Most days the food intolerances my sons and I deal with are not that big of a deal. In fact, they have helped all three of us be healthier so in a way they have been kind of nice. If I could eat gluten, for example, I’d live on bread and such to the exclusion of a lot of other nutrients. BUT, there are days when it really gets…old. Reading every label, dealing with school classroom eating (why do they eat so much at schools? They’ve been back 8 days and already have had a marshmallow party and a cupcake party.) Telling my youngest that no, he can’t have his favorite meal (ever ever again,) and leaving a restaurant wondering if I ate something off-limits, and if so, how bad the reaction will be. (Actually, does anyone know where I can find a recipe for a gluten-free, dairy free, soy, nut, and egg free alfredo sauce recipe? It’s my son’s favorite and that never again thing really doesn’t sit well with me.) It’s tiresome, and honestly I’m just sick of thinking about food all the time, and not like in a tasty way, thinking about what’s in it, how am I going to get variety in my picky sons’ diet, what supplements are we out of, etc… These are the days that call for easy frozen pizza for the boys and trusted comfort foods~ gluten free, dairy free, soy free, nut free, and egg free of course. Thank goodness for dark chocolate.
Ups and Downs of Intolerance
spice of life blog 
Kristen, what are the consequences when they do eat something they are allergic to? Is it bad, like a bee sting or peanut allergy that could kill them? If not, is it something you can just live with? I imagine my sinus’ would do better if I lived without wheat, but it’s not worth it to me to give it up. If the consequences are small, I’d just let them have what they want. They can work it out for themselves when they get older.
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I’m actually really lucky that they are not severe, though Aiden was on his way to severe allergies (peanuts, tree nuts and shellfish~ something he never even eats!) due to his primary intolerances. The secondary intolerances should go away and I can start adding them back in their diets in a couple of months, but they will probably always be gluten intolerant, and Asher most likely dairy too. The consequences, though not deadly, or also not small either~ they affect their height and weight, their immunity, their skin, their attention spans, ability to learn, anxiety and depression, basically everything is effected b/c the intolerances damage the bodies ability to extract and use the nutrient in the food they eat. But most importantly, there is a long-studied and documented link between digestion and the brain which is why kids with ADD, ADHD, Autism and the like are often put on gluten free/dairy free diets. Both my boys’ skins cleared up and they both grew taller, one got thinner (who wanted to) and one seemed less sickly-skinny (who needed to.) So for me it is totally worth it, I was just in a bad mood when I wrote that :0).
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