Kids are starting back to school and healthy
nutrition is on every parents' mind. Take a look at Jennifer
Harshman's view on the effect of a common nutrient in bread, cereals,
bagels and mini pizzas -- gluten & casein:
Back-to-School Season Provides Opportunity to Improve Students' Health
It's back-to-school time, and although parents and
students are hoping for a good school year, most are unaware that
certain foods can have a negative impact on school performance. Each
year, increasing numbers of students are diagnosed with medical
conditions such as Autism, ADHD, asthma and allergies - dubbed the "New
Childhood Epidemics" by Dr. Kenneth Bock. Students who have these or
other medical problems miss out on so much, and it could be related to
their food.
Gluten and casein are proteins found in common foods
- gluten in grains such as wheat, rye and barley, and casein in all
dairy products. Both are also found in many food additives. These
proteins cause problems for an estimated 33% to 95% of the U.S.
population and are listed as more than 200 ingredients on food labels.
Eating these proteins can cause or contribute to a list of medical
symptoms that has been reported to be more than 250 items long. Just a
few of these are malnutrition in various degrees, abdominal pain, bowel
problems, sleep problems, weight gain, diabetes, ADHD, autism, asthma,
allergies, sinus problems, mood swings, irritability, impulsiveness,
difficulty sitting still and difficulty concentrating.
If these
ingredients are so common, and they are served in every school in
America, what can parents do? Parents of students who exhibit any of
the signs of food allergies or sensitivities and parents of students
who struggle in school can talk with their doctors. They can ask their
doctor and the school to participate in a dietary trial, to see if a
gluten-free, casein-free (GFCF) diet will help their children. A GFCF
dietary trial consists of avoiding gluten and casein for a minimum of
three months.
Why so long? It takes approximately three months to
get gluten out of the intestines. Until the body is cleared of it,
symptoms caused by gluten will persist. Here's encouraging news: some
people notice a difference in just a few days.
