Food Trial

[matey]

How much of a food should I eat when trialing? I have been re-trying non-enriched rice, and I really have no idea how much I should be eating.

[Chinese Pistache]

Not sure, but I would eat "a lot" so that any reactions are very obvious (maybe some at every meal, everyday, if possible).

[lil_miss_understood]

My allergist's recommendations (on the sheet he sent home about trialling) is to eat a full meal to begin with of *only* the food being trialled (for example if trialling eggs, it would be a meal of only eggs- 4 or 5 eggs if that's what it took to fill you up- with maybe some salt to flavor it, but nothing else like bread or rice, even if they're "okay" normally) and then if there's no response, eat some of that food at every meal thereafter until a) there's a reaction or b) 4 days have passed.

[mommydancer]

Hey JacquelineR, I think you may have a good allergist. (Is that an oxymoron?) And I wish for a copy of your food trialing cheat sheet.

[lil_miss_understood]

and then if there's no response, eat some of that food at every meal thereafter until a) there's a reaction or b) 4 days have passed.

This part I found out by questioning him further. I have it wrote on my "cheat sheet" because I asked him about the "empty bucket theory"- the theory some allergists have that we each have a threshold of allergens we can handle and it isn't until that threshold is surpassed that a reaction is seen.
When I have a chance, I'll try to post his instructions for what he calls "Individual Deliberate Feeding tests".
He was a paediatrician for 30 years before becoming an allergist, and he's the doctor to whom my ND sends all of his patients for testing. If I could, I'd keep him as a PCP.

[Shelsi]

For me personally I honestly start out with a nibble because dd has reacted so strongly to some things. When I tried dairy I had 2 slices of cheese. Her reaction started the next day and it was pretty bad considering the very small amount that I ate.

Like pp said though I've noticed she has a thresh hold for some things. I did a corn trial and got really excited because she wasn't reacting. However she started reacting late on day 3, what a bummer.

[Chinese Pistache]

Originally Posted by Shelsi

For me personally I honestly start out with a nibble because dd has reacted so strongly to some things. When I tried dairy I had 2 slices of cheese. Her reaction started the next day and it was pretty bad considering the very small amount that I ate.

Like pp said though I've noticed she has a thresh hold for some things. I did a corn trial and got really excited because she wasn't reacting. However she started reacting late on day 3, what a bummer.

That's what happened when we trialed coconut oil. I thought she was good, but day 4ish she started reacting and stupid me, I didn't put it together for several more days and thought she was reacting to some new food.

[WC_hapamama]

For our at home food trials, we start with a regular serving size.

Our in office food trials are conducted differently... gradually increasing doses in uniform intervals over and extended period of time.

[lil_miss_understood]

Originally Posted by Shelsi

For me personally I honestly start out with a nibble because dd has reacted so strongly to some things. When I tried dairy I had 2 slices of cheese. Her reaction started the next day and it was pretty bad considering the very small amount that I ate.

Like pp said though I've noticed she has a thresh hold for some things. I did a corn trial and got really excited because she wasn't reacting. However she started reacting late on day 3, what a bummer.

That reminds me, I had asked about trialling through bm, also, and he said that if a child is reacting through bm the food should only be eaten at one meal on that day since it takes so long to get into the mother's milk.
However, he also strongly suggests that any allergies/intolerances be taken out of a person's diet for a minimum of 2 years (without trialling) to increase the chances that they will be outgrown.