Awakening

Yesterday Java and I went to a park and spent time with the woman Java lived the first full year of her life with. Java is always so excited to see her former foster mom and in the days before we met she made two homemade gifts to give her, a bead necklace and a glass heart filled with colored rice. I enjoy visiting with her as well because even beyond our shared love for Java, we have a lot in common.

An adolescent daughter in Java's former foster family had severe "medication resistant" depression and after the family had tried everything for several years to help her, one doctor suggested testing her for celiac disease.

Bingo.

The family went gluten free and their daughter's depression, a monster that had threatened to take her life, healed.

This family ate healthy meals but their daughter's brain was malnourished because of her digestive and immune system problems.

From this article...

In “sensitive” people who are genetically predisposed to this celiac disease, malabsorption of significant nutrients including B vitamins, essential fatty acids, some minerals (calcium and zinc, for instance) compound the mental and emotional component. Malabsorption can stunt the stature of children, slow the maturation rate, create an over-sensitive or irritable brain tissue, and perhaps alter the learning styles (sensory perception issues) of these children. Because gluten enteropathy is, in part, an immune system disorder originating in the wall of the small intestine, any amount of gluten from wheat, rye, barley, and oats keeps the immune system activated, which in turn may result in “spreading” of symptoms.

There are a lot of people who think the elimination diet we implemented for our children is a fad and that we are just desperate parents who are grasping at straws. There is some truth to that. We were desperate. Last year when an autoimmune disorder joined forces with our children's FASD, it was an enemy that threatened to take us all down. And as far as the whole fad thing....I think western society is waking up to the fact that all of our processed bready, cheese smothered foods have left us fat and malnourished. Call it a fad if you wish. I prefer "awakening".