Archive for the ‘Gastronomie’ Category

Our nutritional saga

Oct 15th, 08 / 2 Comments

I promised more information about my Miracle Girl, so here you go.

Over this past summer, we were dealing with her seemingly enormous lack of focus, and her non-stop talking (as though she was personally narrating her day, moment by moment). She began chewing the skin on her toes again, and continued chewing her fingernails to nubs. To say I was slowly going insane trying to help her would be an understatement. She also often told me that her stomach hurt. I started keeping track, so when it came time for her six year checkup, I arrived armed with info. There was a pattern to MG’s pain reports, usually every morning and at bedtime.

Instead of trying to pursue an ADD or ADHD evaluation (for many reasons, both academic and label-related), our ped recommended that we consult with a nutritionist she has had very good results with. I decided to have both kids evaluated, since Tiny Boy’s dairy sensitivity continues, and he had not outgrown it by age two as most toddlers do.

I completed 14 pages of medical history, behavioral evaluations, vaccination history, and food preferences and aversions for each child, then had a 2.5 hour consult with nutritionist. She saw clear trends for each child based on my reports, and she shared so much information that it felt like a firehose to the brain.

The next step was a battery of tests: blood, fecal, urine, and hair samples sent to various labs. She checked for the markers of celiac disease, nutritional deficiencies, heavy metal contamination, you name it. MG has a severe needle aversion, and got through the blood draw only by sitting on my lap, with me pinning down her arms and wrapping my own legs around hers to keep her from kicking the phlebotomist. This was after 20 solid minutes of trying to reason with her about why we need the blood, how much will be taken, what the doctor can learn from it, etc. NOTHING could calm her, so we had to resort to the mommy restraint. As hard as some of my own infertility blood draws were, I felt so bad for her I nearly burst out in tears as we left the lab that day.

Many of the tests took several weeks to produce results. In the interim, to reduce systemic inflammation, the nutritionist had us commence a dairy-free, casein-free (casein is the allergenic protein in milk), gluten-free diet. We also must ensure that MG gets 28 grams of quality protein per day, and this must NOT include any soy protein. Protein of any sort was at the top of MG’s food aversion list, while dairy and carbohydrates were all she wanted to eat, so it was an uphill battle for a while. We agreed that we would all follow the diet (at least in front of the kids, what you eat for lunch at work is your own business ;) ) to support them through the process.

Implementing this diet had me in a HUGE learning curve, even after doing the dairy-free thing while nursing Tiny Boy. Mr. Fortune is pretty fed up, as there are not a lot of appetizing GFCF bread-like options. Every loaf of bread I’ve attempted to bake tends to fall and become dense, comes out crumbly, and goes bad in three days max. It is a very exasperating diet, and Mr. Fortune feels “the cure is worse than the problem.”

However, we have seen a positive difference in MG since we began the diet seven weeks ago. She is much calmer, and less likely to fly into a tearful rage over very tiny things. She has only complained of stomach pain twice in this time, though we saw a recurrence of the temper symptoms last weekend after we allowed her to eat some dairy and flour-laden birthday cake. It was a very hard weekend.

Tomorrow, I go to meet with the nutritionist again to go over MG’s results. I hope the scientific results will help us tailor the diet to her particular needs, and hopefully allow us to relax some parts of it. I go back on Monday to go over Tiny Boy’s results, and at that time should have a better idea what we can do for each of our children.

If you had told me six months ago I’d be doing this radical treatment option, I would have been incredulous. It is amazing the lengths we are willing to go to not only to have our children, but to also give them the best chance they can have to lead a happy, pain-free, comfortable-in-their-own-bodies life. All I can wish is that neither of my children show signs of celiac disease. I already know we can do dairy-free, but the gluten-free part of the diet is a particularly large and nasty pill to swallow.

Gastronomie, My miracle child, Tiny boy

Censorship and the spirited child

Sep 2nd, 08 / 6 Comments

I’ve blogged before about some of my most challenging issues with my Miracle Girl, but spend a good portion of my time here chronicling the life and times of Tiny Boy. It is a dichotomy I’m sorely aware of. I’m sure it’s the only child in me, but I desperately want everything to be fair, and as much as I tell my girl “life isn’t fair, get used to it,” *I* want to be fair to my children.

The truth is: I don’t feel like a lot of my experiences with her are blog-worthy.

I’d like to change that. I’d like to be more transparent here about what it’s really like to raise a spirited child. One who does not feel comfortable in her own skin. One who avoided an Autism spectrum diagnosis through a lot of intense Occupational Therapy, but who definitely does have some strong sensory integration and social skills issues. One who is amazingly, beautifully creative, passionate, and affectionate, yet also stubbornly and hopelessly out of control at times. Her intensity fans my need to help her learn how to be within this world without burning those around her too deeply, too often.

She saves most of her worst behavior for me. I imagine I might be her safe place– the one she is around the most– so she lets loose with me. My husband sees it too, but not as often. Somehow she might sense she can push the me hardest and knows she is loved unconditionally, albeit once we start the positive time-out, with a grimace and a deep sigh on my part.

I feel like the worst mother in the world some days, as though I just can’t give her enough. And probably I can’t, though I hate to admit that could be the case. She would take every drop of essence within me every single day and still want more. She is THAT intense. I know I can only do my best on any given day, and I definitely have my good parenting moments, too.

Henceforth, I plan to chronicle some of my experiences with her so I can balance out my coverage. It won’t all be pretty, but it will help relieve some of the censure I’ve placed upon myself. I am reluctant to advertise her personality quirks, complain about how freaking hard it is, or imply that there is anything wrong with my child. I hope that I can practice the Jane Nelsen thang and find five positives for every negative, but some days and weeks, frankly, that will be impossible. Some days I will just need to vent.

Please do not mistake my honesty for a lack of love or gratitude for having her in my life. For her, I hold a raw, crazy love that burns brightly within my soul. I hope to do her justice with my words, or at least as best I can given any particular situation. Thanks for your generosity in allowing me to share what might be less-than-pretty, but always from the heart. I feel better already, having given myself permission to simply talk about it.

Gastronomie, My miracle child

Parsnips and cardoons

Apr 12th, 08 / 2 Comments

I am loving our farm CSA experience so far. We average two ingredients each week that have me perplexed and saying “What the…??” I end up googling the items and surfing Epicurious to find enticing recipes to try. We are definitely getting our daily servings of veggies in!

I LOVE cardoons, which look a lot like celery but taste very similar to artichokes (instead of eating the thorny blossom of the artichoke, we eat the long stalk of the cardoon). Similar flavor, not as fussy, and quite easy to throw it into other dishes.

After two rounds of parsnips, we all categorically hate ‘em. They turn my hands orange when I wash/cut them, and unless they are VERY fresh (as in, first-day-picked fresh), they start developing a rather strong flavor that’s hard to mask. They are also hella easy to overcook, so tonight’s dish turned into mashed parsnips with tarragon rather than hot, buttered parsnips with tarragon. I think I’ll be exchanging future parsnip bags for something (anything) else.

Gastronomie

Farm fresh veggies

Mar 23rd, 08 / 1 Comment

I picked up our first crop of farm co-op vegetables this week. I was surprised that it was such a big, heavy haul! Two heads of escarole (lettuce), two stalks of celery, four colors of carrots, two butternut squash, parsnips, radishes, spring garlic, cabbage, and a beautiful bouquet of flowers.

A counter full of veggies

I washed, tasted, and began chopping right away:

A select few from our bounty

We then celebrated by creating big, fresh salads with Miracle Girl. She enjoyed "decorating" the salads with celery, radishes and carrots. It reminds me of my childhood, with fresh vegetables abound from Grandma's large garden.

Flowers and fresh, organic salad

I also stir-fried some Spring Garlic with shrimp. I've never cooked with Spring Garlic before. I'm more of an "oh, it calls for a few cloves of garlic? I think this dish needs the entire head…." ) kind of girl. I found it pungent with delicate qualities, and very easy to overcook. Kind of like green onions, but with kick.

Next up: Honey roasted parsnips with Ginger, with Penne and Butternut squash.

Gastronomie

Chocolate art

Mar 18th, 08 / 0 Comments

Okay, y’all know I love my dark chocolate. I just had to share this absolutely gorgeous piece of chocolate art.

Yes, it’s pretty, but I would have no problem eating it, one delicious bite at a time. Of course, I’d probably start on the plain side. ;-)

Gastronomie

Community Supported Agriculture

Mar 15th, 08 / 2 Comments

Did you know that supermarket produce loses up to 10% of its nutritional value each day after it is harvested? This is depressing when it can take a week or longer for some items to reach supermarket produce sections. This is part of the reason we tend to frequent farmer’s markets to load up on fresher goods.

We also have a local farmer across the street we frequent during the summer months. He offers 27 different varieties of peaches that keep us well stocked, along with loads of other fruit and produce. We can walk around the orchards, and even pick our own fruit when it’s in season. In the valley that was formerly known for its fertile fruit orchards, such farms are a dying breed. It is heaven for the girl who is born from a long line of farmers on both sides of my family! I love that I can pass this along to my own children.

This week, we are taking things a step further. We are subscribing to an organic Community Supported Agriculture farm co-op. For $20 a week, we will pick up a varied box of organic seasonal veggies and fruit, simultaneously providing a predictable, stable income for pair of small local organic farms. I am giddy with excitement to learn how to cook some new veggies, and can’t wait to see how it goes!

Gastronomie

What IS glutamate?

Jan 21st, 08 / 1 Comment

Friend Andrew asked a really good question… what IS glutamate?

The answer is simple. Glutamate is one of the most common amino acids found in nature. It is the main component of many proteins, and is present in most body tissues.

Glutamate is also produced by the body and plays an essential role in human metabolism. It is a primary excitatory neurotransmitter in the human central nervous system. So, Monosodium Glutamate is the sodium salt of glutamate.

MSG was discovered one hundred years ago when a Japanese researcher realized he could evaporate seaweed broth to harvest the concentrated salt crystals that resulted. This crystalline form of glutamic acid exuded that elusive flavor so popular in Japanese and Chinese cooking (called “umami”). The resulting concentrated salt could be added to a great variety of foods to enhance flavor. Supposedly, it cannot make poor-quality food taste better. It is also reported that MSG only enhances savory foods (and mostly only protein-rich foods), not sweet ones.

I think that this is a case where Man decides something in nature is yummy, and decides to find a way to get more BAM! out of it. Voila, Accent was born (a pure MSG powder patented by the Japanese corporation Ajinomoto in 1909).

Here is a very biased description (ha! like mine isn’t) of what MSG does. I do not agree with the premise of how few people are affected by it, but the basic description appears correct. I also get a little leery when something innocently yet patronizingly proclaims itself to be “Everything you need to know about _____.” It might make the industry that PAID for this writeup happy, but it hardly encompasses the entire story. As a (formerly) professional writer, even I know that anything can be made to sound good– it’s all about choices… what to keep in, what to leave out, and how to “hook” people.

As for my whole genetics predisposing people to be sensitive to this substance argument… I am sure that somehow glutamate and homocysteine are related, as glutamates are also involved in ischemic reactions… and a stroke is an ischemic reaction. (See the “As a Neurotransmitter” section of this wikipedia entry.) So are TIAs (transient Ischemic attacks, or “mini-strokes”). Both are what my Dad suffered numerous times in the last five years before his death. I also know he was homozygous for MTHFR, which is the mild blood clotting disorder which, on a cellular level, a person ends up with extra bucketfuls of homocysteine and no extra counterpart components necessary to break down this abundance. (By the way, GO READ that link about homocysteine if you have a MTHFR mutation– it is the best and most understandable description of the problem I’ve encountered.) That’s why I take Folgard every day, to help my body deal with this imbalance. And I have to say I can tell when I don’t take it, and when I do. When I do, I have lots of energy and feel great; when I don’t, I feel tired and run down. It’s simply something I’ve learned my body needs to function more properly.

As for MSG, I think that most things in moderation are fine. As nature intended, minute, naturally-occurring quantities are probably just fine for human consumption. However, anything in excess can lead to problems. And I think that is exactly where I find myself with my daughter. She was unwittingly consuming MSG in nearly every food she ate, including the reduced fat organic milk she poured on her cereal (milk powder can be used to enrich low- and reduced-fat milks; dehydrated milk contains free glutamic acid as a byproduct. Also, ultrapasteurized milks contain MSG as a result of the unique pasteurization process). I’ve since switched Miracle Girl to whole milk, and have been pleasantly surprised at how much easier our morning routine is getting. It’s a small thing, but when every day is a landmine of battles, the ones I don’t have to fight make me a happy woman.

Gastronomie, Life in general, My miracle child

MSG as a “Natural flavor”, Part 2

Jan 17th, 08 / 4 Comments

Link to Part 1 here.

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What I’ve learned about MSG is eye opening. The FDA requires it to be specified on an ingredient label. HOWEVER… if some ingredients are acquired from another source, they do not have to be individually labelled (and therefore you will often see “spices” or “natural flavors” ). Also, it has different names in other countries, so if you buy international foods, the label can conform to that country’s labeling standard and probably won’t say “monosodium glutamate.” The EU primarily labels it E621, but glutamate containing additives can also be 620, 622, 623, 624, 625, 627, 631, or 635. Some free glutamates are released as a by-product of combining or processing other ingredients, so technically glutamates are not an ingredient, and therefore do not need to be labeled. There are also related chemical complexes that release large quantities of free glutamate into the bloodstream, and they are pretty easy to overlook unless you know what to look for.

Or at least they were ignored by me, until recently. I compiled a cheat sheet for “hidden” MSG, thanks in large part to the wikipedia entry for MSG, truthinlabeling.org, and msgmyth.com:

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Hydrolyzed protein (any protein that is hydrolyzed), autolyzed yeast, hydrolyzed yeast, yeast extract, soy extracts, protein isolate, “spices” and “natural flavorings.” Disodium inosinate and Disodium guanylate. Glutamate, Glutamic acid, Gelatin, Monosodium glutamate, Calcium caseinate, Textured protein, Monopotassium glutamate, Sodium caseinate, Calcium Caseinate, Yeast nutrient, Yeast extract, Yeast food, Autolyzed yeast, Hydrolyzed corn gluten, Natrium glutamate (natrium is Latin/German for sodium), Textured Protein.

These OFTEN contain MSG or create MSG during processing:

Carrageenan, Maltodextrin, Malt extract, Natural pork flavoring, Citric acid, Malt flavoring, Bouillon and Broth, Natural chicken flavoring, Soy protein isolate, Natural beef flavoring, Ultra-pasteurized, Soy sauce, Stock, Barley malt, Soy sauce extract, Whey protein concentrate, Pectin, Soy protein, Whey protein, Protease, Soy protein concentrate, Whey protein isolate, Protease enzymes, Anything protein fortified, Flavors(s) & Flavoring(s), Anything enzyme modified, Anything fermented, Natural flavor(s), & flavoring(s), Enzymes anything, Seasonings (the word “seasonings”. )

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I am no expert, but I have a wickedly eager mind for most things scientific. One item that triggered my brain into overdrive as I read numerous articles is that MSG is an excitotoxin. So is aspartame, and L-cysteine. Those of you who went through myriad infertility testing and came back positive for MTHFR might remember homocysteine as the substance (in overabundance) that increases risk for stroke, cardiovascular disease and other thrombotic events.

It occurred to me that since I already know I am homozygous for the MTHFR C677T mutation (and therefore my daughter is at least heterozygous), perhaps she is predisposed to being sensitive to anything that is an excitotoxin? Genetics may have graciously provided the knockout punch for my daughter’s body handling things like these appropriately? I’m probably reaching here, but perhaps not. Please try to follow my logic:

There is new research tying autism to a genetic mutation. If Sensory Integration issues are the pretty stepchild of autism, and autism has a genetic cause that is potentially triggered by the neurochemical reactions that glutamates produce… AND autism is an exponentially increasing diagnosis, could this be a key component in a viscious cycle we are just discovering? Could MSG actually be a trigger of ADHD, ADD, Sensory Integration Disorders AND autism? Even as my own doctors discredit the theory that mercury in childhood vaccinations could cause autism, I also see that those same vaccinations that contained mercury also were likely to contain glutamates. “In the absence of glutamate, neurons are unaffected by acute exposure to mercury… Co-application of nontoxic concentrations of methylmercury and glutamate leads to typical appearance of neuronal lesions associated with excitotoxic stimulation.” (link here for the full article and attributions). So, now I ask: we can discount the basic vaccination premise simply because we don’t have enough pieces of the puzzle to assemble an entire picture?

If MSG is a “natural” flavor, can we call autism a “natural epidemic”?

I very selfishly hope this area of research explodes with productivity testing these hypotheses. As Paul Harvey intoned during broadcasts I overheard as a child… I eagerly await “the rest of the story.”

Gastronomie, Life in general, My miracle child

MSG as a “Natural flavor”, Part 1

Jan 17th, 08 / 0 Comments

I participate in a support group for parents who have children with sensory issues (those exhibiting Sensory Integration issues). During the first meeting, one of the moms asked if anyone else was vigilant about diet for their children. I was the only responder. I have long tried to pin down some of my daughter’s extreme reactions which seemed to be tied to an ambiguous food ingredient. I’ve tried isolating sugar, food dyes, and dairy, with inconsistent results.

This mom mentioned that we might want to see if our daughter responds negatively to foods containing MSG, and that it is often labeled “natural flavor”. I was immediately skeptical. MSG? Seriously?? Isn’t that a taboo ingredient now? Since I buy organic whenever we can afford it and cook a lot of our family’s meals, I didn’t think we’d encounter it.

Nevertheless, I began reading labels for everything I fed her. Sure enough, “natural flavoring” appeared in nearly Every Single Thing. Yogurt, granola bars, cereal, lunch meat, chewing gum. I tried calling Stonyfield Farms to see if their organic tube yogurt’s “natural flavor” was MSG or one of its counterparts. I was on hold for 20 minutes before I hung up, never having spoken to a live body (the recording did repeatedly encourage submitting questions online; we’ll see if I get a response back.)

Purportedly, MSG is safe for human consumption, even in large quantities. However, I now firmly believe that my girl is extremely sensitive to it. I do know that my mom-in-law is very sensitive to it– she gets a horrible stomach ache whenever she ingests it.

Miracle Girl has always had really strong reactions to certain foods. She eats like a bird, and many things we simply can not get her to eat. I am trying not to create a power struggle over food, and I do not wish to create an anorexic/bulemic child. Average doses of some things send her spiraling out of control (sugar), but I don’t want her to feel deprived or (in my paranoid parent’s overactive imagination) overly-susceptible to a stereotyped pedophile’s lure (Hey little girl, do you want some candy?). I’ve learned to regulate her treats, and substitute Agave nectar whenever I can (it is plenty sweet, but much lower on the glycemic index so the “high” isn’t nearly as extreme).

The list of foods that contain BOUND glutamate (supposedly this does not cause the negative reaction that free glutamates do) are ALL foods my daughter avoids: mushrooms, seaweed, tomatoes, nuts, legumes, meats, and most dairy products. Actually, she seeks yogurt as sometimes the only sweet thing available to her diet, and will tolerate cheese. She almost always prefers water to milk. My husband and I found it incredibly compelling that ALL of these foods (again, except dairy) are things we cannot convince her to consume. I wondered if there was a connection?

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Continue to Part 2

Gastronomie, Life in general, My miracle child

Chocolate for every meal

Oct 31st, 07 / 3 Comments

I have officially moved to the next age category on most major surveys (36-44). I am celebrating by having Brownies for lunch, and Chocolate Amaretti Torte for dinner. Remember, I am a serious chocolate wench! And I can post the recipe for either if you’re interested.

Now, pardon me while I go scrape the bowls of their Scharffen Berger goodness! Mmmmmm….

Gastronomie