Testing, Testing, 1...2...3...

On February 1st, my son Jefferson and I stopped eating foods containing artificial colors, artificial flavors, preservatives, MSG and its derivatives, high fructose corn syrup, and transfats. He actually did better than I did (I had two rebellious binge days) - I know he accidentally ate an Oreo once, but on the whole he has been very diligent in looking at ingredient lists and abstaining from any "contaminated" foods.

We did this as a test, to see if it made a difference in his tics and his general mood. The answer seems to be yes - his tics have been far milder, and he seems calmer in general. But I had said early on we would pick a week to "test" it - a week in which we ate foods with all that stuff in it to see how we felt. This is the week.  I actually fell off the wagon last week (and face down into the chocolate), and have felt cruddy since then (except when I'm high on the chocolate - then life feels GREAT). Jefferson has now had 4 days of eating iffy foods - a Peep, fast food, donuts, chocolates, etc.

Has it made a difference? I think so. The only reason I'm not 100% sure is the complicating factor of pink eye - Jeff came down with pink eye on Saturday, and I know from previous experience that illness can sometimes cause a spike in tics. But even Jeff says he thinks he's noticed a difference. He seems more agitated, his tics are more noticeable. Mom is more grouchy.

So we're going to finish the week out (I'm not cutting us off before Easter baskets), and next week we're going back to our clean eating plan. That will be the true test - will the ickies, the tics, the irritability taper off again? I'm betting yes. And I'm actually looking forward to getting off the junk again. But in the meantime, those M&M's are calling my name...