Dd's chiropractor did some nutritional muscle testing w/ her this morn and thinks she has sensitivities to wheat, citrus, and tofu. i said i'd give it a try, since i've tried everything else i can think of to solve her tummy issues and her ongoing recurrent ear infections/ fluid in the ears.

we are vegetarian, and i'm pretty much dairy-free, as is dd. BUT i would do items w/ trace amounts of casein or whatever in them... the chiro actually thinks casein isn't a problem for her, but i'm just so wary of dairy in general that i stay away...

oddly enough, he said she didn't react to the soy yogurt, just to the tofu. he said it may be b/c the yogurt is more processed, the tofu more in its raw state.

i've also noticed reactions to citrus, especially pineapple. last night she was up ALL NIGHT and i thought for sure it was an ear infection again (it's not) but after our visit to the chiro this morn, and remembering her dinner last night of whole wheat pasta w/ tomatoes and tomato sauce w/ orange slices for dessert, i think it may have been tummy pain.

SOOOOOO... any ideas for quick, easy snacks and meals? brand-name items would be great, so i could locate them at Whole Foods.

thanks for any advice!
alycia

Dried Fruits like apricot and apple
Can she have nuts? Raisins? Make her a personal trail mix with dried fruits and nuts..

Regular fruits are good snacks..apples, bananas, etc.

You can find wheat free/gluten free cookies at health food stores, but check the ingredients..there might be dairy or soy.

That's all I can think of for quick, healthy snacks.

thanks, meg, that was nice ofy ou to respond! i forgot to mention she's only 13 months, so i hesitate to do raisins or nuts b/c they're potential choking hazards. (yeah, i know, you'd think i was a first-time mama!) :)
thanks,
alycia

You can buy breads and cereals that are wheat free (common example - cheerios) - rice breads, spelt etc.

Fruits cut into pieces, vegetables with dip, hummus, etc.

You can also buy noodles that are wheat free...

I've found a lot of great items at health food stores. Dh has been wheat free for about 4 weeks now so we are contantly looking for new ideas. meat, potatoes, and veggies are our typical meal items now. you have to be careful about sauces, but i have found some bbq sauce and other marinades at Target.

"The Gluten-Free Pantry" makes wheat/gluten free gourmet baking mixes.

Also, "Mi-Del" offers some gluten-free cookies as does:

"Pamelas" (cookies/baking items).

(Not sure if you allow sweets for your baby or not).

Rice noodles are easy to come by at the health food store as are corn noodles.

You could make corn bread with rice flour instead of wheat.

Potatoes and tortillas are great for little ones. Do you use nutritional yeast?

I don't know if traces of wheat are a problem?

Are you nursing? if so, you might need to watch YOUR diet.

Originally posted by tikva18
You can buy breads and cereals that are wheat free (common example - cheerios) - rice breads, spelt etc.

Fruits cut into pieces, vegetables with dip, hummus, etc.

You can also buy noodles that are wheat free...

Are you sure cheerios are wheat free? maybe an offbrand cause the box in front of me has wheat starch. or maybe wheat starch is different than wheat?

Originally posted by michmom
thanks, meg, that was nice ofy ou to respond! i forgot to mention she's only 13 months, so i hesitate to do raisins or nuts b/c they're potential choking hazards. (yeah, i know, you'd think i was a first-time mama!) :)
thanks,
alycia

LOL! I am sorry Alycia..I didn't know! Well, Elijah would have nothing to do with wheat or dairy (I think he self regulated) and honestly, he had a lot of breastmilk in those days with supplements of easy fruits. Cheerios, I think, are only oat, but check..elijah wouldn't touch them, but liked a product called Oatios from Whole Foods Market...Again, I think that is only Oats, but I would chk ingredients.
I guess I'd go with finger foods like bananas, etc. You can get one of those mesh things if you are afraid of choking and fill it with apple pieces that she can still gnaw on without getting a chunk that is too big :)

Hope that helps. You can put frozen/fresh veggies in the mesh bag too, for gnawing on.!

Sorry I can't check my cheerio box right now - it's next to my bed and I'm only allowed to go upstairs once a day right now...
I can let you know tomorrow morning when i get to come back downstairs.

Cheerios are NOT wheat free. Is it wheat or gluten as well?

Malt-o-meal dyno bytes cereal (fruity and chocolate flavors) are gluten free/wheat free, and you can eat them plain or with Pacific Almond milk.

Fruits and veggies, we all love cut up apple dipped in peanut butter

gluten free snacks like other have mentioned- whole foods should have plenty, some brands are "mi-del" and "pamelas" and "sans gluten" I love the cereal bars by "sans gluten"! EnviroKidz cereal makes some gluten free variety as well, off hand I know their "Gorrilla Munch" is gf.

lay's potato chips :)

hard boiled eggs or scrambled eggs

rice cakes

Thai kitchen brand noodle soups

Oh, Cream of Rice cereal, super quick and filling, available at most markets :)


Rice and beans- we always have cooked rice on hand in the fridge, as well as canned beans

EnviroKids makes a wheat-free version of Cheerios. They also make Panda Puffs which are yummy. Some of their cereals have wheat so check carefully.

The Mi Del animal cookies are awesome for little kids. And I am spacing on brand, but there are these arrowroot type teething biscuits that are gluten free.

Whole Foods has a brochure that lists all the items in the store that are gluten free. They have another one that is just wheat free. And another that lists dairy free. That should get you started. :)

My kids always ate bananas and avocados for snacks at that age. Salmon and rice were meals. Yogurt is a great snack if you don't mind doing some dairy. IMO if you don't have an allergy, the probiotics in it outweigh the effects of the dairy. Plus the bacteria in yogurt digest a lot of the hard to digest proteins in milk.

wow, mamas, thanks sooooo much! i was feeling a little overwhelmed, but i feel a little better now. *sigh of relief*

i honestly don't know if it's a sensitivity to wheat or to all gluten. i guess i'll have to go back to him w/ a sample and have him check her. oatmeal is an example of something that has gluten but no wheat,right? so people that are sensitive to wheat can have oatmeal, for example, but people who are gluten free can't, right?

i didn't know about those pamphlets at whole foods-- how cool!

i have no idea what her reaction will be to beans or to eggs; i've avoided both b/c of gas issues w/ her (which ,in retrospect, could have been caused by these sensitivities...) and b/c egg is a "foreign" protein, although not as "bad" as dairy, from what i understand...


please keep any ideas coming! thanks so much!

what do you put *on* your rice and beans?

thanks,
alycia

y'know, honestly, i don't think she's *that* allergic/sensitive or i'd be seeing more "extreme" symptoms, like diarrhea, "colic" etc., i believe. she has gas and tummy pain, which often keeps her up through the night on and off... but that's the worst, unless you count the fact that the sensitvities are prolly weakening her immune system and contributing to the recurrent ear infections... i'm getting away from myself here... but maybe "trace" amounts would be ok... maybe i don't have to go "all out"... i'm hoping, anyway... any thoughts?

From my experience, it's best to keep her completely away from common allergens until her immune system is better developed. If you give her some now, she is more likely to have an allergy that lasts a long time. If you take it away completely, you are more likely to be able to add it back to her diet at 2 or 3 or 4 yo, and she will be fine with it. This is also from what I have read on the nature of allergies.

I know it sounds hard, but once you make the adjustment, it's easier than it seems. We have been gluten and casein free for almost a year now. We have nasty, sneaky behavioral symptoms when we add back wheat and dairy. So it isn't always cut and dried, like a rash or something dramatic. :( Sorry. I know you want to hear that it's fine to just give some to her now anyway. But take it from me. I seem to have to learn it the hard way. It is best to just suck it up, take the stuff out of her diet, and wait.

Oh and yep on the oatmeal. Barley would be another good one. Some oatmeals are contaminated with gluten and others aren't - it is from crop rotation or processing that they get contaminated. So barley is actually a great one as it contains gluten but not wheat.

I just want to ditto what mamabear said. I would cut out all gluten, it's such a common allergen, and can really do a ton of "hidden" damage. Most people with celiac disease don't even realize they have it, many are diagnosed in their 30's or 40's, and by then lots of damage has been done to the intestine. I'd check out www.celiac.org for more info.

Good luck, it's easy once you get used to it :)

Kristi

Wheat starch theoretically has no wheat proteins, it is only the starch. But, how can you be sure all protiens were removed during processing? I don't chance it.

Snacks:

Bananas
apples
potato chips
corn chips
most EnviroKids (from Nature's Path) cereals
some Nature's Path cereals
pineapple
oranges
baby carrots (not age appropriate, you could shred them)
homemade cookies (check the special needs forum for recipes)
quinoa
amaranth
grits
eggs
sausage (Beeler's makes a wonderful all natural sausage without nitra(i?)tes)
fruit in general
raw veggies like broccoli, lettuce, etc


My entire family has intolerances to food. So, we avoided some of the stuff we already had intolerances to. But, I did not know my dad had celiac (diagnosed at 3 but told outgrew it, but you can't outgrow it, explains a lot about him). We never avoided wheat. In fact, I baked several loaves of bread a week. But, it turns out Samantha, and myself, probabaly have celiac. www.celiac.com has a lot of information. There is also a Canadian celiac website I actually find better but I can find the link. www.gfcfdiet.com has a lot of info about avoiding gluten and dairy. We are dairy and gluten free.

Are you OK with making sushi rolls? (THey're actually VERY easy to make!) You can make several for mealtime, then double wrap the extras and fridge them. They will dry out, though if you don't eat them by the next day. You can put cucumber strips, chives, ginger, avocado, or whatever else you like inside. I have a friend whose ds has SEVERE food allergies to wheat, soy, peanuts, dairy, etc, etc, and she is able to give him this.

You could also wrap a lettuce leaf around some thin carrot sticks or cucumber (very thin to prevent them becoming a chocking hazard) or veggie "lunchmeat" if she's OK with that kind of soy.

Rice crackers (Japanese) might be OK for her. There's quite a variety out there.

You could make fresh guacamole with just avocado, lime juice and salt and let her eat it on some baked corn chips (like Trader Joe's organic chips) Salsa would work too - chop up fresh tomato, onion, garlic, cilantro and add some lime juice and salt - that's a nice way to get some veggies and the garlic should be helpful for her ears I think.

I'd try an Asian grocery store for snacks, too. They don't use a lot of dairy and there are wheat alternatives in many of their snacks. Haw fruit snacks are very common in Chinese grocery stores and my friend's ds is great with those. In Japanese groceries you need to watch for Aspartame since they seem to use it a lot.

Thinly sliced celery and carrots or fruit and veggies should be good, and if she has enough teeth you could give her baby broccoli florets.

thank you, mamas! i'm sort of confused, though-- *should* we avoid gluten, too? does that mean avoiding barley, oats, etc. too?

she is definitely "reactive" for lack of a better word, to citrus-- her face breaks out from pineapple and i *think* tomato, so i'm not goin gto feed her those or orages. are there *other* citrus i am not aware of, besides lemons?

where (websites and books?) can i read more about this and about food groups (like which foods have gluten, which are citrus, etc.)? i will go to the gfcfdiet website.

thanks so much, mamas!
alycia

Studies show that people intolerant to wheat are likely to develop intolerances to spelt. This is probably for two reasons. Gluten grains have proteins similar in structure and since they can't have wheat, they "overload" on these other grains.

We have a problem with gluten, not just wheat, so we avoid them all, including oats. Some celiac associations now say oats are ok but Samantha's speech regressed on oats.

I think all kids break out in a contact rash from the acid in tomatoes (mine do, and all the daycare kids I worked with used to), so it may not be an allergy, but I'm not sure.

Try http://www.mealsforyou.com You can search recipes that do not have the allergens you need to avoid.

thanks, mamas! candace, you may be right, altough the chiro said she tested positive for a sensitivity to tomatoes, too, and i know she was up all night w/ gas pain after i fed her the whole wheat pasta w/ tomatoes and tomato sauce a few days ago... so it may be the tomatoes, or the wheat, or both. i can always cut it out and then try to add it back in later.

alycia

Have him test her for kiwi and strawberry too.

Puffins cereals are good if you can do oats. My kids love them. They are wheat, dairy, and soy free.

We did NAET http://www.naet.com/ for a while. It sounded cooky but Zlata Tova can eat wheat again. :) Check it out.

Originally posted by Liba
Have him test her for kiwi and strawberry too.

Puffins cereals are good if you can do oats. My kids love them. They are wheat, dairy, and soy free.

We did NAET http://www.naet.com/ for a while. It sounded cooky but Zlata Tova can eat wheat again. :) Check it out.

My dh is doing a version of NAET too and is being treated and hopefully will be able to eat wheat again. We think it started when he worked the overnight shift about 10 years ago. His dr is a chiropractor/neurologist and also does Kinesiology. Very similar to NAET.