Household transition - dairy, gluten and now soy and egg free

[macheetah]

Hello mamas,

I became aware I was gluten intolerant, possibly celiac in 2005.  In 2008 I did blood panel testing and also came up with significant allergies to milk, several nuts ...and pineapple, of all things!

My sister's daughter was diagnosed celiac at age 12. The rest of my relatives have not tested, and refuse to, though I suspect they have allergies.

Even though my daughter, now 10, hasn't shown any significant symptoms of food allergies, except for bouts of stomach cramping (infrequent) and canker sores (regularly)  I felt uneasy with the amount of bread and milk she loves to consume and wondering about the genetic links to allergies, I recently tested her for milk, gluten, soy and egg through Enterolab.

The results were low positives for all four.  I feel overwhelmed and would welcome any advice on making the transition to a restricted diet household, blog links and any other insight.  

I do a lot of scratch cooking and label reading anyway, and hopefully will find it easier easing my child into my way of eating (which is basically paleo), but she's picky and it's a challenge.

Thanks! 

[scsigrl]

Originally Posted by macheetah \ In 2008 I did blood panel testing and also came up with significant allergies to milk, several nuts ...and pineapple, of all things!

What kind of test determined this?  Was it for IgE allergies?  If so, if you eat those things with no reaction, you aren't allergic.  They are not very reliable (50/50 of positive, 90%+ on negative).  If it was Enterolab testing, that isn't for allergies.  That's for intolerances.  Your DD may not need to be off those foods at all.

If you are determined to find out if you or your family has Celiac you need to do the testing BEFORE taking out gluten or the test isn't accurate.  

If you still want to be free of the things you listed, whole foods is the way to go. Think meat, potatoes, fruits and veggies!  When we went GF for DS who has Celiac, my goal was to find one sub a week till we covered all his basics.  That way we did ease into it and I wasn't overwhelmed either!

[SweetSilver]

It's really difficult at that age to order your kid to follow a particular diet.  Allergic kids tend be good self-regulators when it comes to the serious allergies, at least that's my experience with the ones I've met.  Milder allergies and intolerances are a bit sketchier as far as what one is willing to forgo.  (Celiac is another issue: damage is possible at consumption levels that cause some folks no physical discomfort.)  Until you have a positive diagnosis as to what the problem is (if any) the information you provide her can be considered worthless (a likelihood that is increased by your daughter's age).

Once you can determine for sure what causes the trouble, the best you can really do is provide the right foods to eat, make her aware of the different symptoms of allergies/ intolerances so she can make her own choices.  That's what I do as an adult.  

I know I probably should ditch dairy because I know I am intolerant, but with so many other foods out of my diet because of more severe *allergies*, I find it hard to give it up.  I know I shouldn't touch candy with corn ingredients.  I know I should pass on the pecan pie with all those eggs. But I'm an adult, my reactions to these things aren't all that bad and they are all wonderfully delicious as occasional treats.

You should also make her aware of the consequences of her choices.  But to be effective, you must know *for sure* what is going on.  Your niece might have gotten the Celiac gene from her father, not your family, so it doesn't make sense to make your food choices on that one fact.  

[mytwomonkies]

If I were you I would have her tested for celiac before making any dietary changes. Tummy aches, canker sores, and a family history of celiac is more than enough to test her. PP is right, your niece could have inherited the genetics for celiac from her father instead but, unless genetic testing has been done, there is no way of knowing that. If you are gluten intolerant/possible celiac then there's a good chance your daughter is at least gluten intolerant if not celiac. I would have her tested then go from there. Enterolab also has a genetic test if you would like to know her genetic susceptibility before testing for celiac. Hope this helps!

[kaleywirthlin]

Some good books : Nourishing Traditions (my nutrition bible for allergies etc), The gut and psychology syndrome (very detailed- a little heavy),  any books by Jordan Rubin- u can do a search on amazon- he even has one book just about kids nutrition.

I list some sites that are very helpful for healing on a blog I just barely started

http://betterwithorganics.blogspot.com/

Good luck and it sounds like u are on the right track!

[Koalamom]

I am free of those 4 foods listed. But I am grain free too, so basically paleo. It is hard at first, but you get used to it. But with a kid who is already used to those foods, it can be harder. Since you are already GF, does your dd already eat this way? With the tests you had done, did tings test worse than others? Perhaps you could start from there?