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Proverbs 30:8 Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me. |
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While surfing the net I learned about the dietary treatment of autism. By eliminating the proteins gluten and casein from autistic children's diets their symptoms improve, sometimes significantly. I had tried lots of other treatments for my sons and had pretty much accepted that the way things were was as good as it could get. Still, I love my kids and I would be remiss if I didn't try every avenue of treatment. So, as skeptical as I was, I gave it a try. I decided we would spend a month without gluten or casein. After a month, we would reexamine the situation to determine if the diet was working or if it was just another millstone around my neck.
Then something amazing happened. Within a week my oldest son changed
from a surly, angry, sarcastic teenager into the boy I remember from
when he was still nursing. His charming sense of humor returned, he
was playful, patient and cooperative. Our youngest son, by now a teen
too, was able to reduce his ADHD meds by half. I think he could go
off them entirely, but he's not willing to do that yet. I'm letting
he and his doctor negotiate it between themselves for now. In addition to the kids' improvements I discovered some benefits of the new diet for myself. A painful, eczema-like, skin rash I'd been battling for a decade literally disappeared overnight. A mild case of acne I've had since I hit puberty cleared up within a week and other than an occasional blemish, it hasn't returned. My hair had been thinning due to Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS). When I started the diet my hair stopped thinning and within a few months I noticed it was growing back where it had once fallen out. Perhaps best of all was the massive amount of energy and motivation I found, seemingly out of the blue. I had begun to wonder if I had chronic fatigue syndrome because of my constant exhaustion. After changing our diet I could barely believe the improvements. For both boys and for me too it was the difference between night and day.
My husband Fred and I have been through hard times. We've learned to
cut corners, pinch pennies, and make do with what we have because
that was the only option. Frugality is not something to be resorted
to in desperation. It's simply good money management. With these
skills already under my belt I determined to take the bull by the
horns and make a way to keep our new healthy diet and still
maintain our grocery budget. Because of the nature of Fred's job, our paychecks can fluctuate by as much as 40%. We call this a Feast or Famine lifestyle. One of the coping methods I've developed is buying extra food during times of Feasting to see us abundantly through times of Famine. Some easily stored foods require specialized recipes and cooking methods which I've addressed in the section on GFCF Frugal Food Storage. The current recession is forcing me to redouble my efforts, examining methods of saving money that I may not have entertained in the past. These days we're having fewer Feasts and more Famines, but we're still maintaining our dietary needs and feeling better than ever. |
Welcome
. . .
Gluten
is found in many grains including wheat, barley, rye and spelt.
Casein is found in most dairy products like milk, yogurt and cheese.
It can also be found in some products that claim to be nondairy such
as powdered nondairy creamer and many nondairy "Veggie"
cheeses. All of my family's favorite foods would be out of the
picture if we gave this diet a try so I had to do a lot of homework
to prepare for our first month. Even still I found it challenging. I
seriously doubted that all the extra work and expense would be worth
it. 
The
benefits of giving up gluten and casein were impossible to deny. The
only drawback was the cost. Specialty GFCF foods cost an absolute
fortune! Our grocery bill literally tripled overnight. Ouch!
Especially during these inflationary times that is something that we
just couldn't afford. I didn't want to give up our dietary changes
but I was wondering how we could afford to maintain them.
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Proverbs 31:27 She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness. |
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