Life without milk

[Guest guest]

Please note: Dr. Goldberg does not agree with how we did the diet. Now that

's immune system works more normally he can eat almost anything and

doesn't react. Although, we still limit dairy, the following is how we did

the diet when was younger.

Allergy tests on kids who have immune problems sometimes indicate they are

allergic to everything. They really aren't, it is just that their immune

systems aren't working properly and they react to everything. The goal was

to strengthen the body by eliminating stress on the immune system. This

meant that foods and substances to which the child is highly reactive are

eliminated.

For most kids, the big triggers are usually dairy, whole wheat, and milk

chocolate. If you can remove the foods they are allergic to while at the

same time addressing the problems with their immune systems, it can greatly

improve their ability to live their lives.

Like many children with autism and immune problems, my son could not have

dairy products and had to limit his sugar consumption. When our family

began life without milk, it seemed so difficult. I was overwhelmed at the

concept of changing his diet. I thought I had to cook everything from

scratch (sheer torture for someone who hated to cook).

Before you take any of my suggestions I must preface them with the fact that

I am not a physician or a nutritionist (just a mom) and our family does not

always eat the healthiest foods. Since needed to be on a diet

restricted in dairy and sugar, I didn't try to eliminate things like

NutraSweet or diet drinks. I found, for , diet soda pop without

caffeine was a better choice than regular pop, although we usually just

drank water. 's body did better with diabetic maple syrup as opposed to

more natural choices. It seemed he could process sugar substitutes better

than sugar.

I didn't worry about the fat content in French fries, chips, and other junk

food. His diet was restrictive enough without trying to eliminate junk

food. There are trade-offs in life and I just eliminated the foods that

caused a reaction or were in the highly reactive column of his allergy

tests.

I hesitated before trying to eliminate dairy from 's diet. Before life

without milk, our favorite foods and almost everything we ate was

prepackaged and contained dairy. We ordered pizza at least once a week and

loved eating out. I was afraid that my other child and the rest of the

family would all be deprived because could not have milk products. I

was convinced that for each meal I would be cooking from two different

menus. But that wasn't true. We changed from casseroles to a more meat and

potatoes diet, which was much healthier for all of us. We usually drank

water with our meals. It really wasn't that difficult and we are all

healthier as a result. Imagine the savings of thousands of dollars over the

years when you don't purchase a beverage in a restaurant and just drink

water. By changing a few things, I really made a difference for my child.

There is life without milk!

Bill Klimas was so right when he said some time ago, " You are all making

yourselves and each other crazy.Some kids will be allergic to Soy or Corn

while it will not hurt another kid. Also, as you kids immune system heals

he may well get over some issues with certain foods. " can even have

dairy without a reaction, now that his immune system is better. However, I

don't recommend doing that.

In the beginning, I was not sure what to feed my child. I drove myself

nuts. When I woke up in the morning, my first thought was what I could

feed him that he won't react to. I was convinced that if I was going to

help my child I had to be chained to the kitchen counter cooking from

scratch. It took some time to figure out that wasn't true. We learned how

to eat at restaurants, have prepackaged foods and still eliminate dairy from

's diet.

I had no idea what foods to substitute for dairy and spent hours in the

grocery store reading labels. It almost paralyzed me at times until I

realized I needed to concentrate on eliminating the big triggers instead of

wasting hours on this and cooking from scratch. I got rid of the dairy, the

things that showed up on his allergies tests in the highly allergic

category, and too much sugar from too many fruits. That being said I did

give him one cookie in his bag lunch so he didn't feel different from the

other kids. (Dr G hated that. We fought about it all the time until I just

stopped telling Dr. G)

Like Bill said, there are only a finite number of hours in each day and you

need to spend your time on the things that will make the biggest difference

for your child instead of sweating the small stuff. My time was better

spent working with my child to teach him social skills instead of cooking.

Each kid is different and you need to do the best you can without making

yourself or your child apprehensive about what they eat.

It is important that your kid not feel totally deprived and different. I

think that is far worse than a diet infraction. is now 21 and many

years ago when we started the diet, there were not as many restrictions.

Tropical fruit, berries, nut, peanut butter was allowed. The only

restrictions other than dairy were whole wheat or chocolate (but only milk

chocolate).

It took me a while to realize we could still eat at Mc 's. Back then

we ate hamburgers or chicken nuggets (which have an insignificant amount of

milk in the breading) instead of cheeseburgers. When we had pizza,

took off the cheese and put the pepperonis back on. You can also order

pizza with all the fixings except cheese. It actually has more flavor that

way. At Taco Bell, ordered a taco and took off most of the cheese

except a few sprinkles to help make him feel like everyone else.

My kids made it in spite of all the things we ate. He is now in college,

number 2 in his engineering class, drives, and has a ton of friends. He is

happy and one of the best people I know. This is the same kid who the

shrink said would be in an institution. Now the only institution he is at

is college.

I'm going to share a secret about what to do if they react to some food they

eat. Increase the exercise, (swimming and trampoline are best) and increase

the water they drink. One thing I don't think Dr. G stresses enough is that

exercise is key for our kids. This is coming from a mom who was always

overweight and never exercised in her life.

In the early years when there was a party at school, I used to bring

different food for . Sometimes I made things that would not affect him

that all the kids would like. Rice Krispy treats come to mind). But in time

I realized that making him feel different was worse than that occasional

party. Instead, I kept his diet very clean at home and in his bag lunch so

when the occasional food problem arouse it wasn't as bad. We were very

strict on the NO DAIRY and only two fruits a day (not too much sugar), but

other than that we didn't worry about berries, tropical fruits etc.

Some parents find the diet so taxing and restrictive that they eventually

give up the diet and even the medical treatments. That is a big mistake. The

medical component is essential to recovery.

But if you make it too hard on yourself there is no way you will stick with

it.

Hope this helps,

Marcia