Re: fish oil and side effects

[Guest guest]

Too much fish oil can cause diahrea so try reducing your dose to see if

this helps........

On the days she is grouchy, again she may not be tolerating the fish

oil or has trouble with fat digestion...try www.danasview.net

>

> I have been giving my daughter Pro-EFA for about 2 months now and

> have seen amazing results in her (more babbling, talking, etc.) BUT,

> she has developed diarrhea (about once or twice a day, comes and

> goes every few days). On the days she has diarrhea she is grouchy,

> less verbal, and has barely an appetite. She is on the

> gluten/casein diet and currently has more stomach problems than

> before we started the diet. We have also eliminated soy and her

> problems are getting increasingly worse. Could it possibly be the

> fish oil? We are doing food sensitivity testing (depending on if we

> can draw enough blood, it is always a nightmare getting blood out of

> her tiny veins! I shudder just thinking about it) to see if its

> something else she's eating, although she's eating so little, I have

> a hard time imagining what it is. I guess I could stop the Pro-EFA,

> but I am nervous about it since I have heard so much about how

> children can regress speech-wise without it. As an aside, she has

> had similar diarrhea with fish sticks before... is it possible she

> is sensitive to fish?

>

> If anyone has any suggestions/experience with this, I would

> appreciate it. I think I will stop the Pro-Efa and keep my fingers

> crossed.

>

> Thanks in advance,

>

>

[Guest guest]

It's true that too much of any oil added to anyone's diet can cause

diarrhea -but with the type of diarrhea that is described -coming

and going every few days -that's not from the ProEFA I can almost

say for sure. Typically when kids get mild diarrhea after starting

ProEFA or another fish oil, it's so mild most don't even stop the

oils. The diarrhea typically only lasts for a few days to a week,

and typically once the diarrhea stops the first surge comes in.

It's not a coming and going diarrhea, and it's not severe.

(it's referred to most times as " a bit loose " )

This is why I always say it's best to introduce new strategies

or therapies one at a time.

You wrote:

" She is on the

> gluten/casein diet and currently has more stomach problems than

> before we started the diet. We have also eliminated soy and her

> problems are getting increasingly worse. Could it possibly be the

> fish oil? "

I read the above a few times and am confused as to why the ProEFA is

viewed as the possible reason. It's obvious to me that the diarrhea

is from the dietary changes even though I don't know you or your

child and could be wrong. What does the child's medical doctor that

prescribed this special diet have to say?

I almost died from celiac disease as a child, spent my first few

years of life in and out of hospitals, and was saved by a special " no sugar,

no wheat " (that's how I knew it) diet. I for one won't put my

children on any type of special diet unless I know it helped them

and they needed to be on it. Once they get into school in the

mainstream forget about it! They switch lunches all the time I can

tell you no matter what you pack for them!

Why did the medical doctor prescribe this diet for your child?

As far as when you wonder if any good or " bad " signs are from the

EFAs.

Stop the EFAs and observe if the good or bad signs go away.

Wait at least a few weeks to a few months

Start again at a lower dosage and observe to see if the good or bad

signs come back

Or you can lower the dosage. Again to me however I'd question the

diet, and if that's not needed and the diet is being done just as

a " just in case this helps too " I'd find out if you can stop that!

(that's the inner child in me talking)

=====

[Guest guest]

Hi

there is absoloutely no reason why the diet is likely to be causing

the diarreha. I speak as one who never had a 'medical' doctor advise

me to do the diet ( although i have now had three absoloutely rave

about the extraordinary change it brought in charlies speech and

behavior)

The diet isn't terrible on the children doing it and i get really

really bored of having to say that. My kids eat brilliantly well,

certainly better of many of their friends who seem to eat a great

deal pizza, chicken nuggets ( mmmn reconstituted chicken) burgers,

crisps chips ice cream and very few veggies

Can I ask if you are doing a food diary. A recurring problem suggests

to me that she may be getting a regular food that does not agree with

her. That can be hard on our kids who do have sensitive sysytems - my

son always got diarreha when he had pear juice although that is

usually incredibly well tolerated. Of course many parents opt for

blood testing but actually i didn't have access to this and got to

the route of nearly all of Charlies problem foods by writing down all

he ate for about a month - partterns very soon emerge. It may be

specifically in the foods she is getting or it could be a pattern

such as a regular tea date or visit to a relative ( a friend of mine

had weekly problems until she pinned it on a weekly trip to granny

who thought that a sandwich once a week couldn't possibly hurt).

If you do stop the pro efa don't give up on that - it may be that you

will just need to change formulation - my son couldn't tolerate one

brand I gave him which was highly flavoured ( he couldn't tolerate

citrus either back then but can now).

I am glad that your daughter seems to be doing well other than this.

Good luck to you and please plaese don't think for a moment that you

are denying your daughter if you choose to persist with gfcf . There

are thousands of us who use it and it has helped our kids

dramatically. I always want to laugh at those who suggest that I am

depriving my kids - yep - depriving them of stomach ache and bowel

problems and that thing my eldest son described as that horrible

fussiness in his head. Yep - terrible deprivation. Louis is 12 now -

in the rugby team,in the cricket team, 3rd in maths for his year,

stockily built without an ounce of fat and with clear skin and glossy

hair. Poor deprived boy.

best wishes

Deborah

>

> " She is on the

> > gluten/casein diet and currently has more stomach problems than

> > before we started the diet. We have also eliminated soy and her

> > problems are getting increasingly worse. Could it possibly be the

> > fish oil? "

>

> I read the above a few times and am confused as to why the ProEFA

is

> viewed as the possible reason. It's obvious to me that the

diarrhea

> is from the dietary changes even though I don't know you or your

> child and could be wrong. What does the child's medical doctor

that

> prescribed this special diet have to say?

>

> I almost died from celiac disease as a child, spent my first few

> years of life in and out of hospitals, and was saved by a

special " no sugar,

> no wheat " (that's how I knew it) diet. I for one won't put my

> children on any type of special diet unless I know it helped them

> and they needed to be on it. Once they get into school in the

> mainstream forget about it! They switch lunches all the time I can

> tell you no matter what you pack for them!

>

> Why did the medical doctor prescribe this diet for your child?

>

> As far as when you wonder if any good or " bad " signs are from the

> EFAs.

>

> Stop the EFAs and observe if the good or bad signs go away.

> Wait at least a few weeks to a few months

> Start again at a lower dosage and observe to see if the good or bad

> signs come back

>

> Or you can lower the dosage. Again to me however I'd question the

> diet, and if that's not needed and the diet is being done just as

> a " just in case this helps too " I'd find out if you can stop that!

> (that's the inner child in me talking)

>

> =====

>

[Guest guest]

But Deb -based on what was written to me it sounds like the diet is

to blame, and I did say I could be wrong. I do know we've never

seen the reaction she speaks of at all with the oils. This is again

why doing one thing at a time is best so we all know.

Who knows -maybe the child has a bug.

=====

[Guest guest]

I would try using another form of omegas like flaxseed because maybe

she is allergic to fish especially since you saw similiar problems

after eating fish sticks.

If she is grouchy and less verbal what is the point of continuing it?

Every child reacts differently some people see no improvement on EFAS

In the archives I remember hearing about a parent who switched b/c

her child couldn't tolerate the lemon flavor, perhaps that is the

problem.

denise

>

> I have been giving my daughter Pro-EFA for about 2 months now and

> have seen amazing results in her (more babbling, talking, etc.)

BUT,

> she has developed diarrhea (about once or twice a day, comes and

> goes every few days). On the days she has diarrhea she is

grouchy,

> less verbal, and has barely an appetite.

As an aside, she has

> had similar diarrhea with fish sticks before... is it possible she

> is sensitive to fish?

>

> Thanks in advance,

>

>

[Guest guest]

If a food intolerance is to blame - it is often very difficult to identify

the culprit. My boys are intolerant to ALL grains - not just those with

gluten...so corn and rice as well. We had increased the amount of rice

products after going gluten-free (before we knew he was allergic) and all my

home-baked goods were with rice-based flour. Initially my son improved on

the gluten-free diet, but when he suddenly got sick again after a period of

doing great - it turned out that he had developed an intolerance/allergy to

rice (although he had been fine with rice for 2 years). Kids with leaky guts

tend to develop multiple food allergies and often if they get a lot of one

food item - they may eventually develop an allergy to it. But with a careful

diet diary - the patterns do emerge, just as Deborah is saying. It became

very clear that he was getting more violently ill (over the usual

diarrhea/vomiting we were seeing) within 24-48 hours of rice products. I

didn't want to believe it because we were really running out of things to

feed him, so we went back to the allergist. Although he had never skin

tested pos to gluten or milk (but clearly gets very sick from it) - he had a

significant reaction to rice skin testing (with neg skin test 2 years

prior). All symptoms disappeared within 5 days of eliminating rice. To

this day he is asymptomatic - but we are militant with his diet and don't

let anyone feed him. It has paid off in good health. -

[ ] Re: fish oil and side effects

Hi

there is absoloutely no reason why the diet is likely to be causing

the diarreha. I speak as one who never had a 'medical' doctor advise

me to do the diet ( although i have now had three absoloutely rave

about the extraordinary change it brought in charlies speech and

behavior)

The diet isn't terrible on the children doing it and i get really

really bored of having to say that. My kids eat brilliantly well,

certainly better of many of their friends who seem to eat a great

deal pizza, chicken nuggets ( mmmn reconstituted chicken) burgers,

crisps chips ice cream and very few veggies

Can I ask if you are doing a food diary. A recurring problem suggests

to me that she may be getting a regular food that does not agree with

her. That can be hard on our kids who do have sensitive sysytems - my

son always got diarreha when he had pear juice although that is

usually incredibly well tolerated. Of course many parents opt for

blood testing but actually i didn't have access to this and got to

the route of nearly all of Charlies problem foods by writing down all

he ate for about a month - partterns very soon emerge. It may be

specifically in the foods she is getting or it could be a pattern

such as a regular tea date or visit to a relative ( a friend of mine

had weekly problems until she pinned it on a weekly trip to granny

who thought that a sandwich once a week couldn't possibly hurt).

If you do stop the pro efa don't give up on that - it may be that you

will just need to change formulation - my son couldn't tolerate one

brand I gave him which was highly flavoured ( he couldn't tolerate

citrus either back then but can now).

I am glad that your daughter seems to be doing well other than this.

Good luck to you and please plaese don't think for a moment that you

are denying your daughter if you choose to persist with gfcf . There

are thousands of us who use it and it has helped our kids

dramatically. I always want to laugh at those who suggest that I am

depriving my kids - yep - depriving them of stomach ache and bowel

problems and that thing my eldest son described as that horrible

fussiness in his head. Yep - terrible deprivation. Louis is 12 now -

in the rugby team,in the cricket team, 3rd in maths for his year,

stockily built without an ounce of fat and with clear skin and glossy

hair. Poor deprived boy.

best wishes

Deborah

>

> " She is on the

> > gluten/casein diet and currently has more stomach problems than

> > before we started the diet. We have also eliminated soy and her

> > problems are getting increasingly worse. Could it possibly be the

> > fish oil? "

>

> I read the above a few times and am confused as to why the ProEFA

is

> viewed as the possible reason. It's obvious to me that the

diarrhea

> is from the dietary changes even though I don't know you or your

> child and could be wrong. What does the child's medical doctor

that

> prescribed this special diet have to say?

>

> I almost died from celiac disease as a child, spent my first few

> years of life in and out of hospitals, and was saved by a

special " no sugar,

> no wheat " (that's how I knew it) diet. I for one won't put my

> children on any type of special diet unless I know it helped them

> and they needed to be on it. Once they get into school in the

> mainstream forget about it! They switch lunches all the time I can

> tell you no matter what you pack for them!

>

> Why did the medical doctor prescribe this diet for your child?

>

> As far as when you wonder if any good or " bad " signs are from the

> EFAs.

>

> Stop the EFAs and observe if the good or bad signs go away.

> Wait at least a few weeks to a few months

> Start again at a lower dosage and observe to see if the good or bad

> signs come back

>

> Or you can lower the dosage. Again to me however I'd question the

> diet, and if that's not needed and the diet is being done just as

> a " just in case this helps too " I'd find out if you can stop that!

> (that's the inner child in me talking)

>

> =====

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for your reply. Honestly, I only asked my question about

fish oil and diarrhea because I had heard it could be a possible

side effect and was curious if others had any experience. The fact

that fish sticks had given her the same type diarrhea made me

question whether a worsening food sensitivity to fish is to blame.

I am a huge fan of EFA's don't worry!

The diet was suggested to me by our pediatrician after extensive

testing including the antigiadin blood test (for celiacs) that came

back inconclusive (out of the normal range but not quite

definitively celiacs). Izabella has also had a very difficult time

with milk and milk based formulas, so the gfcf diet made sense for

us. I don't blame the specialized diet AT ALL for Izabella's

stomach issues, though I agree with that a child with

multiple sensitivities can devlelop more allergies when something

like corn and rice are given even more often to make up for the lack

of gluten....

I guess the next step is a pediatric allergist for skin testing and

an even more detailed food allergy. (yes I do keep one and have

found it close to impossible to pinpoint what it is so far, we

thought it was soy, obviously wasn't, etc.)

I am sad to say we are off Pro EFA's as of today. I am really

hoping we dont' see any regression. Her doctor has suggested

letting her system take a break and starting up again. I will keep

you all posted. Thanks for your help!

[Guest guest]

With inconclusive celiac test may I just suggest

www.breakingtheviciouscycle.com check out this website, I think your

child may benefit from this, it's simiar to gfcf but also focuses on

carbohydrates which seemed to be very beneficial especially with celiac

disease. It runs in my family too.

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

I wrote quickly and maybe i sounded brusque ( sorry !!!)but I was

trying to point out that the gfcf will not cause diarreha. This diet

is absoloutely, without question perfectly healthy. ( Well except to

say that any parent can feed their child badly within ANY regime !).

The diet will not have caused diarreha. I know of instances where the

diet has aleviated constipation and the child has loose bowels while

their system settles down but in that instance the wheat and gluten

were the cause of the problem and the diet simply showed some loose

stools as the system sorted itself out.

If I was brusque then I am happy to aplologise.

It would really help me emormously though if you would perhaps spend

some time looking at some of the gfcf websites and recipe pages and

product links . Some of these kids develop ( as has said)

multiple additional intolerances and that can make life tricky. The

diet DOES require you to be organised, imaginative and persistent as

a parent and i admit I spend more time than I would choose cooking

and sourcing ingredients. But that hassle is mine and it does not

affect my kids. They eat really well and enjoy their food. At a cake

sale at Madeleines nursey ALL of her cakes sold and then three mums

asked for recipes actually not realising that Moo is on a gfcf diet.

At my local supermarket it is possible to buy cakes, chocolate

borbons, wafers, rice cereals, chocolate and strawberry milkshake

pasta, ice cream etc etc. These kids are not deprived anymore.

I have no doubt that you are a very young vibrant woman and the

childhood you recount was a mere few years ago. But please consider

that just maybe the massively increasing intolerance to wheat and

milk in the general population has created a very different

enviroment ( even in the five to ten years since you were a

teenager !) .

This diet is a huge huge help to many many kids and sadly, as with

fish oils, some Doctors are slow to respond. It is not foolish or

foolhardy to inform yourself and try this diet for your child - any

more than choosing for your child to be a vegitarian is. But it

absoloutely does not, should not, result in a deprived child.

Perhaps if you could check this out and see that these kids on a gfcf

diet are eating well and not denied 'all things nice' it will make

you less anxious about this diet being tried. And if you could stop

equating this modern diet with the restrictions of your childhood

then I will be able to stop boring everyone with how well my kids eat.

I'm off now to get Madeleine her choc ice because she's been so good

( so good in fact I have told her that we won't need to use the

leeches tonight)

best regards

Deborah -

PS I am a bit worried that your local schools don't seem to stop food

swapping. It absoloutely DOES not happen at ANY of my three kids

school and is something that all the leas take extremely seriously -

mostly because of the number of kids with paenut allergy. If your

schools permit this then perhaps they need to before a child dies .

-- In , " kiddietalk "

<kiddietalk@y...> wrote:

>

> But Deb -based on what was written to me it sounds like the diet is

> to blame, and I did say I could be wrong. I do know we've never

> seen the reaction she speaks of at all with the oils. This is

again

> why doing one thing at a time is best so we all know.

>

>

> Who knows -maybe the child has a bug.

>

> =====

>

[Guest guest]

You didn't sound brusque Deborah, and yes you know I'm speaking

about the diet from years ago before there were all the options they

have today.

The minute you write a cookbook Deborah I'll be right there

promoting it because I know you are an awesome cook and know how to

make the foods taste good -not all are good cooks like you. See -my

mom was an orphan and doesn't know how to cook to begin with (not a

secret in our family or with any of her friends!) - so having to put

her children on special diets meant we had to eat very bland foods

(to put it nicely) I doubt it would have made that much of a

difference for someone like my Mom if it was today or say ten years

ago )

I ate three meals a day, but my celiac was so bad that at times I

looked like one of those starving children you see in Unicef

photos. I have many memories of the hospital, of special diets -and

that's why today as an adult I understand why the special diets are

needed -but again only speak from my own experience. (which means

more than one now famous authors next book " Jim's bogus journey " )

I recall wanting to walk into bakeries and candy stores just to

smell the air. I would walk up to people eating cookies and

ask " can I just mell it please? "

Here in the US the kids swap parts of their lunch all the

time. " I " ll trade you a fruit roll up for your jello " ' " I don't

want this apple anyone want it " and stuff like that. I know because

I'll hear about the healthy swaps from my boys. (carrots for apple

and stuff like that) It's not viewed in a negative light here as

long as both parties are happy with the swap. I guess something

would be said if a child was switching their sandwich for a

cupcake. Mainly it seems to be the side things that are swapped.

For those children on special diets I know parents let the school

professionals know, and let the children themselves know why not to

swap -but doesn't mean it never happens for those kids who don't

have food allergies and parents just don't want them to have soda -

or whatever. (my kids know we don't want them to have soda -but

they have had it here and there) Not sure why food swapping during

school lunch is typical in the US while it's not in the UK. Any

thoughts on why? Are the lunch rules set against it always -or just

when there are special diets due to allergies?

=====

[Guest guest]

I have a 6 year old in Kindergarten and he tells me other kids want

his lunch. He knows not to swap his lunch though because I have

told him not to because of food allergies that someone else may

have. If parents don't have to worry about food allergies in their

family, they are most likely not going to mention it to their

children.

Tina

>

> You didn't sound brusque Deborah, and yes you know I'm speaking

> about the diet from years ago before there were all the options

they

> have today.

>

> The minute you write a cookbook Deborah I'll be right there

> promoting it because I know you are an awesome cook and know how

to

> make the foods taste good -not all are good cooks like you. See -

my

> mom was an orphan and doesn't know how to cook to begin with (not

a

> secret in our family or with any of her friends!) - so having to

put

> her children on special diets meant we had to eat very bland foods

> (to put it nicely) I doubt it would have made that much of a

> difference for someone like my Mom if it was today or say ten

years

> ago )

>

> I ate three meals a day, but my celiac was so bad that at times I

> looked like one of those starving children you see in Unicef

> photos. I have many memories of the hospital, of special diets -

and

> that's why today as an adult I understand why the special diets

are

> needed -but again only speak from my own experience. (which means

> more than one now famous authors next book " Jim's bogus journey " )

>

> I recall wanting to walk into bakeries and candy stores just to

> smell the air. I would walk up to people eating cookies and

> ask " can I just mell it please? "

>

> Here in the US the kids swap parts of their lunch all the

> time. " I " ll trade you a fruit roll up for your jello " ' " I don't

> want this apple anyone want it " and stuff like that. I know

because

> I'll hear about the healthy swaps from my boys. (carrots for

apple

> and stuff like that) It's not viewed in a negative light here as

> long as both parties are happy with the swap. I guess something

> would be said if a child was switching their sandwich for a

> cupcake. Mainly it seems to be the side things that are swapped.

>

> For those children on special diets I know parents let the school

> professionals know, and let the children themselves know why not

to

> swap -but doesn't mean it never happens for those kids who don't

> have food allergies and parents just don't want them to have soda -

> or whatever. (my kids know we don't want them to have soda -but

> they have had it here and there) Not sure why food swapping

during

> school lunch is typical in the US while it's not in the UK. Any

> thoughts on why? Are the lunch rules set against it always -or

just

> when there are special diets due to allergies?

>

>

> =====

>

[Guest guest]

-

Hi ,

I really enjoyed your complimenting my cooking but I have to confess

that you could not be further from the truth. My husband cooks

whenever he can as my cooking is known to be atrotious - eldest son

is learning to cook with daddy to try and save himself !

I have become a competent baker because i had to - but only competent

and believe me it took some time !

When Charlie started the diet i used a lot of mixes and shop bought

biscuits which are pretty much idiot proof. But i found that cooking

from scratch myself was cheaper and so I persevered.

The best cook book I have found is the AIA cookbook by Marilyn Le

Breton. Many of the recipes came from mums I know ( including

Marilyn ) and they are designed with the kids in mind so tasty,

naughty, chocie type treats feature heavily.

Once you have a flour base that works then you can actually use

ordinary recipe books. Marilyn uses a blend of rice flour, tapioca

starch and potato flour and, with xanthum gum, this make a flour

that works as well as ordinary plain flour. Sourcing good quality

ingredients is the most important bit and thereafter it is just

practice. It IS daunting to try and find unfamiliar ingredients to

begin with but i know too many people that cope comfortably to

believe that this is beyond most. OF COURSE there are days when i

would love to just go to the supermarket and throw things in the

trolly without worrying - but then I would like to be blond and have

big boobs - we don't always get what we want in life!

There is a UK site (www.wholesomehouse.co.uk) where you can find a

starter pack that includes the flours and xanthum gum and a detailled

recipe book to get you started. You can however get these flours if

you have a local chinese/oriental supermarket - they are then much

cheaper than via the internet otr mail order.

I obviously know less about the USA except that when hubby and i did

Disney with the kids in 2004 I ordered suppleies from a US company

www.glutensolutions.com who had a fantastic range and were happy to

take a UK order for delivery to a hoilday home in Florida. I was not

going to cook much on hols and all their items were brilliant. Disney

were happy to provide gfcf lists ( including a vendor who did gfcf

ice creams yippeeeee) and provided gfcf meals at their resteraunts. I

was invited to speak to the chef to check recipes were ok for

Charlie - they could not have helped more.My eldest went on a ski

trip just before christmas and the hotel provided gfcf without any

problem -( apparently some of the other kids tried to claim gluten

intolerance when they saw he was getting sausage and bacon, gfcf

bagels or envirokids cereal each morning when they had scrambled egg

or shreddies )

If you look at the group gfcfkids their files section has

SOOOOOOO many suppliers and has recipe sections etc. Companies like

Glutano and Glutafin provide taster packs - if you cantactthem and

tell them that your child is going to be going gluten and dairy free

they will send you samples of their products to try. I confess that

some breads taste like warmed up cardboard and bread is absoloutely

the hardest thing to get right ( so I use a bread machine to make

mine) but all the other carbs we love so are easy to get and very

very nice. I even found a truly delicious chocolate spread recently -

creamy and 'milky' it is hard to believe it is gfcf (chocoreal).

I really do believe that most people , with a bit of adjustemnt time,

can do this diet really well.

The swopping food thing seems strange to me , although of course i

believe the culture is as you describe. Maybe my children's schools

are different ? All three have their lunch times monitored to a

different degree. Charlies is obviously watched carefully because

half of his class are doing gfcf so the teachers watch that. But

Madeleines nursey has a strict 'no swopping' policy. The head tells

me that that has been LEA advice for the last five years because of

the rise in peanut allergy. Louis is 12 and more kids eat school

lunch there ( because the lunches are fab) but he assures me that

they are not allowed to swop either and he seemed bemused by my

question. He said that at his last three schools they have never been

allowed to swop and would get in trouble. He did say though that now

he is 12 they are able to get snacks at break and obviously share

these - although he knows what he can have and can't and would not

eat anything outside his diet because it makes him feel 'yackey' (

that apparently is a word).

I don't know why it should be so different - and i am not sure how

the schools that tolerate swopping would cope with a fatality from

shared or swopped food? Is it the responsibility of the parent of a

child with peanut allergy to try and teach them from age 5 not to

share ? Madeleine obviously does not know yet which foods are ok and

which are not but the school she is likely to go to at age 5 have in

their literature that food cannot be shared and that pupils are

forbiden to bring certain foods on to the premisis, so they take

allergy riskes very seriously. It is odd isn't it? Perhaps I have

just been very lucky......

Regards

Deborah

-- In , " kiddietalk "

<kiddietalk@y...> wrote:

>

> You didn't sound brusque Deborah, and yes you know I'm speaking

> about the diet from years ago before there were all the options

they

> have today.

>

> The minute you write a cookbook Deborah I'll be right there

> promoting it because I know you are an awesome cook and know how to

> make the foods taste good -not all are good cooks like you. See -

my

> mom was an orphan and doesn't know how to cook to begin with (not a

> secret in our family or with any of her friends!) - so having to

put

> her children on special diets meant we had to eat very bland foods

> (to put it nicely) I doubt it would have made that much of a

> difference for someone like my Mom if it was today or say ten years

> ago )

>

> I ate three meals a day, but my celiac was so bad that at times I

> looked like one of those starving children you see in Unicef

> photos. I have many memories of the hospital, of special diets -

and

> that's why today as an adult I understand why the special diets are

> needed -but again only speak from my own experience. (which means

> more than one now famous authors next book " Jim's bogus journey " )

>

> I recall wanting to walk into bakeries and candy stores just to

> smell the air. I would walk up to people eating cookies and

> ask " can I just mell it please? "

>

> Here in the US the kids swap parts of their lunch all the

> time. " I " ll trade you a fruit roll up for your jello " ' " I don't

> want this apple anyone want it " and stuff like that. I know

because

> I'll hear about the healthy swaps from my boys. (carrots for apple

> and stuff like that) It's not viewed in a negative light here as

> long as both parties are happy with the swap. I guess something

> would be said if a child was switching their sandwich for a

> cupcake. Mainly it seems to be the side things that are swapped.

>

> For those children on special diets I know parents let the school

> professionals know, and let the children themselves know why not

to

> swap -but doesn't mean it never happens for those kids who don't

> have food allergies and parents just don't want them to have soda -

> or whatever. (my kids know we don't want them to have soda -but

> they have had it here and there) Not sure why food swapping during

> school lunch is typical in the US while it's not in the UK. Any

> thoughts on why? Are the lunch rules set against it always -or

just

> when there are special diets due to allergies?

>

>

> =====

>