Feingold or elimination - what CAN you eat?

[Rose-Roget]

Ds is almost 6. He shows many signs of ADHD and/or sensory integration issues. I've been reading Healing the New Childhood Epidemics, and it got me thinking more about food sensitivities/allergies. He has a very traditionally healthy diet - eats lots of fresh fruits and veggies, whole grains, nuts/seeds, few processed snacks. He does eat dairy. I've realized that he's constantly gassy, which I've historically attributed to all the broccoli and beans in his diet.

So I'm considering trying either an elimination diet or Feingold's. But looking at the lists, it seems like these are almost all the fresh, "healthy," available items in our stores. So what DOES a person eat on these diets? Sample meal plans would be much appreciated to help me figure out what we can do. Once I start to get some ideas, I will purchase an official program, but I want need to process what would be best to try first... TIA

[danipoppins]

Our diet is what some would consider, very limited. We don't eat gluten, dairy, corn, soy, food dyes/flavors/preservatives and we limit high phenol/salycilate foods for my son. He has Aspergers and this has been really successful in helping reduce the 'noise' and help him function better.

You have a couple options - you can just guess and start eliminating things. Or, you can keep a detailed food diary for a couple weeks. I would recommend the food diary. Keep track of everything he eats, any supplements, any activities (in case there are links between behaviors and exposures to scents, chemicals, pesticides, etc) and then note his behaviors, any bodily reactions, bowel movements, and maybe even the frequency with which he goes to the bathroom. ALL of this is really useful information.

My son gets ADHD like behaviors from food dyes/flavorings/preservatives and some high phenol foods (chocolate and apples are big offenders - he used to get the classic red cheeks and ears when he ate them, now he just gets the behaviors - hyperactivity, perseveration, increase in sensory issues, etc).

The other thing that popped out to me due to his gassiness is the possibility of yeast overgrowth. Keep an eye on what he's craving (certain food groups like wheat, dairy, sweets, etc) because that will also give you clues about what his body is addicted to (therefore likely having a negative impact on his brain).

There's a fabulous yahoogroup that I LOVE LOVE LOVE called "foodlab" and this is THE topic of conversation over there - what in our diet and environments is causing our kids physical and emotional symptoms and how do we fix it. Lots of recipe ideas, support and good juju, I highly recommend it.

Good luck!!!

[JaneS]

We followed the FAILSAFE diet which is more restrictive than Feingold but clearer if you are going to do a food elim. to begin with. Feingold info is very geared to what processed food you "can" eat and it's a lot of money to join. The money supports volunteers who spend their time researching processed food. The Feingold book "Why Can't My Child Behave?" is a good one though, I ordered from library.

FAILSAFE info is free or you can order the "Fed Up" book by Sue Dengate. It is based on Anne Swain PhD research on food chemicals at the Royal Price Alfred Hospital and she has a book too "Friendly Food".

www.plantpoisonsandrottenstuff.com
www.fedupwithfoodadditives.info
www.salicylatesensitivity.com
http://www.sswahs.nsw.gov.au/rpa/all...evelopment.cfm

Lactose intolerance is the most common cause of gas: you can first try raw milk or dairy that is lactose free (see allowed dairy foods on www.breakingtheviciouscycle.info legal list). Or soak beans first and then the indigestible sugar is broken down.

Food chemical intolerance can also cause intestinal inflammation and gas. Lactose intolerance can also be a secondary sign that the intestines are inflamed from other allergies/intolerances.

[Rose-Roget]

I should keep a formal food diary now that I'm starting to more seriously suspect something. He doesn't seem to "crave" foods. Some things he will want to eat mostly because I don't let him have much of it - like processed sugars, totally "empty" calories. But he never over-indulges; he might really want a brownie or ice cream with his cousins, but he rarely finishes it. He often leaves his breads mostly alone. He does like nuts - peanuts, almonds, pistachios - and seeds a lot, and he'll eat them if they are in the house. He will devour watermelon or canteloupe if we have it around, and he likes to have a fruit dessert after dinner. He likes milk at meals, but he rarely finishes it.

Lactose was actually the first thing I thought of, though. Even if he doesn't drink all of it, he does drink milk and eats cheese fairly regularly. I've tried to reduce the frequency recently, though. I've always been a dairy kind of girl, and until recently never realized that people can be so sensitive to it.

I was also thinking, he has a chronically inflamed lymph node on his neck that has been there for the past 2 or 3 years. We had it MRI'd, so we know it's not anything serious, but I've been thinking that if he has a food allergy, it could be related to that. He has also suffered constipation most of his life until I started him on magnesium for some of his adhd-like issues a couple of months ago. Since then, he's been more regular.

I'll check out those sites to get more ideas. Thank you!

[danipoppins]

The constipation makes me think that you might be right on the dairy - the women in my family react that way to dairy (except I'm the only one that has been smart enough to eliminate it, they chose to suffer ). I wouldn't just say lactose though - a lot of folks are intolerant to the protein in milk, casein. I would eliminate that for at least 2 weeks (ideally a month) to get it out of his system and see how it goes and then do a trial of organic dairy and see if he has any symptoms.

[JaneS]

I've met many people, myself included at one time, who could drink raw milk while lactose intolerant b/c it contains the enzyme lactase that is killed by heat pastuerization. Also there is A2 milk from Guernsey or Jersey cows... old fashioned breeds which produce a different type of milk protein compared to modern breeds which have A1 milk.

[Rose-Roget]

I might try the dairy elimination. I know it's not ideal to do trial and error eliminations, but I figure it might create the least disruption to his life...and mine! So let's see - milk, yogurt, and cheese would be out, obviously. And anything that has milk in it? What types of things would I look for that would have more hidden milk proteins?

I don't know if I can actually find raw milk around here. A friend and I were having that discussion last night, in fact. I could look into whether A2 milk is available.

Are there other milk substitutes? I gave ds soy milk this morning (I realize soy is another high-allergen food, but I wasn't sure what else to sub with, and I thought I'd introduce it). Oh boy - what a fit! He doesn't like change much, and he certainly didn't appreciate the different flavor of soy milk. He's used to organic skim, so something heavy is going to take some getting used to. Other ideas?

[danipoppins]

You want to eliminate everything that has milk in it as well. The good thing is that with the new allergen labeling, milk is one of the big 8 so it will be listed in bold letters "Contains: Milk".

I would avoid the raw milk and other animal milks during your elimination. I'm really sensitive to casein which is in all animal milks and I react to goat, sheep, you name it. When I've been "clean" for a while, I can tolerate small amounts of organic, raw cultured products.

We have found that the new So Delicious Coconut Milk is not bad. We get the red one because is has the least sugar, but there is one with more sugar and a vanilla flavor too. My daughter loves it, my son doesn't (but he has Aspergers and is pretty texture sensitive). I LOVE it on cereal and we use it a lot to make pancakes and other recipes that call for milk.

I don't think it's crazy to do an elimination while you're doing the food diary - I just would bother taking a ton of things out before doing a diary. One or two eliminations along with the diary shouldn't be too overwhelming. The diary just saves you time and energy in the long run and helps to narrow things down - the eliminations will help you prove suspicions you garner from the diary.