients and then start to add these superfoods.
* If possible, use all organic ingredients.
** Mix the greens and the liquid first until smooth and then blend in the rest of the ingredients.
*** The nutrients of the food in a smoothie degrade quickly once it is blended. So it is very important to drink the smoothie within a few minutes after it is made.
Just like the Ensure they promote to the elderly. Keeping them sick on sugar and soy!
Meet Sheila Kilbane, MD
Sheila Kilbane, MD is a board certified intergrative pediatrician who trained with Andrew Weil, MD at the University of Arizona in integrative medicine. She works with families to find the root cause of illness and uses natural and nutritional therapies to treat issues. She is the author of Healthy Kids, Happy Moms – A Step-by-Step Guide to Improving Many Common Childhood Illnesses. Dr. Kilbane also offers monthly online education classes. Find her online at www.SheilaKilbane.com
You can read why Sheila left a traditional medical practice here. It’s summed up in these words:
“The more frequently kids returned to my office unhealed after a prescription or procedure, the more frustrated everyone became, including me. Not only did I lack an understanding of basic nutrition, which is not part of the medical school curriculum, but with just 10-15 minutes allotted to each office visit, I realized that I had become a cog in the wheel of big-business disease management.”
She hopped off the treadmill and created a membership-based practice. This is how she provides structured support for families to make the often monumental shift needed to move toward true and lasting health.
***For the Full Spike Protein Protocol (including NAC) to protect from transmission from the “V” and to help those who took the “V”, go here.
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Kimberly Lambdin
So when you blend fresh veggies/fruit the nutrients diminish? Why is that? I’m going to try this recipe on my son…He’s not going to be thrilled if he catches what is in it…lol. I’m concerned with the nutrients issue… I’ve never heard this and am wondering how this works if we chew our food as good as we’re supposed to …does it also diminish and where do they go? I know I’m sounding argumentative. I’m REALLY not trying to come off that way… I figured you’d be the best person to get an explanation from since you stated it. Thank you!!
Jacqueline
Actually, Kimberly, it is a good question. Nutrients in food begin to degrade the instant they are harvested, exposed to UV light and heat.
The part I refer to is due to oxidation of the cell walls and membranes of fruits and veggies during blending. It even happens when we chew. Take a bite out of an apple and let it sit 30 minutes.
Here is a sentence in the following study: “In conclusion, the phytochemical content and antioxidant capacity of fruit (apple, pear, persimmon, and mandarin orange) juices were significantly affected by the juice extraction method. For the four fruits tested, blending the edible parts of whole fruits yielded a juice that contained higher levels of total polyphenols and flavonoids (these are good healing components) but lower levels of ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) than juicing the flesh fraction of the fruits.”
So blending is better than juicing. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4103735/
Also, Victoria Boutenko conducted an experiment on potatoes where she juiced one and blended the other. After two days, the blended potato had very little oxidation, most of which was at the top of the glass where the liquid was exposed to air. The juiced potato turned brown and oxidized much more rapidly.
I hope that helps, Kimberly! Blessings,
J
Sofia
Read the labels of milk alternatives. Most store bought milk alternatives are extremely unhealthy and have the same nasty ingredients as pedisure. Doesn’t that defeat the purpose of the smoothy alternative?!
Gabby
Thank you for this post! I have an extremely picky eater and have tried Pediasure before – it was disgusting and he wasn’t a fan (even the chocolate tasting one). I didn’t buy it after that experience. I am a pediatric RN and I give it all the time through tube feeds, etc. Anyway, I’ll have to try that recipe!
Jacqueline
Gabby, your experience is typical. One poor grandpa had to gag down Ensure because his doctor told him he should. The family finally started making him something very similar and he thrived on it, plus he felt very loved!
Glad for your picky eater!
Blessings! J, a fellow cardiac OR nurse.
Nick
Where do you buy Dr. Kilbane’s Liquid Vitality?
Jacqueline
Nick, did you read the post? It is a recipe and outlined in the article!
Agnes
Does spinach is high in oxale? I am suffering from Litchen Sclerosus and trying to find out the ways to cure.
Jacqueline
Agnes, spinach is high in oxalates!
There is something natural that will help you! Will email!
Blessings!
Jacque
Narelle
Hi Jacque. I was glad to have the article remind me about coconut oil, thank you. I have tried it in my fruit smoothie for the past 2 days, and have been confronted with a problem: how to incorporate the coconut oil without it solidifying and adhering to mixer bowl and blade cavity. It’s summer here, but it still takes more than a few hours for the frozen or chilled fruit to warm up enough not to freeze the coconut oil when I add it. I can’t mix it (or drink it) fast enough to have all the c.o. actually blend. Come winter time, I’m likely to warm the smoothie a bit, which would melt the c.o. but I know that’s not optimal for nutritional value. Any suggestions?
Jacqueline
Hi, Narelle! It is difficult to get it totally homogenous. We just get out fruit out 3-4 hours in advance or use fresh fruit and greens.
We just blend it however it is and drink it so we get it all. I am sure you will find a timing that works for you!
God bless you!
Jacqueline
LHall
The link to her book sends you to Amazon and a picture of a dog.
Jacqueline
LHall, Happy new Year and thank you! I fixed it! The link is working now!
Sending peace, Jacque