Last week, Nicole L. from Corona, CA shared this comment on our Whole30 post: “We (the L. family) finished up the Whole30 on the 30th of January and we feel great. The behavior in our children have improved drastically – my oldest has PDD, and the absence of gluten and sugar has been a godsend in our lives. We’re not afraid of what’s out there, but since starting, DH and I have become very aware of our health, nutrition and GMO’s, and we really enjoy eating this way. We don’t plan on being as strict when we get together with friends or go out for the occasional dinner, but eating healthy is our number one priority when it comes to food in general. Thank you for such a fabulous jump-start to a new me!”
Pervasive Developmental Disorder
PDD stands for “Pervasive Developmental Disorder,” and refers to a refers to a group of five disorders characterized by delays in the development of multiple basic functions including socialization and communication. PDD includes:
- Atypical autism
- Autism
- Asperger syndrome
- Rett syndrome
- Childhood disintegrative disorder (CDD).
Symptoms of PDD may include communication problems such as:
- Difficulty using and understanding language
- Difficulty relating to people, objects, and events (lack of eye contact, pointing behavior, and lack of facial responses)
- Difficulty with changes in routine or familiar surroundings
- Repetitive body movements or behavior patterns (hand flapping, hair twirling, or foot tapping
- Inability to cuddle or be comforted
We asked Nicole about her experience with the Whole30, and how it affected her son’s PDD symptoms. In her own words:
Nicole’s Story
“My 7 year old was diagnosed with PDD three years ago, at the age of 4. He has always had behavior issues (screaming, tantrums, hitting his siblings, hurting himself), and I’ve tried everything I could to change this – including taking parenting classes because I thought I was doing something wrong. In December 2011, my husband and I were introduced to the Whole30 program. Although we thought we ate pretty healthy before, we figured we’d give this a try for our own health. I don’t consider myself a short-order cook, so we decided to jump into this as a whole family rather than make separate meals for us and the kids. The first few weeks, we still served our children sandwiches for lunch because I wasn’t quite ready for that battle. But with the absence of sugar and other processed foods alone, we started noticing that our son wasn’t fighting us so much when told to do something. At the beginning of week three, we decided to ditch the bread altogether to see if there would be any other changes. Within just a few days, he was like a brand new child! He woke up one morning with a smile on his face, was very compatible and would even sit down and do his homework without whining and crying about it. We are SO happy with the results of our whole family that we have continued to eat clean foods and we rave about this program to anyone who will listen. We shop together, prepare together and are always talking about what different foods do for our bodies. Thank you, Whole30, for opening our eyes to what real food is all about!”
Share Your Whole30 Story
Do you have a Whole30 Success Story you’d like to share? Send your story (as short or as long as you’d like) to [email protected]. Please – share your story today, as you never know who you’ll inspire! And as always, thank you to all for reading, supporting and participating in our community.
