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fsuadamson
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Wow, I have spent the whole morning reading about the Fiengold Program and I feel like it is an answer to a prayer! Several of the symptoms mentioned I have noticed in more than one of my children and not just sporatically but on a regular basis  ...
Thank you Jennifer and Molly for mentioning this on the Chewing clothing thread.
I would love to hear from others that are on or familiar with this program. Is it worth the price? I was kind of surprised that it cost $70+ to get the program.  Wish I could get the shopping guide and foodlist for free. What additional books have you found helpful in learning more and do you have any favorite cookbooks?
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Angel
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I can't really give you any help, because I've just gotten all the materials. THe shopping list is pretty extensive, though. I would love to know if anyone has any favorite cookbooks, and how you live without apple juice! 
--Angela
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Dawn
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Pear juice! (RJ Knudson's Organic)
My computer time is just about up, but I will post more on our experience with Feingold tomorrow. (We don't use it precisely, but we have had our 5yo on it for the past 2 1/2 years.)
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Elizabeth
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Homemade lemonade and pear juice.
My shopping lists are ancient--I just sort of "know" now. And I joined in ammm...1993, well before any of it was online. But even then, I found the resources to be invaluable.
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Elizabeth Foss is no longer a member of this forum. Discussions now reflect the current management & are not necessarily expressions of her book, *Real Learning*, her current work, or her philosophy. (posted by E. Foss, Jan 2011)
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Angel
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Dawn wrote:
Pear juice! (RJ Knudson's Organic)
My computer time is just about up, but I will post more on our experience with Feingold tomorrow. (We don't use it precisely, but we have had our 5yo on it for the past 2 1/2 years.) |
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I am eagerly awaiting your post, Dawn.  I don't want to hijack this thread, but do you or Elizabeth know of any online sources for the pear juice? All I can find around here is Gerber in the tiny bottles. Or the pear nectar with sugar in it. My kids drink juice often, so it's not very economical to buy it in those tiny bottles.
The other problem we are running into here is bread. We have such a limited selection in this area that none of the brands listed in the shopping list are available.
I really need to get into the resources more now that Christmas is over, but I do think that buying the kit has helped us a lot already. (Certainly my husband has been helped with his migraines already just by cutting out artificial sweeteners, dyes, andthe preservatives I've been able to eliminate so far.) I'd been trying to avoid artificial dyes already, but I had no idea there were so many other preservatives out there that would be a problem, too.
--Angela
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Dawn
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Well, let me start by saying we don't follow the program to a T. In fact, I've never kept the 2-week food diary (though I really want to do that sometime soon). And we've never really moved beyond Stage One, though my Earlybird does get tomatoes (which are Stage Two).
All that said, this is how we came to Feingold.
My 5 yo son has PDD-NOS. He is mainly speech delayed, though his gross motor has been challenging, too. (His fine motor, strangely enough, is advanced!) He has some behavioral issues as well.
Back when we started Feingold with him, he was 2 1/2. We had no idea what he "had" we just knew something was not right. He sat late (9 mos. I think), walked late (20 months) and was just hard to figure out. He wasn't talking yet either. At all.
I remember clearly a trip to the zoo that summer. He was in the stroller (because letting him walk was impossible, he would run off in an instant) and so unhappy. We couldn't figure out what was wrong. He ended up with a tantrum by the end of the (very short) visit. I remember feeling like the whole zoo was staring at us as we just hurried all the boys out of there asap. That car ride home I *knew* something was off and I had to figure out what it was.
Well, formal diagnosis didn't happen till the following fall (he was given PDD-NOS because they said he doesn't fit anything that well) but I embarked on a quest for a dietary intervention. I had read an article in Mothering magazine about the Feingold diet. This woman had a young son, with issues similar to EB. She had him on this special diet and it was "working wonders." All the symptoms matched up - the delays, the hyperactivity/agression that came and went, the poor sleep habits, even the flushed cheeks and red ears!
So I joined up. I pored over the materials and it overwhelmed me. So we started slow. We started by taking away apple juice - something EB drank a LOT of. (He also loved cut up apples and raisins and ate them all the time.) Immediately, taking away some of the foods from the list, we saw some improvement. But the biggest thing we see is when we give him something he *shouldn't* have. Like if he gets Munchkins or a lollipop from his speech therapist. Oi, what a mess. He is like a different child. Those moments *confirm* to me that Feingold makes a difference in his (our) life.
(I'd like to also say that with therapy, lots of love at home and wholesome foods and lots of fresh air, EB is doing beautifully! His language is coming along great and his moods are much more stable. He is maturing too as is his nervous system. )
I don't have any great cookbooks to suggest. (I will take a look though at what I have, I haven't looked in my Feingold bin in a while.) I tend to keep things pretty simple foodwise around here. Fortunately, EB eats great. He is my biggest eater and loves food.
Like Elizabeth said, we have just become ingrained with the food "system" we follow now. There are some things that EB gets that the rest of us don't - for instance, when the boys want apples, they eat them when he naps. If EB's up they all eat pears.
Bill and I have resolved to make the "food thing" easier for us across the boards this year - planning, shopping, cooking, serving. To that end, I am writing out a weekly menu plan that we will follow without question the next few weeks. I hope to also keep a detailed diary of EB's dietary intake and moods/issues over the next week or so.
I don't think I really gave you much concrete advice - just my own experience. I will try to post again with favorite Feingold foods as soon as I can. (The household is waking and breakfast is upon us!)
Hope that helps a little.
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rivendellmom
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Dawn,
I haven't been following the thread until this morning when I read your note. I know there is something up with my now 17 month old. He sounds like your description-
"the delays, the hyperactivity/agression that came and went, the poor sleep habits, even the flushed cheeks and red ears!"
I'm going to go over to the Feingold site, are there any books you would recomend?
Jen
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St. Ann
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I looked up the Feingold site and decided that I am not yet convinced that this is what we need for dd2. I really don't have enough info to decide this(see Bedwetting thread). She has never been diagnosed with anything.
But I do have a question regarding Apple juice. Why is it not allowed? No artificial anything. I ask because our girls drink a lot of AJ mixed with water.
Thanks
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mommylori
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I got the fiengold books at the library. But when we where battling food allergies this diet would not work for us.lol Clay suffered alot of these symptoms but had an allergy to milk and peanuts. Not the foods listed.lol So it didn't work.lol But I would recomend if you feel there is food allergies, I would start at the basics and then make my way to here. Cutting out dairy, including casien, eggs, wheat, peanuts, etc. I have another friend who was going thru all of this and her child was allergic to wheat and eggs, what a diffrence both our kids experienced once we figured out the reason.
I have read several of the origional books that include the cookbook from the library. As for the shopping, I was so used to reading labels from food allergies this didn't bother me at all.lol
But before I spent a ton of money I would try the library, he has a whole menu plan for a few weeks in it including recipies.
Lori
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St. Ann wrote:
| But I do have a question regarding Apple juice. Why is it not allowed? No artificial anything. I ask because our girls drink a lot of AJ mixed with water. |
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Stephanie, some natural foods, apples among them, contain chemicals called salicylates. Here is a description.
People who are helped by the Feingold diet may or may not be sensitive to salicylates. In the trial diet, you reintroduce things to see what can be tolerated. My son cannot tolerate apples, but he can tolerate tomatoes. And he only ever got organic apples and apple juice. It didn't matter.
rivendellmom wrote:
I'm going to go over to the Feingold site, are there any books you would recomend?
Jen |
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Jen, I am sorry I didn't see your question. I have the book, Why Can't My Child Behave? and also Is this Your Child? - they are both somewhere around here. (And I'd be happy to mail them to you if you'd like.) It's been so long since I've read up on it - by now our dietary modifications don't feel like modifications - they are just the way we shop and eat.
Both of these books are rather large tomes, lots of good info. I definitely didn't read them cover to cover, just picked areas that matched what we were dealing with - mostly behavioral things like delayed speech and hyperactivity/inattention - not really any physical issues such as bedwetting, headaches, asthma and none my kids have ever had an ear infection.
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teachingmyown
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There is a natural chemical in apples and a lot of other produce, called salicylates, which has a negative effect on the brains of these kids. It's been a long time since I read the information, so I don't remember specifics. What I do know is that my son's behavior is radically different when he eats any of these foods. Some others are grapes, (I believe red grapes have more salicylates than green based on my son's behavior, not on anything I have read.), pickles, tomatoes (which my son won't touch anyway), I am thinking most berries, but again my son won't eat them so I can't remember if they are on the list. I am drawing a blank for others at the moment. We just know what to avoid after years of trial and error.
Your child doesn't have to be diagnosed with anything. In fact, don't expect your doctor to know about Feingold or to support your search for answers to some of these problems other than with medications.
We never fully went on the diet. I just found it too hard to modify my shopping and cooking. I would have had to go to three different stores routinely.
We switched to organic mac and cheese, no yellow cheeses as they have food coloring in them. We switched to pear juice. We avoid all food coloring. We only buy certain cereals, plain Cheerios for one, some of the organic ones also, but they got too pricey. BHA and BHT are also on the forbidden list, but then they really should be for us all. NO nitrites either, which are in most hot dogs.
I think a food journal is the place to start. Then an elimination diet, taking into consideration some of the principles of the Feingold plan. My poor child lived off of apple juice and grapes while he was wild, biting everyone, and violent toward his siblings. When I started cutting out the culprits things improved considerably. When we "cheat", which we do alot now that he is nine, I can see the difference in his behavior.
Good luck.
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Dawn
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Molly, we were posting at the same time, and you explained things so much better than I did!
teachingmyown wrote:
| When we "cheat", which we do alot now that he is nine, I can see the difference in his behavior. |
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This is the exact reason for us we stick with it. It's not worth it to go off the diet - and we don't do it fully either, but we've figured out what works and what doesn't.
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Dawn
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Ah, I was about to type all this in, but it is there on on their site. You can see a list of all the symptoms that may be affected by diet here. Notice you can scroll through Behavioral, Learning and Health related symptoms (and there are subcategories too). Just thought that might help someone.
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Stephanie,
You can literally make yourself crazy by researching diet and behaviour online! There is so much conflicting information!
FWIW, I would try a food journal, then try eliminating some of the foods that your children regularly eat one by one and note any differences. (I should do this myself yet!) I've read from many places that the foods that tend to be most problematic are the ones we eat or enjoy the most. So, it would seem that you should try removing apples from your childrens' diet for about a week and see if there's any changes. The big offenders have already been mentioned. If you try to eliminate andy grains, though, my advice is to cook from scratch for the week and eat very plainly. Things like corn and wheat are everywhere, things you might not even suspect like spices and seasoning mixes. Of course, this may be different in Germany but corn is absolutely everywhere in North American foods.
Good luck!
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Thanks for the heads up about apples and apple juice. I'm familiar with the Feingold diet but those didn't register, I guess. Hmmmm, that may explain a few behavior issues around here. Since our second was about a year old, some foods would cause the area under her eyes to turn red. Has anyone experienced this? We're very good about avoiding food coloring, additives, preservatives and such, but the thought of fresh, organic produce being the culprit....darn! Do children outgrow this or is this a lifelong thing?
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rivendellmom
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Dawn,
I ordered Why can't my child behave off of amazon used. I inter library loaned the feingold cookbook. I guess I really need to know if I really need to join feingold for the list and additional info. My youngest loves apples- he eats as many as 5 a day. He bites, pinches, screams, bangs his head on the wall daily. I cut apples out on the 7th and 8th, he was calmer and took a 2 hour nap on the 8th. Yesterday he had one apple and today he is off the wall again. So, I think we are onto something. Any suggestions?
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St. Ann
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After looking up the Symptoms on the Feingold Site, I could determine that dd2 has exclusively physical symptoms(at least 4) in the Health section, and possibly in the area of learning. After reading the almost 100 different symptoms listed one could almost think -Ach! with only so few symptoms maybe a diet change is not necessary????? But that isn't the point, is it? I need to change something here at home to see if life gets a little bit easier for dd2.
Thanks for the tips.
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Dawn
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rivendellmom wrote:
Dawn,
I ordered Why can't my child behave off of amazon used. I inter library loaned the feingold cookbook. I guess I really need to know if I really need to join feingold for the list and additional info. My youngest loves apples- he eats as many as 5 a day. He bites, pinches, screams, bangs his head on the wall daily. I cut apples out on the 7th and 8th, he was calmer and took a 2 hour nap on the 8th. Yesterday he had one apple and today he is off the wall again. So, I think we are onto something. Any suggestions? |
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Jen, the apple thing is just like our experience. I remember last summer letting him have grape jelly a few times, thinking this won't hurt. But it did. He was aggressive, miserable, couldn't sleep - until it got out of his system. When his diet is on track, he is so verbal and calm(er) and sleeps well.
I will say, I use the Feingold brand list a lot. Or I did - now I know what to buy - but I also use the monthly newsletters to update my list. (They note things they've tested that can be added at Stage 1 and Stage 2.) Also, as a member, they send me e-mail alerts letting me know when something has changed its formula and must be removed from the list. For example, my son loved Kellogs Nutrigrain waffles - and wouldn't you know it, Kellogs added TBHQ (sp?) which is a preservative and they had to be taken from the list.  So, it's now either the Van's waffles (hugely expensive, once in a while treat) or homemade (inexpensive, wholesome, but a production to make).
I can't tell you for sure if you should join Feingold. It is a lot of money to lay out, I know. I actually have to re-new our membership, and I keep putting it off because $50 at the holidays is extra money I don't want to spend. But I will. If anything, this thread here has renewed my commitment. I will do the 2-week food/behavior diary starting this weekend.
Another nice thing is at the holidays, they send you all kinds of web-shop info. for natural candies and the like. We filled his Easter basket with items from Wild Oats and one or two online sources and it was all beautiful, delicious candy.
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fsuadamson
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I just wanted to say thanks for yawls input! Thank you for the explanation about the apples as I was also curious.
I never thought to look into the library to see if they might have some of the Feingold books.  I will do that later today for sure.
I do have a couple questions what is the title of the Feingold cookbook? On the website there was a bunch of different cookbooks. Does it contain the two week menu plan?
Also does Feingold mention any kid safe multi-vitamins? Because my son has allergies to dyes a couple years back we switched to Little Critters until we learned of about the lead contamination. Now we are using Kidvits and although they are dye free I am sure they are loaded with artificial flavors or perservatives (names I would like to become more familiar with).
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Leslie, I'm not sure if this is the one you mean. I don't actually have a Feingold cookbook. (The member booklet does come with some recipes and meal plan ideas.)
As far as vitamins, go - I have yet to find one ds can have. I think there are ones on Stage2 - I will look at my book. Fortunately, my son eats fabulously and we were told by his ped. he doesn't need vitamins. 
I had contemplated fish oil, but after a day or so he was *wicked* hyper, so we stopped. A woman I met at OT said in some kids fish oil actually makes behaviors worse. Looks like that's the case for ours.
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4Real Forums : Our Lady of Good Remedy and Care
Topic: Feingold Program
