Milk is an absolute no no in our house. My Husband is lactose intolerant, and my son is lactose intolerant...and as many papers have said, it sends our autistic child through the obstacle course of cognitive difficulties.
What we have found is something quiet interesting. If my son has any dairy at all, he experiences all that would be associated with lactose intolerance and then the added effect of tantrums, less verbal communication, chronic bowl issues, loss of appetite, and insomnia. It sucks to be quiet honest. Not because I have to give up milk, but because it's in e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g.
We first realized this last year when he was having explosive accidents all the time. Call me a little blind but everyone I had talked to said it was normal until one Mom said, "No way! Something is wrong." I don't know that being lactose intolerant is all that bad considering the works of "The China Study." Awesome book! Go read it. It does make it difficult to buy anything processed since they use it as an ingredient all the time. It was fortunate for us that my husband is already lactose intolerant, so, we never had milk in the house to begin with.
Things, however, like butter and cheese got the ax quickly. And finding alternative solutions to those ingredients came, thankfully, to the lovely cook book "Forks Over Knives."
For dairy alternatives check the link below.
http://www.peta.org/living/food/dairy-replacements/
Also get the cook book "Forks Over Knives" mentioned above. Super awesome recipes!
I'm not sure what the connection is between having an upset stomach and cognitive function difficulties but I did discover something interesting about my boy and head injuries. Whenever my son has had, a not horrible, but decent, bump to the head his chronic bowl issue takes off as if he's eaten some ice cream. It is the most interesting thing. I know that some concussions may produce similar effect but his falls have been super minor and he reacts as if he's eaten a ton of yogurt. It definitely tells me that whatever the connection is, it is an intense and super sensitive one. So, it would make sense that when his stomach is upset from say eating ice cream or yogurt, he becomes more repetitive, more rebellious, agitated, prone to tantrums, less verbal, and an insomniac. He feels his tummy ache on a totally different level. And the link while sometimes unfortunate is pretty fascinating. Said the future Doc of Traditional Chinese Medicine. he he.
Anyway, this is what we've discovered with Keltanys. If anything it's worth a try. Just remember to read the labels. Things won't say they have milk but then list thing like casein which means milk. Here is a link with a list of things that mean "milk", "may mean milk" and "should be safe", to help you if you decide to try the Milk/Dairy Free theory....
http://www.kidswithfoodallergies.org/resourcespre.php?id=37
One more interesting thing to consider. In Traditional Chinese Medicine when it comes to diet the first thing the Doc will tell you to cease with autistic children is the consumption of Dairy and Gluten. I will tackle the Gluten argument another day.
As always, you are the expert on your kid, as well as the nurse, the doc, the teacher, and sometimes the scientist. And hey if something works why not adopt it into practice.
As always thanks for reading.
With Gratitude,
Amber Jones
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