Simple tool to evaluate your child's health

A year ago my 7 year old daughter jana used to get frequent headaches, accompanied by stomach complains and fatigue, she missed many days of school and had multiple visits to the school nurse.

The doctors ran a full blood test and didn't find anything unusual, so we decided to dig deeper into food sensitivities and gut issues as her complaints were usually along with some loose stools and stomach aches.

we started an elimination diet that only removes the major allergens wheat and dairy, to make it easy for a child to follow, of course it was a challenge at first, to change all the food habits but she very cooperative and we all joined her at home on her challenge to make it feel easier.

we had fun baking and trying all the gluten free alternatives, and going to restaurants that have options that would fit our new diet, even our traditional desserts and foods that are full of gluten, I experimented until I found versions that would work! kids have to still feel like kids and enjoy with everyone else even while following food restrictions

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we used one simple tool that proved very effective on our journey, a poop and food chart, and yes you heard me right! a poop chart, our poop tells us a lot about our health, we printed out this chart - you can get one here - hanged it with a pencil oh her bathroom door, and had her fill it for every time she got to the bathroom, and also write the number explaining how her stool was, it is very uncomfortable at first to start looking and talking about stool, but after some time you get used to it and it acts as the most powerful tool to know how your health is.

Want to learn more about how to ​evaluate your stool click here

On the chart these is a mini bristol stool chart that shows with pictures and describe all types of stools and where you should be, the optimum is to be between 3-4, above or below that indicates some issues in the gut.

we also printed a food and symptom journal to keep track of what she is eating and when her symptoms come back. you can print it here

After journaling and doing the elimination for one month, it was very clear for us which foods upset her, gluten was the main culprit, yet sugar also contributed when in excess, it was not so hard to let her stick

to the new food restrictions now after she has seen for herself how it affects her.

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Last year, my daughter missed a lot of school days because of these very vague symptoms, this years thanks to god, she has missed much less days, and the frequency of her headaches/stomach upset has been reduced at least by 80%, she still gets them every now and then that could be due to other gut issues that hasn't been addressed, or because of our occasional gluten treats we have, I still let her indulge every now and then.

If you need help figuring out which food could be contributing to your or your child's symptoms feel free to schedule a free consultation with me, or Join Our Intensive 8 Week Restore Gut Health Program that addresses food sensitivities and other gut issues in detail.