Drug treatments didn’t work. Can a simple diet help change these children’s lives?
KISSIMMEE, Fla. — Twelve-year-old Cecily Vammino’s eyebrows shot up as she closed her lips around the veggie pie. It was a subtle mélange of carrots, potatoes, and zucchini, surrounded by a vaguely sweet crust, and it was not working for her.
Cecily’s jaw carefully dispatched the invader while her left hand slid the remaining threat to a place where it could not harm her.
“Uh-uh,” she said, shaking her head.
Like every other meal Cecily would be sharing with 19 other children and their parents this month, this one was freshly cooked and served by the crack staff of kitchen professionals who were working under strict orders: Give the kids anything they want, as long as it’s all organic, and free of gluten, dairy, salt, and processed sugar.
It was a grand medical — and, in ways, social — experiment. The children are all living with a rare kidney disorder called , or FSGS, in which their kidneys leak proteins into the bloodstream. The disease strikes 5,000 people in the United States each year, and for a
