DS failed Beets Test -- Next Steps??

[capsgirl08]

DS is 17 months. We didn't purposely try a beet test, but he loves them and had a big bowlful of them today. Later in the afternoon, his urine was very pink.

I know this means low stomach acid, low zinc, but what steps should I take to help with absorption of nutrients? I haven't supplemented him with any kind of vitamins or probiotics and get confused by which ones are safe for us. We do epsom salts every night.

I tried to give him bread that I made last Friday -- no eggs or milk. Just flour, yeast, and oil. He threw it all up and has a pimply rash over his body. Could this have triggered the beets fail? He has had beets before, but this is the first time I have seen the pink urine.

I have a few other concerns, but don't have t+ime to type right now. Thanks for any ++++info you can share, as always!

-A

[kjbrown92]

Has he had the bread (or those ingredients before)?

[capsgirl08]

Ok, DS is napping...more time to write.

He had only had some flour accidentally when I discovered that some fries he had eaten had been coated with it. No other gluten directly. That was a few months ago. He had also had gluten via my breast milk up until he was 6 months old...then again when he was 12 months old and until now I still slip up and have some. (It's an emotional, psychological thing for me. I've read about the 4 hoursemen and can rationally understand why I need to stop...just taking longer to stop this time around!)

Here are some of the other things we do not give DS:

Dairy/Casein---hives
Pumpkin---hives
All other squashes to be safe
Eggs---As a precaution, no reaction yet
Peanuts---"
Tree nuts---"
Shellfish---"
Fish---"
Tomatoes---Awful diaper rash
Oranges---Acts hyper afterwards, possibly diaper rash?
Soy---I think I am IgE allergic (had hives for several weeks after applying soy sunscreen, flared after eating soy ingredients)
Avocado, Banana, Kiwi---Grandmother and I have latex sensitivities

I still BF and plan on doing so for as long as I can. But as I said before, I am having trouble quitting the gluten and also I slip with the dairy. The other things are easy to avoid.

How do these things (if at all) play into his low stomach acid? Is the gluten screwing everything up in his tummy, therefore making it easier for proteins that aren't broken down to enter his system? I obviously need a tutorial or something...but my main concern is that he is not receiving the nutritional benefits of the foods he *is* able to eat without reactions (that I know of).

[mamafish9]

Ah, low zinc - been there!!!

I think it takes a while for little ones to build to a zinc deficiency - my guy started showing symptoms around 20 months, and failed a beet test a couple months later.

The problem with low stomach acid is that lots of nutrients need good stomach acid to get absorbed (e.g. B12, magnesium), and lots of foods need good stomach acid to get digested (e.g. proteins - casein, gluten...). And stomach acid leaving the stomach triggers digestive enzymes in the gut, so it can also impact starch and fat digestion.

We had low zinc and low mag (I suspect the low zinc came first, and inhibited mag absorption). I use brainchild minerals (the minerals and the separate zinc) - both taste good and are very well absorbed. We also use kefir to try to help his digestion, and Trienza digestive enzymes.

We have been working on all this for 6 months now, and have gained back a bunch of foods, and decreased the severity of reactions to others (so I'm hopeful we will gain them back eventually).