Caring Medical
& Rehabilitation Services
715 Lake Street, Suite 600
Oak Park, Illinois 60301
708.848.7789 Phone
708.848.7763 Fax

Undiagnosed Food Allergy

Nicole (Nicole Baird, Patient Educator) was referred a nice, but “energetic” eight year-old boy a few months ago who was having problems with his attention span at school, as well as concentrating on anything for more than 10 minutes at a time. He was always excessively tired in the mornings and also complained of headaches and continually having a runny nose and a cold – even when it seemed “out of season”. Dr. Hauser saw the boy with his mom and took a detailed history. Dr. Hauser ran some tests on him which revealed that the young man was allergic to cow’s milk, cheese, and wheat.

Nicole saw the boy and obtained a diet history. His favorite foods were pizza, ice cream, and cookies and milk. All of these foods were most likely contributing to his above-mentioned problems. Nicole instructed his mother on alternatives to dairy and wheat products, including soy and rice products. She also found that the boy rarely ate breakfast. His family is very busy in the morning getting his other two siblings off to school and both mom and dad off to work. The young man was so tired in the morning that it was just a chore to get him out of bed. He never had time to eat breakfast. Nicole stressed the importance of eating breakfast, especially made from non-allergenic foods.

The boy's mom was actually very motivated to help him get back on track. She did not want to see him falling behind in school. She tried the different foods items that Nicole recommended and amazingly enough, he liked them! As she got rid of the allergenic foods, she gradually noticed the boy's symptoms disappearing. She made sure that the boy ate breakfast every morning. It has been two months and he is feeling much better, doing better in school, and has a lot more energy. Here’s a perfect example of how food can really affect your life and how important it is to eat right for your specific body type!