mild reflux - gone dairy free but soooo hungry

[golemmings]

Sorry - it all got a bit long. In summary the question is

No meat, no soya, no dairy and no brassicas. I'm bloody starving. What can I eat and where do I get calcium.

The full details are:

DS 9 is 8 weeks, ebf and has mild reflux. It was diagnosed by cranial osteopath at 3 weeks but we were fobbed off by first gp who told us he had a virus and confirmed by second gp at 6 week check but he wouldn't prescribe gaviscon (I was so that I stupidly forgot to ask why.

I was veggie for many years but began to eat white fish when dd was weaned a couple of years ago. I still don't like fishy fish iyswim - cod, haddock ok; salmon and monkfish tolerable and I don't go any more fishy than that.

I have now given up dairy which seems to have made a difference to ds but have deliberately not substituted soya in case that adversely affects him. I had already given up brassicas to try and help.

Over the last week of reading packets I now find I cannot eat white bread or quorn products, tofu...

I feel as though I am living on baked beans and peanut butter, peas, sweetcorn, beans, pulses, fruit and veg. AND I'M SO HUNGRY ALL THE TIME.

Has anybody got any good vegan or fish-without-dairy recipes?
Can somebody please tell me that I'll get used to eating less and stop being hungry? and
Where do I get calcium from?

many thanks!

I bake my own bread with a breadmaker, omit the milk in the recipe and it's fine. Also tend to have porridge made with oatly milk for breakfast, tastes better than when made with normal milk. You can find it in the long life milk section. Looks vile in tea though, for that I use kara coconut milk.

You can try baking fish with olive oil and herbs, add a squeeze of lemon at end. The other thing is do is bake a huge vegan cake all for myself for the bf munchies. They tend to be easy one bowl recipes and don't take much time to bake.

Both oatly and kara are calcium enriched. I supplement it with lots of greens like spinach. Get pure or vitalite spread, good for cooking and baking too.

Also tesco online has a large free from range inc dairy and soya free bread.

Wander over to allergies thread for some more advice - lots of experts on exclusion diets there. From my own experience (and dreadful memory), you can get calcium from:

• Fish like sardines and anything with wee bones in (I know you won't like them! But you could mix with lots of veg and have on a jacket potato...). I used to do this for DS when he was weaning and dairy free.
• Soy beans are full of calcium - I seem to remember that many beans and pulses are good for calcium and protein. You can get big frozen bags in Waitrose.
• Green leafy veg - e.g. spinach, kale etc - actually have more calcium in than dairy products...

I was referred to a dietician when I had to exclude loads of stuff while breastfeeding and given some really useful leaflets on what you get out of which foods, but I've lost them all sorry!

One other thing I remember being suggested was to add olive oil to absolutely everything - its easy calories. (Also did this for DS when he was weaning and had poor weight gain because of his own exclusions).

Having said all of that, I could happily live off brown toast and peanut butter so I found it surprisingly easy to exclude things except for the 6 weeks where a consultant convinced me my son was allergic to nuts (he isn't). I also ate a LOT of hummus.

Good luck.

Hi there
I went through just the same thing. its a horror when you start doing this and don't know what to eat!

I second Oatly - if you buy the calcium enriched its a bonus. Oatly makes good porridge which is lovely and filling. Oatly cream is actually rather nice and works for pasta sauces and the like.
I used 'pure' sunflower spread
And lastly, don't panic about making bread! I found the finest breads in tesco contain no soya flour.
I found tealoaf a really good thing to make to stuff in my mouth when I was starving. As flapjack made with pure spread, as well as cake with pure spread for the 'butter icing'.