Anyone Else Doing A Total Elim Diet....gluten, Dairy, Soy Etc Free

[kimber]

Hi

My ds has been a medical mystery since he was born and is currently at 3yrs being treated with a high dose of reflux meds as well as 3 allergy meds

I am positive he is sensitive to dairy/soy...though all allergy testing came back neg.

I currently have him dairy, soy, gluten, corn free

he is doing GREAT, but I am stressing over his food options...upcoming b-day parites, holidays etc

We see a new GI soon and if he is responding to the diet, i am not sure I want to put him through any testing

He had GI b/;w over 1 yr ago that came back normal..I am not sure the specifics

We have no family history of allergies/celiac but mil has many GI issues (upper/lower) and Dh can not tolerate gluten well...but eats it anyway (ugh!)

Thanks, kim

[celiacgirls]

One of my daughters is a gluten, casein, soy free vegetarian. I'm thinking she might need to eliminate peanuts now. Are you avoiding eggs? My sister's children avoid gluten, casein, soy, eggs, and peanuts so when I make things I watch out for eggs, too.

Have you tried the 'Cause Your Special cake mixes? I'm not sure if they have corn, but they can be made with an egg replacer if you are avoiding eggs. I make them with coconut oil and almond milk. I've made frosting with Spectrum Organic shortening, powdered sugar (maybe has corn?), and almond milk. My kids also like them with no frosting. I ordered these mixes online. I send them a cupcake of their own to birthday parties. I might even serve them to all the kids at our birthday parties.

We have also replaced ice cream with sorbet. It seems like a lot of the sorbets will say they may contain traces of milk and I avoid those because my daughter seems to react to those.

[kimber]

Thanks for responding...I haven't tried any cake/cupcake mixes...but will give it a try!

Yes, we are also avoiding eggs...last time he had scrambled eggs we saw blood in his stool

The real problem here going gluten, dairy, soy free is avoiding corn...is seems like a lot gluten-free foods contain corn

I am avoiding corn because he reacts to corn/veggie but also popped corn

The allergist think it might be a high fiber issue...we'll see what the GI has to say

Thanks, kim

Any other rec for foods/mixes would be greatly appreciated

One of my daughters is a gluten, casein, soy free vegetarian. I'm thinking she might need to eliminate peanuts now. Are you avoiding eggs? My sister's children avoid gluten, casein, soy, eggs, and peanuts so when I make things I watch out for eggs, too.

Have you tried the 'Cause Your Special cake mixes? I'm not sure if they have corn, but they can be made with an egg replacer if you are avoiding eggs. I make them with coconut oil and almond milk. I've made frosting with Spectrum Organic shortening, powdered sugar (maybe has corn?), and almond milk. My kids also like them with no frosting. I ordered these mixes online. I send them a cupcake of their own to birthday parties. I might even serve them to all the kids at our birthday parties.

We have also replaced ice cream with sorbet. It seems like a lot of the sorbets will say they may contain traces of milk and I avoid those because my daughter seems to react to those.

[celiacgirls]

I looked at some of the 'Cause Your Special mixes that I have in my pantry and some of them have corn. The chocolate pound cake does not.

I also have Namaste mixes which say they are corn free as well as gluten, soy, casein, etc. They give advice on how to substitute for eggs. I have bought these at the regular grocery store, I think, and at Whole Foods. We have liked all of these that we've tried, too.

I also looked at the powdered sugar and it does have corn starch. Probably someone knows how to substitute, if you do a search here, you may find it.

I've been buying Enjoy Life chocolate chips and there is a recipe on there for frosting where you melt the chips and add milk (or substitute.). Enjoy Life is allergen free so I doubt it has corn but I have read corn is one of the worst to get rid of.

[AndreaB]

We are gluten, soy and dairy free as a family and will be going egg free for my husband and daughter. None of us are intolerant to corn though.

For the allergy testing, is that IgE? We had IgG done for the kids and IgE/IgG for us. You will probably find much more on the intolerances than you would on the allergies.

[shayesmom]

Thanks for responding...I haven't tried any cake/cupcake mixes...but will give it a try!

Yes, we are also avoiding eggs...last time he had scrambled eggs we saw blood in his stool

The real problem here going gluten, dairy, soy free is avoiding corn...is seems like a lot gluten-free foods contain corn

I am avoiding corn because he reacts to corn/veggie but also popped corn

The allergist think it might be a high fiber issue...we'll see what the GI has to say

Thanks, kim

Any other rec for foods/mixes would be greatly appreciated

I don't know if you've ever bought Living Without magazine, but they have WONDERFUL recipes which I think that you could use to create meals and snacks for your son. And they also give you ideas for substitutions on other allergens. So if you're baking sweet treats, they may tell you to use applesauce instead of eggs. Or to substitute arrowroot instead of cornstarch in a gluten-free flour mix. The magazine is worth its weight in gold and I have yet to try a recipe that I didn't like. They have some sample recipes on their website. www.livingwithout.com. They only publish 4 editions per year and a year subscription is $23. Plus, their magazine contains great articles, advertises new specialty foods and even gives you coupons on gluten-free brands. All recipes are gluten-free.

The other site that has been extremely helpful has been www.paleofood.com. Their recipes are all grain and dairy-free. Some recipes contain nuts and/or eggs.....but overall, it's been a great place to get recipes. They even have recipes on how to make your own breakfast sausage without all the additives and MSG. And the recipes are quite simple (some surprised me at how fast they were to make).

We also avoid gluten, dairy, soy, eggs, food colorings. I limit corn but only because I don't believe it's a very healthful food. We all seem to tolerate it in moderation. You may have to watch the xanthan gum in foods due to the corn allergy. Although xanthan gum is not corn-derived, I do believe that there is an issue with cross-contamination. Guar gum may be a better choice.

[kimber]

Thanks Vicky!!

I'll have to check out the magazine...I could use as much guidance as possible

zach is already feeling better today, so I am sure corn with the culprit...Grrrrr

Thanks again

Kim

I don't know if you've ever bought Living Without magazine, but they have WONDERFUL recipes which I think that you could use to create meals and snacks for your son. And they also give you ideas for substitutions on other allergens. So if you're baking sweet treats, they may tell you to use applesauce instead of eggs. Or to substitute arrowroot instead of cornstarch in a gluten-free flour mix. The magazine is worth its weight in gold and I have yet to try a recipe that I didn't like. They have some sample recipes on their website. www.livingwithout.com. They only publish 4 editions per year and a year subscription is $23. Plus, their magazine contains great articles, advertises new specialty foods and even gives you coupons on gluten-free brands. All recipes are gluten-free.

The other site that has been extremely helpful has been www.paleofood.com. Their recipes are all grain and dairy-free. Some recipes contain nuts and/or eggs.....but overall, it's been a great place to get recipes. They even have recipes on how to make your own breakfast sausage without all the additives and MSG. And the recipes are quite simple (some surprised me at how fast they were to make).

We also avoid gluten, dairy, soy, eggs, food colorings. I limit corn but only because I don't believe it's a very healthful food. We all seem to tolerate it in moderation. You may have to watch the xanthan gum in foods due to the corn allergy. Although xanthan gum is not corn-derived, I do believe that there is an issue with cross-contamination. Guar gum may be a better choice.

[jukie]

Hi, Kim-

So far corn is one of the few things my family hasn't eliminated, but I've been taking note of where it's hiding just in case...and it is everywhere! Anyway, another resource is allergygrocer.com. It's great because you can do an "allergen free of" product search (i.e., search for all products without gluten, soy, egg, corn for example). They also have a corn-free powdered sugar and Frontier has a corn-free vanilla. You can also make your own powdered sugar in a blender or coffee grinder with arrowroot or potato starch, but I personally haven't tried it. Hope that helps!