Like many other parents, we want to provide our children with nutritional foods. However, like many parents, I'm on a budget! My definition of being on a budget might not be the same as someone else's but nonetheless, I'm on one.
I'm not one of those parents that like to jump on the first nutritional bandwagon because it can become a financial hardship. I purchase a lot of organic produce, Non-GMO and Fair Trade items whenever possible. But this stuff gets really expensive!!!!
A few years ago I started noticing EVERYTHING with a label saying Gluten Free. Some items that were always and naturally gluten free would even tote these labels (Gluten Free Popcorn!?!?!). It was to the point I was getting a little annoyed with the whole thing and felt that this was another food fad.
Not to mention, you have some very high maintenance parents who's child is allergic to life (we all know at least one parent that fits this category). But by all means, please don't get offended if your child has a genuine food allergy.
Towards the end of the school year, my 6 year old daughter started complaining of stomach aches. I just assumed it was the pressure of the last few weeks of school. She's in a G&T program and the expectations are REALLY high, so naturally I assumed it must be stress. Summer commences and my daughter continues to complain of stomach aches day after day, night after night. What really scared me was when she said her heart hurts. I was like stop the presses!!!! Urgent Care here we go. I went to this lovely Urgent Care in Westchester County and was seen within 10 minutes of our arrival. We met with the physician and she went over various possibilities such as constipation, indigestion, etc... We also had a follow up appointment with my daughter's new PCP. At her appointment, we went over her diet but we were still at a loss for the underlying issue.
Three months into my daughter's stomach irritation and a light bulb went off in my head. I noticed that my daughter was not complaining of stomach pains for a few days and I started to decipher what was different. She didn't have any wheat or barley products!!! Then I said to myself and my significant other, I think our daughter has gluten sensitivity... So we tested this theory out.
While we were traveling to China, I ensured that our daughter avoided wheat products. Not a very easy task, especially since she loves pasta. During that time, she did not complain of any stomach discomfort, except for when she decided to have a piece of bread during one of our flights.
Upon our return from China, I decided to invest in purchasing more gluten free items primarily for my daughter. I found myself spending $300 on food but I was so upset because I was having a hard time putting my food purchases together in order to make a meal for a week. Gluten Free foods are rather over priced. A bag of bagels cost $7!?!?! I think I need to report this to the authorities because I've been robbed. These prices should be illegal but as a parent of a child with certain dietary restrictions, what can you possibly do?
My daughter has another follow up appointment with her PCP to confirm our theory but she's been feeling a lot better since the dietary change and she's a lot less bloated.
About 1% of the population actually has celiac disease and 20 million Americans suffer from: non-celiac gluten sensitivity (NCGS).
So the moral of the story is.... What you least expect or want to expect, just might actually be the culprit.
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