Yogurt alternatives?

[Guest guest]

Hi!

I'm new to the list. I have looked over BTVC and pecanbread's websites and am

now reading Elaine's book that just arrived a few days ago.

I have a 13yo son who has Asperger's symptoms that were mild enough to be just a

shadow syndrome, but recently has developed tics as puberty began kicking in. I

have another son who is about to turn 8 who would likely be diagnosed as PDD -

speech delayed with pragmatic language difficulties and has an attention deficit

that frequently makes him seem spaced out. My 10yo daughter has borderline ADHD

symptoms and possibly some oppositional-defiance symptoms as well. Then I have

a 2&1/2 yr old who is wonderfully neurotypical (I was taking flaxseed oil

capsules for mild depression for several years & what a difference it made in

his neurodevelopment!), but he still shows signs of minor immune system

dysfunction including eczema, yeast, & his stomach seems to get upset fairly

easily. He is just now starting to get over a mild viral infection that a

dermatologist diagnosed as Molluscum contagiosum which she said is common with

immature immune systems (I found that particularly interesting as my 7 yo showed

signs of it in the initial stages)

All of us seem to have some seemingly minor degree of milk intolerance (that is,

noticeable symptoms are minor - mainly gas) and possibly grains.

All of my kids had signs of yeast as babies & I was constantly struggling with

painful thrush while I was breastfeeding.

It seems perfectly reasonable to conclude that our GI flora are screwed up - so

Elaine's book makes perfect sense to me even while feeling totally daunted by

the prospect of following such a diet. I've always jokingly referred to myself

as the convenience food queen. This diet is downright scary to me - I've never

had enough time in the day as it is and now I'm going to be preparing everything

from scratch?

The biggest problem is that my husband hates yogurt and would never eat it no

matter what. (Trust me on this - what my husband does not want to eat, there

are no compromises on. It is only because of my oldest son's new, rather

bizarre neurological problems that arrived with the increase in testosterone

that my husband is even agreeing to do this diet with us so I have to proceed

carefully)

So what I'm wondering is if it would be sufficient for him to take pills with

the same culture in them instead? ly I'm afraid of making my own yogurt

and giving us food poisoning or something!

Also, if milk can be a part of the diet with the addition of enzymes, why can't

grains be added to the diet with the use of enzymes? Wouldn't that break down

the complex sugars into simple ones?

I'm also trying to figure out what tests, if any, we should have done on our

kids before we start the diet so we can get a better picture of where they are

biochemically?

Thanks for any light you can shed on my confusion!

~Vivian