Feingold diet for the year 2010

[hipumpkins]

I am ready to try this elimination diet for my DD age 7. We have tried everything else and our next step would land us on the medication doorstep I fear.
I always had some mental block with this b/c I was afraid of it being too hard and after reading the stuff we need to ,eliminate I know now it WILL be very hard for my DD. she loves almost everything on the "no" list and I am not talking about the junk I am talking about the fruits and veggies on the "no" list.
Anyway, I am looking for some feedback and how it worked for your family but most especially b/c the book was written 40 + years ago do you find it easy to shop in say, "whole Foods" and be able to easily eliminate those additives he mentions; BHT, BHA and TBHQ. Are foods better labled now? what about Crisco which is in the recipes?
Any and all updated information would be greatly appreciated. I am gathering all the info before we eliminate and I need to prepare DD I am afraid she will be very upset by this new regime. How did your kids respond to not being able to eat favorite foods which are technically healthy?

[tinybutterfly]

Here's a link to the website.

http://www.feingold.org/

Feingold updates their information every year. Crisco is not on the okay list. If I'm not mistaken, it has some preservative in it. There are other shortenings that ARE okay. They are listed by brand name in the shopping guide.

I've been doing Feingold for I think almost two years now.

I am the only one in my family who is "strict" about it, everyone else eats Feingold sometimes by default, but they also often eat off-diet whenever they eat out or at someone else's house, etc.

The fruits and veggies you do not eat at first are gradually added back in later, unless your dd reacts to them as they are added back in.

For a 7 year old, you might be able to frame the whole thing in a way that makes it an eating adventure, trying new foods, finding new things to like...

If you have joined, gotten the new materials you should have access to the website and there will be many very supportive people there to help you. I lurk now and then, but don't go often.

It isn't terribly difficult to eat this way. It's basically whole foods and some processed foods ( you'd be surprised at some of the things that are Feingold okay, though not necessarily what most would consider "healthy") that are very familiar.

My kids are much older ( 22 and soon to be 16) and like I said *I* went on this diet for me. I was having huge perimenopausal mood swings. A friend on the internet suggested I try this diet, I did and my moods leveled out and as a bonus my breathing issues have gotten much better.

Shopping at Whole Foods is easy, shopping at Kroger is easy.

Good luck! I hope this works well for you and your dd.

Feel free to PM me anytime about this.

I am so glad I tried this diet. For me it has made a huge difference and I am so thankful my friend recommended it.

[tinybutterfly]

P.S. I did not eliminate the salicylates in the beginning. If I had still been having problems I would have THEN done the stricter version most people start out with, but I started out only eliminating the chemicals and for me that was enough to make a huge difference.

If some of your dd's favorite fruits and veggies are on the list, you could try just eliminating the chemicals first and seeing how she does. If that is not enough to see a change in her, then consider eliminating the fruits and veggies that are loaded with salicylates.

Just a thought.

[tanyalynn]

I just wanted to pop in to say, if salicylates _are_ an issue, Search in the Allergies forum for salicylates. Quite a few people have increased their kids' tolerance for sals by supplementing a few nutrients that are needed for our bodies to deal with salicylates. It seems to take a couple months but it's made quite a difference for their kids.