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Reply With QuoteNora Gedgaudas is a good resource for this. Listen to her free podcasts and read Primal Body, Primal Mind.
Junior Member
Can Grains Affect Children's Personality?
I am allergic to Wheat and My husband has Celiac's disease. Being wheat free is not an issue for us, but subjecting our children to that with their picky diets was tough. They are 6 and 3. My son has always been an emotional kid, but as he has gotten older he has these breakdowns that are just not normal for a 6 year old. We took away wheat they went away. We tested him for allergies and celiacs, both negative. Can wheat affect his personality? Is there a specialist we should see. Any insight would be wonderful. I am doing Paleo now and my IBS and allergies are slowly fading. They suspected Leaky Gut and SIBO.
Thank you,
Kim
Senior Member
Nora Gedgaudas is a good resource for this. Listen to her free podcasts and read Primal Body, Primal Mind.
Junior Member
Maybe with your son, it was as much taking wheat away as it was replacing it with something he might have been lacking before, which had a positive effect?
Junior Member
Tests for allergy for Celiac are not 100% reliable, they often give false negatives or are testing for a response that is different than what is being experience by the patient. If all other things remain the same, the proof is in what you experienced. You took away the wheat and the behavioral issues went away. There are many people that have sensitivities to foods (corn is the one I am most familiar with), that affect the nervous system in extreme ways. Avoiding the trigger and striving for a healthy diet are the best ways to deal with the situation. I am unaware of any specialist that would attempt to address this issue.
Colloid
Senior Member
Colloid, I think I love you... Yes!!Originally Posted by Colloid
I have two kids with wheat/gluten/all grains in general problems, depending on the kid in question. I have chased down every high-powered doc (we have always had good insurance), subjected them to endoscopies, blood tests, exams, stool samples, allergy testing, you name it. In the end, what really did the trick was just relying on slow, careful experimentation at home, and trusting that what I saw was valid.
If you see the end of emotional breakdowns without wheat - so be it. If you haven't read "Wheat Belly" yet, please do. I read it long after I took my kids off of wheat, but it had a perspective and information that was new to me, and I like new information.
As for behavioral stuff in our house - out with the grains, out with hitting and involuntary eyes-rolling-around-in-their-sockets - and I mean that literally.
I have a mantra that I have spouted for years... "If I eat right, I feel right. If I feel right, I exercise right. If I exercise right, I think right. If I think right, I eat right..." Phil-SC
Member
Taking wheat out of my 8 year old daughter's diet resulted in no more tantrums, no more huffing and puffing about having to help out, and less fighting with her sister. Oh, and way less tears about seemingly inconsequential things. She still eats some grains (quinoa and rice) without the emotional issues cropping back up. Seems to be a reaction to wheat/gluten.
Senior Member
I know that when I went grainfree, my husband noticed that things I used to blow up at I just laugh about now. I see no reason that it wouldn't hold true for a child as well.
If your body is willing, your mind can push it to do some amazing things.
Senior Member
Most doctors would rather just give kids ritalin
Senior Member
My youngest daughter had pretty bad behavioural problems until she was diagnosed as non-coeliac gluten intolerant at the age of 5. So yes, I do believe that if there is an improvement with no grains, then keep your son off them!
Junior Member
This is a good blog to learn more about this topic
Evolutionary Psychiatry
Lots of different posts bout diet and mental wellness/illness...
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