My Son’s Journey to Living Gluten Free

A few years ago my son would constantly complain of stomach pain. He would also complain often about not being able to sleep. He had a hard time focusing on school work. All of these issues day in and day out called for some major attention. We tried to address all of the issues the usual way a concerned parent would. 

For the stomach pain we would patch the symptom with remedies and meds. But after a while, we had to look at what he was eating. We figured that was the underlying issue. He told us: “You know what? I LOVE bread, but every time I eat it, my stomach hurts,” Aha!! We eliminated bread from his diet. He felt better, but still had stomach issues here and there. I decided to investigate Celiacs because if you do any research on stomach issues relating to bread you will automatically be brought to Celiacs. I took him to the doctor and asked for a blood test to determine if he had it. It came back negative. The doctor told me, however, if he felt better not eating wheat then do not add it back into his diet – he could have a gluten intolerance. Another aha moment. So of course I investigated that and we started on our gluten free lifestyle.

We further refined things when he had his first visit with our wonderful Natural Health Practitioner. Come to find out, in addition to his gluten intolerance, he had an intolerance to all grains and to the protein found in dairy – casein. It was nice that he only had to abstain from casein for a short time and then we added it slowly back into his diet and now he can tolerate it. He doesn’t get a lot of dairy except for yogurt (which is cultured so its composition is slightly different from regular dairy). He prefers coconut milk over cow’s milk. With these adjustments, his health is much better.

It is rare that he complains of stomach pain. If he does then we know he has eaten something he shouldn’t have – sometimes through no fault of his own. He sleeps beautifully now and his ability to focus at school has improved greatly. It is amazing how pervasive gluten can be in the life of someone who has an intolerance. It is worth any inconvenience to stay away from it!