Wednesday, July 16, 2014

FOOD ALLERGIES & READING

Food Allergies and Reading...

If you read my last post, you will know about our latest endeavor. Eliminating Gluten, Dairy, and Eggs from my son's diet.

In the quest of trying to understand my very irritable, oppositional son whom appeared to be flunking out of school at the early age of 8, I decided to go with a hunch and an alternative approach.

With the help of a psychiatrist, Dr. James Greenblatt, we set out to find the "root cause" for all of his issues. The obvious question being, "Something has to be the root cause for things like ADHD, ODD?"  "It does not occur without a reason?"  "Something has to be amiss physiologically?" "Right?"

Right.

As a whole, Brandon came back looking not to shabby on paper. With a few glitches. It turns out some very  important glitches. He is extremely allergic/Intolerant to Milk (casein, whey), Gluten, and Eggs.

One month now, we are pretty clean from a dietary standpoint.

In one month, my son's reading level has jumped up from a level I (beginning of 2nd grade) to a letter P, 3rd grade. He is starting 3rd grade this fall. I am thrilled. Just thrilled. He is reading with fluency and accuracy as well. I can't believe that something as simple as a food allergy could cause enough brain fog and neurotransmitter upset to produce such adverse symptoms.

He also came up low in calcium, magnesium, and lithium. Not horribly low, but low. Apparently kids who end up with diagnosis's like ADHD tend to run low on these. We have been using a product called, Calm, by Puritian's Pride. It is a powder form of magnesium. It is supposed to increase magnesium and calcium. So far, I have been giving it to both my boys and I am seeing some nice results. Calm. I am seeing more calm.

Next week, we will add a natural form of lithium to his diet. Not the psyche drug. When one is low on lithium naturally, it too can cause brain fog and concentration issues. This will be interesting.

Stand by, I will keep you posted.

Q