Donna Iovine
My story........
I started to feel better after removing the wheat and milk from my diet recently. Again. Many, many years ago I went through a small fortune of extensive testing by a specialty doctor who informed me that I needed to eliminate all wheat products, sugar, orange juice and a bunch of other favorite foods of mine. I laughed. What was I to eat? Couch lint? He didn't laugh. He was serious. He stated that most times what our body craves most is what we are most sensitive to. So first we must cleanse and drink a special shake. Cool, I thought. I like shakes. Vanilla please!
My next stop was to a local health food store where I spent another small fortune purchasing the long list of foreign items I was to mix in a 'morning breakfast shake'. The stuff made me gag and went down the drain with my money. I never went back to see that quack doctor.
Fast forward. Now I'm on a desperate search to find that not-so-quackish doctor! Heh heh. When the student is ready, the teacher will come they say. Well, I'M READY. Just hold the shake, please.
Something to ponder for a moment....when a puppy, kitten or any other animal's baby is weened off of its mother's milk, why then, do we as human beings, continue to drink ANOTHER animal's milk after we are weaned off the breast? Puzzling.
Could IBS (irritable bowel syndrome, ahem, embarrassing), mucus from clearing the throat all the time (annoying), and a host of other health problems be related to drinking milk and eating wheat products? Bloating. Painful abdominal cramps throughout the night followed by mellifluous 'wind'. Honey! Wakeup! Arrrgggghhh!
The next time I heard about the topic of eliminating wheat/gluten and milk/casein, was in 2007 from a neighbor whose autistic child benefited from a gluten free, casein free diet dramatically! This was also around the same time I read Jenny McCarthy's book on the same topic related to HER autistic son.
Alas, this caught my attention again so I tried to incorporate a GFCF diet into family meals. Not only did I nearly break the bank, but trying to find 'like' products to replace occasional snacking was very challenging and time consuming for a busy working mom. Forget about pasta! My younger son was diagnosed with the following familiar acronyms: ADHD, GAD, ODD and recently IBS along with many other fun GI episodes we need not mention. I had to help him. All he wanted to eat was cereal with milk, buttery pasta with a glass of milk, mac and cheese and cookies. And milk. Throw in a cheeseburger or steak once in awhile. When I eliminated the offending items he threw a fit. Horrible. Horrible. Horrible. Mini-hulk man.
Now, 5 years later, my son announced to me that he wants to try a gluten free diet again because he saw his favorite box of cereal, which to his surprise is GF, in grandma's cupboard and he hopes the change will make him feel better. Aw. Snif. Okay, little grasshopper. Here we go again.
The quest continues. For me. For my son. And maybe for you, too. Fyi, I may be a licensed esthetician (I do skin), but I am no doctor nor nutritionist. I just play one on TV. Haha. Not really. To see my personal 15 minutes of fame you can visit my links from the Rachel Ray show and The Bio channel. I was a guest on the Tyra Banks Show talking about 'snake venum' as a skin care specialist, but no access to the link from the appearance.
I started to feel better after removing the wheat and milk from my diet recently. Again. Many, many years ago I went through a small fortune of extensive testing by a specialty doctor who informed me that I needed to eliminate all wheat products, sugar, orange juice and a bunch of other favorite foods of mine. I laughed. What was I to eat? Couch lint? He didn't laugh. He was serious. He stated that most times what our body craves most is what we are most sensitive to. So first we must cleanse and drink a special shake. Cool, I thought. I like shakes. Vanilla please!
My next stop was to a local health food store where I spent another small fortune purchasing the long list of foreign items I was to mix in a 'morning breakfast shake'. The stuff made me gag and went down the drain with my money. I never went back to see that quack doctor.
Fast forward. Now I'm on a desperate search to find that not-so-quackish doctor! Heh heh. When the student is ready, the teacher will come they say. Well, I'M READY. Just hold the shake, please.
Something to ponder for a moment....when a puppy, kitten or any other animal's baby is weened off of its mother's milk, why then, do we as human beings, continue to drink ANOTHER animal's milk after we are weaned off the breast? Puzzling.
Could IBS (irritable bowel syndrome, ahem, embarrassing), mucus from clearing the throat all the time (annoying), and a host of other health problems be related to drinking milk and eating wheat products? Bloating. Painful abdominal cramps throughout the night followed by mellifluous 'wind'. Honey! Wakeup! Arrrgggghhh!
The next time I heard about the topic of eliminating wheat/gluten and milk/casein, was in 2007 from a neighbor whose autistic child benefited from a gluten free, casein free diet dramatically! This was also around the same time I read Jenny McCarthy's book on the same topic related to HER autistic son.
Alas, this caught my attention again so I tried to incorporate a GFCF diet into family meals. Not only did I nearly break the bank, but trying to find 'like' products to replace occasional snacking was very challenging and time consuming for a busy working mom. Forget about pasta! My younger son was diagnosed with the following familiar acronyms: ADHD, GAD, ODD and recently IBS along with many other fun GI episodes we need not mention. I had to help him. All he wanted to eat was cereal with milk, buttery pasta with a glass of milk, mac and cheese and cookies. And milk. Throw in a cheeseburger or steak once in awhile. When I eliminated the offending items he threw a fit. Horrible. Horrible. Horrible. Mini-hulk man.
Now, 5 years later, my son announced to me that he wants to try a gluten free diet again because he saw his favorite box of cereal, which to his surprise is GF, in grandma's cupboard and he hopes the change will make him feel better. Aw. Snif. Okay, little grasshopper. Here we go again.
The quest continues. For me. For my son. And maybe for you, too. Fyi, I may be a licensed esthetician (I do skin), but I am no doctor nor nutritionist. I just play one on TV. Haha. Not really. To see my personal 15 minutes of fame you can visit my links from the Rachel Ray show and The Bio channel. I was a guest on the Tyra Banks Show talking about 'snake venum' as a skin care specialist, but no access to the link from the appearance.