It's not easy for me to admit that I wasn't able to cure my son of his chronic stomachaches.  After all, I've spent the last 20 years studying and practicing natural medicine.  Putting my ego aside, I recently sought help from yet another doctor in Santa Fe who focuses on food sensitivities and heavy metal toxicity.  Now that the results are in, I want to encourage all parents of children who suffer from any chronic health problem to consider these tests.  It's a sign of the times that our children likely carry a toxic burden that makes them hyper-sensitive to everyday whole foods.  If your child gets headaches, stomachaches, or any illness regularly, you'll want to investigate food sensitivities and heavy metal toxicity with these reliable tests.

Toxicity Causes Hyper-Sensitivity To Foods

The basic idea behind the protocol that we're following now is that when there is heavy metal toxicity in the body, the intelligence of the immune system becomes impaired and reacts to foods that it normally wouldn't.  There are so many sources of heavy metal poisoning in our environment.  Remember the recall on Thomas trains because of lead paint?  There's even lead in some municipal water pipes.  Mercury is found in vaccinations, seafood, and dental amalgam fillings. You can read more about chemical toxicity from the enviroment here.  Many kids have behavioral and health reactions to artificial food colorings, flavorings, and preservatives, so read about that sensitivity here.

These are the two that we are currently investigating with our son, because his levels were three times the norm.  We are having our water tested, and have thrown out all of the vintage Hot Wheels cars grandma saved since Daddy was small.  While our son was never vaccinated, I did have mercury fillings while pregnant and nursing.  One tooth with a filling even got cracked while I was still nursing him, which prompted me to wean him and have my fillings removed. 

The Tests

Some heavy metal tests only measure what your body excretes by itself.  We did an inexpensive urine collection test that begins with a small dosage of a chelating agent (heavy metal remover).  That way we could measure which metals our son's body was willing to give up when encouraged with this chelator.  Then we collected his urine for six hours and sent in a sample.  The results were totally different than the past test we'd done without a chelator.  As I said, his results showed high lead and mercury.

Food sensitivity and food allergy are not necessarily the same thing.  There are different degrees of food sensitivities.  The Alcat test we did measured varying degrees of sensitivity to 200 foods.  Our son had a higher number of foods in the "red" zone than the doctor said she sees in most kids.  The red zone foods he must now avoid for six months.  The orange zone foods for 3-6 months, and the yellow zone foods we must limit to only occasionally.  The foods in the red zone were not the foods that we think of as common allergens.  Peaches, rice, and potatoes are on the "no" list now, which is going to really be a bummer when our peach tree fruits in August!  Luckily he's not sensitive to gluten or dairy, the most common ones.  That can be a very challenging diet for kids, but totally worth it when that allergy is present.  This test will uncover that if it's there.

Week 3 Going Great

We're now on week 3 since removing the highlighted foods from our son's diet.  He hasn't had any bad stomachaches, and only a few mild ones.  I'll have to keep you all updated as the weeks go on, but I can confidently say, "So far, so good."

As an herbalist and an acupuncturist, I'd tried everything in my toolbox to treat our son.  In Santa Fe he saw several MDs, a psychic surgeon, a homeopath, and a chiropractor, all with limited or no results.  Actually, after the psychic surgery, he didn't have a stomachache for one year, but that's another story.  But we never gave up, and nor should you if you find yourself with a child who has a mysterious illness.  I don't know if we've found the end-all answer to his particular health challenge, but it seems worth a shot. 

I guess the message I'm trying to impart is that if your child isn't as healthy (physically or emotionally) as they could be, and you haven't tried these tests, find a doctor who can order them for you.  The enviroment our kids are growing up in is unfortunately not the same as the one we or our parents grew up in.  Our children may carry a toxic burden regardless of how healthy we keep their diet.  Explore this possibility if you haven't already, and see what it might uncover.

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