14 DAY TRIAL // Alicia Silverstone joins the select club of celebrity moms who have imparted their wisdom upon the rest of us, common folk, as she releases her new book on parenting called “The Kind Mama: a Simple Guide to Supercharged Fertility, a Radiant Pregnancy, a Sweeter Birth, and a Healthier, More Beautiful Beginning.”
The book holds several controversial views, some of which are common among famous moms but are widely refuted by the scientific world, as well as a large part of the regular moms. The most controversial one is the one about vaccinating your young children. It turns out that Alicia doesn't think that vaccines are particularly good for your kids.
In her new book she reveals that “While there has not been a conclusive study of the negative effects of such a rigorous one-size-fits-all, shoot-’em-up schedule. There is increasing anecdotal evidence from doctors who have gotten distressed phone calls from parents claiming their child was ‘never the same’ after receiving a vaccine.”
Alicia also doesn't believe in post-partum depression, claiming that if you follow a strict diet of non-processed foods, you won't get the baby blues. “Some women experience the blues after giving birth,” but it's “less common among kind mamas.” Kind mamas is a word Silverstone uses to describe pregnant women that follow a natural diet based on plants.
She promotes this diet and claims that it has “almost otherwordly powers,” including supercharging fertility, reducing the risk of miscarriage, and stave off cancer, heart disease, and diabetes.
Her next controversial view is about the humble diaper, which has saved so many lives that it should be branded the invention of the 20th century. But the “Clueless” actress doesn't share that opinion. Rather, she feels that they are bad, since they come from an industry “field by corporate-backed pseudoscience.”
She claims that babies have an innate ability to go potty and those who are encouraged to follow that instinct are “much more content leaving their business in the grass than having to sleep and eat accompanied by their own pee and poo.”
But wait, there's still some controversy left, her beef with tampons. She points out that a woman's genitals are “the most absorbent part of your body.”
“Unfortunately, feminine-care manufacturers aren’t required to tell you what’s in their products, which means that no one’s talking about the potential pesticide residues from non-organic cotton and the ‘fragrances’ containing hormone-upsetting, fertility-knocking phthalates that are snuggling up to your hoo-ha,” Alicia advocates.
It's for views like this that Silverstone is coming under fire from the press. For example, Slate writes a blistering article about the new parenting book and titles it “Celebrity Quack Moms Are a Terrible Influence on Everyday Parents,” hinting at Jenny McCarthy, who has also made headline news with her unconventional views on parenting.