Then, when my son turned three, he started to have trouble. Fast forward to 4 and he was diagnosed with PANS. I went into full blown healing mode trying to clean up what might be detrimental to him in his diet. I cut out and dairy and gluten.
I started diving into the Gut and Psychology Syndrome Nutritional Protocol (GAPS) diet. Quickly, I realized that it wasn’t working for us and switched over to Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD). Long story short, we were years into SCD, and not only my son but also my daughter, had food sensitivities as long as you can imagine. They each had only a small handful of safe foods. It was a nightmare! They had phenol/salicylate sensitivities, thiol sensitivities, and we were sensitive to oxalates. When you add all that together, that doesn’t leave much food left to eat.
It was then that I heard that the REID (Reduced Excitatory Inflammation Diet) really helps with healing. I was intrigued and joined the group to learn more. More importantly, one of my long time biomedical mom friends, who made me understand why my son was not doing well on GAPS, was on it and her son was making tremendous progress.
The diet works by eliminating unbound glutamate and working to balance glutamate and GABA which is calming. It increases fiber fermentation in the gut that feeds and nourishes good bacteria, therefore healing and balancing the gut.
I wanted to start it but wasn’t sure where would we begin. With all the sensitivities so many things had the potential to invite regression. So, I started with just romaine lettuce, olive oil and salt. That was pretty safe. My kids liked it, so that was at least a start.
Next, I was able to add fresh squeezed lemon juice but anything more than three times a week and I saw regression. For a long time I just lingered there.
I then saw a video of Dr. Reid talking about green smoothies and the importance of doing them. This was it!!! I thought I could get my kids to do at least some green smoothie every day. Well, I was wrong, my kids wanted them twice a day! Score! I was delighted. Immediately I saw some gains and some regression, which told me I was on the right path. I stayed with it and I am so glad that I did.
Now my kids are no longer thiol sensitive, meaning they can have broccoli and cauliflower and other similar veggies without any issues. They are no longer phenol/salicylate sensitive which means that they can have brightly colored berries without issue.
Oxalate issues are also much better. Oxalates are tiny hard substances that are high in some very healthy foods like spinach. These tiny crystal like substances can get into joints the gut and other places in the body and cause hard including kidney stones.
My kids now eat a great variety of fruits and vegetables and the more we do this diet the more I see healing taking place in them.
Some gains I saw very soon after implementing the REID diet:
- Sleep improved….it was not bad, but it became even better.
- My son used to scream in the morning. This stopped almost instantly.
- My son loved books but would almost always end up tearing the pages in a fit of rage. This stopped!
- For my daughter who has had major bowel issues, I saw gut healing with her almost right away! My son also had gut healing effects.
For myself, I have seen my allergies almost disappear so I can personally attest to how healing this diet has been for our family.
