Health & Diet

Diet Lifted Me Out 

At Luke’s request he envisioned a collaborative blog post with Mom filling in the early years.

Mom: Luke had a typical diet from zero to 3.5. He ate all the typical baby foods, and we, as new parents, were basically unaware of the effect that diet had on our health. This was 2004, so twenty years ago! We were very busy with Luke’s unusually interesting life, which included daily seizures; weekly visits from the local occupational therapist (OT) / physical therapist (PT) / speech & language pathologist (SLP); and frequent visits to Children’s Hospital. 

It wasn’t until Luke had his first and only grand-mal seizure in December of 2007—shortly after his autism diagnosis (September 2007)—that I delved further into the effects and power of diet. 

At the ripe age of 3.5 Luke began his biomedical and naturopathic journey. I had heard about the D.A.N. protocol (Defeat Autism Now) and was thrilled to find a local naturopath who was certified. Dr. Bratt lived in North Vancouver at the time, so we would visit her every other month or so and follow the protocol with her guidance. 

Because I felt so helpless—waiting for diagnoses, waiting for interventionists, waiting for services—I decided that at least I had immediate control over Luke’s diet. I followed the DAN protocol strictly, which includes a gluten-free, dairy/casein-free, and soy-free diet. When people ask about the early days, I admit that changing Luke’s diet was one of the more difficult things about this journey. But it looks like doing the hard thing was the right thing...

Excerpt from Blog, December 28, 2007: 

Saturday afternoon was our much-anticipated meeting with Dr. Bratt, and she revealed some very interesting information. Luke’s blood panel (96 food allergy testing) showed that he was “off the charts” (had a high food intolerance) to ALL dairy foods. Everything: yogurt, milk, goat’s milk, cheese, cottage cheese, casein, cheddar cheese, mozzarella cheese, and whey. He also has a food intolerance to gluten, spelt, rye, and whole wheat as we suspected. The one thing we were not aware of is that he is also intolerant of eggs. 

The results of the urine test were astronomical. Luke has a major yeast issue. This is commonly known as candida and we need to replace this “bad” yeast with “good” yeast. Luke will take a Probiotic 2x a day which will cause the yeast to “die-off” and it will have to leave his body... typically in his poop. The other shock was that Luke has a serious bacteria in his system called clostridia (HPHPA). The reference range is 1-150, and Luke's is at 1469!! 

Long story short, Luke’s gut biome was a disaster. We began with pumping his wee body so full of probiotics and recommended supplements, to battle the bad bacteria that was running amok in Luke’s body and subsequently, wreaking havoc on his brain—aka “Leaky Gut”. 

Once we purged the stinky yeasty excess from his tiny body, life changed. Within 6 months, the seizures stopped completely. He started signing, started toilet-training, and started connecting with us… like really seeing us for the first time. It was like the fog had lifted and he could “see”, like really see. It was phenomenal to watch our little guy start to progress and move forward. Changing his diet has made all the difference. Diet. Lifted Him Out. 

Luke: My health is very important. I have tried many interventions and diet has had the greatest impact. I used to suffer from seizures and I haven’t had one in over a decade. My diet, though complex-sounding, is simple. I am gluten-free, dairy/casein-free, and soy-free. This diet saved me. My parents are now more chill about what I eat but I am incredibly strict. I don’t even like to take medications unless absolutely required. I am keenly aware of the impact food has on my functioning. When I eat gluten, my brain gets foggy. When I consume dairy, my gut suffers for days. My brain and stomach are very connected. I’m passionate about educating others on this topic. I may one day offer this as a service. Stay tuned. Luke out.