Any Vegetables?

[alice]

everyone says limited amounts for veggies, and I think I understand, but not 100%...
If the amounts are once or twice a week, does that mean, they can have for example:(I know it would be only of if the specific veggies agree with her)

broccoli Mon/ asparagus Tues./ cabbage Wed./ beans Thurs./ brussell sprouts Fri./ spinach Sat./ cucumbers Sun.... and so on...

That is how I think it would work. Add some lettuce to a sandwich once in a while, pickles at lunch, etc...

Does this sound right, again only if they are agreeable to the person eating them??

[kristen]

No Alice. This is where I had a ton of confusion at first too!

It doesn't really matter the item (except to the extent that something like a cucumber has almost no fructose and broccoli has alot compared to the other items on the limit list). The item will kinda dictate the portion size.

What you need to do is figure out what the tolerance level is. Let's say 1 serving (say about 1/4 cup) of broccoli/week. Well then that may be roughly equal to something like 1 serving of oatmeal and 1 serving of wax beans per week which may also be roughly equal to 4 servings of rhubarb, etc.

The hard part is that what I am describing is an indivindual tolerance. Really what you need to do is test or (sorry) expirament with different portions and 'hopefully' safe items for Ele.

You'll need to make sure that whenever you test that you only offer one thing, because 1 serving of brocolli is one thing, and one serving of brocolli + a serving of rhubarb yesterday is different.

What seems to be the magic number is 3-4 days between tests/trials to make sure things are tolerated. There is a weird delay in reaction that occurs with different items for different people, and then there is the 'detox' period, that varies a bit too...and you'll need to make sure the body is cleaned out before adding more, or you'll end up with a compounding affect.

So when all is said & done, I think you'll come up with a list (and a portions size) that is tolerated such that you will be able to offer Ele 2 limited items per week.

We haven't gotten there yet, so my last statement is a guess based on what I've gathered from the conversations here. Please let me know if I've got something wrong...

KJ

[Tammy]

Sorry to say Alice, but Kristen is exactly right. Regina can have a VEGETABLE only once or twice a week. So if she has broccoli today, she can have brussel sprouts next weekend. And it's only a small portion. (maybe 3 or 4 florets)
And the same is true with the oatmeal. If she eats oatmeal say 3 or 4 times that week, then she can't have any vege at all that weekend.
Potatoes and cucumbers are her exceptions. She can eat those every day without a problem and I don't consider them when/if I let her have broccoli (that's her favorite)

Now I know that your first reaction will be to think she needs veges every day. But this is NOT true for HFI. We even had a hard time getting Kristen to change her thinking on this one. It's been so pushed on us for so long, that everyone has a hard time with it. But for HFI, it's like poisioning the body. Apparantly since they process things differently, they really don't need the same things. Regina doesn't take any vitamins because back in the old days, I couldn't find any that didn't have something in. And she never gets the normal sickies. She went all through school and rarely even caught the other kids bugs. And when she does get a cold, it's over in half the time it takes me to get over it. If I'm down a week, she's over it in 2-3 days.

So this is another good reason to not try to have the whole household eat the HFI way. We always have "her" stuff and "our" stuff. And she's done this her entire life, so she doesn't even think twice about it. She knows she'll get sick, and she doesn't like getting sick, so she doesn't want to eat it. Now I'm not quite as hard hearted as this may sound. When she can't have veges, I don't make broccoli and tease her. I'll make us corn or peas or something that she never has. Then she just eats the meat and potatoes and the corn isn't a temptation.

Our hardest problem is going to the local ice cream shop in the summer. We get ice cream and she gets soda and chips. But we have solved that now. Now we take her 2 dogs along. Now we get ice cream, and she gets ice cream and feeds it to her babies. And this is actually fun because you wouldn't believe the looks on people's faces when we're not paying attention and she just leans down and lets the dogs eat her ice cream cone! Of course she gets her ice cream or pudding or what ever when we get home.
Tammy

[nancyrandall]

Just wanted to let people know our trick when we are out for ice cream. We went to the fair yesterday and we had ice cream but, Zander had a snow cone (ask if it is plain ice or if they sugar it because some do add sugar first, like DQ). Then just ask for it plain. I then bring pixie sticks or fun dip and we shake it on. I have also added pixie sticks or fun dip to just a little water and then put it on top just like they do.

I was very scared to go to the state fair but, with a little planning everything went fine. We found a pasta place and he had buttered noodles for lunch. I packed some donuts (this was a big surprise that he did not know I made and has not had for a long time). He had the snow cone and crackers later. I also found some candy at the gas station last week like runts that he could have and when one of the booths gave him some candy I traded him.

We also limit veggies to once a week. As a baby/toddler he was sick a lot. In the last year (on the diet) he never needed to see a doctor (except for our HFI questions) and was only sick once with the flu. I can't say the same for the rest of the house.

Nancy

[kristen]

Nancy what a smarty pants! Great tip!!!

On the sick thing: Coley just had his first winter fructose-free AND flu/rsv shot free. Technically he was strong enough to avoid the RSV shots, so no issue there, but the FLU shot I opted not to do because of the sucrose content. I FINALLY had a "strike one up for Mom" moment! NO sickies this past winter!!! NOT the case in previous years!

KJ

[Chelsea]

We are the odd folk here, we do use a small amount of legumes. Back when "we didn't get the diet" I would occasionally give her hummus as a dip and she loved it. I remember looking at the package and seeing that it said 0gr of sugar so I thought we were fine, until I learned if they don't know the sugar content they just call it zero. She has always tolerated it well, so we never removed it from her diet. It is still very limited, as is the peanut butter. She didn't do as well with soy milk, even the unsweetened variety but that may have something to do with quantity.

Cucumber is our only constant, something I do not have to limit. Maybe in time I will find another but like Regina, Gillianne has her food and we have ours. I try to balance meal planing so that every few days we have a veggie she can have. She could care less when the rest of the family eats dorn and she can't have it, corn has never been a good experience for her, prior to diagnosis.

Since Tammy mentioned vitamins, I will also say we did finally find one that she can have. It is made with some brown rice powder but she does fine with it. Crazy since she can't tolerate oatmeal. With Gilliane's combined issues, vitamins were a bit more essential for her, otherwise I would not have worried much.

As for being sick, well, I am just praying for a bit better winter for us. We had 4 hospital admissions last year for acidosis from stomach bugs, for which hit her hard and they won't allow her discharge until she is at a 50% normal diet. Fingers crossed this year.