Tips for dairy elimination

[powerofprayer]

I'm hoping some of you could offer some suggestions to help us start a trial of eliminating dairy. My thoughts are that I want to try a dairy elimination for a short time, and then a gluten free period. I'll post separately about the gluten free tips when the time comes.

anyway, some things I'm wondering are how long should I eliminate dairy for to check for any changes? I am going to be trying this on myself as well as my 6 yo dd. She recently started a vocal tic about a month ago. for the previous two years it was mainly eye blinking we were seeing......hand sniffing too, though i'm not sure if that is a tic or a compulsion. is there even a difference?

Also, besides the obvious, milk, ice cream, yogurt, butter, cheese.....are there any other foods I might overlook that DO contain dairy?

my kiddos are cereal eaters in the morning too. what do you all think is the best substitute?? Soy? Rice Milk? Almond???

Thanks for ANY suggestions you may have to make this easier.

[faith]

I think if you keep all the obvious dairy out for about two weeks, you could get an idea of it is helping, altho a month would be ideal. I would go with the rice or almond milk, I don't suggest the soy. my son uses the rice milk in cereal and you really can't tell much difference when its mixed with the cereal. he's used to it now, so doesn't even care for reg milk. If you want to go further, you'll hve to make cookies and cakes from scratch using rice milk or dairy free mixes. There is a brand called "Pam's" that makes gfdf cookies (choc chip, almond and ginger).

 

let us know how it goes.

 

Faith

[powerofprayer]

UGHHHH.....THAT long?? I was hoping someone would say three or four days

I have little patience as you can tell. What is that book by Doris Rapp (I think!) that explains the elimination diet?

Sorry to be CLUELESS, but are there non dairy cheeses, yogurts, butter, etc out there??

[faith]

It is certainly possible to maybe begin to see some improvement after four or five days if this is an issue for your child, but I would give it at least a month to know for sure.

 

Substitutes for cheese and yogurt is probably going to be soy based, and i don't know, I'm not crazy about soy (thinking it could also be an allergen issue) and I can't vouch for taste, so you'll have to experiment with what you find at the health food store. For me, I'd leave it out, lol. For butter, I think you can use "ghee" which is clarified butter and does not contain casein. its not too bad, you can find it in a jar at health food store, it kind of looks like vaseline, but again, its not too bad and you can use it in cooking. Anything else, I'd go more for rice based products as the substitute.

 

good luck. If you are just looking for help with tics, don't forget to gauge other issues, such as behavior, sleep, bedwetting, hyperactivity, etc.

 

Faith