Milk & Cookie Disease

 Could ‘milk and cookie disease’ be making your child ill? Doctor fears bedtime treats could cause string of health problems

• Combination of dairy, sugar, and grains late at night is believed to be the cause of many childhood ailments such as coughs, sore throats, fatigue, and allergies.
• Pediatric otolaryngologist Dr Julie Wei calls it the ‘milk and cookie disease’
• Her patients have seen symptoms improve after changing their diet

Many children enjoy a glass of milk with a cookie before bed but a doctor has found this popular snack may be responsible for a string of health problems.

Dubbed the ‘milk and cookie disease’, the combination of sugar and dairy late at night is believed to be the cause of many childhood ailments, including running noses, coughs, sore throats, constipation, allergies, and fatigue.

Dr Julie Wei, a pediatric otolaryngologist at Nemours Children’s Hospital in Orlando, Florida, made the connection after treating numerous children with the chronic symptoms.

Not such a treat: Childhood ailments such as coughs, sore throats. allergies, and fatigue may be caused by the consumption of dairy, sugar, and grain products before bed. The condition has been labeled ‘milk and cookie disease’

She initially tried treating her young patients with medications, but it generally had little effect.

After looking further into the individual cases, she found that many of the children frequently ate sugary snacks such as cookies and lots of dairy products including milk before bed.

Dr Wei believed the combination was likely to be causing the food to back up into the stomach, esophagus and throat causing cold-like symptoms.

She asked her patients to stop eating dairy and sugary products before bedtime and found that their symptoms quickly improved significantly.

Dr Wei has called the condition ‘milk and cookie disease’ and suggests that up to 75 per cent of American children who are otherwise healthy may be suffering from it.

She puts this down to average American snacking more as they have less time to sit down for proper meals. She said: ‘We’re busy people; no one’s really thinking about what their kids are eating.’

The mother of a five-year-old, said she has seen a significant improvement in her son’s health since she stopped him from snacking late at night and only gave him water before bed on Dr Wei’s recommendations.

The mother said: ‘It was really hard for him to take in a breath; he sounded like Darth Vader.  In a three week period, we noticed a substantial difference.’

Dr Wei recommends that children shouldn’t have any snacks or any drinks but water up to two hours before bedtime to avoid food sitting in the stomach.

Dr. Wilson recommends removing all dairy and grain products from our eating for a healthy lifestyle even after having been treated for allergy elimination for these foods.  They’re just not healthy.

Remember….“There is hardly a symptom or condition that is not either caused, aggravated, or accelerated by allergies.”

Dr. Jay P. Wilson –  Allergy Elimination Center of MN – (612) 866-7575