My husband, Tony, and I settled into a new way of eating from all I had learned through my healing journey, in school, and my job at a health food store. Experimentation never left my side in the kitchen, especially as I worked at a store that had all the latest products, talked to customers and fellow employees about nutrition and ideas. Most of this continued experimentation surrounded my smaller needs of alternative foods, mostly gluten and dairy free options.
When Tony and I decided to start a family I was excited about this new chapter in our lives, and before we knew it we were welcoming a beautiful baby boy. I noticed soon into my son’s life that he was struggling with colic symptoms and nasal congestion; which meant more crying and a lot less sleep for our whole house. I was not thrown by the nasal congestion at first, figuring because he was a March baby it was most likely a cold. After noticing more patterns, my nutrition brain started to kick in and I started to eliminate some foods from my diet to see if that would create a positive change. This meant no more occasional wheat based products, no more dairy, which at that time I was only getting from my fermented cheese, and no more eggs. Eggs were new to my ‘not to eat list', so I started experimenting with what I could do without eggs. I was sad to see the eggs go, as they had become my morning breakfast with some sauerkraut or kimchi.
All the food changes ended up being very helpful and made a big difference in my son’s body. The eczema that was starting to develop disappeared, his nasal congestion went away, and his overall sleep and attitude improved.
We had it all figured out, but then it came time to start introducing solid food. I started simple, avoiding all the foods that I wasn’t able to eat while nursing him, and we kept a watchful eye on the typical spots that his eczema would pronounce itself if food was not agreeing with him. With time the final list looked like this:
No Dairy
No Gluten
No Eggs
No Tomatoes
No Tree nuts
No Mangoes
No Citrus fruits (oranges, grapefruit, lemon or lime)
No Oats
No Strawberries
Food has been a complex part of our lives for the last 2+ years. None of the trigger foods for him are allergies, rather sensitivities, so we would try introducing foods back here and there and see how his body would respond. It’s been hit or miss so far, but I have learned some great strategies along the way and have started to cultivate some new family staple recipes. Most of the new recipes are created from 3-4 different recipes as a starting point and then altered to make it the best possible alternative.
We are still continuing to work through these food sensitivities, but all this has led me to the desire to help those who are struggling with having to alter their diet. I know not everyone that needs to make changes for themselves or their loved ones are wanting to put years of trial and error into finding the best substitutions they can find for their family. This area of health food will continue to change as we learn about better alternatives and more options become available on the market.
Join me as I continue to explore and experiment through different food allergies/sensitivities so that I can share some of the wisdom (and errors) I have accumulated in almost 10 years of personal exploration of substituting ingredients. I hope I can support you on making your dietary changes easier and more delicious!
Interested in getting some salad dressing recipes.