First of all, I am not a doctor. However, I have many anecdotal stories from friends about milk and earaches, about wheat and runny noses, about milk and juvenile arthritis… and especially my own. I have two young boys with food allergies. Even I have experienced firsthand the behavioral changes and instant “colds” when we have an accidental food exposure. It’s not just the rashes and stomach aches that are happening. I honestly believe that a deeper immunological imbalance has occurred.
When first approaching this with pediatricians, not only myself, but other mothers I have encountered have been immediately driven to medications to treat the earache, or the constant constipation, or even the sudden onset of arthritis in a 3 year old. Diet is not even mentioned once, even though it plays such a significant role in the body’s immune system.
After endless research, and trial and error with food eliminations, “we” the mothers, finally figured it out for ourselves. No more wheat and the runny nose is gone. No more soy and the constipation is a thing of the past. No more milk and the little girl who stopped walking with supposedly diagnosed juvenile arthritis is now running around the yard. My own son stopped eating gluten and not only did the rashes go away, but so did the temper tantrums.
Perhaps it is high time for the pediatric community to start really looking at diet in the beginning of diagnosis. The United States has had a significant shift in the way we grow and handle food. There may or may not be a connection, but with the rise in dietary conditions in children, pediatricians need to start looking at the dinner table, instead of a prescription pad!
Your closing statement really sums it up nicely. Most parents immediately seek council with their doctor whenever there are any concerns with their children. Unfortunately, for both the medical society and mainstream society, nutrition and diet are never brought into the equation during a "diagnosis". I speak from experience! My two year old son was unhappy since he came out of the womb. I expressed concern during a newborn visit and the Dr. was quick to attribute it to classic "colic" Doctors say to justify HOURS of screaming a day. As my son grew older, it was one "justification" after another… teething, growing pains, jealousy from his older sibling etc. Then came the "terrible two's" and by this point I was at the end of my rope. It had been two years since I had slept through the night, I finally went to a "specialist pediatrician" to seek council on what to do with my son's behavior. The Dr. spent about 10 minutes asking me questions, looking at my son and concluded I should seek counseling to better understand childhood behavior management. "He is just a spirited child, who will probably always be hard to manage". Of course I left the Dr. office crying, but at the same time relieved, because my son was not being diagnoses with any form of Autism. A month or so past and I had really had it, I was so tired and so heart broken for my poor baby. I kept thinking to myself, something isn't right, no child should scream this much each day. I knew SOMETHING was wrong. I began doing research on diet and childhood behavior. Within minutes I found unlimited resources educating me on various links between childhood behavior and NUTRITION. I immediately decided I was taking my son off dairy, and if I didn't see changes I would then try gluten. After eliminating dairy from my son's diet, I began to notice a difference within 24 hours. No more screaming, much more loving, and sleeping better. My husband was very skeptical, especially since he is a doctor, and point blank told me that he doesn't believe in "this stuff". After a month of being dairy free, I have a different child. I found the loving, happy child that was screaming to come out of his shell. Best of all, my husband recently had a visit with a mom who was concerned about her son's behavior and the first thing he suggested was an allergy test!!!! This is progress people, but it is important to remember it is parent's responsibility to take charge of our children's health. Trail and error are the only way things ever get discovered!
ReplyDelete