Observation: On some days, Scooter has a noticeably harder time controlling himself than on others. We have not been able to trace this to specific activities.
Hypothesis: Since he is still consuming some gluten and casein at school, maybe his out-of-control days coincide with the days when he eats the most wheat and dairy there.
Experiment #1: We've been able to keep Scooter gfcf on weekends. But a weekend ago, I broke down and ordered pizza when Trillian did. And then we gave in and let Scooter have some too. For the rest of the afternoon, he was bouncing around in ways we haven't seen for several weekends.
Experiment #2: We went to a birthday party yesterday and, because I just couldn't get myself organized enough beforehand, we threw caution to the wind and let him have whatever. Fast food chicken nuggets on the way out, a few bites of cheese pizza and cake and ice cream at the party. Today, not only has he been bouncing off the walls, he also had several accidents--forgot to go to the potty when he needed to, couldn't quite make it there when he did remember. This is something that hasn't happened for a while now.
Conclusion: I have not been quite as willing as Trillian to attribute recent changes in Scooter's behavior to the gfcf diet, but I think maybe I've been swayed to her way of thinking. Particularly convincing were the multiple accidents today; he has been so good about this, even in the face of a varying schedule, that the previous day's change in diet seems like the most obvious explanation.
Possible further experiments: Once we move, we'll be able to complete the switch to an entirely gfcf diet. One thing I am particularly interested to see is if we can determine whether the gluten or casein has a worse effect on him. If, as Trillian and I suspect, the gluten is the main culprit, we might actually be able to create pizza and grilled cheese sandwiches that he is eager to eat.
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I have no idea why we feel slightly nutty thinking that a diet change cannot have such a profound effect. My buddy the biochemist has been hard at work looking up the genes that Julia is missing. Surprise, surprise some have to do with glucose metabolism. Glucose being the body's main source of energy why would it be odd that having a slightly different metabolism would affect how you function on the same diet as someone with a "normal" metabolism.
I could go on about this and my new theories but I will just say that my biggest worry is getting julia to stick to this diet, or rather having her white rice loving father stick to it.
Lisa B-You're so right. The background I've read about gluten and casein has been quite compelling, and there have been recent studies that further corroborate the background ideas. Good luck with your diet changes too!
This really interest me--we don't have Liam on a GFCF diet yet, but I've been more conscious of what he's eating. I can't say I've seen any relationship between what he's eaten and his behavior, but some days he's off the walls, and other days not so bad. I know I need to be more meticulous about keeping track, but it's hard.
It's definitely hard to keep track of. Scooter's still eating wheat and dairy at school, but we've been able to see a correlation between days when he's had a lot and days when he's had almost none.
Trillian and I were talking yesterday about how his accidents on Sunday made us realize that maybe excess wheat had been interfering with the signals reaching his brain that he needed to pee.
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