"preventing" food intolerences with no 2?

[firsttimemummy]

As some of you may know DS had various food intolerence issues (which we are still figuring out).  BAscially we know he can't eat carrots, citrus fruit and soya as it burns his bottom (his Dad had the same problems with carrots and citrus until aged 2); he also has problems with milk (working with dietician at the moment to see if it is all milk products, or just cold cows milk), and possibly wheat (but we are thinking it is actually the milk in the wheat products ... will see with the milk-free trial).  He also can't eat strawberries and possibly some other berries. All of these food issues affect either me, DH or our siblings/parents.

I am 23 weeks pregnant and am wondering if anyone knows of how to help LO2 potential not have the same issues (I know it is complex and every child is different to but want to give LO2 the best start).  Does anyone know if "experts" suggest avoiding or eating potential foods.  Also, as I intend to breastfeed, should I eat or avoid the above foods (obviously I can't eliminate everything as that would be too limiting, but should I try to avoid overeating some of the above items?).  I am not thinking ahead to starting solids yet (just a bit too far ahead) and hopefully by that time we will be clearer on DS's food problems.

Thanks 

[Mashi]

Does anyone know if "experts" suggest avoiding or eating potential foods.

Everything I have read suggests that there are two very strong schools of thought for either side.  You could choose one option and have a strong, research-based, expert supported argument for following it; conversely you could go the other route and have no problem finding some good solid information and research to support you on that, either. It is down to personal preference on which research you chose to believe in, who the researchers are that you have faith in and support their methods, their biases, their funding, and so on.

I did what I could to prevent DS from allergies and intolerances while I was pregnant based on my own months of reading and research and choosing what I felt seemed most logical to me.  The only thing that I did after he was born to hopefully avoid any further intolerances was to keep him totally gluten free until he turned 1yo.

[firsttimemummy]

Thanks for that. Would be interested to hear your thoughts as you seem really knowledgeable about the topic.  Thought there wouldn't be a simple answer!!

[Mama2boys]

listening in as I am curious

[Mashi]

Thanks for that. Would be interested to hear your thoughts as you seem really knowledgeable about the topic. 

I went for the "eat a normal, healthy, balanced pregnancy diet and what will be will be" option!  I decided that getting the nutrition and vitamins for both of us during my pregnancy, for optimal health in all ways, was better than eliminating something for what was only a "potential" - and when I was already eliminating the big no nos in pregnancy (alcohol, caffeine, cold meats, runny eggs, soft cheeses (ie/ brie), pate, limiting tuna, etc) I decided it would be too much to add to my list.  One that I had a very hard time deciding with was peanuts, and I decided that as peanut butter is a huge staple in my diet, it would be a harder thing to live without, and I would lack in some nutrition and probably make worse food choices with it gone form my diet, so I continued.

There are LOADS of food intolerances and allergies in my family - mostly mine it seems, my sister has none but her children have loads - and so I did do a lot of research on it all.  As I said, in the end you can argue a good strong point for either case, and my choice was not so much an agreement with the side that says "eat it in pregnancy" as it was a decision that because neither side of the argument coudl sway me enough, I chose to eat as I normally would, if that makes sense?

[firsttimemummy]

That makes a lot of sense, yes!  Did you breastfeed, and if so, did you just continue the same diet?  I think that is what I will do, as you say it is only a chance that they may develop certain intolerances, and I suppose most things in moderation wont do harm ....

[Shdef]

My husband has asthma and eczema and hayfever, so Scotty was classed as high risk. We were told to not eat peanuts while pregnant. During bf I had to avoid too much dairy and soy alltogether.

Then, when DS started formula, it was a hypoallergenic one, because we were told that the unbroken dairy enzymes under the age of 1 can activate, cause the allergy.

So, we did all of that and Scotty has no allergies, he is the first one in this family who doesn't. 

Ah, one thing; no solids before 6 months and careful beginning...

Germany is doing this sort of strict advice thing for a few years now and this is the first generation of children who have less allergies than the one before (it used to constantly rise) so obviously there is something to it.

[firsttimemummy]

Thanks for that - I will try to remember this for when breastfeeding/feeding solids!  I know they say no solids before 6 months but didn't realise that it was having a positive impact; in the UK it seems that there are more allergies, etc than ever but I suppose a lot of that is to do with increased awareness, and most people don't stick to the 6 months to start ....

Steffi-that is great he doesn't have the food issues, must make it worth being careful with what solids you introduced, etc worth it.  Was there a specific reason for avoiding soy (family history) or is it something that should be avoided generally? As we avoid it for DS it shouldn't be hard to do with no2

[Shdef]

Soy is an allergen and about two thirds of the kids who have dairy allergy will also get soy allergy, after a while.

The problem with soy is, that its enzymes are even stranger than dairy ones to the body and the chance that the body reacts funny and fights itself after being in (especially repeated) contact with it are very high.

It is not recommended in German in general and we do not get soy formulas, they are generally not approved by doctors, hospitals, etc. And our dairy formulas have differently broken down enzymes, especially the hypoallergenic ones.

Breastfeeding is a great start to prevent allergies though, but if for some reason it doesn't work, then there are good options.

[firsttimemummy]

Thanks for that.  Will do my best to avoid soy! I was surprised that when we were trying to avoid it with DS just how many products it is in (especially white bread!!)

[MLK]

It it were me, I would try cutting out citrus, carrots and soy as those seem to have a genetic link, and maybe straight cows' milk and stick to yoghurt and cheese.  As you say cutting out too much leaves you at the risk of undernutrition.

As MAshi said there are two schools of thought re allergies - some studies have actually suggested that countries which advise mothers to avoid peanuts during pregnancy have higher rates of peanut allergy in kids than countries which don't. Obviously not proof, but suggestive.

And some docs here are actually recommending going back to starting solids at 4 months! I took a middle view and started at 5 months with both of mine.

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

I went for the "eat a normal, healthy, balanced pregnancy diet and what will be will be" option!

I went for that option too, both times I was pg and ended up with one non-allergic kid (she might have enviro allergies, not sure yet) and one allergic to milk and egg (so far, I have never fed her nuts on the allergists advice, but he won't test unless she reacts someday).  I did avoid dairy while BF because it bothered both of them, but Masyn was fine with dairy by the time she was 10/11 months.  

We have quite the family history of allergies, from DH (cats & hay + asthma), 4 close relatives with anapyhlactic allergies and loads more with sensitivities & asthma. Honestly, I expected that at least one of my kids would "win" the genetic lottery and get allergies, seems Spencer got the short of the genetic stick in many ways.

[Shdef]

The small amounts of soy in bread, etc don't have to be avoided, just actual soy milk and soy joghurt BASED on it. 

[Mashi]

As MAshi said there are two schools of thought re allergies - some studies have actually suggested that countries which advise mothers to avoid peanuts during pregnancy have higher rates of peanut allergy in kids than countries which don't. Obviously not proof, but suggestive.

This is what I struggled with - there is SO much research being done and both sides of it seem to be strong, reputable, well proven research. So it is really hard to pick a side - I can see both points!  A lot of the stuff I read says that exposure in the womb is better so eat your peanuts.  But there are places where this is opposite -- in the UK even the NHS can't seem to agree with itself (haha, big surprise ) - some of the NHS publications on what to eat vs not eat in pregnancy will say to stay away from peanuts, others will say to stay away from them if there are any nut allergies in your family, others say to stay away if there are ANY allergies in your family, and then you can go speak to your midwife/obs/health visitor/GP and they will shrug it off and say "nothing says you shouldn't eat peanuts at all"...  

Steffi soy formulas are banned in pretty much all of Europe, not just Germany - a very different approach than North America!

[firsttimemummy]

I don't like nuts so afraid will be going down the avoiding nuts direction, just for that reason! At least that is one thing I don't need to decide .... really appreciate all the input

[Mashi]

I don't like nuts so afraid will be going down the avoiding nuts direction, just for that reason!

That's what I mean when I say I decided to just eat a normal diet, iyswim.  If someone had told me that eating olives in pregnancy would prevent certain problems or have certain benefits etc, I would still not eat olives, they make me gag!  You do what you can do and that's about that!

[Mom to M&M]

I've often wondered this as well. DD was dairy intolerant until about one and I did drink quite a bit of milk while pregnant with her. I didn't drink milk (didn't want it) when pregnant with DS and he was fine with milk formula from the get-go BUT does reaction to the squash/gourd family. Go figure.

In Israel, young babies have peanuts from a young age (many families there give their teething babies a peanut-based snack called Bamba to chew on) and there is a very low rate of peanut allergies there. I've also heard a theory that the three main reasons food allergies are increasing so much is because of (1) our hyper-overclean, anti-germ society - so much anti-bacterial this and that, etc; (2) too many pesticides and chemicals in our food and (3) too many shots/immunizations these days. With babies being immunized, at least in the US, for everything from Hep B, flu, chickenpox, etc - the immune system is overstimulated and finds something else (in this case food) to attack.

Haven't decided what I think yet but it sure is interesting.

[EloysH]

just wanted to chime in there abuot both sides having strong evidence either way.

I tend to follow my local research unit at the Sydney Royal Prince Alfred Hospital.  The hopsital allergy unit closest to me advocates avoiding allergins/intolerance foods when pregnant in the 2nd and 3rd trimester  for women who have a high risk of baby developing an allergy or food intolerance.  They have published several studies following pregnant women in this high risk group and the outcomes for those babies of the women with restricted maternal diets were less likely to develop allergies and food intolerances than the group of women who ate unrestricted.  But again, you could find many studies saying the opposite!

I do feel though that with both my boys I craved wheat and dairy when pregant and ate and drank alot more milk than usual, and both turned out with intolerances    Maybe chance, maybe not.

[Shdef]

It really is difficult to say.

Mind you, asthma, eczema, hayfever, allergies have very very much a north-south connection, a weather thing as well.

While in NZ, Scotland and Kanada 37% of the children suffer from asthma, in Germany it's 10%. In Bulgaria, Israel or Turkey it's below 5%. The climate has a huge effect, so only really countries with the same climate can be compared in methods of allergy prevention.