Going Natural: 7 Health Questions Answered

In this modern day and age, going back to basics is all the rage. Pediatrician and natural-medicine practitioner Cricket Palanca-Chen, M.D., fields some of your FAQs.

1. “Are there natural remedies for some illnesses common in children?”
It’s a misconception that cough, fever, and cold are the disease; they are merely symptoms. They are your body’s ways of purging. Cough can be caused by asthma, changes in humidity and temperature, and irritants such as dust and molds at home. It can also be brought about by painting and construction projects, which cause the body to create more phlegm which traps the irritants. Don’t give your child cough suppressants; instead, give him something to help expectorate phlegm.

If the cough comes with fever, then it is an infection and would require medicine. Fever is our body’s way of killing germs inside the body. It is not the enemy. Your body increases its thermostat — its central temperature — to fry the germs and prevent them from multiplying. If you kill the fever, the bacteria would multiply and the illness would be prolonged because your body’s defense mechanism is down. However, if the fever is very high, give your child paracetamol to prevent convulsions. To bring the fever down, you can also give sponge baths or foods that are cooling.

When your child has a cold, he has so much cold energy or lamig in his body, as they say in traditional Chinese medicine. Anything warming is very helpful, such as steaming, wrapping a scarf or a blanket around him, or applying a cold rub such as Vicks on the throat area to increase blood circulation. You can also apply a warming oil on the area and cover it with a handkerchief if he has a sore throat or is paos. Feed your child with hot soup with lots of garlic, onion, and ginger, or chicken noodle soup with spices. Don’t give him milk because it increases phlegm, makes the mucus stickier, and makes the throat more painful. Don’t give him sugary foods, too, because they form pus in the throat.


2. “My child’s pediatrician likes to administer antibiotics whenever my three-year-old daughter has a stubborn cough. Although I trust her, I am a little hesitant about giving my daughter an antibiotic because I feel it might be too strong for her. What are your thoughts about this?”
As mentioned previously, coughing is a useful thing. We give antibiotics only if we’re very certain that the cough is caused by bacteria. The cough is bacterial if it is accompanied by high-grade fever that lasts for more than three to five days, which may also cause the child to lose appetite and sleep for long hours.

On the other hand, if the cough is viral, the fever usually lasts no more than three days, after which the child should start to get better on his own. Viral infections are very self-limited. You can wait them out without having to take medicines — even antibiotics will not help.

You may think, though, that your child is getting better because of the one-week antibiotic medication, but in truth, it’s her body healing itself. Homeopathic remedies such as those mentioned earlier support the healing process or strengthen the child’s defenses.

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3. “My three-year-old son has atopic dermatitis, and when he has his skin breakouts, we apply a topical steroidal cream. Is there a more natural way to soothe his skin, heal his rashes, and keep him from scratching his skin?”
Atopic dermatitis is a defect in protein metabolism. His body is not able to digest protein in the food well, so it goes to his blood and causes an allergic reaction in the skin. That’s how we look at it in natural medicine. It’s not the skin you have to treat but the digestion issues in the liver and the gut. This is a deeper kind of healing because you treat the source. A steroid decreases the inflammation, but it does not cure the condition. If the treatment is just asymptomatic — meaning, you just put cream on the rash and then wait for it to get better until the next flare-up — you’re not really helping your child. Continue using the cream, but work on your child’s digestive system, too, and you’ll notice the flare-ups become fewer because you’re treating the root of the problem.

There are homeopathic creams you can use to soothe the skin like those with calendula, ortica,  and arnica. If the breakout is really bad, though, use the steroid for three to five days and then replace it with natural creams and treat the digestion problem.

If your child has eczema,  keep his skin moisturized all the time, because if it gets dry, it cracks and becomes more prone to bacteria and the eczema could get infected. You can use plant-based oils like coconut, olive, jojoba, and sunflower oils as moisturizers; these also brighten up the skin and give it vitamins. Coconut has antibacterial and antifungal properties, so it helps lessen the bacteria on the skin.  Also, keep him cool in an air-conditioned room. The heat makes eczema worse. I also ask moms extensively about their child’s diet. There are a lot of things in food that can aggravate skin conditions, particularly wheat and dairy — gluten and casein. If you remove these from his diet, you would see a big improvement in his skin. In general, these two foods are the most commonly linked to a whole host of allergies and autoimmune illnesses.


4. “I’m pregnant and can’t use my regular medication that contains salicylic acid as part of my daily skincare regimen. What can I use instead for my pimples?”
Pimples are caused by poor liver function. I usually make my patients detoxify, but most obstetricians don’t allow it because it may cause premature contractions. Detoxification gets rid of a lot of debris in the body, which would otherwise thrive on their skin in the form of pimples. It could be that there is too much inflammation in the blood, too much acidity, or the estrogen level is too high. In natural medicine, we don’t treat the skin problem per se but we resolve what is wrong internally. If you want to soothe your pimples, use homeopathic creams that are safe for pregnant women (and even babies), such as calendula. You are right to avoid salicylic acid,  which is keratolytic, or makes your skin peel.


5. “My four-year-old takes vitamin C fortified with iron and also a food supplement and appetite enhancer daily. Should she even be taking daily multivitamins?”
If your child is a picky eater who doesn’t like to eat fruits and vegetables, then go ahead and give her vitamins, but make sure these are food-grade and not synthetic. The best source of vitamins, however, is food because your body easily absorbs nutrients from it, whereas synthetic vitamins impose unnecessary stress on the liver.  If you want just one supplement, then go for the super-foods: green powders that are super-packed with vitamins and minerals such as chlorella, spirulina or arthrospira, wheatgrass, astaxanthin, and barley. Sea vegetables like seaweed and algae are also very nutrient-dense. Always include omega-3 fatty acid in your child’s diet, which is good for brain development and is also anti-inflammatory. You can get it from orange-fleshed fish like salmon, and oils like krill oil and flaxseed oil.

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6. “My friends are into this cleansing diet where all they take is a glass of lemon juice with maple syrup every mealtime for 11 days. It is supposed to rid the digestive system of up to 20 pounds of waste that just sits there. They’ve all lost weight and look good, and they feel better after dumping all that ‘excess baggage.’ Is this diet healthy?”
The Maple Syrup Diet consists of water, lemon juice, maple syrup, and cayenne pepper. This is enough to sustain your caloric requirements for the day. You don’t feel very weak because the lemon’s astringent properties detoxify you; it also alkalizes your blood. The cayenne pepper increases your metabolism. The maple syrup gives you your sugar serving for the day for your energy. You can do this but for no longer than three weeks. Beyond that, you’ll experience muscle wastage; your body will start “eating” the protein in your muscles. Eleven days are okay, and that’s what detoxifying is: fasting. You can actually go on water fasting for 21 days safely because your body already has enough to sustain you — that is, if you’re fully grown and healthy, and have been given clearance by your doctor. But if you’re diabetic and getting insulin shots, then you should not do it as you might get hypoglycemia. It’s also unsafe if you have a chronic illness and you’re on medication. The medicine might be too strong for your body if you’re not eating.


7. “What are some habits that parents and kids should acquire for a healthier lifestyle?”
It’s simple. Don’t consume more calories or energy than you can burn. If you’re going to eat heftily, exercise even more afterward, so that you won’t get obese. Train your children to eat healthily. You can program now how they’ll eat later on in life. From ages zero to five, keep their diet simple, and serve them sinigang, tinola — soups with a lot of vegetables. Limit fast food and choose home-cooked food instead. For their drinks, give them water — no iced tea or canned soda and juices. These are full of artificial flavors and coloring. Instead, make juice from fresh fruit such as calamansi and iced tea from real tea leaves and sweeten it with honey. Make food from scratch.

Lead a healthy lifestyle by example. Your kids will copy what you do. Expose them to nature and do activities together such as biking, swimming, running, climbing mountains, and discovering the forest. It’s more fun than going to the mall. Go out of town and collect bugs; look at butterflies and different flowers. Educate them that way. We need to keep moving because if blood is not circulating properly in our bodies, our organs will die. The blood flow becomes sluggish and the metabolism slows down.

My husband, who is into alternative medicine, treats patients with hypertension, diabetes, and cancer. He told me, “What I realized is exercise and sleep are the most important.” The common denominator of his sickest patients is that they don’t sleep until two or three in the morning, and they don’t exercise. Our bodies repair and detoxify themselves when we sleep. When you don’t sleep enough, your body doesn’t get rid of all toxins. Exercise every day, get enough sleep, and don’t be afraid of the sun. Sunbathing for 10 to 20 minutes helps cure a cold. If your family has an active lifestyle, and if you eat healthy and sleep on time, you could save on hospital bills.    


Cricket Palanca-Chen, M.D., is a pediatrician practicing both conventional and natural medicine. She holds clinic at St. Luke’s Medical Center-Global City and Medical Plaza Makati, and is affiliated with the Philippine Pediatric Society and the Philippine Association of Anthroposophic Health Practitioners. A graduate of the UP College of Medicine, she also studied Anthroposophic Medicine in Switzerland. She has an 18-year-old son.

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