When I visited a school for the deaf on my East Coast book tour for my children’s book, Danny the Dragon Meets Jimmy, I hardly knew much of anything on the subject of deafness and hearing problems. Since making the promise to myself to reach out to deaf and hard of hearing children, first by releasing the first children’s book iPad app with sign language interpretation, I learned about tinnitus among children, surprised by how common it among kids. If your child has been diagnosed with tinnitus, you two can rest fairly comfortable with the fact that many children with tinnitus eventually grow out of it. However, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t some things you can do to alleviate it in the meantime. Along with a qualified healthcare practitioner, you may be able to find some natural remedies that can lessen your child’s tinnitus or cure it altogether.

There are many possible causes of tinnitus, a condition used to describe hearing a noise, such as ringing, not present in the environment. Tinnitus varies in its severity, ranging from hardly noticeable or mildly annoying to debilitating. Some possible causes of your child’s tinnitus could include ear or sinus infections, leftover fluid from an ear infection (which can last up to three months after the infection), earwax buildup, ear injuries, circulation problems, or abnormal growth of bone in the middle ear. Due to the variety of possible causes behind tinnitus, your child’s doctor may suggest any of a number of remedies including medication or sound therapy. Studies have shown, however, that there are natural remedies for tinnitus. It may be worth checking with your child’s doctor about these supplements and treatments. After all, according to health researcher and journalist June Russell, medications rarely improve tinnitus.

First, evaluate whether or not your child’s medication or diet is causing or aggravating the tinnitus. It’s possible that his or her medication may be toxic to the ear (“ototoxic”) or have the condition as one of its side effects. Switching to another medication, reducing the dosage, or discontinuing its use may help the tinnitus or get rid of it altogether.  Food allergies have also been linked to tinnitus. Some possible diet culprits include aspartame, cheese, chocolate, soy, and tonic water. A diet low or free of salt and fat has also been recommended by experts.

A regimen of nutritional and herbal supplements has been recommended by physicians to help with tinnitus. Russell reports that tinnitus sufferers tend to be deficient in B-12. She writes, “Emily A. Kane, naturopathic doctor and licensed acupuncturist, recommends a daily dose of 2,000 mcg of B-12 for one month, followed by a dose of 1,000 mcg daily, if needed.” Dr. Michael Seidman, MD, Director of the Henry Ford Health System, Department of Otolaryngology, Tinnitus Clinic, in Bloomfield, Michigan, recommends a wide variety of antioxidants, such as vitamins A, C, and E, zinc, choline, magnesium, melatonin, vinpocetine, Ginkgo biloba, ipriflavone, arginine, alpha lipoic acid, zinc, , n-acetylcysteine, Chinese herbs, B vitamins and garlic.

In fact, Ginkgo biloba is becoming increasingly used to treat tinnitus among European and American doctors; according to Russell, “a few good trials suggest that this herb may lower the perceived loudness.” Meet with a qualified health practitioner about how much of this supplement, and which type, to use for your child’s tinnitus.

Some other natural treatments include acupuncture, chiropractic adjustments, and homeopathy. Relaxation has been shown to relieve children’s tinnitus, according to the American Academy of Otolaryngology. Consult your family’s physician for affective relaxation techniques and take practical steps to minimize your child’s stress level, such as helping him or her with homework or making sure he or she doesn’t take on too many extracurricular activities.

The good news is that, according to the American Academy of Otolaryngology, “most children with tinnitus seem to eventually outgrow the symptom.” However, this doesn’t mean your child should have to experience the discomfort of the condition if it can be remedied or at least alleviated with natural remedies. I encourage parents of children with tinnitus to meet with a qualified practitioner as soon as possible to find out if your child may benefit from these.

Tina Turbin

Resources:

American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery: Fact Sheet: When Your Child Has Tinnitus http://www.entnet.org/HealthInformation/Child-Tinnitus.cfm

Communication Agents Journal: Treating Tinnitus Naturally http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/chris/2005/05/04/treating_tinnitus_naturally.htm

There’s nothing like a cup of tea to get me in the mood to write! I enjoy a cup of strong black tea in the mornings when I am going to be writing all day, full of caffeine and some delicious vanilla soymilk to top it off. In the evenings, I switch to decaf black tea or sometimes I enjoy mint or chamomile tea, which I find relaxing and fragrant.

Yesterday morning I fixed myself a cup of English Breakfast Tea and had a very productive morning, and I switched to Earl Grey in the afternoon. In the evening I still had work to do, so I made myself some decaf tea…or so I thought! It turns out it was actually the fully-caffeinated English Breakfast tea. Let’s just say I had an extremely productive evening, too! I tried hitting the hay around midnight, but when I couldn’t sleep I went back to my studio and worked until 3 in the morning! I have to say, I got a lot done, but a girl’s got to get her beauty sleep too!

Do you have a favorite tea for settling down to a special task? What’s your favorite for winding down after a long day?

Tina Turbin

www.DannytheDragon.com

Treasure Hunt with the Munch Crunch Bunch is a storybook and activity book in one designed for children to help them learn about food so they themselves can be empowered to make healthy choices. Now what parent wouldn’t want that?

This book has lots of fun, hands-on activities for families: board games; fruit and vegetable food riddles (“foodles”); ways to make grocery shopping educational and fun; and a terrific read tucked inside.

Designed for 3-8 year olds, this book has so much color and life it’s entertaining for any parent, relative or teacher. The book is really laid out perfectly so you can simply follow the directions, have fun and learn.

The key appealing point is that the book does not come across AT ALL as if it’s trying to teach, which kids are quick to notice. There’s no better way to learn at these ages than through play, experience and fun. This book offers just this. I haven’t come across a hands-on book this good in a long time.

Author Jan Wotterman is responsible for the nutrition resource material. She conducted an in-class nutrition activity with a select group of 17 out of 73 students using her book. Then each of the 73 families filled out an initial list of foods eaten. Each of the 17 children took their book home and parents read to their children and used the “foodle” cards as shopping lists.

Three weeks later, a questionnaire was sent home to each of the 73 students in the class (to both the book-reading group and the control group). The statistics proved that only the 17 students in the group who read the book increased fruit and vegetable consumption and decreased high-fat and high-sugar consumption. This book made a difference for the whole family!

I can only highly recommend this book.

Tina Turbin

www.DannytheDragon.com

k.m.

If you have celiac disease like me, you’re probably aware of the abundance of resource guides available on the market. Many of these have proved to be invaluable to the celiac community, but there remains a segment of the celiac population who haven’t been able to benefit as we have from such books—children. Thanks to Caryn Talty, a former schoolteacher living in Chicago, celiac kids now have not only an informative resource, but a creative and entertaining one at that—Cilie Yack is Under Attack! This fictional book follows the adventures of the Irish boy Cilie Yack, who experiences an array of misadventures before being diagnosed with celiac disease and becoming a young, gluten-free master chef.

This chapter book, written for ages 5 to 11, draws its strength from its charming main character, Cilie Yack, who is funny as well as honest and open about even the most  awkward details of celiac disease (one of the chapters is named “Poop Talk”). By hearing his own story as a celiac kid, including his symptoms, what testing is like, what happens when he breaks the gluten-free diet, and the adjustments his family makes, kids will not only absorb vital information about living with celiac disease, but they’ll never forget it! Uniquely set in County Clare, Ireland, where Cilie lives on a dairy farm, the book is sure to fascinate kids interested in learning about other cultures. Cilie takes care to explain the Irish and Gaelic terms and customs so that children won’t be confused.

Caryn Talty wrote this book from her heart after her oldest child was diagnosed with celiac disease and it was found by food allergy testing that he needed to eliminate 15 foods from his diet. Already feeling overwhelmed and isolated, she grew even more distressed after failing to find a support group for her son that met his needs. Then one momentous night, the character of Cilie Yack was born in Talty’s imagination.

After reading Cilie Yack, you can’t help but want to stay connected to this enchanting character. Lucky for us, Cilie announces his online cooking club, Cilie Yack’s Sous Club (http://www.cilie-yack.org), designed for kids ages 5 to 11 with food allergies or celiac disease, but kids without special dietary needs are welcome to join as well. The club allows members to organize their own local social cooking club with an emphasis on gluten-free cooking with recipes free of the most prevalent eight allergens as well as corn.

Cilie Yack will be sure to inspire your celiac child to become a gluten-free chef himself. Thankfully Talty, the President of Cilie Yack’s Sous Club for Kids, has given kids with food allergies the opportunity to follow in this delightful character’s footsteps.

http://www.cilie-yack.org

Tina Turbin

www.dannythedragon.com

k.m.

Dr. Andrew Wakefield, who published a study in 1998 about the possible link between autism and vaccines which was subsequently questioned and discredited by the medical community, has defended his work in an interview on CNN.

Dr. Wakefield’s work has been discredited over the past several years, and ten of the eleven doctors who were involved in the study have removed their names from it. The Sunday Times reports that Dr. Wakefield “changed and misreported results” in his research, according to “confidential” medical documents and interviews with witnesses.

Dr. Wakefield’s study was published in February 1998 in The Lancet medical journal, causing widespread concern among parents that the MMR vaccine—for measles, mumps, and rubella—was linked to autism. According to The Sunday Times, the impact of the article was “extraordinary,” with vaccination rates decreasing from 92% to less than 80%, while “herd immunity” from measles occurs when 95% of the population has been vaccinated.

After a British journalist, Brian Deer, published the results of his investigation calling Wakefield’s study an “elaborate fraud,” Wakefield denied these allegations as false in an interview on CNN with Anderson Cooper. Wakefield continues to stand by his findings, saying that the results have been replicated in studies in five other countries and that Deer has received financial support from a pharmaceutical company. Check out the link below to see the interview yourself.

CNN Video Clip

Tina Turbin

www.DannyTheDragon.com

b.a.

Below is a little teaser of a recipe from a soon to be released book, Gluten Free Cookies by Luane Kohnke. As many of you know, in addition to my work as a children’s author, I also conduct taste-testing and reviews of gluten-free companies and authors. You will have an opportunity to read the review of many tested recipes we will be doing out of Luane’s book over the next two months. So check back soon at the above mentioned link!

Enjoy and Happy Valentines Day, Tina

Gluten Free Sugar Cookie Cut-Outs

Ingredients:

1 cup brown rice flour
1/3 cup potato starch
2 1/2 tablespoons tapioca flour
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons almond flour
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 large egg

Makes 48 to 60 cookies

I developed this recipe for my friend Gail.  She was diagnosed with celiac disease late in life, and really missed her sweets. She told me that these cookies reminded her of the sugar cookies her grandmother made.

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, sift together brown rice flour, potato starch, tapioca flour, xanthan gum, baking soda,  cream of tartar, and salt. Whisk in almond flour. Set aside.

2. In the large bowl of an electric mixer, combine butter and sugar. Set mixer speed to medium and beat until light and fluffy. Add vanilla extract and egg. Beat until well combined, about 1 to 2 minutes. Reduce mixer speed to low. Add flour mixture and mix until just incorporated. Divide dough into quarters, and wrap each quarter in plastic wrap or wax paper. Chill for 1 to 2 hours, or overnight.

3. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line cookie sheets with parchment.

4. Roll dough, one quarter at a time, between sheets of wax paper, to 1/4-inch thickness. Cut with heart-shaped cookie cutter, dipping cookie cutter in brown rice flour or all-purpose gluten-free flour to aid cutting.

5. Place cookies on prepared cookie sheets, spacing them about 2 inches apart. If dough becomes too soft to reroll easily, return it to the refrigerator or place it in the freezer for 5 to 10 minutes, until it is firm enough to reroll. Sprinkle cookies with granulated sugar, demerara sugar, or gluten-free sanding sugar.

6. Bake until edges are pale golden brown, about 10 to 12 minutes. Cool on cookie sheets for 5 minutes.

7. Transfer cookies, still on parchment, to wire racks to cool completely. Store cookies in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

Recipe taken from Gluten-Free Cookies by Luane Kohnke
(978-1-4162-0623-1; $18.95; Pub date: March 2011; Sellers Publishing; 50+ full-color photos, Hardcover)

Author Bio:

Luane Kohnke has been an accomplished gourmet cookie baker for more than 20 years. Her love for cookie baking began when she was nine years old, living on her family’s farm in Wisconsin, and she developed an interest in gluten-free baking about 15 years ago. Luane lives in New York City. For more information, visit www.luanekohnke.com.

Tina Turbin
www.TinaTurbin.com

In addition to my work as a children’s author, I am dedicated to bringing awareness to celiac disease, which is caused by an autoimmune reaction to gluten, a protein found in wheat, barley, and rye, leading to damage to the small intestine and a variety of serious physical and mental symptoms.

I had the honor and pleasure of delivering a teleseminar on celiac disease with Anne Holmes, the “Boomer-in-Chief” of the NABBW, National Association of Baby Boomer Women.

Follow the link below to have a listen or download the teleseminar as an MP3:

http://attendthisevent.com/?eventid=14823489

Enjoy!

Tina Turbin

www.GlutenFreeHelp.info

The easiest way to avoid or reduce your exposure to chemical coloring is simply to avoid a lot of processed food.  Check your gluten-free labels always.

FD&C on a label means the FDA allows the dyes to be used in food, drugs and cosmetics.  Sometimes you’ll see FDA Red 40 or FD&C Red 40, so these are just 2 ways the labeling is used.

The FDA allows nine synthetic color additives to this date despite consumer advocacy groups showing mass evidence of the 2 dyes; Red 40 and Yellow 6 linked to hyperactivity, hence attention disorders.

Also, the term artificial colors means “dyes from plants and minerals”, not a synthetic source.  Two of these are caramel (used in cola) and annatto extract from a tropical seed and used in some cheeses to make the color desired.

Click here to read Part 1 on how chemical food dyes are linked to hyperactivity.

Tina Turbin
www.DannyTheDragon.com

Chemical dyes are in all types of foods and despite evidence of some of them wreaking havoc; the FDA has allowed them to remain on the “safe list”.

Manufacturers like to use them due to their capabilities to enhance foods, gums etc.  The results are vivid, consistent and very appealing.

The FDA monitors the production of nine synthetic color additives they consider safe.  Consumer advocacy groups have linked two of these dyes, Red 40 and Yellow 6, to hyperactivity in many children.

It is said that sometime in late 2010 the European Union will require any product containing these dyes to be labeled as such “May have an adverse effect on activity or attention in children”.  Some companies in Britain have already phased them out.

Tina Turbin
www.DannytheDragon.com