Leaky Gut & Candida Diet? (13 month old)

[nicole_marie]

I have shared some of my adopted son's story before, and we are on the search for a vegan breastmilk donor (or at the very least dairy free). No luck yet, but I'm still searching.

He has been diagnosed with leaky gut and candida. I'm in the process of sorting through his 50+ IgG allergies to try and figure out what I CAN feed him.

Are any of you familiar with a raw food version of Body Ecology or similar diet program? If so...

1. Can I feed him young coconut meat (yogurt/kefir) if coconut showed up as a "low" IgG results?
2. Same questions as #1, only with Avocado. (in the form of 2 avocados a day?)
3. Would you recommend feeding him fermented veggies? Or could those be harmful to his leaky gut?
4. He is allergic to many nuts, including almonds. How do I get him to gain weight? He lost 5 pounds in 2 weeks.
5. Can I feed him Chia? It was not included in the IgG testing.
6. What type of foods should I be juicing for him? I'm using mostly cucumber now for the base, then broccoli, greens, etc. How can I sweeten it so that he will drink the juice (vs. throwing his bottles across the room, seriously).

This forum is a wealth of knowledge, thank you for all of your help!

xo
Nicole

[mtm]

a 5 pound loss in a 13 month old is very worrisome to me, what does your doc/naturopath say?

[nicole_marie]

Our Dr is very concerned about the weight loss, but he had RSV and refused to eat very much for several weeks. He has trouble controlling his appetite. Some day he refuses to eat and other days he eats until he throws up. We have a follow up next week to recheck his progress.

[heatherdeg]

I'll be honest, with all of that I would truly just put him on an elimination diet or you're going to be playing guessing games. The candida is a problem, but with leaky gut, you could be trial-and-erroring for years.

What's worse is that you're not going to get reliable bloodwork results for allergens. So if you had him tested, sorry. Our allergist/immunologist told us that because their systems cycle so much in the first two years of life that it makes allergy testing "unreliable at best". And to that point, we've had relatives and friends who HAVE had the bloodwork that young (in sheer desperation) only to find that they've been wrong. That allergist/immunologist told us that the best test was to remove the suspected irritant and look for a reaction.

If it were me, I'd do the elimination diet to see what you CAN feed him and then when you know that--work on the candida problem. I apologize if this is a problem for something about your situation that you've previously posted--I missed those.

Here's the elimination diet: http://www.askdrsears.com/html/4/T041200.asp

Hope this helps you.

[nicole_marie]

Thank you Heather!

He's been on the elimination diet for several months and we have started over three times. We suspect that candida is the reason for his leaky gut and we all know how difficult candida is to heal.

The allergy testing was only done to confirm that he has a leaky gut.

We are working toward an autism healing type diet, but with coconut, avocado, nuts and bananas on his avoid list, I can't figure out how we will get him to gain weight again.

[APToddlerMama]

I am on a search for answers myself, and a lot of other mamas have a lot more info/expertise than I do on this, but I just wanted to say that I just read the other day in the book "The Kid Friendly ADHD and Autism Cookbook" by Pamela Compart and Dana Laake that if 15 or more foods are positive in the IgG test that you should take it as a sign *not* that the child truly has an issue with any/all of those particular foods, but that the intenstinal lining is leaking. It said that this would indicate that the intestinal barrier is unable to keep out a variety of foods and the immune system is responding by creating antibodies to all the foods. Soooo, your kiddo may not actually have issues with all those foods. I'd go with the elimination diet instead of removing all 50 foods. I know even with myself, I have tested positive for foods I don't react to and negative to ones I do react to. I am noticing the same thing with my son too. Good luck! I know how hard it is to find something to feed them!

[Kailey's mom]

I would just consider working very close with the specialists, until then, make sure he is on a safe formula *elecare perhaps?* to make sure he stays healthy until things get sorted out. Have they put him on Nystatin?

[changingseasons]

You said you suspected candida is the reason for his leaky gut- can I ask why? I think that candida is often the go-to answer for gut issues for a lot of people, but it is definitely not always the case. Also, if it IS candida, I would suggest that you do a hair test to check for metals first. Candida binds metals like mercury, so if you kill the candida, you release the mercury- then it is free to roam around the body and settle in important organs, unless you're doing some sort of chelation at the same time to clear the metals.

Have you done any other testing to see if there are parasites, bacterial overgrowth, etc? We just did a stool test and OAT urine test from Great Plains and got some interesting answers for DD (here if you're interested)- including that she has NO markers for yeast overgrowth. She does have a bacterial overgrowth, and on the test results they tell you exactly which products (natural and abx) are effective on that specific strain of bacteria.

I would definitely have more testing done if you can swing it before just blindly shooting in the dark at a problem that you aren't even sure exists. I can relate to your frustration, because there are very few foods that DD hasn't tested positive to (either IgG or IgE). But going on some of those restrictive diets can sometimes cause nutritional deficiencies/imbalances which can make things worse. (We've been talking a lot about nutritional therapy in the Allergy forum lately- come on over!)

[nicole_marie]

Originally Posted by changingseasons

You said you suspected candida is the reason for his leaky gut- can I ask why?)

At 4 months old he had severe cradle cap, his head and bottom smelled like bread dough, his rash responds to yeast creams and we just treated him for a severe case of thrush a few weeks ago.

Originally Posted by changingseasons

Also, if it IS candida, I would suggest that you do a hair test to check for metals first. Candida binds metals like mercury, so if you kill the candida, you release the mercury- then it is free to roam around the body and settle in important organs, unless you're doing some sort of chelation at the same time to clear the metals.

Where can I find more information about this? Have you done chelation? Would a gentler heavy metal nutritional detox be an option?

Originally Posted by changingseasons

Have you done any other testing to see if there are parasites, bacterial overgrowth, etc? We just did a stool test and OAT urine test from Great Plains and got some interesting answers for DD (here if you're interested)- including that she has NO markers for yeast overgrowth. She does have a bacterial overgrowth, and on the test results they tell you exactly which products (natural and abx) are effective on that specific strain of bacteria.

We don't have any reason to suspect bacterial overgrowth. What symptoms would I be looking for? I will check out your thread, thank you.

Originally Posted by changingseasons

But going on some of those restrictive diets can sometimes cause nutritional deficiencies/imbalances which can make things worse.

That's exactly my concern.

[changingseasons]

Honestly, I can't tell you what symptoms to look for, because they're different for everyone. But DD had serious cradle cap as an infant as well (it still flares with some food reactions) and would get a yeast-type diaper rash with food reactions. We never dealt with thrush though- that might definitely be a good indicator of yeast issues.

We started doing more testing because DD's food allergies are getting worse, rather than better, as she grows.

Come over to the allergy forum- there are much more experienced moms there that can tell you about chelation and yeast stuff (we've never dealt with either.) TanyaLopez and mamafish9 are currently doing chelation with their kiddos, so they would be the best ones to answer your questions about it. Oh, and WuWei has lots of information about yeast stuff and detoxing. There's also big huge thread about yeast in the TF forum, let me see if I can find it... here it is.

We talk a lot in Allergies about using nutritional support rather than treating symptoms. Like for example, low stomach acid is often a cause of food allergies and digestion issues. Low zinc is often a cause of low stomach acid... and it goes on and on.

There are just so many variables to look at, it's really overwhelming. But I know that if you post over there, everyone can help you brainstorm.

[WuWei]

What foods is he eating- have you tried a rotation diet, food journally? What probiotics -include ingredients or links to ingredients if you can? Which supplements (again ingredients?)? What about environmental allergen exposures? Pets? Dust mites? I saw something about mold issues?

Allergens have a "bucket effect", when it is overflowing, then you have reactions. What about homemade formula? What primary foods is he consuming?

Primary allergens are dairy, soy, wheat/gluten, corn.

Kirkmans makes a hypoallergenic bifidum for infants. Here's a link to the Kirkman Labs hypoallergenic probiotic. http://www.kirkmanlabs.com/products/...0_Spec042.html
http://www.kirkmanlabs.com/[e-mail]

For baby, you want bifidum bacteria, predominantly.

I'd suggest making dairy-free water kefir. It is easy and delicious and will help baby's gut and you can let baby lick a bit of it off your finger. (That works for giving baby powdered probiotics too. )


Have you eliminated corn? Many mamas are intolerant of GMO-corn. Corn is in EVERYTHING. Dairy exposure is everywhere. Here is a list of hidden diary: http://www.kellymom.com/store/handou...dden-dairy.pdf

Hidden corn: http://www.cornallergens.com/list/co...ergen-list.php

What grains is he eating? Have you tried buckwheat, amaranth, quinoa? These seem to be more tolerated. Rice is a common food intolerance for many here after being on TED for any length of time.

What about magnesium, zinc, B6, B12, folate, selenium, vit C sources? Which fish oil? Does it have synthetic vit A added?

What are the ingredients in the steroid cream? Generally there is a rebound effect once a steroid is stopped, but the stimulus is not removed.

Are you feeding fruit alongside fats and meats? Many have had difficulty with deli meat- for instance having corn contamination. Fruit festers in the stomach, unless eaten separately. Zinc is critical for adequate stomach acid to adequately digest proteins. A tablespoon of cabbage juice will help similarly.

Have you tried any herbal infusions or bone broth for nutrients and minerals? Have you given baby coconut oil? Is coconut an issue? It is for many on the allergy forum, unfortunately. Sunflower oil, sesame oils are other culprits.

Egg yolks are very helpful for biotin and vit A. But, often the whites are an issue.


And I strongly recommend classical homeopathy!



Pat

[nicole_marie]

Pat, he hasn't been on any crap food AT ALL...ever (besides formula!). 100% fresh and gently cooked organic fruits and vegetables. He has never even touched a piece of bread or anything else that comes in a package. He is now off all formula and milk and milk alternatives. He has never had corn. He has been corn, dairy, soy, gluten, nut, egg free for 11 months. The only allergens that he consumed prior to IgG testing were bananas and quinoa.

His primary foods are rotated every 4 days. I don't need to look for hidden ingredients in his foods, unless there is corn hidden inside of a fresh cucumber. Again, NO packaged foods what-so-ever. Nothing baked what-so-ever. He eats mono foods.

Here are some images of my son's rash 3 weeks into starting over on the elimination diet and 9 days after stopping steroid creme. It has been this severe without improvement for 11 months.

http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j1...o/IMG_9054.jpg

http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j1...o/IMG_9053.jpg

http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j1...o/IMG_9052.jpg

Is it possible that he maybe has a rare underlying condition such as a metabolic disorder?

[nicole_marie]

UPDATE: His rash only got worse over the last couple of months. He was diagnosed this week with eczema (atopic dermatitis)/seborrhea and a pretty extensive staph infection.