Update on Evil Diets

I started to write this in response to Allie's comment on the previous post, then it got long I decided to add it as its own post!

So, the gist is, we're trying to continue the gluten and casein-free (GFCF) diet with Hutton. It's a common treatment for kids with Autism, as they tend to have digestive issues with the proteins in gluten and casein, as is the case with Hutton! We've been on the diet off and on for several years. I know Hutton has problems with milk, but I've tried adding back gluten, and he seemed to be fine, but his test results prove otherwise. Now we have the added challenge of avoiding yeast-feeding foods (sugar, fruit and fruit juices, simple carbs, vinegar, etc.) due to the discovery of Hutton's yeast overgrowth (he had this before, so I guess the Nystatin he took for several months a year ago did nothing) AND we also have to avoid some newly discovered food allergies -- the big ones being CORN and EGG YOLK. Hey, at least it's not the whites, too, as I thought yesterday! Phew. That give me one more thing to work with now that the a world of cook books and restaurants are closed to me.

Today I went grocery shopping by myself, so I could spend over an hour scouring the store for possible foods. This was after doing research on many online groups for food ideas. Pretty much anything that involves packaging is a no-go for some reason or another! I did find some potato chips (though probably not too great for a yeast-fighting diet, as it's a simple carb), rice spaghetti, rice cakes, frozen waffles and an Indian lentil dish that were free of everything we need to avoid. The rest of the cart was meat, vegetables, some nuts and seeds, and some chocolate for myself that I'll hide somewhere. I'm going to go to another store tomorrow and see if I can find more.

I'm feeling much better after reading up today. It just seems very overwhelming at first, and then there are many foods I think are OK, until I read some new reason to avoid it. I'm worried that Hutton will be getting too much rice now and will develop problems with it. I think that's what happened with corn -- no gluten, but if it's the go-to food of choice in nearly every meal and snack (Ting's and Pirate Booty, I'll miss you!) it's too much. If it's not corn itself (sob - we love Mexican food, but won't be going out for it anytime!), so many things are sweetened with corn syrup, or have corn starch, or have dextrose. That was true for many packaged and even frozen items. Things would look great, until I'd see corn starch or dextrose listed as the last ingredient. I try to avoid soy as well, which is present in many foods.

The bright side is that it's possible for the gut to heal and for foods that were once problematic to be added back into the diet, so I'll hope that will be the case down the road for us with corn.

We started out the day with waffles Hubby made from a GFCF mix we had buried in the back of the cabinet, and some bacon. No syrup. We lied and told Hutton we ran out. He ate more bacon than waffles, and Hubby didn't even taste the waffles, but I did and found them acceptable. They would have been better with maple syrup, but what can you do? Lunch was chicken nuggets (not really acceptable because of the corn in the coating, but I figured I'd get them out of the house faster this way, and it's not like we need to go cold turkey, right?). Hutton asked for honey. Hmm. Sorry, Bud, it looks like we're out of honey, too! Mommy is a bad, bad person, lying again. This was upsetting to Hutton, who told me we need to go buy honey and syrup. OK, kid, I'll get right on that! I double-checked everything in the fridge and cabinets for acceptable nugget dips. Mustard? Nope - vinegar. Ketchup? Ditto, plus the Heinz has corn syrup. Soy sauce we've had in the fridge for several years? Wrong on many fronts. I finally gave the boys some of my squash soup to dip their nuggets in. Hey, I thought it tasted good, and it was dietarily acceptable!

Tomorrow I'll do a roast with vegetables in the crock pot for dinner. I have to come up with some sort of stock or seasoning to add. And I don't have any cereal for the boys - Trader Joe's did not have any rice cereal! Could be a sign Hutton is already getting too much rice, huh? Guess we'll have waffles again, or I'll try to get Hutton to eat an egg white omelet. Who knows? Sometimes he surprises me.