finding our sweet spot

For so many families who begin the Feingold diet, there is almost overnight success.  When they learn to shop a new way by cutting out preservatives, artificial flavors and colors, and some problem fruits (always the hardest to wrap our minds around!), changes are fast, furious, and wonderful.

For others, it takes eliminating one more problem ingredient: corn sweeteners.  This includes things such as high fructose corn syrup, regular corn syrup, and dextrose.  Or perhaps there is an MSG intolerance or problems with foods containing benzoates or nitrates. 

For a few, cutting out gluten and casein (difficult-to-digest proteins from grains and milk) is necessary.  (The idea of cutting out foods that are hard to digest, on top of finding food intolerances and correcting vitamin deficiencies suggests to me that those doctors who are seeing ADHD and autism as a problem in the digestive system/gut health are on to something.)

And then there are a few children who have lingering sensitivities that take time to uncover. 

Some moms who keep digging to find their child's food sensitivities refer to this process as "peeling an onion."  You find a problem food, eliminate it, and things improve but only with the sinking feeling that something is still lurking that you can't quite put your finger on.  It can take considerable time to uncover each sensitivity and see how it affects the child over time.

We've been peeling, and peeling, and peeling.  Try something, see how it works, try something else, and over time find another issue.

The funny thing is, my son does not really have a long list of foods he is sensitive to.  What we really have is sensitivities to ingredients (like cornstarch and added vitamins, corn sweeteners, and artificial additives, along with gluten and casein) that are common to most processed foods.  So the list of boxed foods he can eat appears to be quite short.  But when we gaze out into nature or think in terms of whole foods, there are all kinds of options available to him.  It just involves a bit more time in the kitchen for the cook.

What we find amazing is this: after almost two years of digging, our peeling seems to be coming to an end.  There have been times we've felt things were fairly good, but where we are now tops them all.  The word "miracle" is often on my mind these days.

Under the layers of aggression, lack of impulse control, sensory issues, and behavior difficulties we are discovering a joyful, imaginative, loving child who really can function apart from those things.  He's far from perfect (no child can boast that) but he is, amazingly, able to be guided by consistent, loving discipline.  He can sit quietly, calm his body, follow directions, manage frustration, and keep his impulses in check  in a very age-appropriate way.

What a sweet place to finally be!!  For those who are still peeling: keep at it, don't get discouraged.  Sometimes it takes time: for some it will involve extra help from supplements, therapy, low doses of medication or biomedical intervention; but there is hope for children with ADHD and ASD when symptoms are managed from a dietary approach.