Gluten Free Pizza – NOT Food
Today my autistic spectrum child proved to us, yet again, how food affects his system on a level of sensitivity that makes us look at food like it’s a drug. He made one mistake, eating gluten free pizza. Exhaustion settled on him like a dark cloud so thick it was impenetrable. His ears hurt when the air conditioning kicked on, the hum of the refrigerator was deafening, the dehydrator fan was blaring in his ears. His shirt became needles as it touched his skin while the tag was a zone of fire lighting up his neck. He was frustrated. He was defeated. He was angry.
He snapped at his brother. School was over, tears were fought with every power of his strength, his brain was confused with emotions that weren’t real.
He was done.
The project he was working on for the looming County Fair came to a screeching halt. Instantaneously he was consumed with thoughts of failure. It wasn’t just failure it was a deficiency bomb that imploded inside his head. He signed up for this project and now it looked as though it wouldn’t get completed. He couldn’t function.
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His discomfort was visible. You could see his blood crawling with insects. They were racing through his system like they were buzzed on caffeine. His ears were lit up with sounds that were so loud he wanted to scream – like he wanted to tear out so fast in a dead run that his suit of skin would be left standing in place leaving only echoing cartoon escape sounds.
Then without thinking his brother shoved his hand into the Lego drawer. The sound of Lego pieces crashing against each other in a cacophony of crashing knives made him freeze.
He looked as though he was going to detonate.
I watched the scene unfold in less than five seconds. Memories of our lives seven years ago flooded my brain as I remembered what life was like when he suffered from autism, ADHD and bipolar disorder. What we were seeing now was a mild wave compared to his former self. I quickly processed the food he had just eaten.
It’s always food.
Whenever there’s a problem, it’s caused by food.
Every.
Single.
Time.
Clean food has made him a normal child for the past seven years but today was triggered by something tainted. He ate something food-ish. He put something in his mouth that wasn’t digestible food. I could picture God sitting up on His throne, looking down, watching and patiently waiting, thinking, “I didn’t make that. It’s not food. If it’s not food, don’t put it in your mouth.”
Gluten free pizza I hate you. You feed candida. You look so fun. You look like something we could eat so that we feel like normal people but you’re not. You are a tricky bacteria feeding demon! I curse you and regret bringing you home. You are no treat indeed. You are a drug that floods his body with a high but then causes damage beyond measure and explanation.
I know better.
He knows better.
We thought it was OK. Seven years with minor issues and we thought we could stretch our legs like normal people. Boy were we wrong.
[amazon-element asin=”B0009ET9X6″ fields=”lg-image” ]He took some cat’s claw, a natural herb that kills candida growth and a strong dose of highly absorbable vitamin C. Click on this link pictured for cat’s claw. He pulled out of his downward spiral in less than two hours but afterwards he was exhausted. We talked and talked and talked about it with him speaking the most. He’s getting older and it’s important he knows what food does to him so he confirms his future food choices.
Last month on August 2, 2013, the FDA passed a law on gluten free labeling saying, “Foods that contain gluten trigger production of antibodies that attack and damage the lining of the small intestine.” They go on to say when some people ingest gluten it causes them to not, “Absorb nutrients and puts them at risk of other very serious health problems, including nutritional deficiencies, osteoporosis, growth retardation, infertility, miscarriages, short stature, and intestinal cancers.”
The problem is gluten free flours are not beneficial.
Thousands of parents with autistic kids are trying a gluten free casein free diet to heal their children but it does not work! The reason being is gluten free flours are often made from high starch sources which feed bad bacteria in the intestinal tract. Dr. Natasha Campbell-Mcbride, renowned neurologist and groundbreaking doctor who is curing autistic children by the thousands through diet, says gluten free flours should be avoided at all costs. The starchy flours feed problematic bacteria that break the blood brain barrier and cause massive issues for these kids. She says they can not eat gluten free foods.
I know! I know. I was just trying to let my kid be normal. I know better.
Tag:Food
18 Comments
Wow, powerful post. I feel for you. I have 1 dd who is on the GAPS diet and so grain free of course. It is helping her. I wonder sometimes if she can ever eat any grains again; I guess time will tell.
I almost ordered GF pizza tonight at Lupi’s since the whole family was eating “normal” pizza and it looked soooooo good. But I didn’t. Just salad, no croutons. Sorry about The Boy. Glad to hear he’s feeling better.
show off! (but we should join you there some day so the boys can paint pottery!!!!!!!!)
Lupi’s gf pizza crust tastes identical to Bob’s Red Mill gf pizza crust mix, in case you are interested in checking out the ingredients.
gluten free flours feed bad bacteria. if they gut damage is mild the reaction many not be noticeable. gluten free flours are generally made from rice flour, potato flours… actually a huge list of items that are starch. starch foods feed bad bacteria. we generally make our bread items from almond flour or coconut flour – the only flours we can use. i tried to cut corners thinking we could do it after 7 years of being fine. i should have known better. it was a good teachable moment for him. that’s always good.
was just added to http://www.purposefulnutrition.com/ – how exciting!
Do you have more info or links about cats claw and candida. I have bad candida but also just found out im 11 weeks pregnant with our 3rd child, not sure if there is much I can do or take that is safe when pregnant. Trying to eat as clean as possible with lots of ferments but its challenging as you know. Thank you for the post its a great reminder to me even though my boys do not react that severely, damage is done every-time we “cheat” and its so unnecessary.
well said rachel! that’s a question for your practitioner. i posted on candida a few days ago. i really need to learn how to link post to post! http://nourishingplot.com/2013/09/09/the-affects-of-candida-and-curing-overgrowth/
Really great post!
I work in special ed. Some of the students are ASD, some are not. ALL of the kids prefer fish crackers and graham crackers. A few of the kids eat some other things.
When I went to the official autism workshop for the district, they said that dietary interventions do not work. They said sometimes they work temporarily, but then stop working. I’m going to assume that the reason is because they’re going gluten (maybe casein) free without addressing anything else.
I’ve seen evidence that dietary interventions DO work. But they have to be the right ones :).
debbie things like this make me sad because people then stop trying with food when food DOES work. there’s a previous post with a list of foods that work: http://nourishingplot.com/2013/08/12/foods-to-eat-to-curb-adhd-autism/. i’m new at this and still learning how to link a post into a post. i should add it to that post. even on the list if the foods aren’t clean the child will still have reactions. for example if you eating peanut butter, which is a clean food for ADD kids, but it has high fructose corn syrup or sugar or emulsifyers, or anything other than peanuts and salt in the ingredients the child will react. there are so many ingredients added in food today that you really need to be a detective to feed these kids. it’s sad, in my opinion, that we are eating so much food that isn’t food.
I agree the food makes such a huge difference. What about trying an immune modulator like LDN or DMG on him? After almost a year on LDN, my son has much less food reactions, whereas he once had 8 or so food allergies, anaphylactic pet allergies, and severe plant and environmental allergies. Gluten is still bad for him, but he does have cheese and cream cheese now with pretty much no reaction. All but the avocado allergy are gone. It seems to help the immune system calm down and stop over-reacting to everything, with hardly any side effects. Keeping him on a clean diet is crucial as well. The immune modulators help keep them from backsliding if they eat something they are not supposed to after they’ve been on them a bit.
that’s something for a future study for sure. thanks! we don’t do medicines unless it’s an absolute necessity. we respond to nearly all side affects. that’s why we heal with just food.
Wow, Becky! Just WOW!
Becky what trigger the reaction? the basic pizza is very easy to make. It is dough tomatoes and cheese. I substitute (is that correct?) the dough with dry eggplants, (stick them in the oven with a bit of olive oi )l make my own tomato sauce and whatever cheese on top. I stick to mozzarella since i m from the old country. When it’s done fresh basil, or oregano. or Braggs yeast. (that for the kids).
items in pizza that grow bad bacteria are gluten free flours and mozzerella cheese. then it depends on what is actually in the meat products like meat glue, msg, sugar or wheat in the spices. a lot of pizza’s also have sugar in the sauce.
Becky this is such an important post. It’s so awful that there are so many gluten free products and they are just as bad and they are 4 times as expensive. And parents are buying them hoping to help their families! Ahhhhh… Thank you so much for this post. And you are not alone in your search for normal. I used to feel why can’t I eat donuts and pizza–everyone else can! Well, really no one can. If it’s not candida, or asperger’s, or autism, it will be cancer and diabetes eventually. Real people eat real food!
Thanks for linking up at Healing With Food Friday! http://peelingbacktheonionlayers.com/healing-with-food-friday-2/
oh goodness what a treat to be linked through your site – thanks dawn! loved some of those articles. i’m in good company there.