Re: Food Bans

[Guest guest]

Rosemary, If you suspect your son has allergies or sensitivities I would

suggest you have him tested before doing any major dietary elimination.

Almost all of our kids have allergies to SOMETHINGS but my experience may not

be the same as yours. It would be a shame to eliminate things based on what

we say if they are not necessary. I agree that an allergy to casein is

pretty common but it's also very difficult to follow. I would want the

assurance that it was necessary before going that route. I would take any

child with suspected allergies off cow's milk. It's simply not necessary for

children to grow up healthy (as long as they get calcium from another source)

We took our son off milk at age 3 because he would drink it by the gallon to

the exclusion of food. As for the rest, it's best to do the testing first.

If you need info. on what tests to run, let me know. Good luck.

[Guest guest]

At 08:28 AM 09/15/2000 -0600, you wrote:

>

>I am very interested in learning more, since I am pretty sure my son has

>trouble with certain foods. It is very difficult to keep a 9 yr. old off

>of milk and cheese, though, let alone wheat/gluten. How do you all do it?

>

>Rosemary

we started very young. And his behaviour is *so* bad off his limited diet

that even he recognises it now. Personally I would go the bribery route

and do a deal for a set length of time. Can you substitue dairy with soy

without him noticing?

anna v

[Guest guest]

My daughter has been on an avoidance diet for 7 years and there is no doubt

that she would not have developed speech had I not done it. My response when

people ask me how I've done it is to ask them what they would do if their

child was diagnosed with cancer and the only treatment was food avoidance.

Autistic syndrome is a progressive disease. Once you have seen the slides of

neurospects with the damaged parts of the brain clearly shown then avoiding

food seems a very small price to pay to help prevent that. My cousin just

died of Leukemia. If only it would have been as simple as avoiding some food!

Health food stores have so much now. There is so much online that you can

order. Libraries have tons of cookbooks for allergic people. It is more work

and it is more expensive but children are work and expensive aren't they?

Kathy R

[Guest guest]

,

Unfortunately food testing, actually any kind of allergy testing in children

with is highly inaccurate. Children with have to stop consuming

dairy products and eliminate as much wheat as possible. There are many

alternatives one can use. Kathy R

[Guest guest]

HI ROSEMARY AND LINDA:

It is very difficult to know what foods to avoid, etc. But if a child reacts

negatively usually w/in an hour or so after eating a particular food, this is

usually a sign that the food should be avoided. Remember no allergy test is

100% conclusive and all children are different. Let's face it, noone knows

how hard it is to raise a child, except us. Good Luck!! : )

Michele D.

[Guest guest]

Kathy R,

I totally agree with you!!

Michele D.

[Guest guest]

Michele, I agree that some food reactions are obvious and almost immediate.

We've noticed very bad days with our son when he eats cheerios (go

figure--the only cereal that doesn't have sugar!). Nonetheless, I think the

advice of (who wrote Special Diets for Special Kids) is good

advice. She says she wished she had tested her child before trying the

gluten/casein free diet b/c it's so restrictive. I wasn't refering to the

allergy testing available through your doctor's office (RAST, etc). There

are more sophisticated alternatives. No, it's not 100%--what is? But it at

least provides a starting point. Let's say it shows a definite allergy to

corn. Why not try JUST eliminating that first (on the basis of the results)

and see how your child does? Eliminating too much too quickly leaves you

with limited dietary choices and a fear to try any of it again b/c it MIGHT

be the offending substance. Does this make sense or am I out in left field

here. I want to know b/c we are in the process of arranging allergy testing

through metamix labs and (naturally) our insurance won't cover it.

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 09/17/2000 4:43:41 PM Eastern Daylight Time,

lveggie@... writes:

<< Michele, I agree that some food reactions are obvious and almost

immediate.

We've noticed very bad days with our son when he eats cheerios (go

figure--the only cereal that doesn't have sugar!). Nonetheless, I think the

advice of (who wrote Special Diets for Special Kids) is good

advice. She says she wished she had tested her child before trying the

gluten/casein free diet b/c it's so restrictive. I wasn't refering to the

allergy testing available through your doctor's office (RAST, etc). There

are more sophisticated alternatives. No, it's not 100%--what is? But it at

least provides a starting point. Let's say it shows a definite allergy to

corn. Why not try JUST eliminating that first (on the basis of the results)

and see how your child does? Eliminating too much too quickly leaves you

with limited dietary choices and a fear to try any of it again b/c it MIGHT

be the offending substance. Does this make sense or am I out in left field

here. I want to know b/c we are in the process of arranging allergy testing

through metamix labs and (naturally) our insurance won't cover it.

>>

Hi ! The book you are referring to above is a good one. I am

definitely not an advocate to just eliminate foods!! I had that sophicasted

allergy test you are referring to and my daughter has had sooo many of these

so called sophicasted allergy tests and each time depending upon what is

being consumed by her, the tests varied!!!

So if I was to start over again, I would not have the test but just avoid:

All Dairy products, whole wheat, refined sugars and berries (incl red dyed

sugar free candies). I feel (and I am 1st to admit)... that I've been

making the mistake and going crazy eliminating foods from my daughter's diet.

Some kids are more allergic than other kids. My daughter can have soy,

peanut butter (low sugar Jif, is what I give her), Polaner grape jelly,

Wonder Bread, Dairy Free Banana Pudding, Tofutti, etc. etc. And tests

revealed differently. For example Peanut Butter was supposely a food to

avoid, spoke to Dr. Goldberg and he said to try it, and now she has it every

day for lunch (just about) and there seems to be no negative reactions. I

would definitely not have spent so much $$$... testing and re-testing.

Michele D. : )