Lockdown played a trick on me. I had actually been on cooking strike for years... truly... all the gut issues had sent me over the edge and far away from the place where I thought about providing a family meal. Sarah-Hope lived on oats, biltong, peas, sweet potato and butternut&carrot squish. And also more oats.
But with Sarah-Hope's iron having been so low at the start of the year, we realised that the problem wasn't just getting the iron into her body... it was her body's capacity to absorb and use it.
We decided to go a new route and consulted with an integrative GP. We did an organic amino acid urine test which confirmed that there was more fermenting happening in her gut than actual digesting. Her ability to take in fats in particular was worrying, as this is what would provide a more sustainable source of energy.
So we started a new diet, with plenty of supplements, with the aim of seeing her gut healed, and food absorbed so that she would once again look like a well nourished child. Although oats and butternut and peas might typically be seen as healthier foods... they weren't for her at this point. Her diet was more 'keto' in the morning, and she was allowed some carbs in the afternoon.
There was (and still is!) a lot of cooking required.
Breakfast - Egg and broccolli / cauliflower / marrows for breakfast (oats twice a week with crushed nuts)
Snack - Sweet potato, animal protein, green veggies
Lunch - Same as snack
Afternoon Snack - rice cakes and avo
Supper - White rice, veggies
Only two fruit a day. In fact, if she needed a snack and I tried to give her fruit she'd say,
"Mom, I'm only allowed two fruit a day and I've had my portion." So no
short cuts for me!
Breakfast and Lunch were to be followed by an intake of MCT oil through her stomach tube. We started with 0.5ml and a few months later we were on 7.5ml so there was real improvement in her fat intake and her energy was fantastic! She was lasting a whole morning at school now, and her hair was growing and getting thicker. In fact, Sarah-Hope's diet seemed so revolutionary that Richard is now on it too.
But the most beautiful thing about this... now that we were actually cooking... and sitting down and eating together... was what this was doing for us as family. Being nutritionally and relationally nurtured is amazing. Have even had it written on my blackboard on my kitchen window...
nurture
nourish
connect
invest
flourish
