Food Allergies

I've mentioned in a couple of posts that Gavin has some a gazillion food allergies.  I've been asked the question multiple times, "How did it occur to you to get him allergy tested?"  Well, first let me back up a bit and give some background information. (P.S. This is lengthy, sorry in advance!) 

It seems most people have some sort of food allergy/intolerance these days.  Is it that the chemicals in our foods have caused this? Is it because foods are genetically-modified? It's hard to say.  I don't think those factors help. I believe a big part of people having relatively more allergies is that there is testing available to diagnose people with allergies. Whereas even 20 years ago, tests were used infrequently.

The terms food allergy and food intolerance are often used interchangeably, but they are actually very different terms.  A food allergy is also known as a "Type I Sensitivity" and is due to an adverse immune response to a food.   Food allergies produce an immediate reaction and can cause anaphylaxis (throat closing shut).  People who have a true food allergy must avoid the food completely.  Those with food intolerances have a delayed, multi-system  response to a food (most frequently gastrointestinal & skin). People who have intolerances can have the foods without immediately risking their life, but it makes life miserable.

I've had many allergies and intolerances since infancy/childhood, but luckily I've learned to manage them well!  So back to Gavin...

From the first week home, Gavin was a fussy baby.  He was inconsolable many days, would not sleep more than 1-2 hours at a time, had explosive & runny poop, and was constantly arching his back in pain.  He started to develop horrible eczema around 9 weeks of age, so I began to have my suspicions at that time.  I requested a referral to the Allergist in Anchorage, but I couldn't get him in for over 3 months.  After a camping trip to Talkeetna with a fussy, miserable baby, I decided to make some changes.  On the trip, I overindulged in popcorn, edamame crackers, and dairy (among other delicious camping foods!).  I evaluated my diet and realized I was eating a lottttt of dairy, corn, and soy products. Since Gavin was exclusively breastfeeding at that point, anything I ate, he was getting through my breastmilk.  So, I cut them out.  Let's just talk about corn for a minute:

Those ingredients are in most processed foods.  Eliminating corn meant not just eliminating popcorn, corn on the cob, and my favorite salsa... it's in almost everything.  

A long three months passed without much change in Gavin's symptoms.  Maybe slight improvement, but not enough to be convinced I eliminated the right foods. The day finally came in October when he would be tested for food allergies/intolerances!  The first appointment they did skin prick testing to test for immediate, Type I sensitivities.  He didn't have any!  Yay!  No need to worry about having an Epi-Pen like I do.  Such a relief.

They put a patch on his back to test the most common food intolerances and we followed up 3 days later.  My heart broke when I saw his poor little back.  

He tested positive for: Corn, rice, wheat, oat, barley, rye, soy, dairy, beef and pork.  

I challenge you to read a label to find none of the ingredients above.  Nearly impossible!  Did you know many canned tomatoes have high-fructose corn syrup in them?  And anything gummy (my favorite candy, vitamins, etc) has gelatin, which is a beef product.  Aveeno products use either soy or oat in them (which we were using on his skin!). Most chocolate chips have soy lecithin (an emulsifier). It was enlightening to say the least.  

They asked me to consider switching him to formula (although there is only one that had a partial chance of working for him since most have a corn derivative in them) since it would be such a challenging diet for me to stick to. (I am intolerant or allergic to garlic, most raw fruits, all nuts, shellfish, and dairy).  I am stubborn, and did NOT want to quit breastfeeding because I surprisingly love it and think it is best for Gavin. After crying in my car after the appointment for 5 minutes, I went online and starting doing my research and educating myself on other food alternatives.  There are some pretty amazing resources out there once you start looking!  Once I got the hang of cooking with new flours like quinoa, teff, amaranth, coconut, sorghum, garbazo bean, fava bean, potato, and tapioca... I started creating my own recipes.  

Safe to say I have a flour problem.

So far, so good!

Pumpkin Sunbutter Coconut Flour Waffles

Gluten-free, rice-free, oat-free, dairy-free bread with coconut oil "butter."

No-added sugar coconut flour banana chocolate chip muffins 

Coconut Flour Pancakes

Sunflower butter chocolate-chip cookies. NUM.

So I have done my best to stick to an allergen-free diet for the past 6 months, and Gavin is thriving.  When I cut out the foods, he was a new baby.  He was suddenly a better sleeper, his skin cleared up, and most importantly, he was happy!  He was comfortable for the first time in his life!  It's been a rough road for me at times.  I had to give up my favorite foods in the world: cereal and Froyo.  I've had a few moments of tears and frustration, but it's worth it as long as Gavin is happy and healthy!  

Now let me tell you the BEST news about all of this.  Infants who have food allergies generally outgrow them by age 3!  Rarely do they have them for life.  That was music to my ears! And we had a retest last week and he can now have dairy and pork (still allergic to the other 8 foods).  Bring on the cheese and bacon, haha! :)

If you or your child are struggling with food allergies, please feel free to ask questions.  I'm happy to help!  It seemed like a death sentence when I saw his list of positive foods.  But there are far worse diagnoses in life and I feel blessed to have a happy, fun kiddo! (And luckily he doesn't know what he's missing out on!)  It will some day be a distant memory, but for now... I'm off to bake some grain-free banana bread and crackers! :)