I haven't written too much about Grady's digestive system issues here* because really, what is there to say? Grady is a fairly picky eater and we refuse to engage in daily battles over food. Every day we offer him a variety of different foods and every day he eats a combination of macaroni and cheese, peanut butter, apples, bananas, and yogurt. It's frustrating and also completely normal for his age (and temporary! I keep reminding myself. This won't last forever. It can't.).
* I do all my hand wringing over on Twitter using the #poopdoula hashtag.
Grady's doctor is aware of the situation and is supportive of our "offer different foods but don't try to force him to eat them" approach. The situation is not (yet) dire and as long as we stay on top of it, hopefully it won't progress past the "annoying and uncomfortable" stage before it improves.
Last week Grady's doctor gave me a sheet of recipes to try using psyllium husk. Psyllium husk is a soluble fibre that creates a gel instead of bulk so it's good for helping to relieve constipation. I think. I'm unwilling to google because I already know too much about kid poop as it is.
The Experiment
I didn't have the right ingredients to make any of the recipes so I decided to just add psyllium husk powder to my go-to brownies recipe. I wasn't sure how to go about it so I decided to just add the same amount of psyllium husk as flour and hope for the best. I didn't add any additional liquid because I wasn't sure if it was necessary (looking at the recipes given to me, the quantity of flour + psyllium is quite high compared to the liquid and fat). The only changes I made to the recipe are:
- I added 1/2 cup psyllium husk powder.
- I mixed the dry ingredients together in a bowl before adding to the liquid ingredients because I wanted to make sure everything was mixed well.
- I added 1/2 cup chocolate chips to the batter because I wanted to make sure Grady would eat the brownies, even if he could taste the psyllium husk.
The Verdict
The batter was very thick. I think that 1/4 cup of milk or water or even apple sauce would help. The brownies are a tad on the dry side and I think adding some liquid would alleviate that. The psyllium husk is not tasteless but it's not overpowering. It adds a slightly nutty/grainy flavour to the brownies but it's not offensive. Grady is a bit wary (the brownies taste different than the brownies he's used to) but not opposed. I am cautiously optimistic that the poop brownies are going to help.
