Just finished our testing and don't know what to eat without sacrificing health? - Page 2

[CoBabyMaker]

You might check out The Spunky Coconut blog for some ideas.  She has a good number of egg-free, grain-free recipes.  I second the above posters suggestions to hide the meat if you can. 

[crunchy_mommy]

Sosurreal, I only had time to scan this thread but I can really relate to you questioning your dietary beliefs about what is healthy.

I've been vegetarian for 17 years and vegan for the last 8. Totally opposite end of the spectrum from you, but the same in that I felt a vegan diet was absolutely the healthiest diet we could follow, that animal products were at best not well digested and at worst, toxic. But severely limited options due to allergies/intolerances (gluten, certain fruits & nuts, even GF pastas) and being constantly hungry and feeling worse every day made me recently try including animal products in my diet. I don't regret it at all & I will probably continue eating mainly animal products and veggies for a while. I say all this to illustrate that sometimes we need to re-evaluate our dietary ideals in the context of reality -- including allergies, local availability of products, strong dislikes, etc. I would be open to exploring the options out there -- maybe look into the benefits of eating wheat instead of the dangers, or trying out soy, for example -- and be willing to try something completely different than what you've always thought is best.

I've been hiding meat in my food because I'm just not a fan of meat & can't eat a lot of it. Mexican & Indian dishes are good because the strong spicy flavors are a good disguise. I shred or crumble up the meat. Also bone broth has been a good way to sneak animal products into soups, sauces, grains, etc.

I would second some of the others that they could still be false positives... I don't know a ton about allergy testing but from the little I've read, intra-dermal tests do have a high false-positive rate. I'd consider getting her to baseline & then doing trials of each food to make sure she's in fact reacting to them so you're not eliminating stuff unnecessarily... but obviously you'd need to do this carefully to keep her safe, and avoid trials of anything she's already demonstrated a reaction to directly. I went 15 years without eating eggs because I tested allergic to them (but never actually had a reaction eating them) and now I've started eating them with no problems at all & it's kind of annoying that I went so long avoiding them probably unnecessarily.

[crunchy_mommy]

Oh and flax seeds are a good substitute for eggs in baked goods. And are really nutritious!

[sosurreal09]

Well I'm pretty convinced the dx is real b/c she had ONE raisin the other day at a play date and vomited 5x. :(

I have started using sprouted wheat flour and baking with that. She's not that into it though. She's eating like 6 bananas a day....throwing fits for bananas always wanting bananas...I bought her blueberries the other day and she ate the whole pint!

[crunchy_mommy]

LOL if it's any consolation, my DS who has no known allergies (except possibly gluten which we've avoided for a couple years now anyway) can also eat an entire pint of blueberries and several bananas a day!! I think toddlers don't quite get the idea of moderation & variety yet!

That's a pretty scary reaction though, vomiting that much after just one raisin. Have you been able to keep her off all the foods she's allergic to for a good week or two yet? Did the vomiting & other issues disappear?

Will she eat nut/seed butters? Or dips like guacamole or hummus (minus the tahini) or soy/coconut yogurt? Those would be good accompaniments to fruits and veggies. Maybe some whole-grain crackers too (GF if you prefer). Seaweed snacks? Fish? Homemade bars like the Lara bars (basically just nuts, dates, and dried fruit)? DS does like cereal with coconut milk so we buy that occasionally, but cereal low in sugar at least. I'd prefer oats or something instead but we don't do that because of the gluten so it seems a good compromise. He also loves dark chocolate, which we obviously minimize because of the caffeine & all, but it does have fats, vitamins & nutrients so I consider it a healthy thing in small amounts...

[sosurreal09]

Originally Posted by crunchy_mommy 

LOL if it's any consolation, my DS who has no known allergies (except possibly gluten which we've avoided for a couple years now anyway) can also eat an entire pint of blueberries and several bananas a day!! I think toddlers don't quite get the idea of moderation & variety yet!
That's a pretty scary reaction though, vomiting that much after just one raisin. Have you been able to keep her off all the foods she's allergic to for a good week or two yet? Did the vomiting & other issues disappear?
Will she eat nut/seed butters? Or dips like guacamole or hummus (minus the tahini) or soy/coconut yogurt? Those would be good accompaniments to fruits and veggies. Maybe some whole-grain crackers too (GF if you prefer). Seaweed snacks? Fish? Homemade bars like the Lara bars (basically just nuts, dates, and dried fruit)? DS does like cereal with coconut milk so we buy that occasionally, but cereal low in sugar at least. I'd prefer oats or something instead but we don't do that because of the gluten so it seems a good compromise. He also loves dark chocolate, which we obviously minimize because of the caffeine & all, but it does have fats, vitamins & nutrients so I consider it a healthy thing in small amounts...

She has been fine since we cut out everything except when she ate that one raisin and then the other night when we ate at MILs house. I was soooo viligant about what she ate there but obviously something happened!

She won't eat any of those things. She actually won't even eat the bread I make...She will eat corn puffs cereal in coconut milk.

I tried her on a very small piece of raw dairy (since we hadn't tried the dairy in a long time) and she reacted right away. She had multiple accidents in her pants, vomiting that night, then the runs all the next day. They said she's not allergic but with the vomiting I am assuming she is!

[crunchy_mommy]

I'm sorry she seems a bit picky, that must be tough. I'm very grateful to have a kid who will eat anything, it sure makes it much easier to deal with restrictions!!

But it's only been 2 weeks since you got the allergy test results? (Maybe I'm misunderstanding the timeline) and in those 2 weeks she's had 3 reactions? Which I'm not doubting could be caused by those foods, but also could still be coincidence, or caused by something else. I think you need to keep her totally off everything she even *might* be reacting to, and make sure she can go several weeks without any reactions. That will probably mean bringing food for her everywhere you go to ensure there's no cross-contamination, at least for a few weeks. I think you need to be 100% certain that she's not having any more reactions if she avoids those foods -- so that she's not avoiding things unnecessarily, but more importantly, to be sure you have eliminated all the things she reacts to & there's not some other underlying medical issue. I would just let her eat bananas & blueberries & corn puffs for a few weeks if that's all she'll eat, and make sure she's 100% reaction-free. THEN start worrying about what else to feed her, how to get more variety, slowly introducing foods, etc.

Also, something weird I noticed with DS, he doesn't seem to have a strong reaction to eating gluten himself (though I'm still trying to figure that out and he may be having less visible reactions) but he definitely reacts to ME eating gluten -- if I have any more than a small bite, he will vomit after nursing. So I don't know if he's actually reacting to the gluten or reacting to something my body produces in response to the gluten or something? Or just the oversupply that I get when I consume gluten? (I seem to be gluten intolerant/possibly celiac). Just wanted to throw that out there, perhaps it's not just something she's eating but something you're eating & reacting to or something (I think you said she's still nursing?) Or maybe I'm just really weird lol.

[sosurreal09]

Yeah my new plan is to always have our own food. No food from guests of dinners at families I need to be really careful here. I don't believe it's a medical issue.