on the edge Report post Posted March 28, 2006 Have been to a mental health specific biomedical centre with my AS, GFCF son and had a consultation with one of the nutrional therapists. She said the diet we give him was good but too much sugar!!! Thought his diet was pretty good, but we had a feeling we have been over compensating for his lack of "non gfcf food" with sweet gfcf biscuits and gfcf breakfast cereals etc and lots of salted crisps. I have been told to eliminate sugar, cut out crisps and re-think potato based meals (such as jacket potatoes) as potatoes are a big carbohydrate source (another type of sugar) especially when processed or cooked for a long time. Breakfast should contain a good source of protein such as nuts and seeds, nut butter, meat etc, and I have been told to use a chickpea flour for baking as this is a good protein source . I have been told to balance all carbohydrate meals with protein - 1/2 and 1/2 to help keep the blood sugar level balanced. Apparently AS kids can react badly from sugar (more than non AS children) and can be a factor in the hyperactivity, bad sleep and poor concentration etc. My son suffers from all of these inconsistantly and at varying levels and and I have often thought it was related to what he was eating - even on his AiA diet!!! Just thought I would share this with you in case it is of any interest to anyone in a similar position. PS..no bananas or dried fruit !! PPS.. raisons =1.5 tspns of sugar!!!!!!!! Which is an adults normal blood sugar level I was told Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Valiant_Skylark Report post Posted April 4, 2006 Thanks, on the edge, for posting that. Interesting. Any more suggestions on what they CAN eat? We have a banana a day-ish (or other fruit) and a GF/CF muffin in the lunch box. It had occured to me that the sugar adds up, but I'm only just weaning mine onto boiled spuds and "jackets" as it is! We have cut out crisps (yeah), so got something right. It just gets hard to know what you can eat... and how on earth does one bake with chickpea flour?! All good fun, Take care, vs xx Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zemanski Report post Posted April 4, 2006 chickpea flour makes great onion bhajis! Zemanski Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
on the edge Report post Posted April 4, 2006 There are a few recipes ion the AiA book that use chickpeas. At the moment I use the chickpea flour instead of gf flour mix with buckwheat for the pancakes I give him for breakfast, but I am gonna have a go at a few other recipes when I get the chance. (will look into onion bhajis coz I love them and I have a feeling my son will too, thanks zemanski!) Sometimes I give him the pancakes spead with houmous with chopped bacon or ham inside. Some other suggestions to increase protien and cut back carbs and sugar is to add some peanut butter as a topping to GFCF bread or pancakes, use pulses more, add or give seeds and nuts as toppings or snacks (my son is too young for some nuts as snacks I give him sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds and you can buy GFCF rice cakes topped with seasame seeds which he likes). I was not told to avoid potatoes completely but to cut back and add equal quantities of protein - (helps balance the blood sugar) such as fish, meat, lentils/pulses etc. Apparently the safest low mercury oily fish is mackeral and sardines..I dont know what to do with the sardines yet as I have still eliminated tomatoes. But I made a rice kedgeree thingy with some smoked mackerel the other day which we all enjoyed. I give my son apples and pears and he had some strawberries today for the second time since starting the GFCF diet (I was strict to begin with) but am aiming to intriduce some more. I still give my son plain kettle chips but I give him houmous and veg crudities (cucumber and carrot normally) with them to dip them in which luckily for me he loves. Hope that helps a bit! OTE xx Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Valiant_Skylark Report post Posted April 5, 2006 Thank you. You are a star! vs xx Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hectorshouse Report post Posted April 5, 2006 I didn't know that about the raisins ... these are one of T's favourites nibbles ... we have virtually cut out the spud thing I have converted everyone to new pots as they are slow release sugars, unfortunately he loves pasta and am now buying the free from range at sainsburys ... we do do crisps but only one pack of Hula's in the lunch box, wholemeal pittas go down a treat and he'll eat grapes till the cows come home ... phew food ... it used to be so much fun! One thing we cut out completely is tomato sauce, the sugar quantity is huge, I don't half feel like a mean mummy sometimes ... but I do explain all these decisions to T and actively get him involved in the process, he checks labels now his reading is coming on and makes the choices himself a lot of the time ... I haven't yet gone over to GF/CF diet ... I find it sooo scary and with working pretty much full time not sure if I will be able to stick to it ... HHxx Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
on the edge Report post Posted April 5, 2006 ... we have virtually cut out the spud thing I have converted everyone to new pots as they are slow release sugars, The nutrionalist suggested changing over to new potatoes for the very same reason. I had not heard that before. Today I have discovered a ready made "crushed sunflower and pumpkin seed mix' at the supermarket which can be sprinkled over loads of things like salads, cereals, yoghurts, soups etc and is pretty invisible and just adds a slight nutty flavour which is pretty delish. Could be used on buttered (or gfcf marg-ed) new potatoes I guess. xx Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
