Appalachians tend to be very independent and content with their lives. They live close to nature and have a deeply held belief in God. They are friendly, kind, and helpful to one another, and they take care of the needs of others. Appalachians also have a strong sense of what is right, and of what ought to be.
When I was still working as a nurse, we lived in a small town in western North Carolina. The population was mostly poor and set in their ways. Because they did not take kindly to people from “outside,” it took a long time for me to make friends with our neighbors, who consisted of locals as well as transplants.
I finally won the friendship of a young mom who lived two houses away from us. One day I invited her and her young child to come pick some blueberries from our patch. I noticed that the child, who was 8 years old, fidgeted and could not focus on the task at hand. Mom seemed overwhelmed and tired, so I invited her to sit with me and chat. She broke down and said that her doctor had added yet another drug to er child’s regimen. She told me of his diagnosis with ADHD and the medications he was prescribed. She said that when she added the new medication, the child became a “zombie.” She lamented that she did not know what to do, so I asked her if she wanted to try a few things that would not hurt and may even help.
I gave her a copy of some research articles about things that she could do to help her child. I knew she would not read it, but I suggested she share this information with her child’s doctor. After we talked about what the child ate, I made a few suggestions and she agreed to try them for one week. We eliminated soda. She said she would not eliminate juice, so we compromised on diluting the juice with water. We eliminated colored sweet children’s cereals and switched to adult cereals with far less sugar.
I saw her again about two weeks later and she was happy to report that her child was behaving much better and did not require the extra medication. I asked her how she accomplished this, and she said that just making those few changes in his diet had made a huge difference in his behavior.
Food is medicine.
The food a child eats affects his or her body in many ways. Children tend to be picky eaters, and many parents think that giving the child any kind of food is better than nothing. Yet many children with chronic illnesses follow stricter diet protocols because caregivers report that dietary interventions correlate with improvements in behavior and/or medical symptoms. Some commonly followed diets include:
- Casein-Free Diet – Casein is a protein found in milk; this diet eliminates milk
and all milk by-products. - Gluten-Free Diet – Gluten is a protein found in many grains; this diet eliminates
such grains. - Feingold Diet – This diet eliminates additives and chemicals.
- Specific Carbohydrate Diet – This one removes specific carbohydrates,
including all grains, lactose, and sucrose. - Yeast-Free Diet – This diet eliminates yeast and sugar.
Sometimes even minor adjustments to the diet can reap big rewards. If you can avoid having your child take medications, he or she will not have to deal with the potential long-term side effects of those drugs.
I am so thankful that I could help this mom and her child have a better life through some simple changes. I love happy endings.
