Coconut milk

[2boyzmama]

I have a little guy who is dairy and soy allergic (sensitive/intolerant, pick your word, his reaction is gastro, not Ig mediated). He also has a genetic chromosomal syndrome with lots of complicated medical issues.

We started giving him rice milk around 18 months, and using it to cook his food in. I also drank it since he breastfeeds and was reacting to dairy/soy in my diet. Then we switched to almond milk to get more fat and nutrients in him. He's since been able to tolerate dairy in my diet, but still not in his (he's 2 years 4 months now).

A few days ago at the grocery store I saw coconut milk, and it was actually cheaper than his almond milk, so I bought it and gave it to him. He likes it! So I think, as long as it stays at this price, I'll keep buying it for him.

I don't know much about it nutritionally. I know that it's very high in fat, but that it's good fat, and besides, he's officially "failure to thrive" at only 22 pounds (birth weight was 8-4, so growth has been a big issue for us) How does it compare in terms of iron content? He's tended towards being anemic, so we focus on iron-rich foods in the rest of his diet. Anything I should know about putting him on coconut milk vs almond milk? Should I still give him almond milk? Does coconut milk cook in recipes as well as almond milk does?

Obviously I haven't researched this at all yet!

[tanyam926]

We love coconut milk over here. I make ice cream w/it, use it in smoothies, all kinds of things. We use almond milk too for cereal and for drinking. I haven't cooked w/it but I don't see why it wouldn't work.

I don't know about the iron but we do other iron rich foods also.

[doulamamasarah]

coconut milk vs almond milk

I too have a child that is allergic to dairy. Almond milk is the number one choice in our house. I do cook with organic coconut milk when making certain dishes and it heats well...especially if you want to make something thick.

Here is a little info I have found....

Nuts, coconut milk, canned (liquid expressed from grated meat and water)
Nutrition Facts
Per 1 cup (226 g)
Amount% Daily Value
Calories 445
Fat 48.2 g74 %
Saturated 42.8 g214 %
Trans Fat 0 g0 %
Monounsaturated 2.1 g
Polyunsaturated 0.5 g
Cholesterol 0 mg0 %
Potassium 497.2 mg14 %
Carbohydrate 6.4 g2 %
Fibers 0 g0 %
Sugars 0 g
Protein 4.6 g9 %
Vitamin A0 %
Vitamin B1/Thiamin3 %
Vitamin B2/Riboflavin0 %
Vitamin B3/Niacin7 %
Vitamin B5/Pantothenic Acid3 %
Vitamin B63 %
Vitamin B9/Folate-Folic Acid8 %
Vitamin B120 %
Vitamin C4 %
Vitamin E0 %
Calcium4 %
Iron41 %
Zinc8 %
Based on a 2000 calorie diet
__________________________________________________ ___________
Nuts, coconut milk, raw [/B][/B](liquid expressed from grated meat and water)
Nutrition Facts
Per 1 cup (240 g)
Amount% Daily Value
Calories 552
Fat 57.2 g88 %
Saturated 50.7 g254 %
Trans Fat 0 g0 %
Monounsaturated 2.4 g
Polyunsaturated 0.6 g
Cholesterol 0 mg0 %
Potassium 631.2 mg18 %
Carbohydrate 13.3 g4 %
Fibers 5.3 g21 %
Sugars 8 g
Protein 5.5 g11 %
Vitamin A0 %
Vitamin B1/Thiamin5 %
Vitamin B2/Riboflavin0 %
Vitamin B3/Niacin9 %
Vitamin B5/Pantothenic Acid4 %
Vitamin B64 %
Vitamin B9/Folate-Folic Acid10 %
Vitamin B120 %
Vitamin C11 %
Vitamin E1 %
Calcium4 %
Iron22 %
Zinc11 %
Based on a 2000 calorie diet


*although there was not much on these milk sources, I find www.kellymom.com to be extremely useful when it comes to sources of nutrition and breastfeeding info.

[cristeen]

Coconut milk cooks better than almond milk in most recipes where you're trying to replace cow's milk. It's thicker and richer, instead of watery. But, the trade off is that it also has a stronger flavor, which in some things might be objectionable.

[kjbrown92]

My DS can't have almond milk (or hemp, soy, rice, etc.). I use coconut milk in a lot of things (baking, etc.).

The "tending toward anemia" shot out at me. Has he been tested for celiac? And have you tried taking gluten out (whether it's celiac or intolerance) since a lot of people have a problem with it, especially with FTT.

We do bone broth for calcium and nutrients as well.

[2boyzmama]

Originally Posted by kjbrown92

My DS can't have almond milk (or hemp, soy, rice, etc.). I use coconut milk in a lot of things (baking, etc.).

The "tending toward anemia" shot out at me. Has he been tested for celiac? And have you tried taking gluten out (whether it's celiac or intolerance) since a lot of people have a problem with it, especially with FTT.

We do bone broth for calcium and nutrients as well.

He has had the blood screening for celiac (negative), but not the biopsy (if he has to have general anesthesia for anything else in the future, I'm considering having him tested). We haven't pulled out gluten mainly because we've already pulled out dairy and soy, and his weight gain is a real issue, so if we pulled gluten also, we'd really struggle to get weight on him. He craves carbs, which I know can be a sign of an allergy. Unfortunately we have really BAD gastros here, they just want him on a g-tube and medical formula, they even want me to wean him I have talked to his developmental ped, she's actually the one who ordered the celiac screen, and she said she'd be supportive of helping us pull the gluten for a trial.

The anemia was found just before we discovered he has a systemic Haemophilus Influenzae infection, then he was on a PICC line for a while on really strong antibiotics, which of course made the anemia worse (at one point his hemoglobin was 7.8, eek!) and it took us a long time to get his ferritin back up. He has a primary immune deficiency, so is sick often, and requires antibiotics often, which of course doesn't help any.

[YesandNo]

My advice - and this is probably obvious - is to not buy the "Lite" coconut milk because it's just watered down whole stuff.

He has had the blood screening for celiac (negative), but not the biopsy (if he has to have general anesthesia for anything else in the future, I'm considering having him tested).

Was the blood screening a genetic test? From what I understand if that's negative, he CAN'T have celiac. Maybe an adverse reaction to wheat, but not celiac.

[kjbrown92]

And if he is intolerant to gluten, then that could be keeping his weight from "sticking". Some people find when they pull gluten, if it's a problem, that the kid then starts eating more other kinds of food and improves. Of course, it doesn't always happen that way.

Because my kids can't have dairy or soy (or gluten or corn or a whole host of other foods), we do a lot of coconut milk and coconut oil for the good fats. We also do salmon, and bone broths, and meat. My kids fight over the chicken skin, and DD2 actually asks for the pork fat (ick). They also do pork sausage and bacon. People look at us and think that we can't be healthy because of the fat. But it's all good fat. We can't eat processed foods (okay, Cape Cod potato chips for DD2 and me, but not for DS) so we eat a lot of whole healthy foods. Coconut milk works better in some things than others. I use it in a butternut squash soup that you can't even taste. And I use it alot in baking (because DS can't have any of the typical "milks" like rice, almond, hemp, etc.). And I use it for smoothies for the kids too (it's a great place to hide probiotics and other meds out of the capsules). I also make it into coconut milk yogurt, and I use that in baking as well, and for savory dips (with onion powder and dill) or sweet dips (pineapple juice and a little maple syrup) for fruit. I love it with granola too (gluten free version of granola which is more like grape nuts).