Last year about this time we had done another test to check Daniel’s mercury levels, and it had appeared that he was finally at “normal”.  Unfortunately, we did a follow-up in 2010 that showed everything (mercury, lead and arsenic) was back up.   Although this was a bit discouraging, our doctor in Pennsylvania has been so wonderful through all of this.  I am so thankful that God put him in our lives to help out! 

In the fall we took a break from the chelator we use (Waiora Natural Cellular Defense Zeolites), and began to focus on the systemic yeast in his body.  The past 2 months have been very difficult because the energetic, happy Daniel we know & love seemed to be disappearing before our eyes.  He became more lethargic and sad, and his speech got quite a bit worse.  Just a few weeks ago we consulted with Dr. Prociuk again and learned that the “die-off” of the yeast in his gut was having a drug-like effect on him.  In addition to restricting gluten and casein free foods, we had to cut out sugar/desserts.  We also gave him activated charcoal twice a day for 5 days.  Fortunately, this has seemed to help some.  We still have to keep him off sugar for a couple more months since it feeds the yeast.   Daniel has been a trooper about all of this, though.  He really has not whined or complained about no dessert (which was really the main time of the day that he had “sugar”- even though that was really in the form of honey or sucanat in things like peanut butter fudge). 

I am the one who has had a hard time with all of this.  Honestly, I am worn out and tired of having to think about food all the time.  I wish I could just give him anything that he wants to eat!   I think I had just hit a wall lately because I feel like there are so few things that I can give him… it just makes me want to throw my hands up in the air!!!!  However, I keep reminding myself that the Lord will give me  wisdom, strength and creativity when I ask Him instead of walking around whining about it.  Here are a few of the new things I have done that he likes lately:

Chebe mixes are AWESOME!  They are made out of manioc root and are really yummy plus they are versatile!  Daniel had been wanting a hotdog in a BUN, but I hadn’t seen any GF buns (besides the fact that many GF items are expensive).  These mixes are about $2.99, and you can do all kinds of things with them.  I decided to give buns a try with it, and they came out great! 

I have been dabbling with gluten-free sourdough lately, so I decided to make some Italian herb foccacia bread using a pizza crust recipe.  Daniel really likes this (esp.  dipping it in olive oil and balsalmic vinagar).

I have been trying to come up with something other than crackers and fruit to give Daniel at meals, and then I remembered a phone consult I won on a blog with Chef Rachel (she wrote a cookbook called “The Garden of Eating”).  She suggested trying a crudite platter with various dips, and he actually likes it (it’s not his favorite, but he will eat it.  Kate really likes grabbing these veggies).  I like to serve them with homemade sundried tomato balsalmic vinaigrette- it is soooooo yummy.  Here is a link to the recipe: http://www.thegardenofeatingdiet.com/pdfs/335CruditePlatter.pdf  I did the broccoli for about 3 minutes, and it comes out beautifully… no bitterness!  Give it a try.

Lastly, we made some GF/CF gingerbread cookies at Christmas time (I used a combo of brown rice, arrowroot and garbanzo/fava flour), and they were really good.  Mike and I actually liked them!  We topped them with some candy and sprinkles that do not have any artificial colors- they were a hit.

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