Should my daughter go dairy free?

[chuffinalong]

Hi, my 12 year old daughter is 5 foot 6 and is over weight by about 1 stone. She also gets spots and has frequent tummy aches. She is fully developed and started her periods over a year ago. I've been reading about the health implications of dairy, and think she would benefit from giving it up. I was going to do a trial for 3 months, then see if there is any difference in her skin, stomach aches and weight. I'm also doing it as I have PCOS, eczema and I get spots.
The problem is with my daughter, I think it's going to be really hard to get enough calcium into her. There isn't that much she will eat of the calcium rich non dairy foods. She'll eat baked beans, nuts, homies, dried fruit and she'll drink orange juice. Anything veg related would have to be blended so she couldn't see/ taste it. She has learning disabilities and possible autism and doesn't like change or trying new things. I don't know if I'm just going to end up making life extremely difficult for myself and weather or not it would be worth it?

I say dairy and gluten (it's controversial but try it for a week and see how she feels).

I gave both up around her age and grew an inch within 4 months and my skin cleared! I also lost a lot of bloat which made me feel more active and far less lethargic.

I'm not celiac but gluten sensitive, which is harder to test for. It gives me terrible tummy aches if I eat something like pizza. I get bloated and sleepy. I also developed a rare eczema on my fingers after a while which really pushed me to make those dietary changes. Aim to try it our during the holidays, otherwise it's too hard to monitor what she eats at school or at her friends house.

Thank you. 😊

I know that going dairy free can contribute to weight loss as I've been dairy free for 7 weeks now. But in regards to the tummy aches, i would either look into getting an intolerance test, as it might not be dairy. My sister is intolerant to only cows milk protein so can have goats or sheeps milk and cheese but nothing from a cow, not even the meat.

The issue is, as I'm sure you know, that children with special needs, can be massively particular about their food and like you said, change is hardly ever taken well.

I would probably speak to your gp and get advice and a course of action or a referral regarding the stomach aches.

Sorry if that's not much help!

Me and other members of my family have had very positive results with www.testyourintolerance.com which had helped with some outright allergies and some minor irritations regarding food.

Do you think she could get enough calcium with her diet? Oh and she'll also eat eggs and salmon, but no other animal products.

Try giving her chia seeds, they have more calcium than milk. They're great in a smoothie! "There are 233 milligrams in a 3-tablespoon serving, which is almost the same amount of calcium as found in 1 cup of milk (299 milligrams)."

Thank you, I think that's very sensible. I know she doesn't like change, but seems to be responding well to the dairy free. She's been telling her friends apparently that it's not good for you and when they argue, she's told them "you don't need to unless you are a baby cow." 😂 She must have heard someone say that...

Thank you BeanBabies.

Just to clarify, I mean more calcium than milk for an equal quantity of each. A cup of chia seeds vs. a cup of milk. Hope it helps!

I think I'll have both of us intolerance tested, maybe my DH as well, but I doubt he'd stick to anything that limited his diet..

Thank you, I've tried them on their own and they are pretty vile, although they are probably not meant to be eaten like that, I'll try them in a smoothie.