3 Comments

  1. Rachel T at |

    I have one more piece that may be useful information. While my son is thriving and I feel really good about being mindful and healthy with food choices, I do notice that he comes home from his fathers somewhat frequently with loose stool or some diarrhea. I notice his stool to be loose form time to time and I do wonder if there is something else that needs to come to balance as far as our choices. I do not want to go super restrictive and I woudl also love to help him find as much balance as possible.

    Thanks again 🙂

    Reply
  2. Rachel T at |

    Hi Elizabeth.

    I do agree completely in organic foods and I am trying really hard to get his father to also make those choices for him. It feels so important to my heart and to the planet and our health. I totally agree.

    I have many other foods that I personally do not eat, but that my son eats. These came through my own sensitivity tests and have really helped me heal at a deeper level. He is 4 and has been GF and DF since birth. He did so amazingly well on breast milk with my diet and I felt very called to keep him GF and DF as he grew. He never burped up. Had rashes or anything of the sort. I also feel that when he was smaller our bodies were very intertwined. I am a mother who still breastfeeds in the morning and at night. I can feel him really stepping into his own being and as this happens I want to be sure to listen to his body and what his needs are. When he was younger though it just felt right in all of my being to keep him GF and DF. I can see your point about being mindful of cutting out whole food categories. I will feel into that more deeply and consider what will best suit him. If gluten or dairy can nurture his body, I am open to him having organic high quality sources but he is so healthy now, I am not sure we really need to change what we are doing. He is thriving so I feel that my decisions so far have really served him and his growth. I do a lot of mediation and asking for guidance of my inner knowing and source. I will bring this in for consideration. But for now I feel what I have been doing is working well. Is there anything you can share that woudl alarm me that these decisions are not serving at this time?

    I pay very close attention to ingredients. I am very thoughtful and also realize that a lot of GF stuff is actually crap and I do not eat that or bring it into the house. Reading ingredients is so important. We actually are taking our relationship to food one step further. We began growing our own food this year also. It’s such a beautiful shift to be connecting with the land more deeply and really knowing where our foods comes from. Allowing my son to dig and harvest food. We need more than what our garden grew, so we go to the local farmers market for our vegetables and fruit . Eating not only organic , but also local feels so nutritious and I can feel it deeply in my body and the way I feel. We are are making friends with farmers and ranchers and really getting to know our food at very intimate levels. We are visiting farms to see where the animals live. My son gets to actually pick the duck eggs we eat. We are really creating a connection to Mother Nature and our bodies. We are also creating community around the market and eating healthy. We even started a little local farmers market in our neighborhood where people can being what they grow. My son got to be the farmer and we got to share our veggies with our neighbors. I feel really good about the influence from these decisions.

    The hard part here is that his father makes very different personal food choices for himself. Not just gluten or dairy but mostly GMO and non organic. With his older son I witnessed him choosing hydrogenated cinnamon rolls from king snoopers every morning for breakfast. I witnessed sugary cereal, laffy taffy and McDonald’s. These are things that I do not even consider food. I am really fighting for quality here too. If we were to begin to introduce gluten or dairy, I would need it to be only organic and good quality in a manner that is safe and transparent so we can really pay attention, rather than a gateway for more bad choices. I will say that my intuition is saying no to that introduction at this time. I have fought very hard to hold this for my son and it feels so important. I have used food to heal and I know what it can do. I want to use this knowledge to pass to my child so that he can really eat for his body . I am open to seeing what his body tells us though.

    That’s where testing comes in for me. I also reached out to our family Chinese medicine doctor and after considering his view, I feel it could be a great idea to get a look at my sons body and just see what that shows us. I would do a finger prick test and stool sample for a basic look. In my Chinese medicine doctors opinion, many food sensitivities are passed down and it could be likely for a child to have the same sensitivities as the mother or father. He has been our family doctor since 2012 and has helped me balance from my own autoimmune healing. He is actually who brought the awareness around food sensitivities to my life and I trust his 30 years of experience for sure. You and I started working together a few years later when I needed a bit more tweaking than gluten and dairy and thank you for your help too!

    As I incorporate my Chinese Medicine Doctors view point deeper into consideration , I am drawn to looking at my family history. Both of my grandmothers had IBS and chronic digestive problems. My mother has had her share of symptoms relating to sensitivities as well. My sons fathers family has extreme obesity and this is another factor I am considering while I considering my sons relationship to food.

    So in looking at our whole picture, I feel that the information a test provides could be really beneficial in making good and healthy food choices. I do have a very different view than you on this topic though. Rather than a recipie for an unhealthy relationship with food, I see it as an opportunity to share wisdom and knowledge about making healthy choices and listening to our bodies. I see it as a gift of my own healing process and look forward to helping my son listen to his body and make good choices that will nurture and keep his health balanced. I feel it will be a great conversation to continue and light the path for a well balanced life.

    Thank you for your work Elizabeth. I appreciate your time and knowledge and your help in my healing process. I hope my perspective helps others as they make decisions for their families.

    Reply

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

By posting a comment, you consent to have your personally identifiable information collected and used in accordance with our privacy policy.