Jump to content
ACN Latitudes Forums

First Food/Diet Elimination Suggestions?


Tracey111

Recommended Posts

I have not had food allergy testing done on my son yet. His tics have turned into pretty hard head jerking over the last 10 days. I am going to try eliminating one food at a time. His attention has improved since we have gone to more whole foods. Now I need help with what to eliminate FIRST for tics.

 

His normal daily routine is maple brown sugar oatmeal or semi-sugary cereal with very little milk, peanut butter with some supplements, OJ, peanut butter sandwich with wheat gluten in the bread, more OJ, tomatoes, canteloupe, natural applesauce, cashews, chicken, meatballs, steak, fish, and salad, with more OJ at dinner. We stopped giving him glasses of milk. He does have ice cream sometimes, but not too much other junk.

 

So, does anyone have a suggestion of which items I should hit first?

 

We have starting talking to him about diet and it possibly affecting his tics. He asked (AT SIX) to have a salad in his lunch tomorrow instead of a "gluten" sandwich! He is willing to work with us and is a good eater.

 

Thanks for anything you can suggest!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Tracey

if the oatmeal is pre-flavored, you may want to check the ingredients as more than likely there is artificial flavor, color and more in there. we use regular oats and add fruits, pure maple syrup, turbinado sugar or dark brown sugar, honey for flavor. Also check the OJ to be sure it doesnt have additives. Cashew nuts seem to cause sensitivity in many people so I thought to mention those, even if he isnt sensitive to pnuts or other nuts.

 

I didnt notice any greens in your diet list, which IMHO are essential to maintain the full nutritional requirements.

 

my son doesnt have any food allergies, other than extreme sensitivity to the artificial additives (coloring, flavorings, artificial sweeteners and preservatives) and MSG, carageenan, high fructose corn syrup etc

 

I know others who have done elimination diets will be able to guide you more on those

 

do also check for any other chemical exposures like pesticides, fertilizers, new furniture/carpets/cars, high chlorine in shower/tub water/pools, laundry bleach, household cleaning chemicals.....we found those to be very high on the trigger list for my son and particularly for head tics

 

hope things stabilize soon for your son...i know how alarming the head tics can be.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi,

I have not yet done any true elimination type diets, so I may not be of a lot of help here. What we have done: taken out artificial food colours, artificial flavours, many/most preservatives (including the BHT that is in almost every boxed cereal), MSG, aspartame and all other artificial sugars. Basically, this means eating almost no packaged food, although there are a few you can find without the junk. I recently had an experience that convinced me I'm on the right track; I had accidently been given her art. colour and flavour daily (in a yogurt and juice that slipped by my notice). And her winking tic increased significantly.

 

In addition, I aim for as much organic food as possible, in order to avoid the pesticides. I think it all helps.

 

I notice you call your son's food a "routine". One thing I've read about the elimination diets is that you should rotate foods as much as possible. Different meats, grains, veggies, and fruits each day. Apparently it is then less likely that you will gain any new food sensitivities, and also it can reduce sensitivities you already have.

 

I do not have much experience with it, but you could consider looking at reducing phenol-containing foods and oxalates (is this the right word? can't remember...) Anyway, I did some research a while ago when I strongly suspected these subtances because of a MAJOR tic reaction my daughter had to raw rhubarb. You can goolge to find lots of info.

 

Hope this gives you some ideas. ^_^

Calicat

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Tracey,

I agree with Calicat in that if those routine foods you mention are his main fare, try changing someting around. I will tell you that when my son had that last year he was having alot of high fructose corn syrup in the form of syrup on waffles (he would pour it in a lap it up) and other things. We had the igg testing and it revealed sensitivity to corn so removing the corn products did seem to help. The head tic did resolve withing two weeks. Of course it could have been coincidence, but I tend to believe it was too much corn syrup and corn products (not just for tics, but for there to be a pretty "prominent" tic). I limit that pretty much now. So my vote is something he is consuming alot of is acting as an irritant to him. Please let us know how it goes. Praying that one goes fast.

 

Faith

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Does your son crave any of the foods that you still give him? Sometimes when they crave certain foods they are actually allergic/sensitive to them. When we first started elimination we looked at what my son mostly craved surgery cereals, fruit snacks etc. Stuff that was really high in artificial sweetners. I eliminated high fructose corn syrup. His symptoms really improved from there I narrowed it down to corn in general. Going with mostly organic products will help to eliminate many triggers too.

 

I hope you find your answers soon!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

also

 

craving sugars, and high carb food can sometimes be a sign of Candida albicans "yeast" infection as this fungal parasite thrives on those foods.

 

another thing to remember, which may already have been mentioned, is that regular allergy testing often doesnt show SENSITIVITY to certain things in the diet, environment etc....that is where documenting eliminations and reactions can be so very helpful

 

hope you find answers soon ...it is such a relief to get to know the triggers and so begin to see the improvements by removing them as much as possible :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi,

Just wanted to reply about the salicylate thing again. One of the top 5 sources of salicylates are artificial flavors, colors, and food enhancers in general. I attributed my sons sensitivity to artificial colors, etc. to 'well, it's artificial, no wonder." Only to find out recently that the artificial stuff is a top source of salicylates, which I now believe is at the root of their food sensitivity (even mine) at our home. (no problems with milk or gluten, although I was falsely accusing milk at first :) Since drastically reducing all the artificial stuff, OJ, tea, tomatoes and tomatoes products, certain fruits, vegetables and fruit yogurts (which we consumed daily), although it has been only about two days, everyone seems much better, more aggreeable, etc. Also, Ethan has not had a bad "red ear" outbreak yet. I am praying I solved a piece to our puzzle, and this is something I have been dealing with myself for as long as I can remember!

 

Check out this link: you won't believe the things salicylate sensitivity can cause (notice tics on the list, redness, flushing, moods, etc. Many of the symptoms ring true in our home)

 

www.salicylatesensitivity.com

 

Hope this helps someone, it did us!

 

Kelly

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey, I just read in that site above, under Forums, and then under the first post....what to do, how to start.......

 

Number 8, I think, says to give Epsom Salt baths for salicylate sensitivity because it helps to detoxify sals........ hummmmmm,

how interesting!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

just wanted to present the other side of the coin......... in that my son is highly sensitive to the artificial additives in foods but is not salicylate sensitive

in fact, white willow bark, aka nature's aspirin, is one of the supplements that he successfully takes for his inflammation from the Crohn's disease and it is naturally high in salicylates. it does not increase his tics...if anything, his tics are at a very level plateau since he has brought the crohn's more under control with diet and supps etc

 

however,

we do have a looong list of members with many past posts, who sure have found salicylate sensitivity to be at the root for many of the food triggers and so it is very much worth looking into..especially as the list on your child's diet is high in salicylate foods

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We think my son has a wheat sensitivity. We have tried to cut gluten from his diet at a DAN Dr's advice. He tested negative to any food allergies through a GI Dr's tests. I also notice he has sensitivities to artificial colors especially red 40. He also has sugar cravings. He used to love sugary cereals, donuts, juices, cookies etc. Now I just try to look for more natural products that are dye free and gluten free. Basically he eliminates the breads. He doesn't like the GF breads. He can still have a hamburger patty but no bun. A preservative free hotdog but no bun. He eats preservative free ham and rolls it up. He can eat snacks such as potato sticks, Stonyfield yogurt, oreida fries, corn tacos, bacon, GF nuggets and GF pretzals, GF pizza, chili. There is alot on the website GF foods. I can't get him to eat salads so your lucky there. The problem is the diet is limiting so you must plan ahead and he can't participate in party snacks at school etc. He is a picky eater and doesn't like alot of GF foods so I worry about him not getting enough and losing weight. Goodluck and know it will be worth the efforts when you start to see results. My son has never had head tics but eye blinks and finger and toe cracking. It is a difficult thing to see your child go through. I have seen the diet help with emotional behaviors too. Best of luck.

 

Michele

 

http://www.glutenfreeinfo.com/

 

I have not had food allergy testing done on my son yet. His tics have turned into pretty hard head jerking over the last 10 days. I am going to try eliminating one food at a time. His attention has improved since we have gone to more whole foods. Now I need help with what to eliminate FIRST for tics.

 

His normal daily routine is maple brown sugar oatmeal or semi-sugary cereal with very little milk, peanut butter with some supplements, OJ, peanut butter sandwich with wheat gluten in the bread, more OJ, tomatoes, canteloupe, natural applesauce, cashews, chicken, meatballs, steak, fish, and salad, with more OJ at dinner. We stopped giving him glasses of milk. He does have ice cream sometimes, but not too much other junk.

 

So, does anyone have a suggestion of which items I should hit first?

 

We have starting talking to him about diet and it possibly affecting his tics. He asked (AT SIX) to have a salad in his lunch tomorrow instead of a "gluten" sandwich! He is willing to work with us and is a good eater.

 

Thanks for anything you can suggest!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ditto Kelly's comments on the salicylates. That was my thought, too, when I first read your post. One of my daughters showed sensitivity to sals... we ate a lot of pears, canteloupe, mango... cut back on tomatoes and oranges.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks everyone. I am only on the third response to my email at this point.....but I wanted to ask how fast the head tic comes on after consuming the "BAD" food.

 

Tonight we ate at Moe's after out DR appointment. I let him have a flour tortilla and corn chips. Two hours later his head jerks came back really hard.

 

Now, this could be the start of holding them in and then letting them out when he gets relaxed, but tonight we ate junk....so, could it be the food after two hours?

 

THANKS everyone!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks Pamela. I can not say he craves the foods. He is a good eater (by mom's standards who lives on diet coke and mac and cheese :( He asks for some of the packaged foods as a snack, but I tell him it will aggitate his tics and he picks something else. He can not crave the foods b/c we have the same daily routine, except dinner....which I will now change. Thanks for your input!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Kelly,

 

Well, if he is sensitive to these....I am going to have to rethink his entire menu. Almost 50% of everything he eats was on that list!!!! This is overwhelming...and I think I just read that this would not show in food allergy testing? He gets a big tupperware of tomatoes for lunch everyday and then steals all of the tomatoes off of our salads before dinner!

OH, and OJ has been his main drink for all 6 years....plus we have 3 citrus trees in our back yard!!!Ughh....

 

THANKS for all the input everyone!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...