Special diets, anyone?

wolverine8

I know there are a lot of you out there with kiddos who have food allergies, etc and I am just curious if there is anyone out there whose child does not have an allergy, but you chose to do a special diet, like gluten free. Anyone see this segment on The Today Show today? Food dyes may have something to do with ADD...interesting connections. Anyway my question is if you do a different diet, how did you get started, was it expensive, any good sites with yummy/easy recipes? THANKS!

https://moms.today.com/_news/2011/03/29/6369981-why-some-moms-have-banned-artificial-food-dyes-from-their-kids-diets

asyph107

My DS is on a gluten free diet because of my celiac disease. So little is known about celiace disease and our Pedi said we should prob go gluten free until he is old enough to tell us he feels sick. So we plan on keeping him gluten free until just before school starts, then we will feed him lots of things with gluten and get his blood tested.

We could probably do it sooner but I have several fears about it. He could get violently ill, he could love the food with gluten in it and then I could have to take it right away from him, or he could refuse to eat the food with gluten because he has never had it. So I figure when he is older we can explain it better, and until then he just eats what I eat.

sapphire angel

It is interesting how we are finding connections of illnesses to things in our diet. All the more reason to eat smart. 

We cook dairy and soy free because LO needs it but I wanted to comment on the cost. Where I live now, there are NO health food stores. I went to the one that claimed to be a health food store and it really wasn't once I started reading labels. So for me it can be pricey and difficult to find the alternatives I need. On the other hand, when I visit my parents, LO eats like a queen because there is a Whole Foods store right down the road and everything is so well priced. I usually stock up on dry goods (courtesy of my parents) before coming home. Our grocery stores have a few things but the alternative food sections are very slim. My point is that if you are thinking about a specialty diet, consider what is readily available in your area (supply wise and maybe even restaurants also)

I usually end up searching "allergy free _______" and whatever I wanted for recipes. I'm also to the point now that I can make most of my normal meals dairy and soy free now that I have found a supply of the substitutions I need. Gluten free is getting to be very common so with a little searching you may find a forum dedicated to that type of lifestyle or maybe even a site of recipes from frequent visitors. 

gumiberg

i like the mom who blamed the red dye in nerds when her son ate a bunch of candy and was bouncing off the walls.  sounds like a common sugar high to me.

we're not on a special diet in this house but we limit processed foods. that is how i ate before i had kids, and so that is how i feed my family. 

i wouldnt cut out gluten though if you don have too.  alternatives that taste good are not cheap.  just read the ingredients in the food that you buy.  i find myself shopping less and less at normal groceries stores and more and more at farmer markets.