Help with son's dietary restriction going keto

(Cynthia Anderson) #1

My son has several health issues. I won’t list them all but I will list foods he has been told to stop eating.

Dairy
Wheat
Citrus
Caffeine (allowed 1 serving per day)
All processed meats
Bacon
Ham
Nitrates
Saccharin (we don’t eat anyways)
Large amounts of carbs in one sitting.
Nuts
Limit eggs and peanuts.

I’m seriously considering having him go mostly carnivore.

He’s so picky and resistant to change I feel lost.

It was bad enough when it was just wheat and dairy. Now I’m just like what is he supposed to eat?

Maybe not keto, maybe keto. I don’t know. Some thoughts ideals and suggestions would be appreciated.

My son turns 17 in April.
He’s 6 feet. 150 lbs. No yoyo dieting.
He’s always been super skinny. He grew/ is growing so fast he has stretch marks on back, sides and knees. Tons of them.
He started getting sick right at puberty.

(Running from stupidity) #2

Seems to make sense to me.

#3

I see nothing there to rule out lower carb fruit & veg.

(Laurie) #4

Apparently some keto-friendly vegetables (e.g., lettuce, spinach, cabbage, celery) and fruits (especially berries and cherries) contain nitrates. So I can see why @Gracebowen is considering carnivore.

(Running from stupidity) #5

Who has told him that?

#6

Fair enough :slight_smile: Given it’s position on the list I took it to mean those contained in processed meats.

(bulkbiker) #7

It might be useful if you listed the conditions just so we know where to look? Only if you are happy to share of course.
I find the bacon and ham thing interesting…

(PSackmann) #8

Interestingly, I don’t see sugar on the list, although we’ll assume you want to limit for long-term health. With this list, I’d want to stay in the produce and meat sections, with a brief foray for certified gluten-free oatmeal. Cooking from scratch is doable around this list, albeit a bit time-consuming at first.
My eldest had a sugar and citrus sensitivity when he was young, the biggest issue was the citric acid that is used in most canned foods. We spent several years eating nothing processed, except occasionally a particular pizza restaurant that had no sugar or citric acid in their sauce. It was a challenge

(Cynthia Anderson) #9

His gastroenterologist and his Otology/neurology doctor.

(Cynthia Anderson) #10

The medical conditions for his food restrictions.

He’s allergic to wheat dairy eggs and peanuts.

Everything else is due to migraines. Except I’m not totally convinced it’s just migraines.

I think he has POTS positional orthostatic intolerance and MCAD mast cell activation disorder.

If he’s laying down or mostly flat he feels fine. While sitting and especially standing he gets a headache feels nauseous and like he’s about to fall. He frequently just sits down wherever he is.

He has been to school 1day this year. I think I’m going to withdraw him now. He’s already starting GED class as soon as he turns 17.

(Cynthia Anderson) #11

Lettuce and spinach have nitratrates. I didn’t know that. Salad is one of the previously safe foods he ate alot of.

He’s so picky and resistant to change.

I think the doctor means all nitrates because he’s not allowed to drink red wine. I didn’t initally list it because he’s a minor and because of our religious beliefs.

(Cynthia Anderson) #12

It’s the nitrates in them ham and bacon.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #13

That’s vegan propaganda to get people to stop eating meat. Plant foods and chicken generally have higher levels of nitrates than ham and bacon do, and nobody objects to those. For the science on that,

By the way, migraines can be caused by a sodium deficiency. You might try increasing your son’s salt intake, if you haven’t already. The latest research is indicating that people are healthiest on 4-6 grams a day of sodium, which translates to 10-15 grams of table salt (NaCl), or 2-3 U.S. teaspoons.

(Heather Meyer) #14

Hmm… I have Hypovolemic POTS Adrenergic Form.

Migranes have never been a part of my diagnosis. I get the “passy outtish” feeling frequently but not the migranes.
The treatment naturally has been increased salt
to 5 grams per day. I found out i was allergic to nitrates and sugar excxacerbated my POTS.
However, given that their are 3 main types of POTS, it is possible that migranes might be part of it.

Honestly, without a Cardiologist testing via “Treadmill Test” and “Tilt Test” I would be hesitant to suggest a high salt diet in case its not POTS. Its very easy to acrew your body up by taking in more electrolytes than you need. If you think he has it, i would ask your Doc for a referral to a Cardiologist.

As far as the other foods go…i see that is a Migrane Diet you have been perscribed. Not a bad suggestion. I can tell ya this though…

In my experience, with having POTS, cafffine helps me balance my blood pressure. Its part of the natural treatment for POTS so eliminating caffine if he has POTS could make it worse.
BUT… if he has a high blood pressure problem(causing the nausea) then reducing caffine could make it better.

So… in this case… i would suggest

  1. Talk to Doc about Cardiologist referral
  2. Try the Migrane diet for 8 weeks and see if it
    improves the migrane problem.

Good luck with everything!