Grocery Shopping

July 6, 2003

Hello everyone. An update to those that can appreciate this situation. Being

GFCF and then GFCFSF and then down to chicken, potatoes, water and pork only, we

are expanding! At first with enzymes ( post adjustment period) we got back so

many fruits, vegetables, soy, cocoa, it was great. Then we started the

challenges. First it was oats. A couple of months later it was cheerios and most

recently honey nut cheerios. We went grocery shopping yesterday and we bought,

crackers, honey nut cheerios and regular pasta. It was liberating. We still had

to read the labels to avoid BHT, dextrose, and various other preservatives, but

it was great. Wheat is back. The pasta was semolina (which is a grass grain and

a no no on the GFCF diet). We had the pasta last night. No reaction. Today, no

reaction. We'll go a few weeks before we introduce anything else new. Scary but

exciting stuff for us. I've learned too much to ever just blindly pick up a

product in the store without reading the label, but I'm so excited! We were GFCF

for almost three years. To say that I am grateful for the Houston enzymes would

be an understatement.

July 6, 2003

I'm looking forward to these liberating days, but for now am really

cautious. My son has high IgGs - wheat (4), cheese (3), egg (3), and

some others. Has anyone with high IgGs gone back to a " regular " diet

with enzymes (or without)? We have had a restricted diet for 8

months now, avoiding all foods where the tests came back 3 or

higher. However, I have also restricted other grains that didn't

come back positive on the tests (e.g., oat and barley), thinking that

a gluten intolerance wouldn't necessarily show up on IgG testing. I

feel overly cautious when I read this type of post, and especially

considering that we are using enzymes with each meal, even without

planned infractions. I'm hoping for gut healing, and since things

have been going fairly well here, I don't want to rock the boat.

Kathy

it or not.

>

> My son has been off the diet with enzymes for over two years and is

> much healthier now. I'm still disappointed this option is not

given

> by many autism bio-medical " experts " because it appears to be a

> BETTER option than removing long lists of foods for certain kids

like

> mine and yours.

>

July 7, 2003

Congratulations!

when you introduce dairy, go heavy on good yoghurt. We found this

improved gut health enormously.

July 7, 2003

If you don't feel good about challenging the diet, don't. We had

good reasons to challenge it.

We had our first tests done by Alletess Medical Lab for gluten and

casein only. I received the test results and called the lab for

interpretation at that time. They told me my son's results for

gluten were in the " high " range and casein was also " high " . Five

months later I had the Comprehensive Food Panel done through Great

Plains and had numerous ones. Many foods that became a big problem

later did not show up on the food panel, so I discovered that the

best allergy test for my child was to remove a food, observe

behavior, add the food back, observe behavior again. I've been told

the IgG type of testing is 80% accurate. It was helpful for us

because it encouraged me to look at diet issues (which later became

enzyme issues).

> I'm looking forward to these liberating days, but for now am

really

> cautious. My son has high IgGs - wheat (4), cheese (3), egg (3),

and

> some others. Has anyone with high IgGs gone back to a " regular "

diet

> with enzymes (or without)? We have had a restricted diet for 8

> months now, avoiding all foods where the tests came back 3 or

> higher. However, I have also restricted other grains that didn't

> come back positive on the tests (e.g., oat and barley), thinking

that

> a gluten intolerance wouldn't necessarily show up on IgG testing.

I

> feel overly cautious when I read this type of post, and especially

> considering that we are using enzymes with each meal, even without

> planned infractions. I'm hoping for gut healing, and since things

> have been going fairly well here, I don't want to rock the boat.

> Kathy

July 7, 2003

You're exactly right. Supplements making up for foods missing in the diet,

expensive supplements, expensive specialty gluten and casein free foods, and yet

you watch your child get thinner and thinner. It's sickening to watch. The dark

circles under the eyes scared me the most, a good indicator of malnourishment.

Re: Grocery Shopping

Chicken, potatoes, water and pork: you had us beat! We had several

more foods than than that left before enzymes, but still entering a

frightening stage of feeling like we were running out of options.

Obviously, much more than just gluten and casein caused my son and

your son problems. I suspect many other kids are the same way,

whether the parents have addressed it or not.

My son has been off the diet with enzymes for over two years and is

much healthier now. I'm still disappointed this option is not given

by many autism bio-medical " experts " because it appears to be a

BETTER option than removing long lists of foods for certain kids like

mine and yours.

July 7, 2003

There are so many to choose from, and I was never a big yogurt person to begin

with, which would you suggest?

Re: Grocery Shopping

Congratulations!

when you introduce dairy, go heavy on good yoghurt. We found this

improved gut health enormously.

July 7, 2003

You're exactly right to be cautious. We were on this diet for almost three

years. We did a lot in that time to heal his gut, the tea, probiotics, vitamins,

the diet itself. ph had off the chart reactions to the casein and gluten the

first time we did the tests. That was three years ago. More recently we reran

the tests, came back a little high this time to egg and peanuts, but not

significantly so. I'm anxious to see the tests a year from now, when the viral

and other intestinal issues have been set right. We challenge one thing at a

time. Had I gone whole hog, I might have thought the No Fenol didn't work just

because ph still has a reaction to orange juice and bananas. But the

No-Fenol does work, just like the others, except for the orange juice and

bananas in ph's case. BHT and dextrose are still no-nos, we have nasty

reactions to those, so we avoid them. Nitrites and nitrates are still not

tolerated, so we don't allow processed meats like hot dogs, bacon, etc. I

applaud you for being cautious, I wish there were more parents out there that

were as cautious. It still irritates me to see whiny, screaming, non-verbal 2

year olds with red inflamed eczema riddled cheeks, clutching a bottle filled

with milk. You can suggest taking milk or other potential offenders out of the

diet to people, but so many just don't want to be bothered. Your child is very

lucky to have you as a parent.