S/o of Treat ADD naturally thread

[Faithr]

There is a thread on the General board that asked about treating ADD naturally. This inspired me to read a book I've had sitting in my tbr pile, Healing the New Childhood Epidemics, Autism, ADHD, Asthma and Allergies by Kenneth Bock, MD and Cameron Stauth. I am finding it very interesting. I am very suspicious of snake oil salesman in terms of health these days, but this book seems not like that (mostly). Dr. Bock has a 4 prong approach - diet, supplements, detoxification and medication.

 

I am interested in trying out the gluten free/casein free diet. Except it will be difficult as hell! My kids are basically addicted to cheese and refined carbs. So it will be a major, major sea change. But since we've been having so much trouble with medication, I am willing to give it a go. Has anyone here gone gf/cf and how to you manage it? Especially, how did you start eliminating this from your diet? How did you wean off of gluten and especially cheese! I feel I can replace regular bread with rice crackers, rice cakes, potatoes, gf bread etc. But there is not an acceptable cheese substitute, is there? Oh my, that is going to be sooooooo hard! This is going to be very hard for my dd who basically lives on cheddar cheese, chicken nuggets and hots dogs. While she has not been diagnosed and is much milder than her older brother (and no Aspergers at all) she has classic symptoms of impulsivity, way too talkative, sleep problems, etc.

 

So I'd love any tips or advice! Thanks!

[Unicorn.]

I have no idea about the cheese, but I know there are vegan cheeses out there. I would be careful about soy though. Dd drinks almond milk and uses that for cereal, but I still allow her to have yogurt and cheese. As for the gluten free, start w/ a good cookbook. Gluten Free Baking for Dummies is a great one to start with, as it has a lot of information and tips for gf cooking. I would start by cutting out all processed foods and eating more natural foods. Watch out for lunch meats, a lot of them contain gluten.

Some gf products that we love:

Gluten Free Pantry makes a sandwich bread mix that is really easy and doesn't remotely taste gf.

Glutino cookies and pretzels are really good. Actually, most of their stuff is good, although I find their bread a bit dry.

Schar products are really good, but expensive- I buy their crackers mostly

Udi's pizza crusts

 

The two best investments I made throughout this process were a kitchenaid mixer, and a pan to make hamburger buns. this one: http://www.amazon.com/USA-Pans-Round-Panel-Wells/dp/B001QXW3Q4/ref=pd_bxgy_k_img_y

 

The first couple of months were hard, but after about 4 months dd seemed to not even miss it. She eats a lot of salads, she can get a hamburger from a fast food place, she just orders one w/out the bun. I make sure to make occasional yummy gf treats, so she doesn't feel left out. I made a lot of those in the begginning, but now she doesn't seem to mind if someone else is having a cookie or something.

 

hth- I started a gf social group on the chat board yesterday- come on over and ask away- there are a lot of people there who don't do dairy as well as gluten.

[dbmamaz]

yeah, none of the cheeses taste good. my boys now love some of the cheeses, but it is recommended to not introduce the fake cheeses until your child has spent several months away from cheese, at least. none of them are worth eating out of hand, but are ok in pizza and mac-n-cheese. home made bread is way better than store bought, but my boys like Udi's gluten free bread, buns and bagels. We mostly use the corn and quinoa pasta, but some people love tinkyada. make sure you have also eliminated all artificial colors and preservatives - that was the biggest help for my youngest, tho gluten and dairy also made a difference for him

 

for me, who also felt cheese was the most important of the food groups, i had to focus on eating other foods I really liked - including plenty of chocolate treats. More meats . . sausages, even chips or home baked fries . . .there has to be really yummy food to eat to make you not feel like you are being punished by losing your cheese

 

also a lot of people do experience withdrawal symptoms. I felt dizzy for 5 days and my daughter said i looked sick - she was worried about me, but i did not see how removing dairy and gluten from my diet could be dangerous!

 

good luck and check out the new gluten free social group. there are lots of websites, too

[PeterPan]

nt

[Crimson Wife]

I was super-nervous about switching my youngest to GFCF because she was such a picky eater and all her favorites were wheat- and/or dairy-heavy. I was very pleasantly surprised to find that weaning her off the problem ingredients made her much more willing to eat a variety of foods. At Thanksgiving 2011, all she ate of the meal were mashed potatoes and rolls with peanut butter. At Thanksgiving 2012, she ate ham, sweet potatoes, carrots, cranberry sauce, GF cornbread, and washed it all down with a green smoothie. She is still not a perfect eater, but she is now normal preschooler picky rather than only-eating-a-handful-of-foods picky.

 

Daiya cheese is the best of the cheese alternatives. It is pretty good when melted like for mac & cheese, pizza, tacos, etc. But none of us like it straight out of the package.

 

I got a SoyaJoy soymilk maker for Christmas and wish I had bought one when we first switched away from dairy milk. The fresh nut/seed milks taste SOOOO much better than the stuff sold at the store and I don't have to make special trips to the one Whole Foods in my area that sell the more unusual milks (sunflower, hemp, etc.)

[PeterPan]

nt

[LaughingCat]

If I could humbly suggest, rather than telling them and going cold turkey, start to decrease and do it in the most psychologically smooth way possible. The price of cheese is really high now, so I wasn't able to buy any more. Plan dinner meals that don't happen to involve cheese. Try to get it down to once a week. I know gone might be your vision, but think incrementally.

 

I agree with this + it's much better to find meals that don't need the cheese/wheat than to try and use replacements - most of which don't really do that great of a job replacing :thumbdown:

 

That said - here's a couple items that get fairly heavy use here :

Tinkyada Rice Pasta

Tofutti Sour Cream and Cream Cheese (practically tasteless but does replace the creamy mouth feel of both)

 

I use avocados for creaminess as well but no one else in the family cares for them.

 

Also, cheese was the one food I thought I could never give up but I don't miss it at all when I'm not eating it. Sadly when I fall off the wagon, it can take a long time to jump back on - I have to make it through "withdrawal" (i.e. cravings) every time.

[PeterPan]

nt

[Faithr]

Thanks OhElizabeth for the sound advice. I already broached the subject, in what I thought was a gentle manner, and my 11 yo wound up sobbing and sobbing. I thought my 14 yo would do the same but he was totally on board with it. He misses his meds and wants to get better. We just got back an exploratory shopping trip to see what's out there and he and the 11 yo are now doing a 'milk' tasting. I'm letting them use my wine glasses. They are tasting almond milk, rice milk and coconut milk. They like the rice milk the best! Now they are trying gf/cf snacks.

[MistyMountain]

I gave up cheese for environmental reasons and it hasn't been as hard as I thought. I just don't use it. I don't use replacements. I make pizza and I just make it with sauce and toppings. There are gluten free dough recipes. If I make Mexican I just use other stuff I like rather than cheese like pico de gallo. I make casseroles and just don't put cheese in them. The thing I miss the most is making the healthy mac and cheese I used to make. I'm not crazy about the vegan versions I tried.

[mhaddon]

We follow a diet similar to Paleo. We do have limited amounts of cheese though when I will cook a meal. My son was eating bread by the loaf in a few days! He has gotten much better eliminating a lot of foods and food dyes. He is way more calm and able to control himself. The cleancher was after we detoxed from everything he came over and told me how he felt so much better and how he felt like he was in control of his body, before he couldn't stop himself. We had a play date the other day and the other kids were so wild that my son (that used to be the same way), didn't even care to play with them. It can make a big difference, but it is a HUGE commitment. That is worth all the trouble.

 

We love smoothies. We don't do dairy in them and add greens. Helps them a lot. We avoid meds and do fish oil and Young Living essential oils. He loves peace and calming oil :) We do not do soy or give soy to our animals. It is a modified food that isn't even a whole food. We love coconut milk. We also cut out a lot of white potatoes and the kids love sweet potatoes.

 

Best of luck!!

[PeterPan]

nt

[Crimson Wife]

Fresh rice milk made in the SoyaJoy is very different from the packaged stuff from the store. The packaged rice milk is very thin while the fresh rice milk is surprisingly creamy.

[PeterPan]

nt

[Faithr]

Well, they only delicately sipped this stuff, they didn't really drink much at all. The brand was Whole Foods 365 Vanilla flavored rice milk. I know they like Almond Milk, but yesterdays wasn't sweetened. I didn't mind it but it did have a strong almond after taste which makes sense, but I didn't find pleasant. And I like almonds. I can imagine it working well in pancakes maybe? Does it?

 

I have a question though for you pros with experience. These milks say they are calcium fortified. So does that mean that not everything that has something labeled calcium has casein in it? I need a key! It seems some calcium labelled stuff does have casein and some doesn't.

 

The way Dr. Bock says to do things is to go three weeks without casein and if there is no change you probably can go back. He says to go for three months for the gluten free stuff, to if that helps. I have to go reread this again because I can't quite remember how to implement this. It sounds like all at once???? And he warns about not feeling well for a few days because of withdrawal.

[Faithr]

Found this very helpful video on buying gluten free, casein free foods at Trader Joes.

 

[Crimson Wife]

The SoyaJoy is an appliance which makes non-dairy milks out of nuts/grains/legumes and water. Nut milks are super-quick to make because they are raw, while the grain milks take longer because the ingredients have to be heated first.

[Crimson Wife]

These milks say they are calcium fortified. So does that mean that not everything that has something labeled calcium has casein in it? I need a key! It seems some calcium labelled stuff does have casein and some doesn't.

 

Calcium caseinate is a no-no but calcium phosphate or citrate is ok. Look for "dairy-free" on the label.

[Goldberryhill]

We have been gluten and dairy free for about 13 years now. It is not only doable, but a wonderful adventure! However, I felt I needed to reply to this thread because of the sad news that rice has high arsenic content. If you google consumer's reports arsenic in rice, you will discover some vital information necessary if you are gfcf. It is recomended that children do NOT drink rice-milk at all and only have 1/4 cup rice per week! Adults can have 2 servings of 1/4 cup rice a week to be safe from the arsenic. It all came out in the news last September, but obviously many haven't heard about this disturbing expose. A lot of us, me included, did not want to even look at the info. We have been eating rice at more than 1/4 cup, three times a day for over a decade! But we have been seriously showing signs of arsenic poisoning, and felt that this info. coming to light has been a gift from God. After a bit of grief and some hopeless feelings, I have been replacing our rice based products with great success. I heartedly recommend the website www.elanaspantry.com which has wonderful recipes (including mock girl scout cookies) that are easy, low in sugar, paleo (uses coconut flour and almond flour), and best of all delicious. I'm trying to go more paleo, so I am using varieties of squashes, sweet potatoes, salads, etc. for side dishes to help fill us up at meals. We are not rich, so our baked goods tend to be limited. The good news is that coconut flour may be expensive, but recipes tend to call for 1/4 cup, and so it lasts. (Elana's poppy seed muffins are soooo delicious!) I also have been experimenting with other flours like amaranth, teff, and quinoa. They are more strong flavored so I use good spices (cinnamin, etc) in pancakes, waffles, etc. My three daughters all love to bake and have become creative and motivated to make their own treats. My 11yo. goes to Elana's website for fun and looks at the recipes to plot and plan. Also, I wanted to mention that I have found cashew milk (blend 1 cup cashews in 2 cups water 30 sec. to a minute, then slowly pour, while blender is going, another 2 cups water and blend for 2 min.) is wonderful in baked goods. It also makes a wonderful base for white sauce. In fact, I prefer it to milk, esp. in chicken pot pie, and dairy free mac and cheese. We don't drink it straight, but do make almond milk ourselves to drink, for smoothies etc. Making it at home tastes completely different than the store version, but you do have to strain almond milk. It's super good as chocolate milk or strawberry milk! Coconut milk is also wonderful and I use it in much baking and smoothies, too. We haven't been having pasta (which is our most grievious loss) because the rice used in gf pasta is usually from the south and has an exorbitant amount of arsenic. Look at the numbers for what is safe and what is in the food. I had to do some internet research to figure those numbers, but after doing that, I just couldn't ignore it any longer. I don't want to turn anyone off going gfcf, though, because it completely changed the personality of my three children, but my two cents is look at elana's website and other paleo websites for recipes and ideas right off the bat. You'll find yourself and your children loving their food and feeling better soon!

[Faithr]

Gee and I was worried about cyanide in the almond milk! Arsenic in rice! Never thought of it. The kids, after their taste test, have not touched the rice milk. Instead we've gone through the almond milk. They find they prefer that on their cereal. We've actually only had rice once this week. Instead we've upped our intake of corn and potatoes. But do they suffer from arsenic poisoning in China and places where rice has been eaten for thousands of years with every meal? I mean, it doesn't seem to have affected them.

 

Thanks for the warning. One trouble is that I am not really a cook. And I am not a baker. It has been very overwhelming and we've only just started. Yesterday was awful. No one wanted to eat anything and they were hungry all day long. Nothing that I had in the house appealed to them. Misery. Probably because in addition to no gluten, no casein we couldn't eat meat either because of Lent. But we survived.

 

Anyway, thanks for the warning.

[geodob]

It's more of a case, that any food grown on soil containing arsenic, will be present in the food. Which includes animals fed off it.

[Crimson Wife]

I grew up with well water that while it passed the old EPA standards for arsenic, failed when Pres. Clinton tightened the standards in the late '90's. My folks had to get an expensive reverse osmosis system but I was already an adult. So at this point, I feel like the ship has already sailed. If I'm going to get cancer from arsenic, it's going to be from the water I grew up consuming every day rather than the small amounts of rice I consume now.

 

I do rotate the non-dairy milks we use and since getting the SoyaJoy, we've been using less rice milk since I now have the ability to make milk from a wider variety of nuts & grains.