Sunday, April 26, 2009
Sunday Surprise - #2
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Arrggh! Gluten! Or was it casein? Maybe it was soy.
Maybe it was a combination, I have no clue right now. What I do know is that I'm tired and I'm grumpy. Not the best way to start a post.
But, I hope to help people understand why I won't give in to just a little bite of this or a tiny smidge of that when it comes to our dietary modifications. Why I won't just "indulge" once in a while. Some people have even rolled their eyes at me over this issue, particularly as it relates to the Os. I get the sense that they think I'm depriving our children of some fantastical version of childhood in which a birthday party without ice cream cones and birthday cake is tantamount to child abuse.
Yes, it would be a LOT easier to not adhere to our dietary modifications. Heck, it would be lot easier if we followed only our dietary modifications most of the time. It would take a lot less planning and cooking and packing for a day at the beach. It would take a lot less time figuring out clever ways to help my children feel confident about their food choices as they watch their friends eat cheesy fish-shaped crackers and cups of yogurt. It would take a lot less creativity and energy in distracting them with our own snacks at the library story hour instead of letting them grab a bag of crunchy-munchy-sugary-gluten-thingies like the other kids.
I'll digress more into how we got to our current dietary modifications in a post soon - when I'm out of this food infraction induced haze - but for now, let me share with you a few of the reasons why I will not budge on our dietary restrictions.
Here are some of the symptoms we can experience after a food infraction:
Little O
- Quite foul and seemingly painful flatulence.
- Gastrointestinal distress, including acid reflux, manifest by his writhing and restlessness and the gurgling (boiling?) sounds in his abdomen and throat.
- At least one sleepless night with intermittent crying and constant restlessness. Often multiple restless nights.
- Constipation. This kid poops like clockwork - nearly to the hour each day. When he misses an event, I know we've had one of our banned foods (if, by some miracle, we didn't already spend a sleepless night prior to his skipping a bowel movement). When he finally does pass a stool, it is painful and much harder than his typical stool. Often less volume of stool as well.
- Scaly scalp. Some would still call this cradle cap at age 2, I call it "Dammit - we got glutened again!"
- Patchy red rash. Sometimes on his torso, sometimes on his bottom, sometimes his inner thighs. Sometimes multiple locations. The photo below hardly does it justice, but I am a novice photographer and cannot seem to get the settings to align such that the camera can capture the raging redness of the thousands of tiny bumps across his torso. Maybe it's eczema or other dermatitis. I don't really care the exact diagnosis because I know it is directly related to a food infraction.
Big O
- Excessive and foul flatulence.
- Constipation rears its ugly head and can result in a big set back. He can be sent into the downward spiral of withholding, which can take us weeks to recuperate from.
- Cranky, irritable, moody, and at times, tantrumy.
- Restless at night.
- Frequent urination; cloudy urine; urine pH is off.
- Night-time bed wetting. He's 4.5 years old and has been able to stay dry all night for some time now. I can confidently say that when he wets the bed (our bed. . .) it nearly always correlates to a dietary infraction.
- Nasal congestion. (His persistent nasal congestion disappeared within a week of our eliminating gluten (we'd already been casein-free, egg-free, and soy-free at that point.)
- Mild rash/dry skin on his torso.
- Tiny ulcers in his mouth.
- Grinds teeth at night.
Mom (that's me)
- Fatigue. Extreme fatigue.
- Mental 'fog.' Haziness. Difficulty concentrating.
- Fatigue + mental fog = irritability
- Headache; sometimes migraines
- Digestive discomforts not unlike what the Os experience.
- pH imbalances
- Acne flare up.
- Depending on the degree of the infraction a cold sore or mouth ulcers may develop.
- Grind teeth.
- Aches and pains, particularly in joints - though this reaction has thankfully diminished excessively over the past year. This recent infraction has left me with achy knees, but nothing like the total body ache and discomfort I would have experienced a year ago after an infraction.
I am certain these are not the most severe reactions relative to what I've read some children and families endure. I am thankful each day that we figured this out while the Os are still so young and perhaps spared them some further complications and/or more severe reactions.
But can you imagine what Little O's skin would look like if we didn't know gluten, casein, and soy cause him to break out in this red, irritating rash? If we stopped modifying our diet, I'd bet his skin would become more irritated, drier, and more painful. Doctors would probably recommend various drugs, steroids, and chemical-laden creams to slather all over him. Who knows how many hundred of dollars I would have spent in vain trying to find the most natural creams and oils to soothe his dermatitis?
No thanks. We can handle the elimination diet. The Professor is becoming more supportive and has begun to (I think) better appreciate the ramifications of even a minor infraction for the kids. My close friends are very considerate and thoughtful - they indulge my frustrations and complaints from time to time when I do get frustrated with our diet and they are always figuring out how to offer the Os foods that fit our modifications.
It is times like this, when I see my children experiencing pain and discomfort that I renew my commitment to the diet, I tell myself not to complain about the difficulties we sometimes face due to the dietary modifications, and I remind myself of just how much better we all can feel when we eat right for us.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Sunday Surprise
When I first began an elimination diet while breastfeeding Big O, I was entirely unaware of the many secret sources of certain food allergens. (A bit more on that story here.) I remember thinking I’d miss having cream in my coffee – but wait! There’s that powdered non-dairy creamer stuff – I’ll just use that. Then I thought a little more about it. Hmmm, just what the heck is in non-dairy creamer if it is not made from milk or cream? To my surprise, a quick scan of the non-dairy creamer label revealed that, in addition to many ingredients I’d rather not ingest, it indeed had casein, a milk protein, in it.
It was infuriating to think that something could be labeled “non-dairy” if it actually has a milk protein in it! As I began to scrutinize other ingredient labels, I realized there were a lot of unexpected and, sometimes hidden, sources of food allergens.
I’m starting a “Sunday Surprise” entry here each week. I will post information about surprising sources of food allergens – like gluten, milk/casein, egg, soy, corn, etc. I will probably never be able to detail all the hidden food allergens in foods, drugs, and supplements, but, I hope that by sharing a little each week in the Sunday Surprise, others might avoid an unexpected set back due to accidental food allergen exposure.
This week’s “Sunday Surprise” is (drum roll please. . .) soy sauce.
Of course, it is not surprising soy sauce contains soy (which is a problematic food for some of us). But did you know that soy sauce generally contains wheat, and therefore, gluten? Most experienced gluten-free dieters are aware of this. Personally, I was very surprised to learn that soy sauce typically contains wheat/gluten. Wheat-free soy sauce is available (e.g., tamari), but labels must be carefully read to ensure you’re getting a wheat/gluten-free soy sauce. The ingredient list on snack foods that may contain soy sauce (e.g., some versions of rice crackers and Asian-style rice snacks) need to be carefully scrutinized as well.
Another surprise about soy sauce is that it is used in unexpected ways in restaurant cooking - and I’m not talking about just at Asian food restaurants. When we eat out, I ask questions, make special requests, and ask more questions. I research on-line menus and ingredient statements. Of course, looking at a restaurant’s ingredient statements will likely cause anyone to think twice about ingesting the “food” at some establishments – fast food and chain establishments having some of the most, shall we say,
Back to soy sauce. In my experience, I have found that we can often find foods that meet our requirements at Mexican food restaurants. However, I have also found that soy sauce is used a lot in Mexican food restaurants. Many Mexican food restaurants I’ve been to in Southern California do use soy sauce in their meat marinades – for fajitas, carne asada, etc. You must, of course, ask the right questions to find this out – asking simply about gluten or wheat will not necessarily reveal soy sauce. A lot of people (like myself pre-gluten-free) do not realize soy sauce has gluten in it. For us, we are avoiding soy, too, which is how I’ve come across so much soy sauce usage in Mexican food restaurants.
Really, any restaurant food that is marinated might contain soy sauce in the marinade and it is well worth it to ask about the specific ingredients of the marinade. Even non-marinated items, like a hamburger patty, can contain soy sauce. It’s been surprising learning about restaurant food ingredients – surprising indeed.
So there you have it – the first Sunday Surprise at The Science Mom!