Thursday, December 4, 2008

What happens...and why?

I'm sure you must be wondering what causes all of these crazy changes in a once well-behaved child. How could food have an effect like this on someone? Just like some people have hay fever or environmental allergies, others have food allergies or reactions to the chemicals in certain foods (phenols).

When a food is not "tolerated", it's also known in lay terms as an allergy, even though it may not inflict a true allergic reaction on a person. Those who have immediate response to foods with rashes, hives, itchies....they are having an IgE reaction, a true allergy. When someone displays changes in behaviors, hypoglycemic responses, headaches and more delayed reactions to foods, they are having an IgG response. This means that their bodies are developing antibodies to the foods and over time this will throw the body into autoimmune disorder(s). When an IgG blood test is done, the blood is put into separate vials where somewhere around 113 foods (one at a time) are then dropped into each of the vials. When the blood "reacts" to the food, it's considered reactive or positive. Is this 100%, no...what is? That is where the food challenges come in, but we can save that for another day's explanation.

The crazy thing about what undigested foods do to us is scary! They create what is known as an "opiate" effect...yes, as in OPIUM, the drug. The undigested foods build up and cause the same exact effect on the brain that opium causes!! Tested and proven! Imagine giving your child a nice dose of opium with breakfast, and then lunch....and then dinner, every day! Wheat and dairy are the biggest culprits of this effect and it causes that hypoglycemic effect that is oh so common in many. The brain is satisfied as long as it is being "fed" it's drug of choice. When the food is no longer available, it goes through withdraw, causing those crazy highs and lows in personality we see, then the food is ingested again, satisfying the brain for some time. Many kids also begin to self-limit the foods they will eat, sticking to just the foods that give them a high, avoiding all others. As long as you keep feeding the monster, it's happy, sounds like a drug addict, doesn't it? Well, it IS! People experiencing this effect will begin to crave the very foods they should be avoiding, because they NEED them, well the brain thinks so. Take away the foods and you will see a drug addict in withdraw, literally, yes in your child! It's is amazing to watch the progress. Grayson was slurring, walking into walls, holding himself up while walking, he was in a daze, then he would get "stimmy" (sensory stimulating behaviors like touching everything around him, bumping into people and things, throwing himself on the floors and furniture, repeating strange words over and over in a sing songy pattern). It was a crazy few weeks until he leveled out, but once he was without the foods for a few weeks, he was/is a new child!! Well, the old child really. Many kids start showing signs of food sensitivities between 2 and 3, because this is how long it takes to buld up enough in the body to start showing these signs outwardly. When you are seeing these signs in your child, you are seeing an outward expression of what the brain and body are experiencing inside. If you continue to feed the culprit foods, as an adult, they turn into autoimmune illnesses such as arthritis, IBS, lupus, asthma, cancer...the list is endless! So how many illnesses can we prevent, who knows, but am I willing to bet we are helping our son extend his life!

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