Our Food Sesitivities

A little over a year ago in January 2009, I discovered that I was becoming intolerant to wheat. I had some issues from wheat many years ago so I had cut back and tried to eat more other grains (rice, millet, quinoa, amaranth), but its really not easy to eat a low wheat diet in our culture so I fell back on eating more wheat because it was just easier. Last year, however, I was having severe abdominal pain- the beginning of IBS. The doctor asked if I thought any foods might be bothering me and I mentioned that wheat had bothered me in the past. So I stopped eating wheat and within 3 days I was pain free.

Then last March I found out I was pregnant with my second son. It was challenging to eat wheat-free while pregnant. It took a lot of will-power to stay away from all the foods that I wanted to eat at picnics and potlucks especially. I gave birth to a healthy baby boy in November and within 3 weeks realized that he was having some issues with my milk. I took him to the doctor and he said my son may be intolerant to my milk and that I should put him on Nutrimigen formula and maybe I could try taking dairy out of my diet and try breastfeeding again in a few weeks. So I cried all the way home wondering if there was any way to keep nursing my son... so I turned to the internet and started reading about these issues and learned that its nearly impossible for a baby to be intolerant to hes/her mother's milk and that it is something in the mother's diet that usually causes the intolerance.

I discovered that cow's milk allergy is the most common and the other common allergens are: eggs, soy, nuts, corn, wheat, and shellfish. I first called and consulted a lactation consultant who assured me that I didn't need to stop breastfeeding at all and in fact, the best thing for my baby's irritated intestines would be breast milk. I then decided with her suggestion to go on a full allergen free diet and also eliminating difficult to digest foods like beans and brown rice, and also acidic foods like tomatoes, strawberries, peppers, and pineapple. She also recommended only organic chicken because its not treated with antibiotics. I don't eat red meat at all so she didn't have recommendations for that.

For the next 6 weeks my diet consisted of: white rice (I preferred Jasmine), turkey, organic chicken, carrots, onion, garlic, potatoes, sweet potatoes, celery, pears, peaches, zucchini, summer squash, and a few seasonings- oregano, thyme, sage, rosemary, and salt. Some babies are even sensitive to onion, garlic, and/or celery. Fortunately mine was fine with all three, but I made sure to cook them thoroughly.

I slowly started to introduce some allergens back into my diet. Right away I discovered he was sensitive to dairy and eggs. He is able to tolerate nuts and shellfish. I then reintroduced corn. It took about 2 weeks before he started to react so I wasn't sure what he was reacting to at first, but when I took corn out again he was better again, so corn is another sensitivity for him. I haven't yet tried soy, but my older son was intolerant to milk, egg, and soy so I am just going to stay away from it for now.

I am now extremely happy that I didn't switch to formula because all the hypoallergenic formulas are made with corn syrup solids or some other modified corn product. Its totally absurd to me that formula that claims to be hypoallergenic has a common allergen as its main ingredient. I also found out that there is a variation of MSG in it too. There is a lot of information out there about MSG, none of it good, and just today I read about it as a possible neurotoxin.

During this journey I have come across people talking about other allergens that seem to be fairly common as well- strawberries, chocolate, tomato, onion, celery, and vinegar. It makes sense to cut out dairy too when you figure out that you are wheat/gluten intolerant since dairy is hard on the intestines too. In fact, its probably best to eat a diet that is easy to digest for several months to let the intestines heal before trying foods that might be hard on the intestines like brown rice, beans, corn, and acidic and spicy foods.

I also recommend going yeast-free for awhile and taking an acidophilus supplement that also has bifidus bacteria to help regulate your digestion. There are other herbs and supplements as well and I suggest talking with a naturopath or doing your own research to find out what else could help.

As of right now... my son is still recovering from the corn binge that I went on. I also ate some chocolate cake that a friend made that was allergen free, but the chocolate seemed to bother him and give him gas, so no chocolate either for now. DARN! I ate some barley salad the other day and my body is reacting like I ate wheat so apparently I am becoming gluten intolerant. So far I have been fine with rye and oats, but I will moniter these more closely now.

Next on my agenda for this blog is a product list.