Update on grains, dairy, etc.

[Guest guest]

I thought I'd give you an update on our food journey. I don't

remember if I told you this before...we had always assumed our son

had an allergy to milk because of his reaction to it. We had him

officially tested, via a blood test, and the results came back that

he was NOT allergic to dairy. Well, I was shocked. I fully

expected the results to come back positive. The doctor said that

although he doesn't have an allergy to dairy, he obviously is

intolerant to it; his body doesn't handle it well...

....Recently, I was reading a book that was talking about foods that

the body has a difficult time digesting, resulting in damage to the

gut (like I talked about before). Of course, dairy and grains were

among the primary problematic foods. A person may have a difficult

time digesting these foods because of a lack of enzymes to break

them down completely, and when digested incompletely, a host of

health problems arises, beginning with the damage to the gut. Her

focus was on eliminating these problematic foods. I had a light

bulb moment at about this time and wondered to myself, " If the

problem is due to a lack of enzymes, why not just take enzyme

supplements instead of removing the foods? " Up to this point, I had

never even thought about enzymes. I knew that improperly digested

food could cause problems if it passes through the gut wall, but I

simply thought that the food itself was causing damage to the gut

because of an allergy, intolerance, whatever. What I didn't realize

is that the foods were causing damage to the gut BECAUSE they were

not being broken down completely, not because of an intolerance,

allergy, weak digestive tract, etc. Did that make sense? I

honestly didn't know why the body had a difficult time digesting

certain foods, I just knew it happened and a ton of health problems

could arise as a result.

Anyhow, I went to the store and bought Lactaid (for dairy) and Beano

for the starches (not just for beans), which are both enzyme

supplements (I thought beano was a type of Gas-X. I found out

otherwise. ) We prayed to God that it would work, hoped for the

best, took our enzymes, and ate some of the " problem " foods that we

had taken out of our diet. Guess what? NOTHING! By nothing, I

mean that nothing negative has happened to us. NO headaches,

stomachaches, fatigue, foggy head, depression, irritated sinuses,

crankiness, anxiety. Of course, we have been testing this with all

the treat foods we have missed...pizza, ice cream, doughnuts, bread,

etc. I mean, if the experiment was going to go bad, we wanted it to

be with those treat foods that we have missed (we don't eat like

that on a regular basis). I have been feeling normal, light, and

free. It feels especially good not to have anxiety all the time. I

was always fighting anxiety even when my depression was on the back

burner. I could never shake it no matter how hard I tried. So far,

I have not had a problem with depression, either. It hasn't been

long enough to know if it is gone for good though. I'll have to

update you on that in a couple of months.

I can't believe how simple the answer to our problem was. If only I

thought of it yeeeeears ago. I think part of the reason why I

didn't think of it sooner is because we did not have the typical

symptoms that you think of when you think of digestion

problems...gas, bloating, diarrhea. Most people wouldn't think that

mental problems, especially autism, would be caused by lack of

enzymes. It makes sense though. If the enzymes are present and

doing their job, damage to the gut would not be taking place, and

the improperly digested food would not be getting into the body to

do its damage.

At this point, I'm not even concerned with whether or not grains and

dairy were meant to be a part of the human diet (which, by the way,

may have something to do with the reason so many people seem to lack

the enzymes necessary to digest these foods properly). As long as

we can take the enzymes needed to do the job, and we are feeling

good, we will include these foods back into our diet. Actually, I'm

surprised that the lady who wrote the book did not recommend taking

enzyme supplements knowing herself that the problem had to do with

enzymes and the proper breaking down of foods. I think I will e-

mail her to tell her our story and ask why enzyme supplementation

was not recommended as a first step, then, if that didn't work,

taking out the foods. I `m curious about what answer she will give

me.

Heidi,

This means I would like to be put back on your kefili list if that's

alright with you.

Robin L.