After seeing the autism specialist, we immediately took her off Gluten and Dairy. I know what you're thinking...what did we eat? There are actually a lot of options out there now for people who need a GF DF diet. We had already been investigating a new trend called Paleo or clean eating for my health.
The doctor also said to get her off sugar. Yeah...that hasn't happened yet. We do drastically limit it, though, and I NEVER let her have sugary drinks or soda. She drinks water and for a special treat I let her have a glass of lemonade.
So we went cold turkey on the gluten and dairy in September. She didn't have any issues. We replaced her regular snacks of crackers, pretzels, and such with gluten free options. Unflavored rice cakes, (flavored ones have gluten in them), GF pretzels, air popped pop corn, almonds, and GF chex cereal.
Within 8 weeks we could tell a difference in her behavior. By November our child who normally stared off into space and played by herself most of the time, started to look at us, smile at us, we would get a little eye contact from time to time, and she started to be interested in life around her.
She started trying out a few more words. She even put a couple of words together. Her first phrase that winter was "I did it".
She was doing it! So much more than we'd ever seen.
Our child who didn't particularly like to be held, wanted to sit in our lap. She gave us hugs. All because we eliminated a little thing called gluten.
My mom read more of the effects of gluten and dairy and shared it with us. (Her favorite pastime is researching, if you couldn't tell already. She's really good at it too.) I read what she showed me and we were both surprised and amazed by what we found. This is just a little peek at some of the information we came across. There are dozens of doctors and books that support the ideas stated below.
That is Perlmutter’s kind of joke. He is not joking when he says that carbohydrates, even the whole-grain carbs that many of us think of as the good ones, are the cause of almost every modern neurologic malady. That includes dementia, decreased libido, depression, chronic headaches, anxiety, epilepsy, and ADHD.
“It may seem draconian,” he says, “but the best recommendation I can make is to completely avoid grains.”
“Most grain foods, whether we’re talking about quinoa, amaranth, the very popular grains of the day, the reality is they still are associated with a carbohydrate surge. They have a fairly high glycemic index, meaning that after 90 to 120 minutes, your blood sugar is going to go up, and that is detrimental to the brain.”
David Perlmutter practices in Naples, Florida. He holds a medical doctorate from the University of Miami School of Medicine. He is both a board-certified neurologist and a fellow of the American College of Nutrition—the only person, he says, to have both credentials. He is the medical director of the Perlmutter Health Center and the Perlmutter Hyperbaric Center. His practice is endorsed by Mehmet Oz, “America’s Doctor” (Oprah-appointed), who says he has referred patients to Perlmutter “with wonderful results. He is on the cutting edge and can help change the way we practice medicine.”
Oz’s endorsement also wanders across the jacket of Grain Brain: “An innovative approach to our most fragile organ.”
In large letters at the top of his website, Perlmutter describes himself as an Empowering Neurologist. To my knowledge and his, this is another distinction unique to Perlmutter. This is presumably not to imply that neurologists without this qualifier are not empowering, but that in a specialty plagued by powerlessness in the face of many incurable and barely treatable diseases, he offers power.
“The biggest issue by far is that carbohydrates are absolutely at the cornerstone of all of our major degenerative conditions,” he says. “That includes things like Alzheimer’s, heart disease, and even cancers. What we know is that even mild elevations in blood sugar are strongly related to developing Alzheimer’s disease. That was published August 8, 2013, in the New England Journal of Medicine. Even mild elevations in blood sugar compromise brain structure and lead to shrinkage of the brain. That’s what our most well-respected, peer-reviewed journals are telling us.”
“The gastroenterologists don’t seem to realize that gluten insensitivity far exceeds their area of focus. According to the work of Dr. Marios Hadjivassiliou in England, there are a large number of people who have reactions to gluten that have absolutely nothing to do with the gastroenterologist. Manifestations can occur anywhere in the body. The work of Dr. Alessio Fasano at Harvard indicates that perhaps all humans have some negative reaction to gluten. Gluten induces this cornerstone of brain degeneration: inflammation. It causes leakiness of the blood-brain barrier.”
The blood-brain barrier is a network of endothelial cells that prevents substances in our blood from getting into our brain tissue. Some molecules can cross it, and some can’t, in order to maintain a favorable environment for the brain. Undue leakiness is not a desirable property in one’s blood-brain barrier.
Read more about Perlmutter here
So back our life. About six month in on no gluten, we'd read even more about dairy products and felt like it might be ok for her to have a little. Life without any cheese was tough and my husband and I needed a slice of pizza every now and again. Did you know Dominos has gluten free pizza? You do now! Most of what we read said gluten affected the brain and dairy affected the digestive system. Our daughter never had any digestive problems, so we tested our theory. We certainly didn't flood her diet with dairy. She has a little here and now, when we have pizza. She might get a slice of cheese at a party or something like that. But that's about it. We don't drink milk in our house. We don't cook with milk in our house. You will find natural butter, sliced cheese, and sour cream in my fridge. Possibly the occasion tub of ice cream in the freezer. That's as far as it goes in our household.
We saw no changes in her growth when we let her have dairy. She continued to come out of her "stoned stupor" and explore more words, play with us, be affectionate. Gluten appeared to be her biggest enemy for now. There was still more the doctor wanted us to change, but a lifestyle change is hard. I'll be honest. It's still hard and still a work in progress. I am quite vigilant with the gluten and make sure she NEVER has any.
Just before she turned 3 in April of 2013, she started using the terms "momma" and "dada" when she saw us. I cried that day. It was the very first time she'd called me by name and wanted me. There are no words to describe how much hearing that meant to me. I still sometimes cry when I hear her call for me. Or squeal my name when I come in the door. Such a small thing for many parents, is one of the most precious gifts my daughter has ever given me.
She started to say "bye". She waved. She was using several 3-word phrases consistently and she was beginning to be interested in more. Her babysitter reported more and more new words. We heard new ones start to appear as well. She was still quite the perfectionist though, and wanted things just so. For a long time, she wouldn't try to say or do anything she couldn't do perfectly. Lots of verbal praise has helped that, but she still struggles to take a leap and do something she's not sure she can get right the very first time.
In less than six months we'd gone from a detached, almost non-verbal, non-participant in life to a little girl who would say several dozen words and short phrases, who started to really play with her toys correctly, and wanted to be around us at least part of the time.
It was a miracle. So much was changing for the better and we'd only just started!
XOXO
Krystal
