Healing Leaky Gut with Food??

[Lauren]

Ok, this is VERY long! I am totally willing to do this as a consult (instead of in the group) if it’s too many details/too much to ask. The short version is this:

My almost 2 year old and I have been on a gluten/dairy/corn/egg/soy free diet for about 9 months, after an elimination diet and seeing various reactions to these foods. I believe he has a leaky gut which I’d like to help heal. I am looking for ways to heal this issue (and any others that exist) using whole food nutrients, and to avoid supplements as much as is possible. He has seemed to react to most of the supplements we’ve tried, or had trouble taking them. So, any recommendations you all have are welcome and appreciated!

Now, for the long version. I’ve included everything that might be helpful in understanding our situation (perhaps *too* much info--sorry this is so long!):

River (now 23 months) was born at home. I labored for over 50 hours, his heart rate was awesome the entire time. He was posterior. He had shoulder dystocia on the way out, and my midwife reached her hands in to help him out. Not long after his birth she gave him a vit. K shot, she said in part b/c *I* lost a lot of blood. (I lost about a liter of blood after he was born.) His umbilical cord was in a tight knot when he came out, (he must have swam through it in utero, and it probably tightened as he was born). So, the cord did not pulsate, there was a lot of blood in it that squirted out when we cut it. (Not sure how much info/detail you all need, I thought I’d tell you *everything*!)

I had trouble with breastfeeding, in part due to my blood loss, but mostly because of ignorance about breastfeeding. For the first 3 months of his life we used formula supplements (both milk and soy based) as well as donated breastmilk from a friend of mine. He was nursing most of this time, at one point was totally off the breast (but getting about 1/2 his nourishment from breastmilk, I was exclusively pumping). Using domperidome, lots of herbs, and tons of pumping, along with nursing, he came back to the breast and from 3 months on he was exclusively breastfed (and continues to nurse lots today at almost 2.)

He had the first 2 rounds of vaccines, but after the 2nd round, he had a fever and slept for a very long, uncharacteristic amount of time. He also had diarrhea for days. I started really researching vaccines and was shocked and horrified by what I found, so he has not been vaccinated since.

He also had ‘baby acne’ from maybe a few weeks old until 5 months.

At around 13 months he got an ear infection, and we did the antibiotics (amoxicillan). He got a rash on the back of his neck during this, and we stopped using them after 5 days.

Around this same time period, I noticed a lot of changes in him. He was seeming to be very irritable and easily frustrated (very uncharacteristic for him), not sleeping well (waking in the night and running around screaming for 1-2 hours), peeing his pants in the night (he was ec’d from 3 months and had never peed at night--this was a big change!), had the red ring around his anus at all times, ‘raccoon eyes’, and I’m sure other symptoms as well. With the help of the foodlab yahoo group, I learned a/b elimination diets and we found he reacted to gluten, dairy, corn, soy and eggs.

Since then our diets have changed dramatically. We avoid the above mentioned foods, along with most nuts/seeds and citrus, because I have thought he has reacted to them in the past. (I’m willing to try them again though! I did not formally test any of them.) Foods we eat on a regular basis include (listed in an order of the quantity/frequency we eat them): brown rice (in many forms--rice, rice milk, crackers, bread, cookies, etc.--probably 2 servings a day easily), green peppers, onions, garlic, carrots (whole/juiced), tomatoes (mostly canned), sunflower oil (used for cooking), chicken and turkey (we were vegetarian but started eating these after dropping dairy and eggs), beans (black, garbanzo, kidney, pinto, lentils etc.) canned and dried, broccoli, kale, other greens, potatoes, dried fruit (raisins, cranberries, cherries, etc.), berries (blueberries, blackberries, raspberries), apples, bananas, pears, cucumbers, buckwheat flour, oatmeal, enerG egg replacer, fruit & vegetable juices (fresh and bottled bolthouse farm), avocados, celery, green beans, sweet potatoes, zucchini, coconut milk, millet, maple syrup, agave nectar, sometimes brown sugar, apple cider vinegar, olive oil, tons of spices and salt and pepper, palm oil...etc. Also cultured carrots, beets and cabbage for the probiotic value... In addition, I am not totally opposed to trying other meats, although it might be a difficult transition for me (I’ve never cooked meat before, and doing the poultry now has been a real learning experience! I was a vegetarian for 12 years b/4 changing our diets in this manner...) A lot of the food we eat is cooked. I do not soak our grains but am interested in learning more about this and other food prep. ideas that might help us. I also have been (irregularly) taking a prenatal vitamin and calcium supp. (which he does not seem to react to.)

I think I’ve included a majority of what we eat on a regular basis (at least 2-3 x per week). What I am looking for now is where to go from here. I believe ds has a leaky gut, and we have tried supplement after supplement (vitamins and enzymes) to help heal it. He has seemed to react to everything we’ve tried. I’d love more info on where to go with our diets--what to add to bring in the vitamins/nutrients he needs, along with how/if he can get the digestive enzymes he needs through foods. What supplements you all might feel *are* necessary, etc. I want to help heal his gut (and any other issues that might be going on). Any advice or suggestions you all have are greatly appreciated!

TIA!!!

Lauren :)

Favorite Posts:

 

14 Steps For Healthy Guts

Beet Test (stomach acid?)

Candida 101

 

Green Breakfast Challenge

Healthy Poop 101
Master Tonic 101

 

Nettle Leaf herbal infusions 101.
Overwhelmed? Where to Start?!
Probiotic Selection

 

[Pat Robinson]

Latest discussion is to avoid lemon juice in water as it can mobilize stored toxins to breastmilk. I'm still searching a bit for information regarding this. But, wanted to post the concern.


Pat

[Lauren]

Pat, thanks for the info on lemon juice--I'll just put it in ds's water/drinks.

Lauren :)

[elisabeth.mccourt]

From what I understand, it's not so much that metals block the conversion, its that cobalt (from b12) is used rapidly to neutralize and detox so there isn't quite enough for other processes in the presence of metals. This would be a good discussion to have....

[elisabeth.mccourt]

Mama, we need to look at your iodine stores!

[elisabeth.mccourt]

hmmmm, I have figure out how to navigate the whole domperidone situation. I know that it increases your TSH levels artificially which *should* make you hyperthyroid....but in the absence of the proper nutrients to support that I'm wondering what compensations the body makes....this is something to consider in helping you normalize as well.

[Lauren]

I never thought of this! I was on it for probably 3 full months when he was 2-4 months old...

[elisabeth.mccourt]

That's actually not too bad, but given that he has congenital hypothyroidism I wonder how your body handled it (and you can start to see as Shannon posted that there is a biochemical and nutrition basis to low supply.) I would really like to know your iodine situation!

[Lauren]

Elizabeth, how do I check my iodine?

Thank you so much for your input!!

Lauren :)

[elisabeth.mccourt]

there's an easy skin test. You get an iodine solution and paint a 4X4 square on your belly. It should remain for about 24 hours. How fast it disappears will tell you how deficient you are. It's not 100%, but if it disappears in just a few hours it will warrant further attention. HTH!

[Lauren]

I am planning to get some today. I started reading more on it, and I doubt I'm getting enough iodine, as I don't think I eat many iodine rich foods.

Thank you Elizabeth! I'll keep you posted on my results!

Lauren :)

[Pat Robinson]

This thread has more information about thyroid testing, supplementation, etc. http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showpost.php?p=13227979&po...


Pat

[Lauren]

Update:

I'm slowly adding all of the recs into our diets. So far we've added:

homemade bone broth
green smoothie
CLO (not fermented yet--ordered it)
Epsom salts baths for River, in drinks/food for me
Celtic sea salt--extra added to food
Raw local honey (we've been adding this to our green smoothies--hope that's ok!--YUM! River loves making them and will drink a lot of them--I think because he loves using the blender!)
coconut oil
Brazil nuts (River had a reaction--tiny pinhead bumps on his bum--I'm pretty sure from these...but possibly from the coconut oil as well--he has reacted to coconut milk in the past--getting very red cheeks and having very disrupted sleep--he got the red cheeks again and has been sleeping poorly so it may be this (but he also has a pretty bad cough right now which I think is a major reason he's had difficulty sleeping...) I'm continuing both the Brazil nuts and coconut oil in *my* diet but not River's--I'm planning to more formally introduce and 'test' them in River in the near future--River eats palm oil--any similar benefits as coconut oil?)
Continued eating our cultured veggies
Also added vit. C and zinc in my diet, along w/ the prenatal and cal/mag I was (irregularly) taking--I've been much more dilegent about it though!

Still need to add the liver, kefir (I'm going to start w/ water/juice kefir until we have access to the raw goat's milk in the area--kids are just being born now so I've been told it will be available soon.) I still haven't added the liver--is it ok to eat NON organic/free range liver? I haven't found the organic kind just yet. Our local grocery store carries lots of organic meat but no liver. I'm betting I can find it locally--just wondering if I should pick some up next time I'm at the usual grocer and add in the non-organic kind until I can find the organic kind...(I have seen chicken livers at my regular grocery store...)

I've also made some yummy gf sourdough bread and those blender batter pancakes quite a bit! We are not huge on the baked goods since going gf, but it's been fun eating these--and not as bloaty feeling as it used to be. I can *feel* the difference soaking grains makes...

I've felt more energetic lately, so I think these have been some really positive changes for me...

I'm slow going, so I will post again as soon as I complete the recommended beet and iodine tests, which I just haven't done yet. Thank you to all of you for your support and recommendations--I'm very grateful to have joined this group and to have your advice and support!!!


Lauren :)