Detection/elimination diet diy

[lilysmama1124]

I think that my 3 year old, my 10 week old twins, and I may have a food intolerance. The 3 year old has very slow weight gain and is even on a medication to increase her appetite(after a year of trying natural things) but her growth specialist has found no medical reason, the twins have scaley, dry skin on their forehead that isn't going away no matter what I put or don't put on it and they are very gasy, I have had lots of gastro stuff off an on for years, fatigue, chronic headaches. I am thinking it may be gluten and want to try an elimination diet but the ones I have read about are very restrictive (ie only eat rice and lamb), I found a detection diet online but you have to pay for it. Can I just eliminate gluten and see if our symptoms improve? How long should I do it for? Should I wait to eliminate it and journal our symptoms for a bit and then eliminate it? How long will it take for the twins to show improvements since they are exclusively bfing? Also my 3 year olds only observable symptom is her slow weight gain so what other improvements might I see that I haven't been attributing to a possible intolerance? Lastly, do I just need to worry about processed foods with grains in them or do I need to worry about grain fed beef, poultry, and dairy? I usually try to eat grassfed anyway but thats not always possible.

[kjbrown92]

After you pick your elimination diet, make sure you keep a food journal for yourself, the 3 year old, and the twins (though they're only breastfeeding, so maybe you could just put their symptoms on with your food chart).

There are all sorts of symptoms that people don't realize are from food intolerances. I thought I just had a clingy whiney child who took forever to fall asleep. Got the ALCAT intolerance test (blood), eliminated the foods, and look, I have an even tempered child that goes to sleep in 10 minutes instead of 2 hours. Huh. I figured the stomachaches and lip rashes were from food, but I thought the other was just personality. Turns out I was wrong.

rashes, dark circles under eyes, tantrums, rashes, tooth decay, ear infections, eczema, constipation, diarrhea, etc.

On your food journal, write down every single thing you eat and drink (including supplements/meds) and all possible symptoms (sleep habits, pooping, how much kids are drinking [my DD2 drank excessively when on her trigger foods], skin, etc.

If you have a feeling that gluten is a problem, I'd tackle that first. If that doesn't get you everything, then eliminate dairy AS WELL. Then soy. Then corn. Give each one a couple of weeks to get out of your system. Once you're off those 4 (which are the top 4), you'll be off all processed foods and you'll be able to see any other foods more easily. For BFing mothers, I think it's a lot less restrictive than a TED and will probably get you to the same place.

We got custom flower essences done from an MDC member here, and my DD2 started eating a lot more... just a thought.

Make sure you know all the hidden names of things to make sure you get them all out.

I have a blog www.kathysrecipebox.com with recipes, searchable by allergen. There's also a recipes sticky in the resources at the top of the page. If you like to read, www.dogtorj.net has interesting stuff about those top 4 intolerances.

[lilysmama1124]

Thanks. What is the ALCAT blood test? Is there a good book/website with the hidden ingredients/other names for things?

[changingseasons]

ALCAT and ELISA are blood tests that check for IgG (delayed-reaction) allergies/intolerances.

My blog has some lists of hidden ingredients, as well as some food allergy 101 info: babieswithfoodallergies.blogspot.com

I also have my favorite allergy books listed there!

[kjbrown92]

ALCAT doesn't test for IgG. It tests for an inflammatory response to the food. www.alcat.com is where I ordered mine from (my insurance didn't pay for it, unfortunately, but some do). For us, it was fantastic. I never would have figured out DS's because his "symptoms" were things that I thought were part of his personality (whiney, clingy, took a long time to go to sleep). I had figured out the ones that caused his bedwetting and stomachaches, and lip rashes, but not the "emotional" ones.

[lilysmama1124]

So does that mean it would pick up intolerances as well as allergies? Thanks I'm new to this!

[kjbrown92]

ALCAT does NOT test for IgE allergies. Only an inflammatory response to foods, which are considered intolerances.