More Food Challenges – the Bad Stuff

Colson has decided he is not ready to start GAPS. Interestingly, after his sugar weekend (see Sneezing with Every Bite He Ate) he has his first strong food cravings. They are cravings for food that causes inflammation, yeast overgrowth and sneezies, not to mention cancer, diabetes and heart disease over the long term. Yesterday he wanted pretzels, ice cream, cookies, chocolate and toast. I foolishly bought apple cider before I understood the big picture. He drank about a quart of it yesterday before I realized he had had that much. Usually a gallon of cider lasts us a week without my monitoring it. Colson’s friend was going to eat pretzels and I said that no, he needed a break, and Colson burst into tears. Tears over food is a first. We haven’t bought pretzels since he was barely four and we learned how bad they are, so what the heck?! It is not like this beloved food was suddenly taken away. It seems that Colson has had a yeast explosion that is demanding to be fed. My kid has never been like this and I don’t like it.

I talked to Ryan about Colson’s food state, and Ryan told Colson that he gets it. Ryan is craving foods too. I asked what foods and he said sweets. I said “Really” and couldn’t hide my disbelief. We very rarely have sweets and when we do they are carefully selected. It turns out that Ryan has been having gelato and chocolate covered peanuts at work. I was incredulous. Ryan has been growing his yeast too. Ryan’s solution was that he and Colson both need to be on GAPS. It seemed to help Colson that his Papa understood. Here is hoping for a smooth start!

I am surprised that Colson has the food cravings so quickly. I am surprised that Ryan has given in to the sweets. Granted, he doesn’t read all that I do, but my blog is filled with SUGAR KILLS YOU articles and reflections and we talk about them. For gosh sakes, it hastened his mother’s death from cancer and he knows it. That shows you how strong the pull of sugar is.

I need to go back on GAPS because I have body odor. I have been eating a bit of bread and rice (not much), and that is enough to bring the body odor back. Rats! Grains are such a pain.

It will be interesting to see how Colson does on GAPS this time, as he is older and asserting himself more – defining himself. He has been free of food cravings for as long as he has been able to speak, and I don’t want him walking around thinking about sugary food like almost everyone else. We will need to handle this carefully. We continue to learn.

 

Comments

[Donna]

Thanks for all the good information that you provide. It is scary to hear how quickly the sugar and grain cravings can come back and overtake your life & moods. Thanks for sharing your experiences so others can learn and think about what they are putting in their bodies.