Chocolate allergy, anyone?

[WildIris]

Anyone else avoiding chocolate, for yourself or DC? What kind of symptoms do you see that made you suspect chocolate? How do you know if it's truly a response to cocoa/chocolate, or to something else?

We've been trying to figure out some food allergies or intolerances with our youngest DD, age 7. I'm sure she has intolerance issues, at least, to probably more than one food group--but we're not sure what.

Because she has had some distinct negative reactions recently to chocolate, we decided to start with that. (Her bad reactions were to Namaste brownies, and then another time to a chocolate cupcake with chocolate frosting. She had severe mood swings, very mean/nasty, both times.) She has agreed to give up chocolate for two weeks and then trial it and see how she feels. She has a stash of organic lollipops in her school locker which her teacher knows about and lets her access anytime there are chocolate-containing treats handed out. This has worked well so far, and DD says she feels "special" to possibly have an allergy to something.

It's only been four days so far of avoiding chocolate, but she said last night, "Did you notice that I'm acting much happier without chocolate so far?" She also had two nights of really sound sleep where she stayed in her bed all night. Except then last night she wandered around and ended up in our bed again, and she didn't have any chocolate yesterday. So I know there is something else involved.

She's agreed to give up chocolate for two weeks, then challenge it. My question/problem is I'm not sure what to use for the challenge. Just plain chocolate candy? Plain dark chocolate, so there's nothing else in it?

I'm just not sure how to determine if the problem is simply cocoa/chocolate, or some other additive that may be put in with most chocolate things... hope that makes sense.

[mtn.mama]

Yeah, we have problems with chocolate... or actually with a bunch of the components. We have reacted to dairy, cocoa (that's not organic or processed with alkali), sugar, vanilla/vanillin. Our reactions range from scalding butt rashes, to extreme behavioral "meanies". We've reacted badly to Namaste brownies, Silk Chocolate soy milk, Ghiardhelli dark candy bars to name a few. Do you think your child might react to dairy or sugar or vanilla? Or even soy (lecithin)? The brand that has worked out best for us is Dagoba 59% dark. Its yummy, satisfying in tiny amounts, and reaction-free, at least here. If you want to trial cocoa separately, you could try some organic bakers cocoa with a little water.

[OhMel]

DS and I both avoid chocolate. We follow the Feingold diet and chocolate is high in salicylates and one of our triggers. In addition to the normal Feingold avoidances (art. dyes, preservatives) we also avoid most fruit juices, cinnamon, and I avoid coffee. This is of course on top of all the other things ds avoids for allergies.

[tanyalynn]

We seem to have a chocolate intolerance. Our old chiro mentioned it (muscle testing) but I didn't really accept it back then (avoided it the first few months nursing, then reintroduced it to me without problems for my son). My son gets rashes on his face when he eats it, and after I figured that out and told my mom, she mentioned that one of her sisters has had reactions to chocolate, and grandma had to avoid chocolate while nursing all the babies. We were dairy (and gluten) free before figuring out the chocolate, so it wasn't dairy for us, and soy doesn't cause us any problems.

I don't know if there's anything in how it's processed, I haven't really looked into it that far. I avoid it for my son and limit it in the family (I still occasionally have some after the kids are in bed).

Something like Enjoy Life chocolate chips are free of most allergens and may be an option, though I have no idea how they're processed (the alkali thing someone else mentioned).

[kjbrown92]

You could bake something using cocoa.

My reaction is stomach upset/IBS type. My DS (7yo) screams during the night that his leg hurts. My DD cries because of stomach pain (3yo)

[OhMel]

Originally Posted by kjbrown92

You could bake something using cocoa.

My reaction is stomach upset/IBS type. My DS (7yo) screams during the night that his leg hurts. My DD cries because of stomach pain (3yo)

Does your 7 yr old have the leg pains from anything else? My son gets them if he eats too much animal products. We're thinking he's unable to break down the amines in the food. I haven't run across anyone else that mentions this.

[kjbrown92]

Milk and beans/peas. And it's not a "mom, my leg hurts". It's a scream-for-3-hours leg pain. Motrin doesn't help. Gripe Water lets him go back to sleep peacefully within 5-10 minutes.

[WildIris]

Originally Posted by mtn.mama

Yeah, we have problems with chocolate... or actually with a bunch of the components. We have reacted to dairy, cocoa (that's not organic or processed with alkali), sugar, vanilla/vanillin. Our reactions range from scalding butt rashes, to extreme behavioral "meanies". We've reacted badly to Namaste brownies, Silk Chocolate soy milk, Ghiardhelli dark candy bars to name a few. Do you think your child might react to dairy or sugar or vanilla? Or even soy (lecithin)? The brand that has worked out best for us is Dagoba 59% dark. Its yummy, satisfying in tiny amounts, and reaction-free, at least here. If you want to trial cocoa separately, you could try some organic bakers cocoa with a little water.

Thanks, Mtn.Mama, for your reply. I do think DD-7 is reacting to more than just chocolate/cocoa.

Sometimes I suspect Dairy may be an issue for her, because of the fact that she has never liked plain milk and yet loves dairy in other forms--chocolate milk, sweet yogurt, pudding, cheese, ice cream. This is similar to myself as a child--I hated milk, would never just drink a glass of plain milk, but grew up loving/craving everything dairy like ice cream, puddings, custards, choc. milk, cheeses, etc. Now as an adult I found out that I am very intolerant to dairy (even raw milk dairy) and that even consuming a small amount of it, like a little butter or a bit of cream in coffee, makes me depressed and fatigued.
The hard thing is that I don't see distinct reactions to dairy from DD, so it's hard to know for sure. I guess that's where a good food diary and elimination diet comes in. :-)

Sugar might be an issue for her, too. She definitely does not do well if she has too much sugar/processed food. Although sometimes I wonder if it isn't just certain forms of sugar... for myself, I spent several years thinking I had a problem with sugar, in general, but it turns out that I have a severe corn allergy. Now I am absolutely fine eating things made with cane sugar, beet sugar, maple syrup, etc. -- as long as there's no corn in it. So maybe DD has inherited my corn allergy? She does NOT seem to do well with things like pancake syrup (corn syrup based) so that makes me wonder. But, I don't know if it's a corn issue or a "sugar overload" issue. All I know is that she's no longer allowed to have any of the "breakfast type" school lunches (French toast, pancakes), because she comes home grumpy and nasty after those.

Vanilla...soy... not sure about those. I've never given the kids soy milk or anything like that, though I know there can be a lot of soy in processed foods. We try to avoid processed foods as much as possible.

Giving up chocolate has not been that tough for DD, thankfully. She keeps saying it makes her feel "special" to possibly have an allergy to something.

[WildIris]

Originally Posted by OhMel

DS and I both avoid chocolate. We follow the Feingold diet and chocolate is high in salicylates and one of our triggers. In addition to the normal Feingold avoidances (art. dyes, preservatives) we also avoid most fruit juices, cinnamon, and I avoid coffee. This is of course on top of all the other things ds avoids for allergies.

Thanks, OhMel. I will have to read up on the Feingold diet. I do think my DD has an issue with artificial colors. Sometimes DH buys them cold cereal with artifical colors, and I notice behavior problems/grumpiness on those days. So I have put a stop to those kinds of cereals.

[WildIris]

Originally Posted by TanyaLopez

We seem to have a chocolate intolerance. Our old chiro mentioned it (muscle testing) but I didn't really accept it back then (avoided it the first few months nursing, then reintroduced it to me without problems for my son). My son gets rashes on his face when he eats it, and after I figured that out and told my mom, she mentioned that one of her sisters has had reactions to chocolate, and grandma had to avoid chocolate while nursing all the babies. We were dairy (and gluten) free before figuring out the chocolate, so it wasn't dairy for us, and soy doesn't cause us any problems.

I don't know if there's anything in how it's processed, I haven't really looked into it that far. I avoid it for my son and limit it in the family (I still occasionally have some after the kids are in bed).

Something like Enjoy Life chocolate chips are free of most allergens and may be an option, though I have no idea how they're processed (the alkali thing someone else mentioned).

Thanks, Tanya. I'm glad you mentioned the Enjoy Life chocolate chips; I have some of those in my freezer, and I'm pretty sure they are corn free as well as most other allergens. They might be good to use as a "challenge" for DD to see if it's just chocolate/cocoa or something else in how it's processed.

[jplain]

My 4.5 year old gets very weepy when she eats chocolate. Small amounts are usually okay, but if I give her a small piece of high quality dark chocolate, I can watch the clock and know that she'll be in tears within 30 minutes. It was a struggle to convince her that she has a problem with chocolate, but she came around. We still allow her to have small amounts (a choc chip cookie here and there), but we're careful to keep her away from the concentrated stuff!

Good luck!

[WildIris]

UPDATE: Well, my DD didn't have any chocolate at all for a couple weeks, and then we did a challenge with a cup of Enjoy Life chocolate chips. She had no negative reactions whatsoever.

Since then, however, she has had negative reactions (behavioral, just like before) to regular (non organic) chocolate candies. Once to a mini Reese's PB Cup and just today to some Whoppers malted milk balls.

I don't know what it is exactly that she is reacting to in the non-organic type chocolate candies, or how to figure it out. Any ideas?

[mtn.mama]

I have the same problem. I haven't been able to figure it out, I think it may be the way the cocoa is processed (and the sugar) and possibly natural MSG levels?. I just stick to the brands I know are safe for us.

[lil_miss_understood]

Well, after looking at the ingredients list for both products and the Enjoy Life chocolate chips (3 ingredients, really? that's great), here's my feed back.
Reese's PB Cups and Whoppers contain 4 common ingredients: whey, milk, sugar and soy lecithin. Whey is a derivative of milk, so we'll say it's 3.
The Whoppers contained a fair amount of corn, also. Enjoy Life contains no soy and no dairy, and uses evaporated cane juice. So, although the sugar in both the other two products may be from a corn source, they're most likely from a beet source. I would say chances are you're looking at a dairy or beet allergy.