website for special dietary needs

[tiredmummyneedswineandsleep]

hi all my ds is currently on a gf/cf diet and just found a link to this site which is local to me and has some fab products.
hope it's useful to someonee.

www.dietaryneedsdirect.co.uk/

Thanks.

Goodness Direct can be good too.

I have used them both for a few years now.

Good to add another site to my list - although when i put in sucrose and fructose free, the first product had apple juice and possibly berries!

that is a good site. I just read about phenols. I think silverfrog briefly mentioned apples a while ago but I can't remember. Out of curiosity, do those of you with ASD kids on a gf/cf diet avoid apples, grapes etc and has it made a difference?

yes, i probably mentioned apples

dds are gf/cf (dd1 is ASD, dd2 possibly AS, but gf/cf just suits her better)

I also avoid for them:

sweetners/flavourings (inc natural) and MSG. all colourings and preservatives.

also, apples, citrus fruits, and too many berries (dd1 used to live for blueberries. I had to break the habit due to expense!, and when I did i noticed she had withdrawal. So i reckon phenols/salicylates are an issue for her. I haven't investigated fully though - keep meaning to)

interestingly, I used to buy Genius bread for her. Recently, she had a different type (Dietary Specials Rustic Rolls) at a party, and her poo the next day was so much better.

so no more Genius bread, and the difference in her bowel movements has been enormous. she is also possibly trying to toilet train for poos (thought she wasn't before due to fear of pooing on toilet. seems the general mushy consistency of poos (sorry, TMI!) wasn't helping her at all. Watch this space...)

dd1 also can't cope with a lot of nuts. she loves them, but she gets very insistent on having them - usually a sure sign that something isn't right.

I try to avoid fish for her too. our fish stocks are totally up the creek, and the heavy metal loads are just too much for her.

Interesting Silverfrog , Not TMI - going through similar situation myself. Still trying to work out what is causing 'consistency' problems so it helps with toilet training.

It all always comes bqck to talking poos

The bread change was interesting, though. We went to a party where they had thoughtfully catered.for the dds - clearly a random selection (no judgement, am very grateful they even tried) of gf products from the nearest supermarket.

I thought "what the hell, let her have them - its a party" (am usually completely controlling about her food, but was obviously having an off day!)

So, dd1 had: new type of bread, and several () cakes, a couple of different sorts. It was just so nice to see her taking a proper part on the party. - she joined in games, had great fun etc, it seemed nicer to let her join in with the food too for once.

Anyway, due to sugar overload (does usually sit well with her), plus all kinds of flavourings etc in the cakes, I thought her overnight nappy would be foul and rancid the next morning. It wasn't. And all, it appears after further testing, down to changing the bread. Amazing.

And since then, she has become a little more regular re: pooing. She used to hold on, and only use her night nappy (she is dry in the day, and uses the toilet for wees happily)

Now, she usually.poos twice a day - after tea/before bed (we are working on getting this in the toilet!) and first thing in the morning as usual. All good poo consistency usually. I would say that now, 90% of her poos are good consistency, and don't smell rancid like they used to.

So hopefully, we might make some progress on the poo training front!

What is the difference between the 2 breads ?

that's the interesting (and confusing!) bit,

ingedients as follows:

genius bread: Water, Potato Starch, Cornflour, Vegetable Oil, Tapioca Starch, Egg White, Rice Bran, Cellulose, Sugar, Yeast, Salt, Stabiliser (Xanthan Gum), Rice Flour - the vegetable oil is rapeseed oil, apparently.

dietary specials: Water, maize starch, rice flour 6.8%, linseeds 5.9%, wholemeal rice flour 4.6%, sunflower seeds 4.28%, sugar beet syrup, buckwheat flour, vegetable fat (non-hydrogenated palm fat), thickeners: guar gum and hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose, potato starch, yeast, apple juice concentrate, salt, soya protein isolate, antioxidant: tartaric acid

the DS bread has stuff in that normally I would avoid (probably why I had never bouight it for her before - the apple juice, wholemeal rice flour).

I thikn it might be the linseed making all the difference to dd1, but that is just a guess.

I originally thought it might be a cross contamination issue, but apparently Genius bread is made in a totally gluten/dairy free site, so it shouldn't be a contamination issue in the facotry. maybe their flours aren't pure, though, so the contamination could come form their flour suppliers? it's a mystery.

It's weird isn't it. If you were going to pick one of these off the shelf i would have gone for the genius bread too. Just shows you eh? [hsmile]

Could it be the egg Silverfrog? DS2 has rancid poos (as well as eczema) if he has egg. And is cornflour gf?

Do you avoid grapes? DS2 only eats bananas and grapes (he will eat strawberries and blueberries at a pinch, but we avoid them for the same reason as you). But I've read quite a bit which suggests that grapes are not great - as much down to the high pesticide load as anything else.

Having said all that DS2's poos are fine - he's been on digestive enzymes since July and we haven't had a single rancid one since then. However, I've just done a three week trial without the enzymes and there's been no change - possibly slightly softer - but nothing major at all. He is also pooing independently in the loo every night (and even attempting, with some success, to use paper/wipes) - this definitely started when we began the enzymes.

It's all a mystery isn't it?

don't think it's egg - she is fine with spanish omelette (one of her favourite things, actually, which does cause me to a little - new favourites are always viewed with suspicion!)

bananas aren't supposed to be that great, either, are they?

it's such a minefield.

dd1 does eat banana, grapes - pretty much any fruit she can get ehr hands on (I don't allow citrus as goes straight through her, and very limited apple - like once every 3 months or so she shares a couple of wedges with dd2). she did have some grapes at the weekend, and her poo is a little on the softer side again. hmm, must pay attention. I tend to limit "other" fruits - eg grapes, berries etc - she has a few for a couple of days and then I scoff the rest

we used to have dd1 on digestive enzymes (what ones are you using?), along with a truckload of other supplements, but that fell by the wayside a bit.

I am keen to get her back to a nutritionist though - we held back a bit so as to give school time to work/measure success in one field at a time stuff.

Ooh brilliant - we can come to you for advice!
We were giving him Kristazyme - as I said it did coincide with his poos getting a lot better (though they weren't bad before, just occasionally awful when he'd eaten something restricted). But at the same time I did an overhaul of the other supplements he was taking - cut down on the dosage of most of them, as he wasn't managing to get through them all and we were wasting huge amounts of money. As a result he started getting a more consistent amount - and because I'd done my own research, rather than relying on the telephone advice of a nutritionist - I felt able to tweak amounts as needed, eg. increase magnesium if he was constipated. 'Treating Autism' has been a great source of info. So whether the improvements we've seen have been down to
the enzymes or the overhaul of the other supplements, who can say? We did find that when he was on the enzymes his mood wasn't always great - he sometimes seemed very tired and withdrawn. Since he stopped them he's been consistently happy and engaged. So I reckon it's worth softer poos!

I wish I could come to Growing Minds, just to meet up with everyone. It was such a great group last time. Excited about SW coming here - but also a bit scared! We're not doing a formal programme at all now - and SW does love his fast trials!