Forums:
My daughter and I have our first appointment with Dr. Brizman in May. I have started the IC diet. My daughter, Kara, has bed wetting & constipation issues. I would like advice on starting a child on a sugar free diet. I read one of Dr. Brizman's older posts on sugar free breakfasts. I would love ideas for sugar free snacks, deserts, lunches... Thanks you so much!
Sharon
most of the sugetions I have
most of the sugetions I have for your daughter you will not be able to have yourself untill you are further on the list but here they go anyways.
Learn how to carmalize your veggies and fruits
Fuit jam make your own buy redcing very low the lowest setting and stir in a pan with a little butter till it is very thick. You will be supprised how sweet it will be with out any sugar.
you can give her yeast free bread otasted with this on it in the mornning with her eggs.
Aslo with some almond butter on toast is great you can get sugar free almond butter now that doesn't mean a replacement sweetner just free so read your lables.
At my health food store they have dehydrated fruit with nothing in them it's just fruit and I can't believe how sweet they are. It's like a fruit rool up but better. I had these before i went on the diet.
you might want to use blueberries because they are good for the urinary tract and they are also the first fruit back in the diet. Matia always says berries fiirst .
Another thing you could do is get some agave and make your own granola bars using some sunflower seeds, gluten free oats and agave maybe some apple juice. and bake it. i don't have an exact recepie but you get the idea.
SOmething good in replacement for your ice cream is to invest in a champion juicer it's about 180. and it's well worth the money if you can. You can make all kinds of sorbets nut butters and veggie and fruit juices. remember not to juice more then you would eat. The juicer has a stright shot device you attach this and you will be able to make icecreams and sorbets. Take some fruit and blend it with a little agave surup and almond milk. Freeze it and then put it through the stright shot. It makes great desert. I used to do this with out the agave because enough fruits it would be sweet enough.
Another good thing about the champion juicer is you can buy a mill attachement It is around $60. if you are inclined to mill your own grains.
check out barbra's bakery for organic snacks and cookies that are made more healthy using molasses instead of sugar.
my best device is out of site out of mind. You will become farmilar with healthy althernitives over time it will become second nature.
food ideas
my kids eat a lot of the things Sydney mentioned. Other things that come to mind:Plain yogurt with unsweetened applesauce or sliced fruitfruit spread instead of jam (I get this at trader joe's)smoothie made with plain yogurt and fruitcarrot sticks, cherry tomatoes, celery with almond butterpopcornricecake with almond butterand my kids LOVE the fruitaboo that Sydney mentionedyou can make all kinds of baked goodies by substituting agave for sugar. I use 20% less agave than the original sugar recipe calls for. By using pamela's baking mix and agave you can make banana bread, cookies, and pancakes. There are also grain sweetened chocolate chips, though I haven't tried these yet. The agave sweetened goodies are something you won't be able to have for quite some time, but maybe your daughter can. Both of my kids started with Matia last June and their diet restrictions were not nearly as severe as mine. Good luck!Carol
This post made my day!
I was so excited to read that you would be making your trip a mother and daughter visit. This really made my day. My daughter Emma was constipated for years and after 2 months of treatment with Matia she is pooping on her own! She's completely off the Benefiber that she had been taking for regularity. As for the sugar free question, I didn't do this "cold turkey" with my kids. Our diet was not that bad but there was room for improvement. I started cutting back. I eliminated the worst things and switched things up over time. For breakfast I mix several cereals together, always have. Over a few weeks I started adding in plain O's and low sugar corn flakes and took out the higher sugar cereals. They didn't really notice the change. I switched from peanut butter to almond butter. They liked this better anyway. I added more fresh and dried fruit. These are sweet so moderation with that too. I have always cut their yogurt with plain yogurt (1/2 & 1/2). If Kara is used to eating yogurt without the plain you can add the plain in gradually over a few weeks. My kids still go to the bakery with their dad once a week for a small "treat". We cut back and reduced where we can and over time it just happened without much notice. It's unlikely that Matia will put Kara on any herbs that are "yucky" but if you want to treat her for ear infections, strep throat and the like without antibiotics, she'll have to take what Emma calls the "yucky" herbs. Emma is 8 next week and does not swallow pills yet. We have found a fairly tolerable way for her to take these yucky herbs. I'll share this with you if you have the need. Tammy
Yucky Pills LOL
Tammy, Your emails were so encouraging that I decided to take you advice and schedule an appointment for Kara. She also has trouble swallowing pills so I would love your tips! Thanks taking the time to tell me about your great experience with Dr. Brizman!Sharon
Thanks!
Wow! You ladies are a wealth of knowledge. Thank you for the great tips! Kara is going to be bringing a sack lunch to school and I am so thankful for the advice. Now I feel empowered to start making healthy changes in our diet :-)Sharon
You'll be glad you did.
I'm thankful everyday that I took Emma with me to start treatment with Matia.. She has had on going problems for years. I now see these symptoms as pre -IC symptoms. Matia believes that as mothers with IC our children have a higher probability of having problems. Emma clearly has. It's so much easier to get them back to a healthy state and set them up for a healthy life. I wanted to do everything I could to keep her from experiencing the pain of IC or other health related problems. So far she's doing great. It's a great plus to have Matia to turn to when she's sick and her Pedi wants to pump her full of antibiotics. Those are now a last resort and we've been able to completely avoid them since stating treatment. Unfortunately the herbs for these aliments are much better if you can swallow them. Emma can't do that yet so I mix them in a very small amount (1/2 tsp) of plain yogurt. Matia suggested apple sauce but we found that the smaller the amount going into the mouth the better and I didn't want to turn her off applesauce. I hold her nose (this helps a lot) and she gets to chase it with a small amount of vanilla ice cream. This does the trick for us. We are 4 months into treatment and Emma hasn't been sick with anything for a while now. She's pooping on her own and feeling good. Please keep us all up on both of your progress. We're all like an extended family here. Feel free to email me if you have any questions. Tammy
lunch tips needed
What would you ladies reccomend for kids lunches? Maybe you could suggest a few sample lunches. I tend to put too many sweet things in them. Thanks.
school lunches are a challenge
Will Kara eat whole wheat bread? If not, you could start her out on one that's a mixed grain and work her up to 100% whole wheat. I switch Emma around for variety. She likes the 7 or 9 grain and the honey whole wheat. Mutligrain bagels with cream cheese. Almond butter with fruit spreads. Fruit spreads don't have the added sugar and if you have the time, you can make your own. Nicole has some goods recipes for almost everything. Emma likes pretzels, and a variety of crackers. Fresh fruit like apples & orange slices. Dried fruit. Yogurt. Humus dips with crackers is a favorite. I'll add more as I think of them. Tammy