We are approaching the six month mark of eating Paleo. While there is still much that we have to continue to work through, it is amazing the transformation that has taken place in our household.
For a time I wondered why L's behavior was not improving more then it had. I know that she has an intolerance to gluten. Also, the red rings around her eyes had decreased, but not disappeared. Then I ate with her and her best friend at lunch. I found out she was eating the animal crackers, and other items, from her friends lunch. I did my standard reminder to L that she is allergic to those and she will feel better when she stops eating them. Her friend heard this and then chewed out my daughter for eating food that she was allergic to. It was at this point that I saw her friend downing V8 Fruit Fusion, and L said she would drink it. In my desperation to get her to eat fruits and vegetables, even in the juice version, I began supplying it to her.
Two things happened from this:
The first is that within days the red rings around L's eyes began to disappear.
The second is that L was able to have control over her behavior. When grandma went on vacation we had one minor meltdown in the morning. The last time it was a two week meltdown, and I had a couple of bite marks to cover up. The change in behavior was HUGE.
I attributed the disappearance of the red rings to her getting more nutrition in her diet. V8 is not ideal, but it is better then not having any of those vitamins or minerals in her body.
I attributed the change in behavior to finally having gluten out of her body.
Then I realized that both reactions could be attributed to having gluten out of her body. I suppose it truly does not matter at this point.
I am always working to improve L's diet. It is a constant concern because foods are one of the biggest triggers to her anxiety. I think it is partly a transition issue, party a sensory issue, and partly because she would rather be eating sugar issue.
I have been wanting to include bone broth in our diet. Yet, it would have to be bone broth that we would buy, which seems kind of gross to me for some reason. When I ran across information on gelatin, and it's health benefits, I decided to try that instead. It would be easier to hide a spoonful of gelatin in her drink then try and get her to drink soup (which she despises).
When the gelatin arrived I was excited. I mixed some in her nightly juice, and watched her drink it without a clue. In the morning I made everyone a cup. I mixed mine and S's in water. J tossed his in with his protein drink.
About two hours later I had a headache. With the stress at work lately I was not completely unexpected. We went and saw our new therapist, and then we went to see a movie. By the time the movie was over my headache was so bad I could barely see to walk out of the theater. Then we hit the sun. I thought my head was going to explode. I knew there was no way that I could drive the kids home.
Unsure of what to do, we walked to a nearby grocery store and I bought some medication, I had not taken any sort of pain meds in six months. I also prayed that the pain would go away to help me get my kids safely home. When I felt safe I drove us home. I think laid on my bed and wished the world away. I have had tons of tension headaches, this was my first migraine.
After doing some google research, gelatin contains histamine. Some individuals have a histamine intolerance. You can read more about it here. Considering I can check off almost everything on this list, as well as my severe reaction to consuming gelatin, I am wondering if I have a histamine intolerance.
To make it worse J appears to be having a reaction as well. He has spent most of the day throwing up. While this may be a stomach bug, throwing up has always been how he has gotten ride of excess mucus - ever since he was a baby with severe asthma. The girls have never had the allergies that J and myself have had. I am especially watching S closely, and decreased the amount that I am giving her.
I am really proud of the progress that my family has made in the last six months. We are far from perfect, diet or otherwise, but we have grown so much. In another six months I have hope that L will even be eating real food.
I have thoughts of going on the autoimmune protocol, which is a variation of Paleo that eliminates food to heal the gut. I know that I would benefit, I do not know if I could handle the stress of it. We have worked so hard to make our diet sustainable the way it is.
On another note, with all the movement I have been doing at work I am down to 210 lbs. I only have 10 lbs more to loose during this year to make my goal. I am only five lbs away from the weight I was when I moved to California.
No comments:
Post a Comment