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Thursday, August 16, 2012

Allergy-Free Rotation Diet

Good morning! After finding out that Roman is severely allergic to eggs and milk, I couldn't help it.  My curiosity was piqued.  I wanted to find out why Jackson gets a red rash around his mouth after certain meals, and why Rebecca gets dark circles under her eyes. I wanted to test them too!  Beau let me test the older children and we got their results right before we left for vacation, so I was able to do some research while we were away.

In a nutshell, I have implemented a rotation diet.  The theory behind rotation diets is this: if a child is allergic to multiple foods, he probably has a leaky gut.  Therefore, if I simply remove offending foods from his diet and replace say, wheat, with rice- he will eventually develop an intolerance to rice.  The body simply cannot be bombarded with the same substance time and again.  However, if you give time to let the body clear out each food, the immune response will decrease and the body will begin to heal- even to tolerate very offensive foods. 

Do I believe it? I think so.  I am starting to feel a little wary about all of the nutrition research I do... it is like the Bible.  The more I study and read, the more I realize I don't know!  And while Scripture is true and unchanging, nutritional research can be subjective and transient.  So we go into this journey with a grain of salt.  I still live by the 80/20 rule.  We will not tell a gracious host that we will not eat their food because we are allergic.  There is no perfect control in this life. 

That said, I have put together a plan for our family.  We are not supposed to have eggs, milk, beef, pork, and turkey. And black pepper. Really.  Really?!

(However, after a week without red meat, I asked Beau to bring home a steak to BBQ with our salmon. I needed some iron!)

There are not a lot of rotation diet menus available online.  The thought occurred to me that this is because every kid is allergic to different things.  So, the menu and shopping list is Woodward-specific.  However, I hope it can be of help to someone.  This is a dairy-, egg-, and beef-free menu.
 
Allergy- Free
Trader Joe’s Shopping List

Apples
Grapes
Bananas
Cucumber
Strawberries
Carrots
Lettuce
Bell pepper
Pears
Spinach
Cauliflower
Blueberries
Avocado
Sweet potato
Potato
Romaine

Lentils
Hummus

 Chicken slices
Roast chicken
Salmon

Corn tortilla
Brown rice tortilla

Frozen corn
Berries
Chocolate
Fish

 Tuna
Split peas
Brown rice pasta
Rice
Corn pasta
Maple syrup
Applesauce
Pear sauce


Goats milk
Coconut milk
Rice milk
Almond milk


Raisins
Walnuts
Sunflower seeds
Prunes
Almonds
Macadamia nuts
Cashews

Corn chips
Potato chips, no pepper


Day 1 Rotation Diet

Chicken slices
Raisins
Walnuts
Apple

Snack-
Grapes
Walnuts

Lunch-
Chicken slices
Cucumber
Apple
Grapes

Snack-
Raisins
Walnuts

Dinner-
Roast chicken
Split peas
Swiss chard with sesame oil
Strawberries
Broccoli



Day 2 Rotation Diet

Breakfast-
Rice
Almond milk
Olive oil
Stevia
Prunes

Snack-
Sunflower seeds
Carrots
Potato chips

Lunch-
Tuna
Rice
Lettuce
Carrots

Snack-
Prunes
Almonds

Dinner
Salmon
Brown Rice Pasta
with olive oil
Salad with-
Lettuce
Bell pepper
Carrots
Almonds


Day 3 Rotation Diet

Breakfast-
Socca:
2 cups garbanzo bean flour
2 scant cups water
4 tablespoons olive oil
Salt
Maple syrup
Peanut butter
Goats milk

Snack-
Peanut butter
Pear Sauce

Lunch-
Lentils
Black beans
Olive oil
Pear
Hummus with socca

Snack-
Pear
Peanut butter
Goats milk

Dinner-
Cod
Black beans
Hummus with socca
Cauliflower
Spinach





Day 4 Rotation Diet

Breakfast-
Banana
Blueberries
Cashews
Coconut milk
Oatmeal

Snack-
Pistachios
Coconut milk

Lunch-
Corn
Avocado
Banana
Cashews
Corn chips

Snack-
Banana
Pistachios
Corn chips

Dinner-
Sole
Pistachios
Romaine
Avocado
Corn
Sweet potato




6 comments:

Brandy Vencel said...

I really want to know why so many kids are allergic these days. It truly baffles me why our children's generation is so sickly.

We are about to start GAPS, Jennie, so I feel your pain (or excitement, depend on the day!)...

Kessie said...

I think allergies are a combination of generically-engineered foods and over-exposure to certain things. Especially when they're young and can't handle it, poor things. Your menu looks really interesting. I know there's a whole lot of people out there with the same allergies who will find your lists useful.

Also, my doctor scoffs at allergy testing. He says it's not accurate. So run your own tests and draw your own conclusions.

Jennifer said...

GAPS! Whew. That is quite the endeavor. Good luck, friend. Kessie, I think the same thing as your doctor. Depending on what day it is, different allergies will show up. I am removing the foods we are most allergic to and trying to rotate the other foods. I figure it can't hurt.

Brandy Vencel said...

Interesting, Kessie!

Also, I have heard mixed reviews on allergy testing, too, but it sort of depends which type you used as far as how "dependable" the doctors consider them to be.

Yes: GAPS. I've been trying to NOT do GAPS for the past two years at least, but I finally got desperate when I started having issues myself. I suppose I could say we reached the tipping point, which I'm sure you understand considering your rotation diet!

In the GAPS book, she suggests doing an overnight sensitivity test. You put a drop of whatever food you are curious about (milk, egg yolk, egg white, whatever) on the wrist of the child before bed and check it to see if it's red/swollen/whatever in the morning. I wonder if that would work for you as you go ahead?

Jennifer said...

I love the idea of that test. I was going back and forth between GAPS and a rotation diet and thought a rotation diet would fit our lives better at this point. I may try GAPS in the summer next year if we still need it. I can't wait to hear updates from the microhomestead!

Farm Girl said...

Hi Jennifer all I can say is bless you and I hope it works good. Have you talked to Roxanna Francis much? She is a wonderful resource and she knows so much about health. She gave me the tips I needed when the doctor couldn't fix me and I got well. One thing she had me do was buy a book called the Yeast Connection. Have you ever read that? That was ages and ages ago but it is an interesting read. Also have you read Wheat Belly? It also explains what has happened to our food.
I know you don't need one more book to read.
But since you are trying to figure out things, Roxanna is wonderful. She might even have really easy fixes too like she did me.
I will be praying for you,
Kim

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