Elimination Re-challenge Diet: Diagnosing your Biggest Offenders

As if I needed another project of any kind...I decided to start my girls on an Elimination Re-challenge Diet. I thought to put myself on it as well, but mom doesn't need to be any kind of cranky while she is withholding certain foods from cranky children.That's an exercise in motherly wisdom. I am working on my "fitness level" in that area. ;)

So, WHY am I doing this?

Well, many of you know (as I have shared before) that my oldest daughter was diagnosed with Sensory Processing Disorder at age 3. Don't know what that is? Follow the link below to find out more. Many children struggle with this disorder and it is often misdiagnosed and treated as ADHD or something else. This link will provide a questionnaire to see if your child may fall anywhere on this spectrum. 

 Sensory Processing Disorder Symptoms Check List

The good news about children who struggle with this, is that it can be improved tremendously through diet and exercise. 

The undeniable truth is, whether you are a child or an adult, that food doesn't just affect our waistline...it effects EVERYTHING. It effects or sensory system, our digestive system, and our endocrine sysetem. It effects our brains, our moods, our energy levels, etc. 

One size does not fit all when it comes to food. What may affect one person positively may affect another negatively. That is why it is important to really pay attention to how you feel after eating certain foods. There is always a direct link. We are all metabolically different and we should eat in a way that fuels our bodies and our brains in the best way. 

Anyway, back to the Elimination Re-Challenge Diet.....

My child's behavior changed dramatically within two weeks of changing her diet 3 years ago. I pretty much just removed EVERYTHING that was a big offender all at once.

Dairy

Gluten

Soy

Food Dyes

Sugar

Etc....

As she has gotten older and improved, I have become more lenient with her diet. I feed my children whole, organic, and natural foods, but sometimes that just doesn't matter. If dairy makes my child go nuts then she'll go nuts whether it's organic or not. She can take things in small amounts on select occasions and be fine, but after vacation and well....to much slacking on my part, she has begun posing symptoms that haunted me years ago. 

No sleeping. 

Falling everywhere.

Breaking everything.

Spinning. 

Melt Downs.

No impulse control.

Oh, and because she is very mature and self-aware, she will tell me that her body feels out of control.

So, I have put my foot down and decided to uncover the "SPECIFIC" offenders, so that we can avoid them always.

So here's the idea:

Week one: You remove EVERYTHING

no. Wheat. Dairy. Gluten. Corn. Sugar. Eggs. and a whole list of other things. 

Staring on Week 2/Day 8, I will begin reintroducing each suspect offender one day at a time to see how she reacts. 

Day 8: Dairy

Day 9: Wheat

Day 10: Corn

and the list will go on until I have reintroduced each suspect.

This will help me identify the biggest culprits one ingredient at a time. 

We started this diet on Monday. It has been challenging for sure, but so far...so good. And I am telling you that BOTH of my girls are totally back to normal right now on Day 3. I let them know what we would be doing this week and talked to them in detail about it before starting. They are actually
taking the challenge on with great pride and excitement. They understand the link between bad food and bad feelings. I am grateful for that. It has been fun to get in the kitchen with them and experiment with new foods. They are being troopers and I am so proud of them. 

I highly recommend doing this if you are an adult who struggles with certain ailments as well. For example:

Fatigue

Bloating

Mood Swings 

Headaches

This may help to single out specific offenders in your own diet. 

Here is a link to the plan I am following. 

Let me know if you've ever tried something like this out and what you found out!

Elimination Re-Challenge Diagnosis Diet