Michelle's Plan

[Michelle Ketchem]

Hi everyone!
I have wandered over from the Mothering forums for some knowledge, guidance and support dealing with food sensitivities. I came to the realization yesterday that I am afraid of food! I don't want to be afraid of food anymore and I want to eat! I am 31 with an almost 15 month old daughter and I fully believe you are what you eat. I have learned a lot in the last year about health and healing but there is still so much more to learn. I believe in holistic health care and truly believe in its power to heal. I even managed an acupuncture clinic and was always in wonder how many people walked out feeling so much better yet still not able to see the change from an hour before when they walked in. Here is my story and sorry if this gets long but I think this will be therapeutic just getting it all down and out of my head, kwim?

In the last 5 years I have taken over the counter meds maybe twice for a migraine (stress induced) and I do not take birth control as I feel they really mess with your body. I cook all my meals at home and no longer eat out at restaurants or out of a box. My dh, while supportive, is very western minded and I am kind of on my own with this one. I still make him whatever he wants so he is fine as long as he doesn't have to do what I am doing. I do have the support of my mom and sister which helps tremendously.

I am learning about traditional cooking and would love to learn how to ferment my own foods. I have a ton of carrots from my csa box and would love to ferment those but I can't find a plain recipe for just carrots if anyone can help with that.

Dd was born by c-section after 30+ hours of natural labor so I ended up with all the meds and crap that I so desperately did not want to have:( Next time will be so different!

At 5 weeks we figured out that she is allergic to polyester so that is gone as much as possible in the house. She had the "normal" baby spit up and "diaper rash" which I now know as food intolerance's and red ring of doom. This slippery road has led to elimination diets of what I feel is all foods! This can't be normal or healthy.

She has no vaccinations and did not receive vit. k or eye gunk when she was born. She is exclusively breast fed and eats very little solids at this point, she mostly plays with it. Her poop when she does go is good color and good form and is easy it is just not very often, every 3 - 4 days. I am not sure if this is because she does not eat very many solids or if there is something else going on? She still wakes every 1.5 - 2.5 hours at night to either nurse or potty, we EC. I am tired and would love to see that get to 4 - 5 hours at a time. Naps are much improved now at 2 hours on average and 2 a day. Getting her to sleep at night can be difficult sometimes as she just can't settle down sometimes.

I saw her Dr. on May 21st to discuss her sensitivities and he wants to focus on healing our guts and getting our nutrition back up to optimum levels so when we do reintroduce foods she can handle them. I love him! He recommended we get the following and come back at the end of July to see how we are doing.

For myself I take:
http://www.metagenics.com/products/detail.asp?pid=290
http://www.metagenics.com/products/detail.asp?pid=70
http://www.metagenics.com/products/detail.asp?pid=86

For dd if I can get it in her which proves to be a challenge:
http://www.metagenics.com/products/detail.asp?pid=8

I am not thrilled to be getting nutrients from supplements at this point but dd reacts to so many things that my diet is to limited and I need them. I want to replace them with whole foods.

We are gluten/dairy/soy/egg/chicken and corn free. Over the last two weeks I have been reading into Failsafe and realized that everything I was eating was high in salicylates and so I stopped eating those. Now what do I eat?

I am going to change this! She has shown reactions from day one to dairy(which I honestly don't think humans are meant to eat), soy (it is so genetically altered that it can't be good), egg and chicken causes a white dry rash on dds arms, and corn as much as possible unless labeled non-gmo or organic. Artichoke also caused hives so I will stay away from them as well.

She also reacts to nightshades, citrus, fruit etc. but I want to get those back in as I feel they are vital to a healthy diet.

We have not done official allergy testing on dd so this was all done by elimination and food diary's.

So here is what I have started to do after reading on here yesterday.
1. I have started to put epsom and sea salt into every glass of water I drink or smoothie I make.

2. I took a tablespoon of local raw unpasteurized honey last night and will do that every night.

3. I started eating water kefir grains yesterday as I brew it for my sister but I have not been drinking it as I am not sure about the sugar content of it and I like to stay away from sugar.

4. I have been giving dd an epsom salt bath or putting shea/epsom salt lotion that I made on her every day.

In the works
1. I have some organic beef bones on order to make some broth.
2. I ordered Cod Liver Oil and will start taking that everyday. How much?
3. I am going to try and locate some organic beef livers to hide in our food.
4. Coconut oil is tricky as she reacts to this with extreme hyperactivity so I might try
palm oil shortening from Spectrum instead. I trialed coconut milk and that was a
nightmare week!
5. Get back in the habit of making green smoothies.
6. Vit. C I don't know if the supplements I take have enough of this so I might need to
get something in addition.


That is all I can remember for now LOL.

Now I have some questions:
1. What happens when I do try some foods or fruits and the red ring of doom comes back? Do I just make a note of it and keep on trekking? What about hyperactivity caused by foods, same thing? Do I just focus on eating the healthy ness of the foods and "ignore" the reactions?

2. How do I make fermented carrots without whey? I am on the wait list for wild fermentation at the library and I have looked online but I can't find a recipe for it.

3. What is your recipe for regular kefir water? Right now I make it with 6 cups spring water, 1/2 cup succanat and 1/2 cup grains. Is this right?

4. Do I need to worry about getting more solids into dd or just keep offering them to her and let her decide what and when she wants to start eating it. She is perfectly healthy and meeting/exceeding all milestones so I am not to worried about it.

5. As far as salicylates go I have noticed and improvement since I have cut them out but I don't want to keep them out, kwim? I found this article about the difference in salicylate levels in fruit/vegetables that are allowed to ripen on the vine and picked when green. http://books.google.com/books?id=Ib8yqjBY8osC&pg=PA146&dq=u...
This leads me to want to just eat the fruits and veggies from my csa box and no store bought fruits and veggies to keep the salicylates levels down but still be able to eat it. Does that make sense?

That is all I can think of, LOL! Any help is truly appreciated.
Michelle

I really need to gain at least 10 - 15lbs as well!

[sunshinestarr]

Just want to mention - I have read that epsom salt is poisonous if taken internally - please be careful! I would just keep that in the bath!

[Michelle Ketchem]

It says on the box I have that it is okay to take internally and on one of the other threads on here is says to put a pinch in each glass of water you drink. If someone could confirm that it would be great. Thanks

sunshinestarr said:

Just want to mention - I have read that epsom salt is poisonous if taken internally - please be careful! I would just keep that in the bath!

[sunshinestarr]

Ok, if the box says it's ok then I totally recant! :) Someone on a list I'm on told me this. Anyone else know anything?

[Shannon]

I've heard of the sulfate being rough on the gut - and you can't really absorb it internally anyway. I just switched from mag citrate tablets to naturalcalm. Wow, that naturalcalm is good stuff! I mix it into chamomile tea with a spoonful of raw honey before bed. Yum, tastes like hot lemonade :)

For fermented anything, you can pretty much do any veggie plus salt in a jar on the counter, let sit until it tastes good. You want liquid to cover it so it doesn't get moldy. That liquid can come from the veggie itself (like sauerkraut or shredded carrots) or you can add salt water (like pickles). It's really fun, easy, and addictive. If you're nervous, start with a small batch. Or a bunch of small batches, and do something a little different with each (locations/spices/liquid/salt, etc).

It sounds like you'd do well with a food journal. For the reactions, If they're not life threatening or making you crazy, just make a note of them in the food journal and move on with life. Come back every once in a while and look for patterns.

[Michelle Ketchem]

What kind do you get? I see they have a nursing moms kind and a baby calm should I get both one for me and one for dd is one adequate for both of us? Thanks for the recommendation!

Shannon said:

I've heard of the sulfate being rough on the gut - and you can't really absorb it internally anyway. I just switched from mag citrate tablets to naturalcalm. Wow, that naturalcalm is good stuff! I mix it into chamomile tea with a spoonful of raw honey before bed. Yum, tastes like hot lemonade :)

[Shannon]

I just have the plain unflavored kind for myself, and try to give dd a small amount of it, too. I haven't looked at the other kinds to know how they're different.

Michelle Ketchem said:

What kind do you get? I see they have a nursing moms kind and a baby calm should I get both one for me and one for dd is one adequate for both of us? Thanks for the recommendation!

[Michelle Ketchem]

It has 200mg vit. c, 4mg elemental zinc and 150mcg folic acid in the mama one which is good right? The baby calm has 100mg of vitamin c in it. Do I bother with these or just go for the regular?

Shannon said:

I just have the plain unflavored kind for myself, and try to give dd a small amount of it, too. I haven't looked at the other kinds to know how they're different.

[Shannon]

I just discovered rose hip infusions for vitamin C (with hibiscus, served with fresh mint, yum), and folic acid works against me because of my mthfr gene. I still like the plain stuff for me :)