As I served up a meal of fried lamb, steamed carrots, peas and broccoli the other night I had to chuckle as my 3 year old daughter exclaimed “yum broccoli, thanks Mum”. It’s not what you think, she is no poster child for veggie eating. She is instead a child who exists on a modified diet. Seeing a bit of broccoli on her plate was not a disaster in her mind, it was a tremendous treat because she is only allowed to eat very few fruits and vegetables.

It all started with her younger sister, baby number two who woke regularly 8-9 times a night, hysterical and often inconsolable. Each morning I would find her skin red and often bleeding in her cot, having scratched herself like a madwoman through the night. Early on I took my poor little mite to see my GP who diagnosed eczema and prescribed Cortisone cream which I applied religiously. I changed the washing powder I used, the soap I bathed her in, the lotions and creams I moisturized her skin with or used to treat nappy rash. Despite all the effort lots of areas on her skin were regularly red raw, inflamed and itchy, no matter what I did. The problem soon got so bad I had to sew up the sleeves on her clothing and sleeping bags and had to watch her like a hawk throughout the day to stop her hurting herself. Several trips back to the GP produced the same diagnosis and prescription. The baby’s older sister had suffered with red itchy skin for sometime too but nothing like this. Cortizone cream prescribed for her too did little to help her either, but it was all I had.

Finally as I was plumbing the depths of despair a friend mentioned that her cousin had three kids with similar problems. She said the cause of their red skin and eczema had turned out to be food. Skeptical but desperate I made an appointment with an allergy clinic.

By the time my appointment came around both my children were in a bad way. My then 2½ yr old had developed large red itchy patches behind her knees and on many other areas of her body and was often in pain with it. The baby continued to scratch herself at any opportunity because her skin was so itchy and cried constantly with the discomfort.

At the allergy clinic both girls were tested for food allergies. The older one came back with a no allergy result, whilst the baby showed evidence of a milk allergy. The clinic explained that it was very common for food to aggravate eczema and other conditions including behavior amongst the children they see. They suspected a food intolerance may very well be at the bottom of the severe eczema the baby had and also the cause of her self mutilation habits and sleep problems. Her older sister was also suspected to have a food intolerance.

It turns out that a food intolerance (a non allergic reaction to a food) is very common. To find out if my kids had a food intolerance the allergy clinic recommended a food challenge. This entailed going on a limited diet of low allergy foods for a short time to see if the eczema calmed down. That meant I had to go on the diet too (as my baby was then 7 months and fully breastfed and getting what I ate through the breast milk) along with my older daughter. For what seemed like an eternity (and was actually only 3 weeks or so) we ate bland foods such as, preservative-free bread, pasta and rice with bland vegetables like cabbage and choko with no herbs, oils or sauces to flavour them. It was tough to say the least but what happened next was life-changing for us all.

Two weeks after cutting out everything coloured, flavoured, processed and with high natural chemical content, the baby’s skin began to calm and her sleeping started to improve. Her sisters skin, that had shown constant irritation and caused her a great deal of pain was clear of eczema and normal for the first time in months. I couldn’t believe my eyes. I kept a food diary of everything that went in our mouths and the result of this if any on their skin and general disposition.

Back at the clinic, after pawing over the food diary in intricate detail, the diagnosis by the professionals was that it looked like both girls had an intolerance to salicylates. Yes, I know what you are going to say next “what are salicylates? I had no idea either. Salicylates are natural chemicals that occur in most fruit and vegetables and are not harmful at all to the general population. Some people can tolerate large amounts in their diets, my daughters unfortunately can’t tolerate much. They eat fruit and vegetables in small quantities unless they are bland tasting ones like potato and cabbage.

You may think, if you have read this far that it sounds like a nightmare to modify your whole diet. Well, truth is it is not easy but the life of my entire family has changed for the better just by altering what we eat and the trouble has been entirely worth it. My kids are now happy, healthy, almost eczema free and sleeping through the night. I am a much nicer person to be around too, not the crabby, snappy, frustrated, tired wreck I used to be.

There is lots to know. Apparently kids with food intolerances often grow out of them in time and the good news is that a food intolerance is not as life-threatening as an allergy can be. It’s also good to know that changing diet can alter behaviour, skin problems, headaches, bloating and lots of other problems in children. That in itself is empowering for parents and good news because none of us like having to give kids medicine if we don’t have to. When you think of it like that, changing food is no big deal really. I recommend for those wanting to know more that you talk to your GP about your concerns. Most allergy clinics need a referral from you doctor first before you can see them. You might also like to read the book by dietician Sue Dengate “Fed Up with Food” and the “Failsafe Cookbook” or to visit her website http://www.fedupwithfoodadditives.info/ where you can find lots of information.
In the meantime it’s “no veggies please” for my two, that is of course unless they are on my special list!