Loving Life Without Gluten
Back in October 2009 I realized something was very wrong
with my oldest son who was two at the time.
He had begun developing as a typical child does, then around 16 months I
noticed that he was changing. He would
no longer look us in the eye. His smile
was gone. He began to have constant
temper tantrums. He was upset more often than he was happy. I just had a new baby and my first son didn't
want to have anything to do with his new brother. He didn't have any language to tell us if he
wanted or needed something. It seemed
like my son was slipping away. He was in his own little world, content to
engage in repetitive stacking of blocks instead of connecting with us in a
meaningful way. I began to suspect that
my child might have Autism. The word
scared me. I didn't want to talk about
it or even think about it.
Around the same time my good friend Rachel suggested that I
look into a gluten-free casein-free diet for my son. She said she heard it was making a big
difference for a lot of children who were dealing with Autism Spectrum
Disorders. I was offended that she would
bring this up. I was doing the best I
could to feed my children the healthiest possible way I knew. I didn't give them junk food. They never ate fast food. How dare she suggest that I wasn't doing
enough! Something changed in my heart as I realized she was just trying to
help.
I began to research the diet and discovered that parent
surveys done by The Autism Research Institute list the gluten-free casein-free
diet as one of the most successful interventions for the treatment of Autism
Spectrum Disorders. According to one
theory most, if not all, children with Autism have a damaged intestinal lining
or “leaky gut”. Because digestion is
compromised, the child's body is not able to properly digest the gluten and
casein proteins. These incomplete
proteins, or peptides, travel through the “leaky gut” into the blood stream
where they cross the blood brain barrier and bind to opiate receptors in the
brain. The peptides then alter the person's behavior, perceptions, and
responses to his environment. It all seemed very overwhelming. I didn't even understand what gluten
was. How was I supposed to take it out
of his diet? I decided to start with removing casein because I knew what that
was.
I remember the first night I gave my son a little almond
milk instead of regular cows milk before bed.
He didn't drink it. I felt like I
was depriving him. I started questioning
my decision already. The next night we
tried the almond milk again, and once again he didn't drink it. We sauntered off to bed, but this time when I
leaned in to kiss him goodnight he didn't turn away! This was the first time
that he let me kiss him square on the mouth! I remember cheering, clapping, and
celebrating with tears flowing down my cheeks.
I must have kissed him 50 times in a row. This is what it felt like to have a child
respond to a mother's love. It was
absolutely incredible! I decided right then and there that I would commit to doing
whatever it takes to help my son. I felt
empowered. There was something I could
do to help him! I didn't care that the pediatrician thought diets didn't work.
When my son was officially diagnosed with Autism in November of 2009, I
realized that I was already proving the pediatrician wrong. My son was fully
capable of loving me. We just had to
figure out how to help his little body heal so he would be able to express that
love more easily.
I started researching gluten and slowly trying to replace
our old food with gluten free alternatives. Many times I bought things thinking
they were gluten-free only to find a hidden source of gluten. I decided to give myself some grace. I might not have him transitioned to a
gluten-free diet overnight, but I was doing the best I could to head that
direction.
My son had a lot of texture sensitivities. I remember putting a spoonful of food up to
his mouth and he would start dry heaving before it even touched his
tongue. There were lots of days that he
hardly ate anything. I stayed the
course. Through trial and error we made
it work. I made muffins with shredded
carrots and zucchini. I blended vegetables into smoothies. I could get him to drink almost
anything. I started juicing and he would
drink his fresh green juice so quickly.
As his body healed he became tolerant of more foods. This was a very slow process. Many nights dinnertime felt like world war
III.
About a year ago I found an amazing product called Juice
Plus. It is a whole food nutritional supplement that has been incredible for
us. A friend of mine told me about it and it made sense to me because it was
such an easy way to make sure my boys were getting nutrients from a wide
variety of fruits and vegetables every single day. Since we started taking Juice Plus my kids want
to eat more fruits and vegetables. Their
little bodies like what they are getting and are craving more!
We have been on an all-organic gluten-free, casein-free diet
for five years now. My son is now seven
and has made incredible progress. He
talks in complete sentences. His eyes
are sparkling. He loves hugs and
kisses. He plays with his little
brother. He is brilliant. He reads at a fourth grade level and is
fascinated with solving word problems.
He loves life. I am so blessed to
be his mommy. What a little miracle he is! We still have a ways to go on his
journey to recovery, but I do believe he WILL recover. With God all things are possible!
If for any reason you are considering going gluten-free I
would encourage you to try it. Start by
figuring out what foods have gluten in them and replace those with gluten-free
alternatives. Search the Internet for
gluten-free recipes. Buy ingredients one
at a time to make foods that are exciting to you. Get in the kitchen and experiment! Remember,
just because something doesn't turn out perfectly the first time doesn't mean
it is not worth trying again. Your
attitude is incredibly important here.
Focus on what you CAN eat. Be
thankful that you choose to take a step to increase your health and
happiness. Take it one step at a time.
Surround yourself with support. Give yourself grace. Stick with it and I bet you will agree that
it was worth it!
About
Crystal Dodson
Board
Certified Holistic Health Coach
Don’t
let the kindness in her voice fool you, Crystal is the inspirational powerhouse
momma of two young boys, one on his way to recovery from autism.
When she is not loving her boys to pieces, she is using her nutritional
education and first hand autism experience to support private clients and
workshop participants. Crystal loves to listen deeply to you and
combine your needs with her vast experience. Together you'll
create a powerful plan for your success that is both simple and profoundly
effective. Get to know more about Crystal at: Nourishedwithlove.com
Learn more about Juice Plus at
cdodson.juiceplus.com
