I was diagnosed with gluten and lactose intolerance in 2010, shortly after the birth of my first daughter. For a French woman, it felt like a small death sentence, I will not lie…

But I was determined and pushed through. I adjusted my eating habits to the point where I no longer craved bread and cheese. Huge win!

But I also noticed other changes: I didn’t get those sharp energy dips during the day (hangry -> jelly-legs -> fainting), I stopped needing anti-diarrhoea tablets regularly, my migraines disappeared, I didn’t feel depressed every winter.

At this point, a couple of years and 2 babies later, it was only me eating ‘funny’ in the family.

Then our paediatrician, whom we used to visit way too often, suggested that ‘dogs don’t make cats‘, and that maybe a gluten- and dairy-free diet would help my daughters too. They had been battling constant infections, digestive issues (colics, cramps, diarrhoea, reflux), skin problems (eczema, cold sores) etc. Sure, they were growing, but they weren’t thriving.

So we adjusted their diet too. My grazer and picky eater suddenly started eating normally: ‘my tummy isn’t hurting yet‘, she would say. The other one’s constant cramps and diarrhoea stopped, and her eczema slowly cleared up. They both stopped being sick with this or that virus all the time.

And this is where it hit me: How can food hurt us? How can it make babies and children sick? How does this actually work?

The more I learned about food intolerances, the more I realised this was part of a bigger picture, which includes leaky gut, poor gut microbiome, unhelpful food choices, stress, low immunity and other lifestyle issues.

And down that rabbit hole (crater?) I fell…