The Casano family has seen some changes lately, and they’re loving them. They have discovered the “gut to brain” connection and taken it seriously, shifting away from gluten-laden foods this past year. It’s paying off.
“If I had a dollar for every time someone stopped either me or my husband to comment on ‘how different’ Parker is this summer compared to last summer, well, we would be very rich,” Elizabeth Casano recently wrote in her blog at elizabethcasano.wordpress.com. “OK, maybe not rich, but we could go out for a very nice family dinner.”
The Columbus mother of three — son Parker, 10, and daughters Blake, 7, and Anniston, 1 month — chronicled some of her family’s journey via the blog as they navigated the choppy waters of an ADHD diagnosis and the quest for solutions to fit their situation.
When Parker was diagnosed a few years ago, Elizabeth and her husband, Justin, went into overdrive to understand the condition. With her degree from Mississippi State in nutrition and dietetics, Elizabeth wanted to explore the role nutrition might play in her eldest child’s hyperactivity and impulsive behavior.
Traditional treatments — medications — are not long-lasting. “We wanted something more healing,” said Elizabeth Monday at her home in west Lowndes County.
What is gluten?
Gluten is a protein found in modern wheat, barley and rye and acts as the “glue” that holds food together. It can trigger a negative response, celiac disease, in some immune systems, causing health issues in the intestines. A percentage of the population simply has a wheat allergy, while others have a non-celiac gluten sensitivity. Some research also supports that an increase in genetically modified wheat crops contributes to an increase of gluten sensitivity.
“There is a ‘gut to brain’ connection,” said Elizabeth. “We’ve all heard that food can either be medicine or poison. Many times people, especially children, who have hyperactivity and attention problems, as well some who are autistic, suffer with emotional and behavior control when their diet includes gluten foods.”
When the gut is damaged by gluten, malnutrition begins, especially with the absorption of B vitamins, iron, vitamins D and K, and calcium. The key nutrients are responsible for the production of important neurotransmitters in the brain, Elizabeth shared.
Dr. Ronald Kent of the Hattiesburg Clinic in south Mississippi explained the science of the brain and the dysfunction of malnutritioned neurotransmitters when the Casanos sought his advice. It helped them begin to put the puzzle pieces together.
They found help and education, too, at Snider Vision Therapy in Columbus, where Parker (and Elizabeth) underwent a test called a zytoscan. The painless scan indicated that Parker was suffering affects from gluten, showing signs of toxins in the bloodstream.
Ousting gluten
The Casanos began changing the family’s diet. Initially, it was easier to simply avoid gluten products altogether and consume a more paleo diet while Parker’s digestive system healed. (Paleo focuses primarily on foods presumed to have been eaten by early humans, chiefly meat, fish, vegetables and fruit, and excluding dairy or grain products and processed food.) But Elizabeth eventually began modifying family favorites and making certain items herself, including gluten-free homemade bread.
“Going gluten-free is not for the faint of heart,” she said. “Gluten is hidden in so many things you might not imagine, including salad dressings, sauces and gravies as well as obvious things like sandwich bread, biscuits and pastas.”
The family, however, doesn’t feel deprived. They still enjoy sandwiches, spaghetti, pizza and pies, just made with grains like quinoa and rice and starches like tapioca and potato.
“We’re privileged to have a local Kroger grocery store and whole foods option like Hollydale Foods that stock all the ingredients needed to make gluten-free recipes at home,” said the enterprising mom. Some gluten-free products are on the shelves, too.
“Kroger has gluten-free doughnuts,” Parker chimed in. “Man, they’re good. I love ’em!”
Taste doesn’t seem to suffer in foods Elizabeth makes at home. Her homemade bread is “literally better than anything I could ever buy at a store, gluten-free or not,” she said.
The statement was backed up Monday with sample slices from a freshly-baked loaf. They were moist and delicious.
Doing good
“Tell ’em how good I’m doing,” Parker said to his mother. The fifth-grader can detect a difference in the way he feels these days — calmer, more focused. When offered a normal bread product, he often responds with, “Thanks, but no thanks. It’s not worth it.”
He wants other children who may have been diagnosed as ADHD to feel as good as he does, so he asked his mother if he could sell her bread at the Hitching Lot Farmers’ Market this season. Penny Lane’s Cafe in Aberdeen also uses Elizabeth’s bread for gluten-free options on its menu.
Making bread and getting creative with meals is no sacrifice, when compared to the behavioral problems Parker suffered with before. Elizabeth is thrilled to know a simple change in diet releases him from having to be on medication and “allows him freedom to be the little boy God created him to be in the first place.”
The Casanos do not claim that every child’s behavior problem can be solved simply by removing honey buns and replacing them with almond butter.
But something as simple as eliminating bread for two or three weeks could be revealing.
“If nothing changes, go back to eating frozen pizzas and pre-battered chicken nuggets,” she said. “At least you tried. Trying worked for us, and it might just work for your family, too.”
GLUTEN-FREE BREAD
(To be made in a bread machine. Check to see if yours has a gluten-free setting. If not, choose medium crust option.)
Wet ingredients:
1 1/2 cups milk (almond milk works well, too)
3 large eggs
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 tablespoons honey
Dry ingredients:
1 1/2 cups brown rice flour
2 1/3 cups potato starch (tapioca starch works, too)
1 tablespoon xantham gum
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon active dry yeast made for bread machines
(Elizabeth Casano recommends the cookbook “Against All Grain: Delectable Paleo Recipes to Eat Well and Feel Great,” by Danielle Walker.)
Jan Swoope is the Lifestyles Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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