Help! I have to take dairy, soya, eggs, bread and more out of my diet!!

[Honeymoonmummy]

Hi all,

I have just seen a paediatrician with my DS who is 28 weeks and has reacted to dairy, eggs and a few other things by coming out in a rash, itching and irritable. He has said he needs to get DS skin back to 'normal' before doing skin spot tests and so I have to give up the following (am BF):

Cows milk products
Soya
Goats milk products
Eggs
Wheat
Gluten
(possibly yeast? - he didn't mention)
Nuts

I need lots of advice and quick as to what the hell I CAN eat, other than potatoes, rice, veg and meat!!

Also he told me to use rice milk, not oat milk - didn't rice milk have some arsenic scare?

What can I have for a snack, other than fruit?

Is there any kind of bread I can have?

[oopslateagain]

Better than rice milk is Kira - it's made with coconuts but doesn't taste like it. It's really nice!

You can buy wheat and gluten-free bread in Sainsburys and Tesco's (look in the Free From section), probably in ASDA too. You can also buy Nairn Oatcakes there which are lovely crackers, and corn cakes - like rice cakes but with corn, they are really nice.

Buy an olive-oil based margarine-type spread.

Snack on dried fruit, crisps made from sweet potato (I can't remember where I bought them but they are lovely), and don't forget you ARE allowed real dark chocolate - just check the label to make sure there is NO milk in it. Green & Black's dark chocolate with ginger is gorgeous!

[pointydog]

And you weren't given any diet information? I'd phone up and ask. What's the point of saying you have to avoid eating all that and then not give you details of what you can eat instead?

[Honeymoonmummy]

Thanks oops. Someone in RL has told me that wheat and gluten free bread usually contains eggs? And I hate dark choc!

[Honeymoonmummy]

Why would he say not oat milk? Does it contain gluten??

[Honeymoonmummy]

I know Pointy. That's paeds for you! He is sending a letter out so that may contain more info

[jicky]

Well oats have gluten, so guess the milk would too.

Be careful with gluten free bread - check it is also wheat free as you have been told to avoid wheat - some might be made with wheat with gluten removed.

I had no dairy, eggs and wheat for similar reasons with ds1, but never had a problem with soya, so didn't really find it too hard - just very healthy!

[freefrommum]

Poor you, that's quite a list! Don't panic, it's not as bad as it sounds. All the major supermarkets have 'free from' ranges theses days and you'll need to become an expert at reading ingredients lists but it won't take long! I can't imagine there would be any reason to cut out yeast. I'm surprised the doctor said to drink rice milk instead of oat milk because, as you said, rice milk does contain small amounts of arsenic (OK for adults but not recommended for children, although I'm guessing the amount that would transfer into breast milk would be miniscule). You'll get lots of great advice on her from all the expert allergy mums. I can come up with up plenty of suggestions for milk, wheat, egg, nut and gluten free but it's the soya that I struggle with as my 2 can both eat soya. I'll have a think and try to come up with some suggestions asap. There's a bread called Ener-G that's free from all of the above, you can get it online but I think they also sell it in some Sainsburys. However, I'm not sure what it tastes like and you'd probably be better off making your own in a bread maker (one of the other MNers will be able to give you a recipe I'm sure).

[freefrommum]

Oats don't naturally contain gluten but they do contain a very similar protein which some coeliacs still react to plus they are often contaminated with gluten from other cereals. Many coeliacs are able to eat pure, uncontaminated oats but I don't know whether or not oat milk contains pure oats. Sorry, I know it's all a bit confusing!

[inmysparetime]

Marshmallows and haribo are good sugar fixes with no allergens in, also honey, jam etc on rice cakes makes them palatable. Homemade popcorn has no allergens either.
How long do you need to do it for? It's a lot of things to cut out of a diet if you still want all your micronutrients. Vitamin tablets often contain milk and gluten, vitamin drops might help.

[inmysparetime]

Risotto would be ok, or paella, but you'd have to be careful of wheat or milk in stock cubes (knorr have milk, no wheat, oxo have wheat, no milk)

[Honeymoonmummy]

Oh thank god for mumsnet and marshmallows!!! I'm off to sainsburys as soon as the children are asleep; as long as I can get some form of milk and some cereal (and marshmallows!) I'll be happy!!

Can I make flapjacks then with pure oats? Are Jordans chunky oats pure oats??

[DorisIsAPinkDragon]

you can get free from type stock cubes

With regard to dark choc when I started down the dairy free route I didn't like it either now I prefer it! (Lidl do a some good ones at a reasonable price and check with green and blacks as some of the do contain dairy).

Houmous would be good as a topping for rice and corn cakes (and tasty too)

[Honeymoonmummy]

Inmysparetime, I have to do it for 2 weeks then reintroduce slowly.

Doris, DS has reacted to houmous too - I suspect the paed just forgot to add that one to the list!!!

[edam]

That's a seriously restricted diet. Doctor should have at least given you a diet sheet, if not a referral to a dietitian. How the hell are you supposed to eat a healthy diet when you have to exclude several major food groups with no advice about what you can actually eat?

May be worth looking up the Dr Hales website - I can't remember the URL but he's the expert's expert on b/f and medicine inter-actions, might have something to say about b/f and allergies. I don't know which molecules cross from mother's diet into b/milk but I bet Dr Hales does (and I wonder whether the paed does, tbh - just because someone's a paed doesn't mean they automatically know an awful lot about b/f, sadly).

[LackaDAISYcal]

I guessed this was you!
I can't link anything from my phone, but once sh has gone to bed I'll steal his laptop and send you a proper message.
In response to a couple of points here:
Pure oats can usually only be found in the free from sections. Sainsbos and Tesco do an own brand and waitress sell some by delicious alchemy which are the nicest as they are chunk.
I would imagine that oatmilk is made from normal oats, not pure so contamination may be an issue.
Gf doesn't always mean wheat free; codex wheat starch (gluten but not wheat free) is used in some bread and in things like pringles. If its a wheat allergy rather than gluten intolerance this will make a huge difference.
Phone is doing bonkers things now so have to wind up, but do you remember barbareeba from the Nov 08 thread? she went through similar with her DS. I'll see if I can. point her in this direction.

tomorrow though get on to your gp for advice and a referral to a dietician.

good luck and I hope DS is better soon. xx

[inmysparetime]

Ready salted crisps are allergen free (potato crisps are anyway, sadly not sunbites or pombear)
You can make "flapjacks" out of rice crispies (kelloggs are gluten free) add cocoa powder, golden syrup and raisins and you'll have a job making them last more than a day.
Fruit flakes (in the lunchbox section of the supermarket) are good for adding to dull cereal, or just eating from the packet. In fact Hunzingers make nice allergen free fruit based snacks generally.

[greenbananas]

Roast dinners
Risotto
Home-made meat pies with veg and roasties
Chicken, broccoli and rice
Steak and chips
Sausages, beans and mash (but check the ingredients of the sausages)
Casseroles, stewed meat, pot roasts

I know this sounds daunting, but you will probably have to cook almost everything from scratch, as the ready-made stuff is rarely free from dairy, wheat and soya etc. Have you got a slow-cooker? (Also, as others have said, don't forget to check stock cubes)

Snacks are even more difficult , but popcorn is a good idea.
Hummus and carrot/cucumber sticks (but sesame is a commonish allergen)
Also, rice cakes (but they do taste a bit like cardboard, even with toppings on...)

Bless you, I know this is hard, because I have done it. I lost quite a bit of weight. You have my sympathy!!!

Hope your DS improves quickly.

[greenbananas]

Yes, inmysparetime is right, those rice crispie cakes are lovely! And plain crisps are also a good option (but check ingredients). And the Co-op sell roast root veg crisps which sound revolting but are actually very lovely.

[greenbananas]

For margarine, you can use Pure spread or Vitalite (available in supermarkets).

Another snack idea: rice pudding made with rice milk and served cold with oodles of jam and/or stewed fruit. This is nicer than it sounds.
(I know there are concerns about the low levels of arsenic in rice milk - it should not be given as a main drink to young children as the arsenic accumulates in their little bodies - but as freefrommum says, traces of occasional traces are unlikely to cause a a problem for your ebf DS)

Proteins from your diet do get into your breastmilk (hence the NICE guidelines about exclusion diets for breastfeeding mothers), but I wouldn't worry too much about 'may contain traces' at this stage. The amount of a 'trace' that gets through will be miniscule.

[Honeymoonmummy]

[Waves to Lackadaisycal] I know, I've rather given myself away haven't
I?

Thanks all for the advice and support, the rice krispie cakes will be prepared tomorrow to cheer me up, got 3 big bags of marshmallows from the supermarket!!

[CantSleepWontSleep]

Sympathies hmm. I think long term living with all of those exclusions would be pretty hard, but a few weeks should be quite do-able.

Did you get the cake book that we all raved about the other year? Masses of dairy, gluten and soya free recipes in there, and I assume that you could use egg replacer in place of the egg in her recipes. Ah actually just spotted nuts on your list, and many of her recipes have ground almonds in. I can give you the coconut cake recipe if you like though, as that one is nut free (coconuts don't count as a nut do they??).

I second the recommendation for Kira coconut milk. It's my milk of choice for on cereal.

I would think that rice crispies and cornflakes would be fine for cereal, and you can always snack on cereal too. There's something quite lovely about a bowl of cereal in the evening.

I'd prob skip bread altogether tbh. I love bread and find it hard to give up, but you do get used to it after not very long.

Suggest meals such as

• cottage pie and veg
  
• spag bol with gluten free pasta
  
• fish pie and veg
  
• lamb casserole
  
• beef or veg chilli
  
• fish and chips (obv fish not in batter or breadcrumbs)
  
• steak and chips
  
• chicken casserole and rice
  
• stir fry made from veg, lemon and garlic marinaded chicken and rice
  
• sweet potato falafel (without the sprinkling of sesame seeds)
  
• baked potatoes with eg makerel fillets in tomato sauce
  

I wouldn't risk making flapjacks at all if you need to be sure of eliminating possible allergens tbh.

[Honeymoonmummy]

Thanks CSWS. You're right, a few weeks is far less daunting. My heart goes out to anyone who has to do this long-term (and I hope it's not me!!!)

[jicky]

Dont think kelloggs rice crispies are gluten free. The barley malt extract may contain small amounts of Gluten. Even their own web site doesn't say they are gluten free.

You can get special gluten free cereals - but these may contain traces of things like nuts.

I think if you really want to avoid everything you will need to avoid any processed products. Most manufacturers use something you are trying to avoid and so there is a contamination risk. As this is being passed via breast milk you might find that the things saying 'may contain traces of' are safe. I expect manufactures cover themselves to some degree in case they sometimes change the production line.

[inmysparetime]

Jicky, I would think crispies have at most trace amounts of gluten, and are gluten free enough that none would get into BM. I agree that for coeliac sufferers, even a possible trace might be too much, but I would think in this case, lack of "contains" all those things would be fine, rather than getting hung up on "may contain traces of".

[jicky]

I agree that 'may contain traces of' can probably be ignored, but rice krispies contain barley malt which does contain gluten, albeit probably at very low levels overall in cereal.