Re: Hi from a Confused New Member

[Guest guest]

Hi and welcome! My 12 y.o. daughter has DS too :-)

Yes, Dr. CMB did a pair of wonderful lectures at the WAPF conference

which I really recommend.

To download or order on CD Dr. Natasha -McBride's 2-part

lecture on

" Gut and Psychology Syndrome " go to the Weston A. Price Foundation website

http://www.westonaprice.org

and click on the link at the top of the box beneath the log that says

" Order recordings from the 2007 conference "

Dr. Natasha's lectures are numbers 6203 and 6219 .They are $13 each to

download, slightly more sent on CD. FYI there is 30 minute

introduction to WAP

by Sally Fallon in 6203.

Take care,

Alice - HSing mom to Alice (w/DS) born Thanksgiving Day 1995 :-)

Hopewell Junction, NY http://www.frontiernet.net/~castella/

>

> Hi all--

>

> I'm so glad I stumbled on this group in my search to help my

> children. My husband and I homeschool eight children, several with

> special needs ranging from sensory issues (I have those, too) to PDD

> to Asperger's. One of our 12 y.o. twins has dyslexia and the other

> has Down syndrome. And our youngest (now 6) is hyper and not very

> bright, possibly because of oxygen deprivation when my uterus

> ruptured at his birth.

>

> I've been in search of better health for our family for years, going

> vegetarian with soy, going all-raw, juicing big-time (overwhelmingly

> hard and expensive), gluten/caseine-free (for our child with

> Asperger's), and lately, Weston Price. However, we've always loved

> our sugar, too, as did my parents and my grandparents. This gut

> flora thing explains SO MUCH!

>

> Before I present " the latest diet " to my now skeptical family (esp.

> husband!), I really want to know what it should be. The BED book

> overwhelmed me. We did the young coconut kefir--and a bunch of

> other stuff-- a few years ago under a specialist for our Asperger's

> child (couldn't keep it up b/c of the expense). We have to drive

> 1.5 hours to get those things, and they were $4 each at that time.

> Since our entire family needs to do this, coconut kefir will be

> impossible for us to do. Also, I subjected everyone to seaweed

> during the raw phase--they hated it, and the BED calls for it a lot.

>

> I understood the GAPS book much better, but, after reading online, I

> think I'm finding out Dr. Natasha has changed her recommendations a

> bit after meeting up with Donna Gates and Sally Fallon.

>

> HERE'S MY QUESTION: Is there a recent tape or written update or

> website with an up-to-date GAPS diet? I mostly am confused about

> the use of dairy products (kefir and the like) and also

> quinoa/millet, etc. Can we or can't we? What if we're using raw

> milk (we are)? Maybe one of you more experienced moms can help me

> out. Thanks!

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Wow ! It sounds like you need something to do with all that

time on your hands ;o)!!!

I am also a homeschool mom. I only homeschool one little guy with

autism. I send my daughter to the public school.

I am not a big believer that any one diet is the be-all-and end-all

for every person. I think all of these diets have something

important to tell us. I think I am more WAPF then anything, but I

also think the diet should change some with the seasons (as do crops).

When we started implementing BED, the stress from the BEDers was to

go slow and implement one thing at a time. This was due to 2

factors. One being that die-off could be great and you don't want to

overwhelm the body. The other is that changing drastically the way

you prepare and eat foods could overwhelm the mind. Also, in going

slow, you don't necessarily need to explain it to your husband, you

just introduce new foods or concepts one at a time. Once everyone is

familiar with these, you go on to the next. This way you get to see

how each concept/food affects the body.

I am a big fan of live, kefir-grain kefir!!! I think the concept of

a microbial community naturally formed is ideal. The best part of it

is that it is pretty much FREE. You can get a kefir grain either

free or real cheap from someone else and it grows the more you use

it!!! Instead of having to buy more, you then can give part of it to

someone else--share the love. OR you can blend parts of the grain

into smoothies for more health benefits. If you are already drinking

raw milk, you're halfway there. I find drinking kefir regularly also

helps curb the sugar cravings!!!

Connie

>

> Hi all--

>

> I'm so glad I stumbled on this group in my search to help my

> children. My husband and I homeschool eight children, several with

> special needs ranging from sensory issues (I have those, too) to

PDD

> to Asperger's. One of our 12 y.o. twins has dyslexia and the other

> has Down syndrome. And our youngest (now 6) is hyper and not very

> bright, possibly because of oxygen deprivation when my uterus

> ruptured at his birth.

>

> I've been in search of better health for our family for years,

going

> vegetarian with soy, going all-raw, juicing big-time

(overwhelmingly

> hard and expensive), gluten/caseine-free (for our child with

> Asperger's), and lately, Weston Price. However, we've always loved

> our sugar, too, as did my parents and my grandparents. This gut

> flora thing explains SO MUCH!

>

> Before I present " the latest diet " to my now skeptical family (esp.

> husband!), I really want to know what it should be. The BED book

> overwhelmed me. We did the young coconut kefir--and a bunch of

> other stuff-- a few years ago under a specialist for our Asperger's

> child (couldn't keep it up b/c of the expense). We have to drive

> 1.5 hours to get those things, and they were $4 each at that time.

> Since our entire family needs to do this, coconut kefir will be

> impossible for us to do. Also, I subjected everyone to seaweed

> during the raw phase--they hated it, and the BED calls for it a lot.

>

> I understood the GAPS book much better, but, after reading online,

I

> think I'm finding out Dr. Natasha has changed her recommendations a

> bit after meeting up with Donna Gates and Sally Fallon.

>

> HERE'S MY QUESTION: Is there a recent tape or written update or

> website with an up-to-date GAPS diet? I mostly am confused about

> the use of dairy products (kefir and the like) and also

> quinoa/millet, etc. Can we or can't we? What if we're using raw

> milk (we are)? Maybe one of you more experienced moms can help me

> out. Thanks!

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hi. Welcome! I emailed Dr. Natasha and asked her about grains and fermented dairy. Her response was "no" to all grains (they process in the body as polysaccrides <double sugars>) so you want to eliminate all of them for two years. As far as the butter and fermented dairy, she said as long as we were not having any adverse reactions, she thought it would be o.k. to continue. (We started with fermented dairy, because I didn't realize we weren't supposed to have it.) We use properly fermented raw cream, buttermilk, yogurt, kefir. After about 3 weeks we added raw cheese from a local provider. So far we are doing o.k. We continue to take the bio-kult .... slowly.

I think you should eliminate fermented dairy for about three days, and then add it in slowly. If you see any adverse reactions, back off. A friend of mine has a child who is very allergic to eggs. (He gets welts on his bottom.) She has been on the diet for 1-2 months, and tried adding the eggs back. The child can handle them fine!

Dr. Natasha kept telling us to just go slowly. She suggested to try a teaspoon and work your way up. (However, we jumped in with 2 cups initially.)

I hope this helps. Good luck!

[ ] Hi from a Confused New Member

Hi all--I'm so glad I stumbled on this group in my search to help my children. My husband and I homeschool eight children, several with special needs ranging from sensory issues (I have those, too) to PDD to Asperger's. One of our 12 y.o. twins has dyslexia and the other has Down syndrome. And our youngest (now 6) is hyper and not very bright, possibly because of oxygen deprivation when my uterus ruptured at his birth.I've been in search of better health for our family for years, going vegetarian with soy, going all-raw, juicing big-time (overwhelmingly hard and expensive), gluten/caseine-free (for our child with Asperger's), and lately, Weston Price. However, we've always loved our sugar, too, as did my parents and my grandparents. This gut flora thing explains SO MUCH!Before I present "the latest diet" to my now skeptical family (esp. husband!), I really want to know what it should be. The BED book overwhelmed me. We did the young coconut kefir--and a bunch of other stuff-- a few years ago under a specialist for our Asperger's child (couldn't keep it up b/c of the expense). We have to drive 1.5 hours to get those things, and they were $4 each at that time. Since our entire family needs to do this, coconut kefir will be impossible for us to do. Also, I subjected everyone to seaweed during the raw phase--they hated it, and the BED calls for it a lot.I understood the GAPS book much better, but, after reading online, I think I'm finding out Dr. Natasha has changed her recommendations a bit after meeting up with Donna Gates and Sally Fallon.HERE'S MY QUESTION: Is there a recent tape or written update or website with an up-to-date GAPS diet? I mostly am confused about the use of dairy products (kefir and the like) and also quinoa/millet, etc. Can we or can't we? What if we're using raw milk (we are)? Maybe one of you more experienced moms can help me out. Thanks!

[Guest guest]

> I emailed Dr. Natasha and asked her about grains and fermented dairy. Her

> response was " no " to all grains (they process in the body as polysaccrides

> <double sugars>) so you want to eliminate all of them for two years. As

> far as the butter and fermented dairy, she said as long as we were not

> having any adverse reactions, she thought it would be o.k. to continue.

=========

Did you do a paid consultation with her to be able to email her?

Could you tell me about it, or how you are otherwise in contact with her?

Take care,

Alice - HSing mom to Alice (w/DS) born Thanksgiving Day 1995 :-)

Hopewell Junction, NY http://www.frontiernet.net/~castella/

[Guest guest]

I manage a co-op, where we have ordered a lot of Bio-Kult (and other products). We have all had questions, so I would ask the place I ordered the Bio-Kult from. After a while of doing that, they trusted me with her phone and email, but I had to agree to their terms.

Unfortunately, I am not in a position to give it out. I had shared what I had learned in hopes of helping someone else.

[ ] Re: Hi from a Confused New Member

> I emailed Dr. Natasha and asked her about grains and fermented dairy. Her > response was "no" to all grains (they process in the body as polysaccrides > <double sugars>) so you want to eliminate all of them for two years. As > far as the butter and fermented dairy, she said as long as we were not > having any adverse reactions, she thought it would be o.k. to continue.=========Did you do a paid consultation with her to be able to email her?Could you tell me about it, or how you are otherwise in contact with her?Take care,Alice - HSing mom to Alice (w/DS) born Thanksgiving Day 1995 :-)Hopewell Junction, NY http://www.frontiernet.net/~castella/

[Guest guest]

Hi Connie and others,

Thanks for your ideas about moving slowly into this diet change business. We DO use kefir grains to ferment our milk (and we ferment vegetables and make kombucha, too), but I didn't know if this was OK to do with these diets or not.

Last year, before I knew about the GAPS diet, I e-mailed back and forth with Sally Fallon a couple of times regarding our situation. She mostly stressed that our family get serious about cod liver oil, which we have. (I buy it at CVS--Sally Fallon's recommendation for tight finances like ours--and we add a few drops of peppermint oil so as to make it less gaggish.)

Do others of you use fermented dairy products even though the GAPS book (and the BED, too, I think) recommend no dairy to speak of?

in TN

[Guest guest]

The latest BED book recommends to avoid dairy ONLY in the beginning

of the diet. She recommends to establish dairy-loving bacteria via

coconut kefir and then moving into raw dairy products starting with

those that have higher fat to protien ratios. First coco-kefir, then

raw butter, raw cream, fermented milk then milk (though she

recognizes not all may be able to tolerate milk).

I remember in the book there was a discussion about how she felt milk

should not be allowed because it is mucus forming. Then she was

informed that mucus made from raw milk was necessary in allowing the

gut flora to better establish colonization. I have read from other

groups about people who medically have too little mucus.

Additionally, the DAN autism community has been discussing the role

of the pathogenic biofilm in maintaining chronic infections. These

things make me believe that it is not just important to supplement

the bacteria, but also the means for it to build " appropriate

housing " , like a HEALTHY biofilm. Raw milk seems to have the

criteria, particularly if it is fermented with kefir grains that

inhibit the growth of the pathogenic bacteria. Actually, some

reports suggest that RAW milk from grass-fed cows can inhibit some

pathogens on its own. Milk is the food for kefir microbes to build

the kefir grain structure (its housing). Thus, one could gather that

milk could help the microbes to do the same in the gut. This is the

theory I am working with at present ).

Connie

>

> Hi Connie and others,

>

> Thanks for your ideas about moving slowly into this diet change

business.

> We DO use kefir grains to ferment our milk (and we ferment

vegetables and

> make kombucha, too), but I didn't know if this was OK to do with

these diets

> or not.

>

> Last year, before I knew about the GAPS diet, I e-mailed back and

forth with

> Sally Fallon a couple of times regarding our situation. She mostly

stressed

> that our family get serious about cod liver oil, which we have. (I

buy it

> at CVS--Sally Fallon's recommendation for tight finances like ours--

and we

> add a few drops of peppermint oil so as to make it less gaggish.)

>

> Do others of you use fermented dairy products even though the GAPS

book (and

> the BED, too, I think) recommend no dairy to speak of?

>

> in TN

>

[Guest guest]

So Connie,

Does this mean that you eased into the dairy products on the same schedule as Dr. Natasha and Donna Gates recommend? Or did you just back off completely and then work all the way up to kefir and maybe even some plain old raw milk a lot faster?

Also, how much kefir do you or your child eat every day? With our huge family, I make a gallon every day or two. If I make smoothies, there's not much left after just breakfast.

Thanks! in TN

[Guest guest]

My son has autism and major GI issues. I have chronic joint pain and

less major GI issues. My focus has been on my son an I incorporate

some things into my diet. Time and money are tight so I make my son

the first priority. I am mentioning this because I did these things

very differently with each of us.

My son had been off milk for a few years. I never was. We

introduced it back into his diet just as Donna Gates recommended

(almost). We started the YCK (young coconut kefir) and were drinking

it about 3 times per day. Then we introduced raw butter, first a

teaspoon, then added it 3 times per day. I think Donna recommends

moving on once the stools become formed, but my son's never became

formed. This is part of the problem. For him, instead of moving on

to raw cream, we began to introduce kefir made with the kefir grain.

This is where we diverge from Donna. She feels more comfortable

knowing every microbial in her product. I feel we need the whole

community and can't wait until some scientist names them all.

We are still fairly new to the kefir grains, but have seen benefits

in more solid and regular colored stools since beginning. Within the

month the entire family got sick and we are still recovering. This

effected stools so I don't know for sure if the positives will be

long term. However, the fact that my son's immune system recognized

the bug and fought it (by coughing, sneezing and having a fever) was

a plus. Donna says this is the body cleansing the bug. My son

hadn't coughed since a toddler (he is now 10) and hadn't had a fever

since 5. It is believed that kids with autism have chronic

infections that the body does not recognize and fight. We hope this

is a good sign.

How much kefir? I am trying to work up to 3 cups per day for each of

us, but we don't yet have enough grain. I am trying to get my

husband and daughter to drink one cup a day. They have lesser

issues. Additionally, we make a yogurt with raw milk and VSL#3

probiotic. This is supposed to help the body break down oxalates

which seem to be an issue for us. This is not discussed in GAPS or

BED, but the yogurt seems to be an important part of the mix for us.

Connie

>

> So Connie,

>

> Does this mean that you eased into the dairy products on the same

schedule

> as Dr. Natasha and Donna Gates recommend? Or did you just back off

> completely and then work all the way up to kefir and maybe even

some plain

> old raw milk a lot faster?

>

> Also, how much kefir do you or your child eat every day? With our

huge

> family, I make a gallon every day or two. If I make smoothies,

there's not

> much left after just breakfast.

>

> Thanks! in TN

>