Gut & Anxiety, Who Knew?

Be forewarned, I'm going to stray away from business and technology in today's post.

My daughter has had anxiety issues. We're not talking about the "nervous about the test in school" variety. We're talking about off the persistence and severity scale. I believe her record was about 7 hours at a level 10 as we drove her around Las Vegas while visiting family from 10:00 PM to 5:30 AM. We're talking about your above average anxiety, or so I thought.

My wife and I have been dealing with this for four years, so we've ventured down many paths trying to solve this problem. We've tried:

• .. to Ignore it, it will go away (it didn't, it got worse)
• School intervention (made it worse)
• Medication (made her worse and suicidal)
• Children's Hospital (recommended a blood test and Prilosec, not much help here)
• Nutritionist (got her to understand how important protein is)
• Therapy (good on coping skills)

While the therapy helped with her coping mechanisms, the anxiety persisted and still at extremely high levels. My wife Anita has long thought that the solution was food related. She didn't get much support on this from any of the medical experts. I was skeptical, too.

About two months ago (Jan. 24th to be exact) we had lost hope. Four years is a long time to deal with an issue like this, and it had integrated itself into every aspect of our life. Getting any sleep before midnight was just not any part of our reality. A meal at a restaurant? There were few we could go to, and even those we would end up paying for it that night with an excessive attack.

Anita had been talking to our daughter-in-law Julie, who recommended the GAPS diet. It stands for Gut And Psychology Syndrome. Initially skeptical, she won me over when she said, "If kids acted the way they do today 40 years ago, they would be institutionalized". The definition of what was once called a mental illness had somehow become the new 'normal' for many children, within my lifetime. It was time to give this a try, what did we have to lose?

GAPS is not a "diet" as in a way to lose weight. It's a lifestyle change:

• No grains (corn, bread, flour, etc.)
• No starches (rice, potatoes, etc.)
• No sugar
• Nothing "processed"
• Only Organic

We have seen more progress in the last 4 weeks than in all of the last 4 years! My wife is out tonight on a Mom's night out (they do crafts or something!) and my daughter is sleeping. This was not even a remote possibility before GAPS. My daughter who was underweight, has gained weight and is now a low end 'healthy weight' and gaining. I've lost 3" around my waist. My wife is losing weight (again though, GAPS is NOT a weight loss program!) and looking GREAT.

GAPS is all about food allergies and avoiding processed food and pesticides found in a lot of today's food chain. My daughter constantly had dark circles under her eyes. I recently learned that this is an indication of a food allergy. Not one Doctor told us this. My daughter is sensitive to corn (its in everything processed, it seems), milk, and probably soy. She no longer has those dark circles since we started GAPS. I recently read to Kindergarten children as a part of a Rotary project. There were a lot of kids with those dark circles in the class I read to.

We did have had one setback, we introduced dairy into her diet in too large a quantity and all at once. Prayer got us through that. Thank you Pastor Myron!

Our grocery costs have gone up substantially because of the organics and grain alternatives, but we budget this gladly. If that's the price to pay for having a 'normal' family life, its a small price to pay. Anita and I started this diet to support our daughter. I don't think we could ever go back. Do the research yourself and make your own conclusions. I recommend you Google 'GMO hazards, 'corn fed beef vs grass fed beef',and 'corn allergies in children' (see http://www.cornallergens.com/symptoms/corn-allergy-symptoms.php.  I believe it relates to many of today's childhood illnesses now requiring medication).

GAPS has been a life changer for us. I recently realized our situation was in no way unique, although we thought it was. We felt no one could help, understood the problem, and few, if any, had experienced or were going through what we were. If you know someone that might benefit from GAPS, please pass this on.

Thank you.