Aug 28, 2019
My guest this week is Tom
Malterre, a Certified Functional Medicine Practitioner whose
fascination with nutrition started with his family doctor, Dr. John
McDougall of the Forks Over Knives acclaim. Since then, he has
attained two nutritional science degrees from Bastyr University,
certification from the Institute for Functional Medicine, has
co-authored three books, worked as a medical affairs member at
Thorne Research and is now an educator for the Institute for
Functional Medicine.
In this episode, Tom and I
discuss how an elimination diet is an effective tool for a variety
of children’s neurological and behavioral disorders. Tom provides
the audience with years of professional experience, success, and
insight on the best practices for the elimination diet and tips on
where and how to begin. Parents looking to try the elimination diet
themselves or in their family will greatly benefit from the
guidance Tom and his wife Alissa have prepared in multiple free
resources online and through their various publications.
To learn more click here.
Episode Highlights
What Is The Elimination
Diet?
- A
simple and powerful process of removing potentially problematic
foods from your diet until your symptoms subside
- This
process is most effectively done by the use of healthy whole
foods
- Learn
more about Tom and Alissa’s elimination diet approach
here
But My Kid Doesn’t Have
Allergies
- It is
important to know that there are different types of immunologic
reactions for every individual
- Your
child may not have allergies but they can still have reactions and
intolerances
- Example: Your child has loose stools or becomes
moodier after having apple juice or apple sauce. They might have a
reaction that does not stimulate their immune system. They could be
reacting to a fructose intolerance that is in the
apples
- Example: Gluten sensitivities - 6% of the
population has a non-celiac wheat sensitivity and there are no
actual tests that can be run for this
-
- An
IGG panel would not be able to show this result
- An
elimination diet can allow these types of reactions to be
discovered
Sensitivity
Testing
- There
are nuances to each test that can vary by lab, by company or
brand
-
- Example: one companies labs may pick up soy and
corn better than another
- Even
when running an IGG panel it is possible to receive incomplete
results
Time Between Ingestion &
Symptoms
- Delayed sensitivity reactions - your body may
take time to have an immune or intolerance response
- Once
an antibody is released or an imbalance has occurred it can take
days, weeks and sometimes even months for things to calm or return
to normal in order to have a clean slate to reintroduce
foods
- Cutting out any one particular food or
potential aggressor must be done with dedication and
time
-
- Trying to remove the item for a week most
likely will not be enough time
Top Offenders to
Remove
- The
top 6 to remove: gluten, dairy, eggs, yeast, corn, and
soy
- Ideal
to remove them for about a month
- Truly
eliminating them is tough when eating out and shopping
-
- Do
your due diligence in researching items and whole foods that fit
the criteria
- If
you are able to remove all the top aggressors you will spend your
time and efforts more effectively, most especially in the
reintroduction phase in discovering what your body is reacting
to
Reintroduction
Process
- After
removing for about a months time, your symptoms have cleared and
calmed then you can reintroduce one food at a time every 3 days and
wait to see if symptoms begin to reappear
- You
then leave that offending food for a longer period, 3-6 months
before addressing and adding it back in your diet
Where to learn more about Tom
Malterre...
Connect with Dr. Nicole Beurkens
on...
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child’s behavior naturally?
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Better is available for
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