Adding Foods

December 31, 2006

We have had our daughter on SCD for 8 months now. It has been great

for her, drastically helping her seizures and her development. She

also used to be constipated, but now is fairly regular. It took me a

bit of time to realize that she had to eat the cooked foods as opposed

to the raw. (Yes we did the into diet, but at first added too

quickly). I kept thinking that we were dealing with something a

little different because she has seizures not necessarily the gut

issues that many of you write about. However, raw foods give her

seizures I found.

We are now on all cooked foods, nothing raw. I have her mostly on

phase I of the diet with a little of phase II. She occasionally eats

something made with nut butter and I have found beets and advocados

are well tolerated. (She also doesn't eat egg, almond, cow dairy...

we have her on goat's milk yogurt). I would love to add more foods

but am a little scared at this point. Unfortunately for her when I

try something that doesn't work, she recovers only after 3 days of

seizures. But the good news is she ALWAYS does recover and it is only

3 days.

Sorry I am going on so long. The long and short of it is that it

would help me if a few of you can let me know how long it took for you

to add foods in and if you have any suggestions in this regard. How

long did it take to get to raw foods? How long before you added legal

beans? Are there any telltale signs that she is ready? Her bowel

movements are still often runny and fowl smelling, making me think she

is still dealing with issues there.

Thanks for you time,

Sahr

Mom of Abby... 8 months SCD... ring chromosome 20 syndrome... seizure

disorder

December 31, 2006

Hi ,

I am so glad to hear that Abby's seizures are so much better. You must be

thrilled... although it's a constant feeling of not wanting to rock the boat,

isn't it?? I do SO know that feeling. On the one hand, you want to branch out

and include more variety in her diet, but don't want to " pay the price " either.

I have one question for you.... When you do introduce a new food, are you

introducing a very, VERY minute quantity? Or, are you going ahead with a more

normal serving size? That is one thing that comes to mind as far as a

suggestion for adding foods.

Unfortunately, it's just different for every single person.... you can't

compare Abby's progress to anyone else's. The " right way " for Abby is going to

be completely unique. Sometimes the only way to tell if she is " ready " for a new

food is to go ahead and try it (one new thing at a time).... but for some kids

who tend to have fall-out from any changes, I always recommend just a TINY BIT

of that new food..... then watching and waiting. By this, I mean maybe only 1/2

teaspoon of that food.

If you are really mostly wanting to add raw foods, I would suggest starting them

in the form of JUICE. This would mean that you would need to buy a juicer, if

you don't have one already..... and start with just maybe a teaspoon of that

juice, mixed in with her other food. Then you could slowly increase the amount.

Once you are sure the raw juice is tolerated, you might then be able to

introduce a small amount of that fruit or veggie without juicing.

I think raw foods can be tricky for some kids.... as many just don't chew very

well.... and oftentimes the gut is just thrown for a loop by big chunks of raw

food that it is suddenly being expected to deal with. Chewing is the beginning

of the digestive process.... and it's at that point that a number of enzymes are

introduced to the food (in the saliva), as well as the mechanical breaking down

of the food as it's crushed up by the teeth.

I don't remember how old Abby is.... or how well she is able to chew. My

10-yr-old daughter, Katera, is still not a grand-champion chewer, so I end up

pureeing much of her food. Just as a guideline for you, Katera has been back on

SCD now since May (seven months), and I still feed her almost exclusively peeled

and cooked foods.... and pureed for the most part. The only exception is that I

don't generally peel zucchini for her anymore. The only raw foods she gets are

banana and avocado. Once in a while, a very small amount of thinly sliced raw

apple (peeled), but I have to closely monitor her chewing and remind her to

" crunch, crunch, crunch " .

Anyway.... if it's the nutrients that you are mostly wanting for Abby, fresh

juices can't be beat. And, if you are able to buy organic fruits and veggies,

and as fresh as possible, it would be even better...... she'd be getting

fantastic amounts of nutrients, as well as vital enzymes. But, just think of

fresh juices as the next step to tolerating fresh raw foods.... all you're

doing is removing the more-difficult-to-digest fibrous parts.

As far as introducing beans, I always suggest starting with red lentils (also

sometimes called " pink " lentils). These are the same as regular greenish-grey

lentils.... except that they've been dehulled. You need to make sure they are

prepared as per the instructions in BTVC, and then I would probably suggest

pureeing the final result into a thick soup consistancy.... and again, test

with only a SMALL amount. Freeze the rest of the batch if you need to, in small

containers, so you can include just a small amount, increasing slowly. It may

take a couple of weeks to be sure she is REALLY tolerating a " normal " serving of

these. After lentils, you might try some of the other beans..... but you'd have

to go through the same procedure, because there's no guarantee her gut would be

ready.

Hope that helps a bit....

Patti