I've talked before about two fantastic magazines (The Autism File and Living Without). This month, both have articles discussing how to make Halloween fun, safe and stress-free of families dealing with Autism Spectrum Disorder and/or special diets.
Living Without's article focuses on tips for keeping Halloween and Trick or Treating fun but avoiding all the potential pit falls associated with food sensitivities. Listed among their suggestion, I also recommend setting up a trading post for doing a treat exchange and or buy-back. This allows kids to trade for safe goodies or to cash in their loot for coins. At the end of the night you may even offer to exchange the whole lot for a new toy or gift card to their favorite book or toy store. Follow this link to see the full article: Grapevine: Trick or Treat! Seven ideas for a safe and happy Halloween
The ghostly season also brings lots of unexpected treats and baked goods at schools and daycares. Consider a friendly reminder to teachers about your child's restrictions and an offer to bring in safe treats when needed. Coaching your child to avoid those treats, and rewarding with special prizes can go along way to helping them stick to their diets.
The Autism File has extra strategies for kids that might struggle with the Halloween environment. It has ideas for how to manage the tactile concerns with costumes and the extra stresses of door to door visits. For that article follow: Top 10 Strategies “To Ensure Halloween is Healthy and Stress-Free for your Family” from Autism File Readers
Happy Halloween to all the little goblins and ghosts!
Showing posts with label Food Sensitivities. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Food Sensitivities. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Friday, August 19, 2011
Treats for the GFCF and Special Diets in Victoria
Having safe treats for birthdays and holidays is always a challenge for those on Special Diets - let's be honest most of us aren't Master Bakers! However, now there is another great option with Cupcake Heaven up in Sidney. Aside from baking terribly tasty and funky treats, they are willing to cater to many diet requests, including Gluten-free baking. Not only that, they try to make sure those goodies are just as decadent and naughty as the original.
It's definitely worth the short drive but make sure you've called to pre-order; regular stock does sell out and specialty cupcakes are made to order.
Mmm! What a happy find!
It's definitely worth the short drive but make sure you've called to pre-order; regular stock does sell out and specialty cupcakes are made to order.
Mmm! What a happy find!
Monday, August 8, 2011
Resources for Autism Spectrum and Special Diets
I'd like to take a quick break from hormones to point out two fantastic magazines: Living Without and The Autism File. Living Without focuses on support and ideas for those with Special Diets, with extra tips for those starting a Gluten and/or Casein Free diet. The Autism File is a newer North American Publication with articles spanning many aspects of ASD life and families.
I am grateful for both for providing comprehensive and well-researched information and for maintaining fantastic websites. For any families working with diet restrictions, have a look at Living Without for their archived recipes.
Enjoy!
I am grateful for both for providing comprehensive and well-researched information and for maintaining fantastic websites. For any families working with diet restrictions, have a look at Living Without for their archived recipes.
Enjoy!
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
I've got Food Sensitivies... So Now What's the Plan?
So you've done your food sensitivity testing, and you know you have foods you react to.. So now what? Your practitioner will likely have recommendations for you based on your complaints but my usual suggestions are to avoid your most reactive foods and rotate through the milder sensitivities.
Its important to remember that food sensitivities and environmental allergies are additive and will accumulate. Symptoms will show us when you hit a threshold. Moderately or strongly reactive foods will hit your threshold even when eaten in really small amounts, and so should be avoided. Whereas mildly reactive foods will be fine as long as you eat them in small or infrequent amounts or in rotation. The Rotation Diet is fairly simple but does require some organization. And I often recommend some form of Rotation Diet when testing shows multiple mild reactions. In this diet, we try to cycle through the various sensitivities. For example if dairy, chicken, halibut and salmon are all in the list of mild reactions, then I suggest we try to cycle through them and limit each to no more than twice a week. So a week's menu may include: Mac n'cheese on Monday, Baked Chicken Tuesday, Breaded Halibut Wednesday, Lasagna on Thursday, BBQ'd Salmon Friday, and Chicken Strips on Saturday. Obviously, the Rotation diet gets a little more complex if there are fruits, veggies or grains on the list too. But the basics are still the same. Try to limit your sensitive foods at each meal and give yourself a few days between each introduction of a specific food. This helps to give the body time to clear out the reaction from each food so that you don't hit your threshold.
Sometimes we have a food sensitivity result where there are just so many reactions that its not realistic to avoid them all or even to rotate through. In this case, the digestive tract is so inflamed and reactive that it needs to be healed up first. So I suggest just focusing on avoiding the most severe reactions and using supplements (like digestive enzymes, probiotics and others) to support, calm and heal the gut.
Finally, the important question is "Do I have to do this forever??". No, you don't have to avoid your entire list forever. Most people need to be quite diligent for 6 months or so and then can experiment with introducing some of their foods. Some of the key sensitivities (like soy or dairy) may remain and you may need to avoid them always, or you may find that you can now have them in small amounts. But you will likely find that with avoidance and rotation your reactions have settled down and your digestive tract has healed such that you no longer have a sensitivity to most of your list. Please be aware that this is not true of food allergies - these should never be reintroduced without consulting a physician.
As always, please let me know if you have any comments, tips for a Rotation Diet or topic suggestions.
Its important to remember that food sensitivities and environmental allergies are additive and will accumulate. Symptoms will show us when you hit a threshold. Moderately or strongly reactive foods will hit your threshold even when eaten in really small amounts, and so should be avoided. Whereas mildly reactive foods will be fine as long as you eat them in small or infrequent amounts or in rotation. The Rotation Diet is fairly simple but does require some organization. And I often recommend some form of Rotation Diet when testing shows multiple mild reactions. In this diet, we try to cycle through the various sensitivities. For example if dairy, chicken, halibut and salmon are all in the list of mild reactions, then I suggest we try to cycle through them and limit each to no more than twice a week. So a week's menu may include: Mac n'cheese on Monday, Baked Chicken Tuesday, Breaded Halibut Wednesday, Lasagna on Thursday, BBQ'd Salmon Friday, and Chicken Strips on Saturday. Obviously, the Rotation diet gets a little more complex if there are fruits, veggies or grains on the list too. But the basics are still the same. Try to limit your sensitive foods at each meal and give yourself a few days between each introduction of a specific food. This helps to give the body time to clear out the reaction from each food so that you don't hit your threshold.
Sometimes we have a food sensitivity result where there are just so many reactions that its not realistic to avoid them all or even to rotate through. In this case, the digestive tract is so inflamed and reactive that it needs to be healed up first. So I suggest just focusing on avoiding the most severe reactions and using supplements (like digestive enzymes, probiotics and others) to support, calm and heal the gut.
Finally, the important question is "Do I have to do this forever??". No, you don't have to avoid your entire list forever. Most people need to be quite diligent for 6 months or so and then can experiment with introducing some of their foods. Some of the key sensitivities (like soy or dairy) may remain and you may need to avoid them always, or you may find that you can now have them in small amounts. But you will likely find that with avoidance and rotation your reactions have settled down and your digestive tract has healed such that you no longer have a sensitivity to most of your list. Please be aware that this is not true of food allergies - these should never be reintroduced without consulting a physician.
As always, please let me know if you have any comments, tips for a Rotation Diet or topic suggestions.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Food Sensitivity Testing - let's talk about your options!
So as promised in the last posting, today I'll give you a little more information about testing for Food Sensitivities. And just to backtrack a little .. food sensitivities happen when the body reacts to proteins in specific foods and the immune system is activated by those proteins in much the same way as it is activated by proteins on bacteria. A reaction is mounted by the immune system and can cause inflammation both at the gut level but also systemically. Because of the complexity of the immune reaction, food sensitivities are often one of the key triggers for many different complaints. I almost always think about them when dealing with three key complaints including: skin conditions like eczema or psoriasis, GI upset including anything from heartburn to diarrhea, and behavior difficulties in kids (ADHD, temper or Autism Spectrum Disorder). And many people with autoimmune disorders and arthritis or migraine benefit from knowing if there are any food triggers aggravating their symptoms.
So we know its important to check for food sensitivities but how do you do it? There are three different testing choices available to identify food sensitivities. Please note, that food sensitivities are very different from food allergies and the following testing methods are not adequate to diagnose food allergies. The gold standard is an Elimination and Challenge test. In this case, we limit the diet to a very restricted set of hypo-allergenic foods (usually foods that are outside the normal diet) for a good period of time (usually 3-6 weeks). The goal is to allow the body a chance to heal up as we take away any provoking foods. Then we slowly add one food type at a time and gauge for reactions. For example, we might do our elimination for 3 weeks and eat only lamb, pear and brown rice, then introduce dairy products for a few days while we watch for skin or tummy symptoms. This type of diet needs a lot of planning and commitment and, because it is so limited, it should not be done without the supervision of a qualified practitioner. And it should be mentioned that challenging with foods can cause quite a pronounced reaction and should be done exceptionally carefully with asthma or autoimmune conditions.
The next type of testing is called EAV testing, which is also known as Biomeridian or VEGA testing. This testing evaluates the energy in specific acupuncture meridians and how that energy reacts when challenged with foods. It sounds a little odd but is really very effective for many complaints. The advantage to this is that it can be done quickly and in-office and is non invasive. It does require that the patient be able to sit relatively still for a period of time, so it can be difficult with younger kids or kids with restlessness/hyperactivity. On the down-side, the testing isn't well accepted by conventional medical practitioners and so isn't my first choice when we are also working with an allergist or other specialist.
The last type of testing and the only one that can allow us some information about food allergies is called ELISA testing. ELISA testing is a specific testing procedure that measures how much (if any) of an antibody (immune) reaction there is to specific food proteins. There are many lab companies in North America that offer this testing and they have widely variable pricing and reliability of their tests. Most have different food lists available that can be chosen specific for the patient's needs (ie. vegetarian panels or specific testing for food allergies). This testing does require a blood sample, but depending on the type of tests, it is either with an arm drawn sample or more commonly a dried blood spot taken using a finger stick. Most kids find the finger prick quick and easy, enough that they don't complain.. at least not much. I find this to be the best choice for most people as the company I use has excellent pricing and turn-around time and has a choice for an expanded panel with many extra spices and foods. In addition, ELISA testing is a common procedure and one that is being used by conventional allergists to explore food allergies. So as a testing method, it is one that conventional physicians can identify with.
For patients coming into my office, I always suggest we discuss your complaints and talk about the testing options to figure out which, if any, is the best choice. This might depend on your financial situation, time goals and the condition itself. Most Naturopathic Physicians have done a good investigation into the testing options available in your area and can give you good guidance. To find a Naturopathic Physician in Canada go to http://www.cand.ca/index.php?findnd&L=0 to find one in the US try http://www.naturopathic.org/AF_MemberDirectory.asp?version=1 .
So we know its important to check for food sensitivities but how do you do it? There are three different testing choices available to identify food sensitivities. Please note, that food sensitivities are very different from food allergies and the following testing methods are not adequate to diagnose food allergies. The gold standard is an Elimination and Challenge test. In this case, we limit the diet to a very restricted set of hypo-allergenic foods (usually foods that are outside the normal diet) for a good period of time (usually 3-6 weeks). The goal is to allow the body a chance to heal up as we take away any provoking foods. Then we slowly add one food type at a time and gauge for reactions. For example, we might do our elimination for 3 weeks and eat only lamb, pear and brown rice, then introduce dairy products for a few days while we watch for skin or tummy symptoms. This type of diet needs a lot of planning and commitment and, because it is so limited, it should not be done without the supervision of a qualified practitioner. And it should be mentioned that challenging with foods can cause quite a pronounced reaction and should be done exceptionally carefully with asthma or autoimmune conditions.
The next type of testing is called EAV testing, which is also known as Biomeridian or VEGA testing. This testing evaluates the energy in specific acupuncture meridians and how that energy reacts when challenged with foods. It sounds a little odd but is really very effective for many complaints. The advantage to this is that it can be done quickly and in-office and is non invasive. It does require that the patient be able to sit relatively still for a period of time, so it can be difficult with younger kids or kids with restlessness/hyperactivity. On the down-side, the testing isn't well accepted by conventional medical practitioners and so isn't my first choice when we are also working with an allergist or other specialist.
The last type of testing and the only one that can allow us some information about food allergies is called ELISA testing. ELISA testing is a specific testing procedure that measures how much (if any) of an antibody (immune) reaction there is to specific food proteins. There are many lab companies in North America that offer this testing and they have widely variable pricing and reliability of their tests. Most have different food lists available that can be chosen specific for the patient's needs (ie. vegetarian panels or specific testing for food allergies). This testing does require a blood sample, but depending on the type of tests, it is either with an arm drawn sample or more commonly a dried blood spot taken using a finger stick. Most kids find the finger prick quick and easy, enough that they don't complain.. at least not much. I find this to be the best choice for most people as the company I use has excellent pricing and turn-around time and has a choice for an expanded panel with many extra spices and foods. In addition, ELISA testing is a common procedure and one that is being used by conventional allergists to explore food allergies. So as a testing method, it is one that conventional physicians can identify with.
For patients coming into my office, I always suggest we discuss your complaints and talk about the testing options to figure out which, if any, is the best choice. This might depend on your financial situation, time goals and the condition itself. Most Naturopathic Physicians have done a good investigation into the testing options available in your area and can give you good guidance. To find a Naturopathic Physician in Canada go to http://www.cand.ca/index.php?findnd&L=0 to find one in the US try http://www.naturopathic.org/AF_MemberDirectory.asp?version=1 .
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Gluten Sensitivity, its not just a myth!
Finally, some research has illustrated what so many of us knew: Even with a negative celiac test it is still possible to have a dramatic sensitivity to gluten proteins.
Have a quick look at this article from the Wall Street Journal "Clues to Gluten Sensitivity" from March 15th, 2011 publication by Melinda Beck.
Lisa Rayburn felt dizzy, bloated and exhausted. Wynn Avocette suffered migraines and body aches. Stephanie Meade's 4-year-old daughter had constipation and threw temper tantrums.
Have a quick look at this article from the Wall Street Journal "Clues to Gluten Sensitivity" from March 15th, 2011 publication by Melinda Beck.
Lisa Rayburn felt dizzy, bloated and exhausted. Wynn Avocette suffered migraines and body aches. Stephanie Meade's 4-year-old daughter had constipation and threw temper tantrums.
Monday, February 14, 2011
How to Manage Special Diets on Holidays? Plan for treats!
Special Diets can be extremely helpful for a number of conditions and complaints. Anything from acne to Autism Spectrum Disorders often benefit from Special Diets, which might limit food sensitivities or completely avoid specific foods like Gluten and Casein. And there is nothing more exciting than having a parent or patient return to the office now that they've done planning and cooking and tell me they now know the foods they are avoiding really were a problem. They really know that if those foods sneak in then the symptoms come back, their tummy feels gross or their child is doing their Tasmanian Devil imitation. Then comes the big question.. "but Dr Kellie, I know we need to stick to this but its Valentine's Day and Grandma always has treats for the kids on Valentine's Day!".
So how do you manage a Special Diet on holidays? Because there really is nothing worse and nothing that's going to make us hate our food challenges more than feeling left out or deprived. The answer.. planning. Yes, that's pretty much the answer for every question diet related and its especially true here. Knowing that there is a treat-worthy holiday coming up and planning for a happier alternative is the best course.
For Kids:
Parents may want to send out an emails out to other parents asking for a heads-up about birthday cupcakes so that a Special Diet friendly option can be send from home. And sometimes giving the teacher a small supply of kid-friendly treats for the days when you may have had no warning. For holidays when treats come in bulk (you know when there are bags and baskets involved) I suggest the Exchange Policy. Kids love to trade in candy or chocolate for a much desired toy or game or even a special family outing.
For Us Adults:
Again, plan for holidays. We'd love to think that our will-power has super-strength but in the face of treats everywhere its not hard to give in and then feel rotten for having done so. Consider keeping the house and your desk drawer stocked with a few friendly treats. Perhaps, do a little bargain with yourself. "Self, I know that you love those creamy Easter eggs. This year, let's make a deal to choose a better treat and reward myself with an indulgent pedicure."
We all hate to feel like we can't have those lovely treats, especially when people around us are and when they are offering. Having a plan and something to indulge yourself or your family with will make all the difference.
Happy Valentine's Day and please feel free to email if you have any questions you'd like to see answered in a future Post.
~~ Dr Kellie
So how do you manage a Special Diet on holidays? Because there really is nothing worse and nothing that's going to make us hate our food challenges more than feeling left out or deprived. The answer.. planning. Yes, that's pretty much the answer for every question diet related and its especially true here. Knowing that there is a treat-worthy holiday coming up and planning for a happier alternative is the best course.
For Kids:
Parents may want to send out an emails out to other parents asking for a heads-up about birthday cupcakes so that a Special Diet friendly option can be send from home. And sometimes giving the teacher a small supply of kid-friendly treats for the days when you may have had no warning. For holidays when treats come in bulk (you know when there are bags and baskets involved) I suggest the Exchange Policy. Kids love to trade in candy or chocolate for a much desired toy or game or even a special family outing.
For Us Adults:
Again, plan for holidays. We'd love to think that our will-power has super-strength but in the face of treats everywhere its not hard to give in and then feel rotten for having done so. Consider keeping the house and your desk drawer stocked with a few friendly treats. Perhaps, do a little bargain with yourself. "Self, I know that you love those creamy Easter eggs. This year, let's make a deal to choose a better treat and reward myself with an indulgent pedicure."
We all hate to feel like we can't have those lovely treats, especially when people around us are and when they are offering. Having a plan and something to indulge yourself or your family with will make all the difference.
Happy Valentine's Day and please feel free to email if you have any questions you'd like to see answered in a future Post.
~~ Dr Kellie
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