This morning as I was making Jordan breakfast I began to think about why after removing sugars from his diet, his behaviors didn't seem to change much. What I came to realize was that I didn't really remove many things with sugar from his diet. He would have skittles and starbursts occasionally that I said he wouldn't get anymore. But the only thing that was consistent that I stopped giving him was the fruit snacks daily. I decided to check the agave syrup that he eats every morning and the juice for their sugar content. The amount of sugar in the agave was 16g. And the juice was even worse at 28g and 29g of sugar. The fruit snacks that I removed, only 10g. Not that it's not a lot, but compared to what he was still getting, removing that packet isn't going to make a big difference if I want to see changes. Even though I wasn't shocked by it, it was a little unsettling and gave me more to consider.
After getting all this new information I decided that over the weekend I would give him his breakfast without syrup and no juice, just to see if there will be a noticeable difference with his behavior. I let the school know of my plans so when he goes back to school on Tuesday I can get some feedback. But when I got home I did some research to figure out if there was a certain amount of sugars that an Autistic child shouldn't have. I came across a page that talked about nutrition and diet and there was a section that talked about autism and blood sugar. It stated that when you have hyperactivity in a child with autism, balancing the blood sugar is a must. Also the problem may not be sugar but the forms that it comes in. A study showed that more than three quarters of the kids examined, their bodies couldn't handle the sugar intake to maintain balanced blood sugar levels. I learned when a child is regularly snacking on sugary foods, juices, chocolates, candies, etc., and they don't have the fiber to slow the absorption of the sugar it can cause blood sugar levels to see-saw and have fluctuations in their behaviors, among other things.
I thought maybe giving him fiber could help with the problems. Most brands say they have the fiber that you find in fruits and vegetables. Then it dawned on me, it seemed like these behaviors came about when I totally removed the green juice from his diet. The nutrients he was getting from it was helping to balance the sugars he was receiving from the juice, snacks and syrup and now that he wasn't getting it, his body was having a reaction to it. I looked for gluten free fiber supplements that I can give to him to help just incase removing the juices and syrup didn't work. I found multiple ones who had less that some percentage of gluten to consider it gluten free, but they said if you have celiac disease you shouldn't take it. Others I found had aspartame, which is one of the substances I read you shouldn't give a child with autism. It is an excitotoxin that can cause brain damage and effect the development of a child's nervous system. I ended up finding a powder that was sugar and gluten free with no sugar substitutes. When I thought this is something I need to document, I turned to the blog and it led me to look at his test results to see if indeed his glucose levels had been tested in the past. To my surprise they had been and indeed they did go up and down. On two occasions his levels were high while most were mid-range. The others were right on the cusp of being elevated. Seeing the results made me come to the realization that I should invest in buying him the fiber. What harm could it do?
I am always amazed at the domino effect that happens when I look into one thing and end up finding a possible solution to my problem by doing research and looking back on test results. It's as if I'm on a path and God is directing me until I get to the answer He wants me to see. It's like
Proverbs 16:9, "A man's heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps." I had the idea what I wanted to do. And initially it was removing all sugars and allowing him to drink nothing but water. But because I felt the need to blog about it, it led me to look more in-depth into his results and seeing how unbalanced his levels are and that fiber could possibly be the answer to calming his behaviors because they coincide with when I stopped giving him green juice. Blogging always comes through. So thankful right now. So very thankful.
This morning as I was making Jordan breakfast I began to think about why after removing sugars from his diet, his behaviors didn't seem to change much. What I came to realize was that I didn't really remove many things with sugar from his diet. He would have skittles and starbursts occasionally that I said he wouldn't get anymore. But the only thing that was consistent that I stopped giving him was the fruit snacks daily. I decided to check the agave syrup that he eats every morning and the juice for their sugar content. The amount of sugar in the agave was 16g. And the juice was even worse at 28g and 29g of sugar. The fruit snacks that I removed, only 10g. Not that it's not a lot, but compared to what he was still getting, removing that packet isn't going to make a big difference if I want to see changes. Even though I wasn't shocked by it, it was a little unsettling and gave me more to consider.
After getting all this new information I decided that over the weekend I would give him his breakfast without syrup and no juice, just to see if there will be a noticeable difference with his behavior. I let the school know of my plans so when he goes back to school on Tuesday I can get some feedback. But when I got home I did some research to figure out if there was a certain amount of sugars that an Autistic child shouldn't have. I came across a page that talked about nutrition and diet and there was a section that talked about autism and blood sugar. It stated that when you have hyperactivity in a child with autism, balancing the blood sugar is a must. Also the problem may not be sugar but the forms that it comes in. A study showed that more than three quarters of the kids examined, their bodies couldn't handle the sugar intake to maintain balanced blood sugar levels. I learned when a child is regularly snacking on sugary foods, juices, chocolates, candies, etc., and they don't have the fiber to slow the absorption of the sugar it can cause blood sugar levels to see-saw and have fluctuations in their behaviors, among other things.
I thought maybe giving him fiber could help with the problems. Most brands say they have the fiber that you find in fruits and vegetables. Then it dawned on me, it seemed like these behaviors came about when I totally removed the green juice from his diet. The nutrients he was getting from it was helping to balance the sugars he was receiving from the juice, snacks and syrup and now that he wasn't getting it, his body was having a reaction to it. I looked for gluten free fiber supplements that I can give to him to help just incase removing the juices and syrup didn't work. I found multiple ones who had less that some percentage of gluten to consider it gluten free, but they said if you have celiac disease you shouldn't take it. Others I found had aspartame, which is one of the substances I read you shouldn't give a child with autism. It is an excitotoxin that can cause brain damage and effect the development of a child's nervous system. I ended up finding a powder that was sugar and gluten free with no sugar substitutes. When I thought this is something I need to document, I turned to the blog and it led me to look at his test results to see if indeed his glucose levels had been tested in the past. To my surprise they had been and indeed they did go up and down. On two occasions his levels were high while most were mid-range. The others were right on the cusp of being elevated. Seeing the results made me come to the realization that I should invest in buying him the fiber. What harm could it do?
