Elaine's Children Offer HOPE TO ALL OF US

[Guest guest]

Elaine'sChildren

Jen young recovered a child with EXTREME GI issues and Autism. She had a

lot of difficulties at first but she did not give up. She constantly asked for

help from Elaine Gottschall. Elaine was extremely generous to give daily support

to the struggling mother. It was Elaine's extraordinary wisdom that made this

recovery possible. By carefully reading these posts other parents can also

benefit from Elaine's help to Jen Young. We suggest reading these posts

carefully every two weeks.

JEN

Just take it slow. We did the basic diet for a longgggg time. We are still

only adding new veggies and meat slooowwwllly. I even use alternative meats

while his leaky gut damages (ostrich, guinea fowl). I'm not sure why it helps

him, but he had trouble with chicken and beef and I knew these meats were easy

to digest. We also do Talipia as it is pure and farm-raised. I am a little

paranoid, but I've been to h**l and back and I guess that it is a well earned

paranoia!

FROM COLLEEN

Food allergies are difficult to identify with my son because he reacts to

so many different foods and hidden ingredients.This is true for anyone with

compromised digestion.

FROM JEN

Observation of behavior alone is not easy. It's hard to tell with physical

symptoms because he always has some type of GI symptom. Then YOU'VE NOT ONLY

COME TO THE RIGHT PLACE, BUT THE ONLY PLACE! Let me tell you Karin, my son had

trouble with every carb on the market. Rice, potato,buckwheat, quinoa--I thought

I was insane until I documented his behavior,stools, etc. and analyzed the

results! He also reacted to maltodextrin,sugars in general....you name it. I was

determined to ignore autistic specialists and find a scientific explanation for

his trouble. This diet explains it to a T. Our kids have bowel disorders and

leaky guts, first and foremost and autism second, I believe. Elaine is the only

one I trust in healing the gut.

FROM COLLEEN

I can also do more food allergy (transdermal skin pricks)testing on him

but was just curious if anyone had into this allergy type of problem.

JEN

I agree with Colleen here. One skin test said Colin was allergic to

everything. The next said he wasn't--but to the entire environment. The CAP RAST

said, no environment but just egg and casein. SIGH. My son has yeast and a leaky

gut and these allergists don't know beans about that...

FROM JEN

Also, we know he's very allergic to peaches and I think that almonds are

in the same family as peaches (plum family). My son was " allergic " to most

fruits too. THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE I BELIEVE! My son tolerates fruits now, but we

are holding off as his gut is so damaged and his yeast is so severe. He is just

not ready, but everyone is different. Some on this list eat fruit right away,

some wait. You have to listen to your son's gut and not a test.

FROM COLLEEN

If I do avoid almonds, what other types of flours can he have?

JEN

If you are talking about grain bread - absolutely, positively not.Elaine

likes to say that you can't serve two masters. This is a diet that only works

when followed 100%. Little " cheats " will feed the bad bacteria living in your

son's gut, and continue the cycle. Rotation diets can be helpful when trying to

pinpoint food reactions, but the SCD is much more comprehensive than that.

Please read the book again, and again if necessary.Colin still can't tolerate

the almond flour, or the bean flour (worse!) or any nut flour period. That

doesn't mean he is allergic, just not healed enough yet to digest breads. I know

it sounds like tough love, but I decided I'd rather give my son meats and

veggies now and be militant for a while so he can re-gain strength and then get

to the " fun " stuff.He is now healthy, gaining height and weight, and coming back

to us!! Last year he was echolalic only (repeated everything), and did

self-stim, the whole nine-yards. Since this diet, minus the baked goods, dairy

and most fruit, he has no autistic behaviors left. He is almost caught up in

speech and he is now testing a year in advance in some areas--he doesn't even

fit the ADD diagnosis. We have some setbacks (we had an " applesause " setback, a

probiotic dilemna, and trouble with the vitamin), but we always go back to our

set foods and re-coup. His stools are healthy and 1-2 per day. He does pretend

play, is social, and is so hungry I can barely keep up with him.

FROM COLLEEN

It explains very well in lay terms how and why the diet works, and why it

must be followed to the letter in order to be effective.Would bean and potato

type flours cause an increase in constipation and gas?

JEN

POTATO IS THE ENEMY. I know I am Irish, and I used to live on

potatoes,soy,and sugar (my son took after me)---but please*** don't give any

potatoes!!My son had horrible reactions to that " autistic " potato milk junk and

I kept arguing with the man that it made my son sick! No wonder, it is

impossible for my son to break down and also has carageenan in it to

boot.Re=Read the book BTVC again and again and again...also, the bean flour gave

my son gas and pain and he has been on the diet since APRIL! It sounds like

tough love I know. But close your eyes and imagine how you felt when you had

stool trouble/diar. Then imagine being a child and living with it every day!They

didn't get sick over night, don't expect them to heal over night either.This is

my inspiration.

FROM JEN

Many of us took months to see real changes, and because you have only just

started and don't really understand how it works yet, you've probably been

making mistakes without knowing it. It takes a while to get the hang of it.I

know it's hard to see your child struggling, but you really must be patient, and

you must be very diligent about following the diet *completely*. AMEN! I made

mistakes. I gave Colin a probiotic with inulin in it (a no no),I gave him seeds

the first month (A NO NO!!), and raw veggies were so bad I thought he had an

ulcer...I gave him seeds with sugar on it my mistake (he had to be restrained)

and I also once did cashew flour which is so harsh.Oh, and I noticed the biggest

difference when I cut out the baked goods and sugar (we are now even switching

to water only with occasionally freshly squeezed juice). This is not breaking

the rules. Elaine told us what we can eat but didn't say we had to eat ALL foods

the first few months. Each person is different. It is what NOT to eat that is

the most critical. Plus, once we caught on to the diet (end of April), we

noticed Colin's sensitivities to environmental molds, scents, smoke, perfume,

you name it! We also started an anti-fungal and are still searching for the

perfect one. Also, do the probiotics at one point.

[Jen used acidophilus as a probiotic for her son]

Letter continued....

If you can't do the yoghurt you must get your good bacteria somewhere!!!

My son is a miracle and we did this ALL through food and not through

supplements. Only now are we adding conservative vitamins like cal/magn., C,

etc. and the ones Elaine recommends on page 48 for children.

My son was previously diagnoised first with PDD and then Autism in Jan. He

is now almost 100% fine, and is going to go to a regular class next year. He has

no autistic behavior left! Yes, the vaccines are horrid aren't they? We avoid

them. You know I know it is so scary, and you always want to know how this

happened and why. My son's may have been from his GI difficulities with the ROTA

virus, plus so many antibiotics, plus mecury issues. Regardless, this diet is

helping him. My advice to you is for this child is: stay 100% on this diet.

Also, add foods slowly.

Introduce one food at a time carefully so you truely have a baseline on

what foods his gut is ready for. Also, read Elaine's book until you understand

so well you can quote it in your sleep! This understanding will steel your will

against others who may try to influence this period of healing. My son is still

not ready for the almond flour, but yours may be. It all depends on the stage of

healing he is in. I do recommend you do the basic diet and the yoghurt if

possible. We do the goat's milk yoghurt. Unless someone has a true breathing

problem or allergic reaction to the cow's milk products (for yoghurt and

cheese), I would go for it. If you do goat's or sheep's cheese instead, make

sure it is aged 6 months or more, to stay legal and low lactose. My son does

great on Goat's gouda. The GFCF folk had me terrified of dairy. So insane. I

would try the honey cautiously. My son had oral yeast at first so we didn't do

much fruit or honey for most of the first 4 months. We also tried anti-fungals.

I think if we had done the yoghurt sooner, we would not have needed to. He can

now tolerate the honey and yoghurt fine. Also, please be cautious of raw veggies

and fruits at first. I used to feel sorry for Colin and give in to him since he

was so little and deprived of so many sweets! But it just delayed his healing.

The best advice I can give any one with a child with GI troubles and

developmental delays--is stand up for your child's gut. So many will criticize

you and call this diet " restricted. " It is merely their way of thinking that is

narrow and restricted. Healing is serious business, and don't let anyone get in

your way of it. I certainly don't.

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