Feingold diet and gluten free

[Joette]

Does anyone have the official Feingold Diet information that I could borrow? We already eliminate dyes, preservatives and colors. But I know there is more to the diet. I am considering the Feingold diet and cutting out wheat/gluten. I am trying to figure out which one to do first or to see if they are both necessary.

My 5 year has Sensory Processing Disorder and my 4 year old has aggressive, impulsive behaviors. My daughter has terrible dark circles under her eyes that most people say is wheat allergy. I am trying to figure out my next move. Feingold or gluten free? Any thoughts would be welcome.

Thanks.
Joette

[Anna]

I have a book about the Feingold method that you can borrow. Are you doing dairy? I've heard several stories about sensory issues and dairy. The "aggressive, impulsive" does sound like Feingold though. You have eliminated the main part of Feingold already. The other piece is the salicylates, which are naturally occurring but cause issues for some people. Often highest in fruits - really high in grapes, berries and many more. The book would give you more information.

Let me know of you'd like to borrow it.

~Anna

[Pat]

We avoid artificial colors, flavors and preservatives at home easily. Out and about, I don't stress about it, but we don't have siblings impacted by the sensory response. We also avoid heavy salicylate loading. I've not done it "by the book". Some folks find that converting to Feingold is easier, if you have their suggestions of researched brands. Most of our food is not packaged. We have a lot of snack chips from EarthFare. But, those are not a huge portion of our diet and theoretically, they avoid those ingredients. Fruits are probably the hardest thing here. Erik loves strawberries, oranges, apples, grapes, peaches, blueberries, and he definitely reacts to them in large or frequent doses.

Wheat and gluten is another league altogether. There is a Gluten Free group that meets at EarthFare monthly, I believe. They do cooking demos and brand suggestions. With your nut allergies, it would be challenging, imo. I'd do IgA and IgE blood testing before going that route with the limited flour options. We like "Sammy's Bakery" Millet and Flax bread. It is relatively soft for sandwiches. EF just QUIT carrying it this week though! Home Economist has it for cheaper and they'll order a case for you at a discount, I believe. Mostly, we avoid wheat during the week and he indulges on the weekend. We haven't found a wheat-free pasta that Erik likes though. And CORN is a much bigger issue here. "Normal", non-organic corn makes him bounce off the walls. Organic corn doesn't have the same effect. And pasteurized dairy is the WORST for sensory seeking, aggressive, not hearing other's needs type behavior. Raw milk and cultured milk don't have that affect. Soy milk does also. Cultured soy, not an issue, in small amounts, it seems.

Classical homeopathy and a sensory diet help most here. And down time, so that we are avoiding the sensory overload.

Are you doing CLO, CO and bone broths already? Those are necessary for gut health and neurochemistry. And whole food probiotics, but I always say that, lol. One of my friends has had significant benefits from kefir for her daughter's sensory issues. I'm still on the fence, whether it has helped, since Erik has been iffy about consuming it.

Also, might try some "Impatiens" Bach Flower Remedy.

HTH, Pat

[Pat]

I just saw this posted elsewhere:

Hello everyone,

I have an opportunity I thought I would pass on to all of you. Our food allergy support group in Charlotte, PAK (Parents of Allergic Kids) is very fortunate to have Dr. Wesley Burks, Chief of Pediatric Allergy and Immunology, Duke University Medical Center come speak to our group this Thursday.

Dr. Burks is a world renowned researcher in the field of food allergies. His presentation will include an update on his food allergy studies (i.e. peanut, egg, milk) and discussion on general food allergy questions.

We have a large banquet room where the meeting will be held. We already have over 100 people planning on coming, but we have room for more. I thought I would let you all know and invite you to come hear what he has to say and learn from the very best.

If you would like to come, please email me to let me know so we can plan. My email is [e-mail]

Here is all the info on the meeting:
Thursday, October 30th, 7pm
St. Matthew Catholic Church in Ballantyne
Banquet Room-First Floor in the New Life Building

Directions:
St. Matthew is at 8015 Ballantyne Commons Parkway, in between Rea Road and Elm, across from the Stonecrest Shopping Center. If you pull in the main entrance off Ballantyne Commons Parkway facing the front of the church, head to the right and park on the ELM STREET side. The New Life Building is the building on the right of the main entrance to the church.

Here is a link to an article about Dr. Burks and his studies...

http://dukemedmag.duke.edu/assets/articles/11869/Allergy_Action.pdf

Feel free to pass this on to other Dietitians and food allergic patients.

Thanks,
Jen Lowrie, RD, CDE, LDN
Food Allergy Nutrition Solutions
Co-Founder PAK
[e-mail]
704-608-6506

[Joette]

I would love to borrow the book. Yes, we are doing dairy. Both of the boys had sensitivites to dairy as babies and we added it back into their diets around 2 years of age, they are 4 and 5. About a year ago we went dairy free for a few months again and did not notice any improvement. So we added it back in.

We have also been through allergy elimination with Sensory Reduction Technique (muscle testing and acupressure). It was effective in getting the boys off meds, but have not noticed much improvement in behavior or emotionally.

Today was a very difficult day for my 4 year old. He was very aggressive. I thought about his diet and he had so much wheat! Five pieces of bread at breakfast, peanut butter sandwhich at lunch and a bagel and pasta at dinner. He had other food as well, but it makes me think it might be wheat. Not much that would have had salicylates...although now that I think of it, the bread at breakfast has raisins and he had applesauce at lunch and apples in the afternoon. None of our breads have artificial preservatives, colors or flavors. He seems to crave carbohydrates. I don't know...I am at a loss. I am wondering if I should bring him to a naturopath to help me figure it out.

Thanks.
Joette

[Joette]

Hi Pat,

I agree that with our nut allergy and being vegetarian, a gluten free diet would be challenging. We don't eat much soy either. Then I think about cutting out salicylates and possibly dairy again...what would we eat? I had not thought of corn as a possibility...although hyperactivity is not one of our issues. Regarding pastuerized dairy, I buy raw when I can, but it is not worth the effort sometimes because we do not drink much and I end up throwing it away. Now I think of it though, they eat a ton of butter which is organic, but pasteurized. They eat a lot of cheese as well, some raw, some organic. Maybe I should just buy raw and make my own butter and only buy raw milk.

I cannot get my kids to drink kefir. I do probiotics and fish oil supplements.

Thanks for the info.
Joette

[Anna]

Will you be at Brixx in Nov? If not let me know where you are and we can figure out a way to get the book to you.

~Anna

[Joette]

I won't be at Brixx, but I will be at the Naomi talk on Sunday. Would that work?

Joette

[Pat]

Aggressive type behavior, when not able to hear another's boundaries, reminds me of dairy. The casein in hard cheese is the worst, even more than milk, for reactions, (quantity wise) ime. We definitely avoid pasteurized dairy, even pasteurized cheese. I don't worry about pasteurized butter, because it is mostly fat, not protein. I do get organic though. But, I'd go dairy free before trying wheat free.

The friend had benefits with just a tablespoon of kefir twice a day. That is my goal. It mixes with rice milk ok. I'm really not crazy about the rice milk that we use, especially since it has artificial vit A. But, I introduced it before I understood that issue. Also, I do the grape juice kefir with my milk grains. Then I dilute it 1/2 and 1/2 with water, it is tasty to Erik.

That is a LOT of wheat though! Gosh, Erik doesn't eat that much wheat in a week. So, I'm not sure. I'll try to watch some patterns, because your post reminded me of some things also.

I assume the peanut butter is organic, as are the fruits and vegetables? Or veggie washed? Because, during transportation they have a lot of "fungicides" that they spray on "organically grown" produce even. Also, some places use a "citrus" wash which is salicylates. Erik can eat about two servings of salicylates in one sitting, and be restless, jumpy, irritable. Removing or decreasing salicylates is easier than removing wheat, ime.

One thing I've heard is that one "craves" what is "unhealthy" for the body. I don't really believe that theory. However, I do believe the body is trying to ingest something it needs. I've been reading about the nutrient dense green juices (and bone broths), and how those will nourish with many minerals and vitamins, so that the body isn't trying to "crave" what it needs. So, maybe making some green juices for a supplement, would decrease the urge to consume so much wheat. Anna has some juice recipes which her family is enjoying. I haven't tried juicing green stuff yet.

Milk cravings could be for the calcium. Paradoxically, increased calcium consumption without magnesium can actually diminish calcium stores in the bones. So, supplementing with magnesium (and Vit A and D), or magnesium rich foods is another way to decrease milk cravings, perhaps. Although, there are few magnesium rich foods. We use Natural Calm as a supplement.

Goat's milk, especially raw, is another option which is significantly less allergenic.



Pat

[Joette]

We do eat mostly organic and our fruits and veggies are about 90% organic. I do not wash, just rinse with water. I do have a wash that I should start to use. I thought with buying organic I did not need too. So much for that!

The boys will not drink anything other than water. It is even hard to get them to take supplements. They will not take supplements in water if they can taste it. This is good sometimes, but can be challenging when I am trying to get them to drink something healthy or include supplements.

I have made a lot of notes from your emails. I am going to make some more changes to our diet without anything drastic at this point and see what happens.

Thanks Pat and Anna for taking the time to respond. I appreciate it!
Joette

[Joette]

I was hoping to go to this tonight. Two of my kids have colds now and it would be hard for me to miss bedtime. Is PAK a Charlotte group?

[Pat]

I believe it seems to indicate that. I'm not familiar with the group. There is (was?) an allergy group which met at EarthFare-Ballantyne. Maybe it was just the gluten free one.

I found this link: http://www.pakcharlotte.org/


Pat