Week 6, Day 1: “Happy Cheese Day!”

My daughter woke us up this morning, excited for "Cheese day". Our Naturopath advised us that 2 slices of cheese with each meal 3 times a day (for 3 days) is the correct amount for testing dairy. We bought 2 kinds of organic cheese for testing: pre-sliced mild cheddar and a block of mozzarella. We melted 1 slice per meal over pasta or potato, and she wanted to just eat the other slices by themselves. She was so excited this morning, she was giddy. It has been about a year since she has had any cheese. My husband talked with her this morning about how we need to watch for energy or emotional reactions today, and so after breakfast she let me know she felt great, and right before dinner said, "I know you want to know how I feel, not how excited I am, but how my body is feeling from eating cheese, and I want you to know my body is feeling great."

We spent most of our day out in the sunshine, and it's been a while since we've done that, so I wanted to make sure she wasn't dehydrated. I had her drink 2 glasses of water with dinner. After dinner, in the bathtub, she started crying. The initial reason was that her brother picked a "movie" from a stack of DVD's she selected to watch tonight - he picked Charlie and Lola, which is quite tame and she said she doesn't like it and feels very frustrated and sad that she doesn't know why, even though she put it in the pile for him to pick from. Then she said she was crying (which she still was) because she misses her protein powder because it makes her body feel good (we aren't taking it because her cheese consumption covers her daily requirement of protein), then said her tummy was hurting. She started coming up with non-cheese related excuses why this could be. Too much water too quickly. Too much to eat. Then I talked with my husband, and we did the same thing. Too much sun today, not enough sleep last night. Uh-oh. I know it's possible (I mean, I think it's possible) that her tummy could be hurting from trying to process cheese for the first time in a year. Also, from drinking too much water too quickly. But honestly, if I had to guess, I would say this is definitely a food reaction, since her temperament has been fairly even for weeks (although, come to think of it, she did have a giant tantrum last week that is completely out of the ordinary for her). But the emotional reaction of crying in addition to her upset stomach makes me wonder if tomorrow we are going to start seeing some physical reactions to cheese.