Any acid-sensitive kids?

[GypsiAnsara]

My daughter is 5 and has always been sensitive to foods with acid in them - citrus, tomatoes, pineapple, more than "just a couple" strawberries, vinegared foods, foods/drinks with ascorbic acid or "vit C" added, etc. We pretty much avoid anything sour.

She is also sensitive to chocolate.

The sensitivity is in the form of a rash of sorts - if it is just a bit of the food/drink, she gets some bumps around her mouth which she usually rubs or picks, then she has scabs on them. (the picking cycle can make them last quite a while!) If it is more of the offending food, she'll get a rash on her tush/bum as well, which is very uncomfortable for her.

Just curious if anyone else has or knows of kids like this.

We are all hoping she'll grow out of it - there are so many lovely raw foods she can't eat!

BTW, she nursed until she was 3, and during that time I couldn't eat much at all of the offending foods. She didn't start eating food until she was a year old, and even then, the bulk of her intake was breastmilk until she was about 18 months. And until she weaned, (I had to go on an awful medication and couldn't nurse her) almost her entire liquid intake was breastmilk. Just saying, as some people have suggested that sensitivities are from introducing foods too early.. but I don't think that is the case with her.

[kissum]

I don't have any answers for you, I just wanted to say my two year old is the same- too much acid and she gets the rash, same places. And she still nurses, so it's not introducing food too early either. I haven't noticed a correlation with me eating too much acid and her getting a rash, maybe I should watch that.

[Veg4Life]

My son is extremely sensitive to acids as well. I had his pH tested when he was 2 and his saliva was a 1 (out of 14! so pretty much, he was as acid as he could get!). At that point we were not vegan, and definitely weren't raw, but I read a great book that might help called the Acid-Alkaline Diet...Just learning what foods are acid and which are alkaline was a big help. We put our son on a 90% + alkaline diet for close to a year! It was tough, but 2 years later he is doing great. He can tolerate acids now, I am still wary and always make sure that the majority of his plate is alkaline. So, your daughter may grow out of it, but read up on pH as much as you can. My son's case was extreme, but I've found with the raw lifestyle that the majority of what we eat really supports a balanced pH. I could go on and on. If you'd like to chat or have specific questions, feel free to email me at healthyhomework@yahoo.com. Good luck to you!

[GypsiAnsara]

So I will definitely look into the PH thing - I've seen the testing tape at the HFS, but never did it.

What does a typical alkaline-diet day look like?

[Veg4Life]

So I will definitely look into the PH thing - I've seen the testing tape at the HFS, but never did it.

What does a typical alkaline-diet day look like?


Sorry this answer is super delayed, hope it still helps! Basically, a typical alkaline diet is very much like a raw diet! Mostly fruits and veggies (there are only a few fruits and veggies that are acid and even some of the fruits that most people think are acidic, like citrus, actually help your body release alkaline minerals so they don't have a negative acidic effect). The only alkaline nut is almonds, so you can do almond butters, almond milk, almond based cereals, almond trail mixes, etc.

Let's see.. here are some other alkaline foods (this is all based on my research, but of course, double check with your own research): olive oil, apple cider vinegar, sprouts, green veggies, potatoes, corn, banana, apples, avocado, raisons, dates, raw olives, pears, berries, citurs, melons, sauerkraut, pineapple, kiwi, peaches, grapes, beets, carrots...to name a few.

To be honest, most of the acid foods if you follow a raw diet you will avoid and probably should anyway, acidosis or not! (meat, dairy, pasta, fish, sugar, soda, peanuts, condiments, fried foods, yeast breads, white rice, etc.).

The only good raw foods that you should use sparingly until the acidosis is under control are:
walnuts, pumpkin seeeds, pecans, cashews, oats, pistachios (okay, pretty much ANY nut, but almonds), coconut (which really suprised me!), sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, tomatoes, and egg plant. (there are probably more, but these are the main ones). However, once you are on a raw diet for awhile, your pH seems to even out on its own and you may find that you don't have to worry about ingredients' pH as long as they are raw and healthful.

You can feel free to email me directly if you have any other questions. I'm not always great about checking my old posts on this site. Good luck!