Why is my child chronically ill? What can I do about it?

This post was going to be a comment to a Steemian mom, but then it became so long, it turned into a post. And then it grew into an even bigger post. Hopefully there is information here that can help others as well.

There are various conditions that no amount of good nutrition and energy work will help, but if the condition falls into the broad category of allergies (including intolerances and sensitivities), there is a lot you can do. And you might be surprised to see how many conditions can be caused, or made worse, by reactions to food or something in the environment.

SYMPTOMS

Symptoms that might indicate a food or environmental intolerance, in either children or adults, fall roughly into 6 main categories:

The ones you might notice first might be :

• Eating & Nutrition - eg. Celiac disease / Gluten and/or casein intolerance / Food allergies or sensitivities / Malnutrition, nutritional deficiencies / Fussy eater / Will only eat limited range of foods / Holding food in mouth for long periods / Anorexia / Cravings (sugar, starch, etc) / Pica (persistent and compulsive cravings to eat nonfood items such as dirt)

• Digestion & elimination - eg. Constipation / Infrequency / Holding on / Diarrhoea / Irritable Bowel Syndrome / Gas or Bloating / Acid reflux, heartburn / Leaky gut / Abdominal ache or pain, nausea / Diverticulitis / Crohns disease, ulcerative colitis / Colic / Bed wetting / Cystitis

• Environmental - eg. Chemical sensitivities / Respiratory sensitivities / Hayfever / Asthma / Eczema, psoriasis, skin issues / Gut dysbiosis / Candida / yeast overgrowth / Recurring thrush, athlete’s foot / Headaches

Others that you might not think of as being due to allergies could be:

• Mental & Psychological – eg. Autism / Aspergers (ASD) / ADD (attention deficit disorder) / Hyperactivity, ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) / Dyslexia, other learning issues / Dyspraxia (extreme clumsiness) / Brain fog / Anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) / Depression, bi-polar / Schizophrenia / Substance abuse

• Social & Behavioural - eg. Behavioral problems / Socialisation problems / Difficulties making friends / Lack of empathy / Being too timid / Lack of self confidence

• Physiological – eg. Failure to thrive / Recurring earaches or infections / Chronic fatigue / Adrenal gland disorders / Low functioning thyroid / Sleep disorders / Menstrual or premenstrual issues / Muscle or joint pain / Blood sugar problems (Type 1 Diabetes, Type 2 diabetes, Hyper or hypoglycaemia) / Metabolic syndrome / Autoimmune diseases

CAUSES

For the purposes of this post, I’m going to break them down into 3 broad categories:

• Physical
• Emotional
• Spiritual

PHYSICAL

These are the reasons a doctor will look for, and could include genetics, structural issues, biochemical imbalances, toxic overload or stress on organs and glands. If there are multiple sensitivities, the underlying cause is probably physical.

Some allergies can be caused by structural misalignment, particularly in the neck, and a chiropractor can help with that.

Food allergies can be managed by not eating the problem foods, and some other biochemical issues can be helped by being careful about eating the right ratios of protein, carbs and fat.

But if we look a bit deeper, we might be able to address the actual causes, and get some deeper healing. One very common problem, which can be improved, is gut dysbiosis. This is when the normal gut flora is disrupted. As a result, food is not digested properly, some needed nutrients are not produced in the gut and the gut lining can become leaky.

I often use the GAPS dietary protocol with clients, which aims to:

• Repair the gut lining
• Rebalance the gut flora
• Improve digestive ability
• Gently detoxify

For the purposes of this post, I’m going to use the daughter of two Steemians as an example case, and assume that this is a possible underlying issue. Her mom says that at the moment the only foods she is able to eat are:

• Meats - chicken, pork, reindeer and lamb
• Vegetables - sweet potato, cauliflower, broccoli, carrot, butternut squash, lettuce
• Carbs - corn, Teff-flower (porridge)
• Fruits - raspberry, lingonberry, rose hip, and some fruits (pear, peach, mango, banana, apricot) but only in certain form from a certain brand (ready mashed, no added sugar)

In this case, as she is so sensitive, we would need to tread very cautiously. GAPS has certain healing foods, and we could look at slowly introducing them one at a time. The good thing is that they are different forms of her tolerated foods, rather than new foods, so may also be tolerated.

• Meat stock from one of the allowed meats would be the starting point. Simmer just meat very gently for a couple of hours, and drink the soup, as well as having the meat. Introduce just a teaspoon or so to start with, to test that it can be tolerated.
• If this is tolerated, bone broth from one of the allowed meats would start the process of healing the gut lining, as well as adding more minerals to the diet. It would need to be a short cook, no more than 3 hours. And again, just try a teaspoon to start.
• If the broths, without the fat, are all good, next try adding a little fat from the broth. Animal fats are very stable for cooking, as well as being nourishing.
• Next would be lightly fermented vegetables to start introducing good gut bacteria. Since cabbage isn’t tolerated, the next easiest to ferment is carrots. Again, start with just a tiny taste. The good “bugs” will start to eliminate the “bad” bugs, which creates some side effects. They are unavoidable, but can be minimised.
• If fermented carrots are tolerated, a good probiotic could be started very slowly.
• Also beneficial, when and if they could be introduced, are omega 3 fats in the form of fish oil, cod liver oil or plant oils such as hemp.

Although some of her current foods are technically not allowed on GAPS, she is limited enough already, so we wouldn’t reduce her range of current foods if it could be helped. Usually, as the gut heals, more foods are able to be tolerated. This can take two years, or more.

For more information, see some of my old GAPS posts:

• About the Gut & Psychology syndrome (GAPS) diet Part 1 – Can it help autism?
• GAPS diet Part 2: Foods we can’t have
• GAPS diet Part 3: Foods we CAN have
• GAPS diet Part 4: What if I can’t eat some animal foods

For some of you, my posts about real foods for the sensitive baby might also be helpful:

• Real food for babies – Part 1 – the early days
• Real food for babies – Part 2 – first solids

And one of my previous posts talks more about how you might identify your allergies, and how I treated a couple of mine.

EMOTIONAL

In this group, I’m including mental, emotional, electrical and energetic reasons.

By electrical and energetic, I’m referring to the meridians or electrical pathways running through our bodies. There are a lot of types of natural health practitioners who can help with these types of imbalances, such as acupuncturists, kinesiologists, bach flower therapists or other energy healers.

Emotional causes often include trauma, and are more likely to be the cause if there are only a small number of allergies. This trauma could be anything the body perceives as a stress, and could include pre-birth stress on the mother.

I talk about this a bit more in the post I mentioned above.

SPIRITUAL

This area is outside my area of expertise, but should be at least considered, if nothing else helps. It might include the concepts of karma, ancestoral patterns or family miasmas. Again, an energy healer or some types of kinesiologists might be able to help.

Thanks for reading and don’t hesitate to ask questions

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