amitymamaThe Attachment Parenting Community

Kbsmama · 03-21-2006, 10:44 AM

LOL! I have been reading Disease-Proof Your Child and Eat to Live, and I'm ready to make some (more) drastic changes to our diets. I guess since I've already eliminated chicken and eggs due to allergies and we are casein and gluten free, so dairy is gone, eating less meat doesn't seem like a big deal to me anymore. Especially when I read the reasons why not to eat it. DH will not like it. I have to get him to read these things. I left Eat to Live in the bathroom. He probably won't touch it, though...

I do have some questions, though, and maybe some of them are answered somewhere in the books, but I haven't finished them yet. Is rice milk OK? Instead of soy? We haven't challenged soy yet, but I am waiting until we get a better handle on our new diet as it is. We currently consume very little soy, though. And our main source is Hebrew National beef hot dogs, which need to go, anyway!

My boys are both highly sensitive to walnuts. And DS #1 is mildly allergic to avocados and sensitive to beets. Obviously, the walnuts and avocados are a huge source of fats, but will flax and other nuts and seeds be OK?

Any thoughts or ideas on his "program"? I've read these ideas other places, repeatedly. Dr. Benjamin Spock actually promotes a vegan diet, especially for small children, in his last book. In the last years of his life, he became vegan, and felt his quality of life was greatly improved, even at his advanced age--I am thinking he was like 87 or something.

I have to cringe when Fuhrman's book says that some product is available on his website, because those are the sorts of things that are going to have DH saying, "See, he is just trying to sell..." That is, if he even reads the book.

I seriously think this is important, though. Extremely important!!!

MotherMoon · 03-21-2006, 10:53 AM

I can't comment on most stuff as I have never read either of the books you reference. But, many rice milks have barley malt or are processed with barley and thus are not gluten-free. Dari-Free may be the best option for you since I would not use almond milk with another tree nut allergy already present.

KimberMama · 03-21-2006, 01:07 PM

We pretty much follow E2L and DPYC.

If you can't do soy I would recommend almond milk over rice milk. I can have almonds and cashews but am allergic to walnuts. I make my own but it does come already prepared. Rice milk is rather worthless in cooking (too weak) and offers little nutrition if you are thinking of it as a beverage. Water as a beverage is fine, actually preferable.

I think a vegan diet is fine for children. DS#2 has actually gained weight on a vegan diet since we took him off gluten. My boys don't eat nuts or nut butters, and just decided that they like avocado. They don't get a lot of added fat, but we do use Earth Blance on potatoes and popcorn (for them). You'd need another vegan non-hydrogenated margarine that is soy free; good luck as my homeschool friend hasn't found one yet. They won't drink smoothies so they don't get flax that way.

We do supplement with B-12, and I bought Neuromins but haven't started using them yet.

Be prepared for them to be hungry often and to eat a lot. My boys easily eat every hour; being vegan is a bit like grazing as the foods are bulky but digest quickly.

Acrylamides are the hardest thing for us; we still make French fries in the oven and allow potato chips now and then.

Christi · 03-21-2006, 01:39 PM

Just an FYI, the Pacific Brand of Rice/Almond milks are GF.

Kbsmama · 03-22-2006, 09:53 AM

My guess is that we will never go completely vegan. DH really would divorce me, I think. If I can get us down to a few meals a week with meat and eliminate the hotdogs, that will be a major accomplishment. My temporary goal is just to increase our veggie intake and (quietly) decrease our meat intake. Then I hold my breath and hope I don't have a mutiny on my hands. I made split pea soup, steamed brocolli and carrots (usually my boys love these), and some steamed kale and cashew sauce (ala Kimbermama) the other night. The boys were even balking at the carrots and brocolli, which they never do. Dh made DS #1 try the kale, but did not touch it himself. After the boys left, he made an audible gulping noise as he finished his soup. I said, "That bad?" He said, "I can't really stomach split pea soup, but the flavor is good." (Whatever that means). He has a serious legume hangup. I swear he used to eat refried beans on his tacos, but doesn't even touch them anymore. He is worse than the kids. He is going to be my biggest obstacle. I really have to get him to read the books because he is totally convinced on the protien front. He will tell the boys they can have more brocolli if they finish their meat, etc. However, I will keep at it. I liked the kale. I have never eaten it before, and it was suprisingly good to me. I am concerned that I might be developing problems with cashews though. I think I am allergic to peanuts (I have never been tested to confirm this), and the last few times I have eaten cashews I think I'm feeling a little funny. I have to get tested again because I'm afraid I'm going to wind up in trouble.

I am certainly babbling....

A couple more questions:

I have wondered about "families" of food. Should we watch out for things that are related? The boys have lots of sensitivities to fish: tuna, sole, halibut, crab, lobster. Should we avoid fish as a rule? If the boys are sensitive to peaches, should they have nectarines? Apricots? With nut sensitivities, should we be avoiding tree nuts or avoiding large daily quantities? If DS is allergic to "green pepper" that probably can be defined as "bell pepper" of any color, right? I need to call the nutritionist at Great Plains again...

Because DS #1 is sensitive to avocados and walnuts, should he get an Omega supplement in addition to the Neuromins?

How does one eat hemp seeds? The same as flax?

Dr. Fuhrman states that people should have 1 T. of flax seed a day. In his daughter's menu, she appears to eat 2-3 Tablespoons throughout the day. So, is 1 T. a minimum? I assume one would need to get used to eating flax seed before consuming this amount daily...