This is my little guy's "silly" face. It always looks a bit painful and we strive for pictures of his "real" smile - which he simply can not give you on command. It is stunning though and so contagious when we do get a glimpse of it.
Anyway, quick update today in the "health" category. I am trying to get food allergy tests done on all of our family. It is expensive and not covered by insurance, so I am doing it one at a time, based on who has the most issues that need addressing. We tested Joshua, Bryce, and Graham first as they were all struggling with things that I knew were food related. Some of their allergies surprised us and some we had already figured out by elimination. We have seen really good results with eliminating the problem foods from their diets.
Patrick just had his food allergy test a few weeks ago. He was having some skin issues and he has huge tonsils. We have tried several things to work on these conditions, but with little success. We received his allergy results and found that he is severely allergic to eggs and also allergic to almonds, pineapples, citrus fruits, and sesame seeds. Not too bad, actually - I can work with that. Since we were drawing blood anyway, we went ahead and did a blood work up. The results showed that his body was not getting enough protein. It was funny because the last few months before the test, Patrick had virtually stopped eating meat, and really wasn't eating a large amount of anything. Most of his protein was coming from eggs and the almond and coconut milk he drinks. He has been growing taller, but seemed pretty skinny to me.
I was a little nervous about cutting out eggs and almonds, since those were his largest sources of protein. Then, something really unexpected happened. Within three days of stopping the foods he was allergic to I noticed that Patrick was eating everything in sight. He was eating as much meat at each meal as my husband - entire chicken breasts, whole 1/3 of a pound hamburgers. He was shoveling in veggies like he had been starving.
Suddenly, I saw chubs forming on his arms and legs where he had been so skinny before.
He has been off of his food allergens for about 6 weeks now and I can't wait to see how much weight he has gained (we don't own a scale). None of his clothes fit and he is visibly bigger. He eats ALL the time!!
Another interesting thing happened about a week ago. He found some almonds in the pantry and before I knew it he had eaten a handful of them. That was about 11:00 in the morning. After that, he refused to put another bite in his mouth all day and twice he told me he had a stomach ache. Poor thing, he has probably had a stomach ache a lot and didn't have the words to tell me. The next day he woke up ravenous and has been eating us out of house and home ever since.
Studies show that many many illnesses are caused by food intolerance. It is not always the anaphylactic reactions that make allergies immediately known - sometimes it can be a skin rash, a slight tummy ache, acne, depression, constipation, mood swings or poor sleeping. When you continue to consume foods that your body can not digest, you are not properly absorbing the nutrients your body needs - like Patrick's lack of protein and you are creating an inflammatory response in your gut. Over time, this can lead to all sorts of health issues from arthritis to cancer. You can be allergic to very healthy foods - like pineapple and almonds, so it is not always simply a matter of cutting out "junk" food.
Food allergy tests can be pricey, but they are worth it in the long run. I recommend the ALCAT test, but your naturopath may have another one that is similar.
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