Recently I have seen a few children with an interesting range of food intolerances. In fact one recently was such a challenge it made gluten and dairy free look easy!

So how do you make changes when your child’s diet is so restricted ? What the hell do you put in their lunches for school?

First up don’t focus on what they can’t eat, focus on what they can eat. Typically there is a long list of fruit and vegetables plus meats and fish. Not a bad start. Then look at substitutes for foods. One tougher example is egg however there are a number of options in baking including “no egg” replacer by Orgran. I also found vegan recipes have some good substitutes including 1/2 a mashed banana or soaked chia seeds in lieu of eggs. Orgran also offer vegan options in many of their baking mixes which are helpful. This vegan website has a great range of egg replacment options http://chefinyou.com/egg-substitutes-cooking/ .

In a previous post I have already covered options for dairy free in detail so have a look if you need some more information http://wp.me/p4iTIZ-2g .

Secondly make sure you spend time working on gut repair. Many minor intolerances fall away when you repair the gut with adequate glutamine and support effective digestion with herbs and probiotics. Continue providing support with home made stocks and fermented foods. Fermented foods are a good source of probiotics for the gut and often cheaper than supplements.

Now the school lunches – gluten free breads are available but often include rice and potato flours which are also increasingly common intolerances. Some options here could be;

1. Use firm lettuce as wraps for fillings or hollowed out cucumber or corn cakes.
2. Consider salads with a firmer leafed green such as wombok with chicken, Waldorf salad with chicken or Thai roast beef salad with cos lettuce.
3. Drumsticks are a great option with a simple marinade.
4. Meatballs – Recently I made baked chicken meatballs which were very popular. Ingredients were bacon onion and tomato paste.
5. Vegetable sticks with hummuus, avocado or mashed bean dip.
6. Leftovers are always good, specially roast meats or sausage with a roast vegetable salad.

Pinkfarm’s facebook and website have great ideas and lots of information on fermented foods. Have a look at http://www.pinkfarm.com.au/lunchbox-ideas/ for some more ideas on lunches and also their fabulous stainless steel lunchboxes.

Whilst it may seem like a lot of work initially I find a little more preparation in the evenings makes the morning rush much easier. I usually pack up lunch size portions of leftovers for my children for the next day and then it can be grabbed out of the fridge before I drive them to the train station.

The extra work really pays off when you see the change in your child’s health as a result of making these changes. I often have parents telling me how sickly kids no longer get every cold that’s going or how much their skin has improved as a result of making these changes. Its really worth giving these changes 3 months to see the full benefit. Particularly if you can work on gut repair at the same time.

Would love to hear your stories about how dietary change has made a difference to you or your child. Please leave a comment on the blog below.

Christine Pope is in clinical practice at St Ives in Sydney and if you need help managing or identifying food intolerances you can make appointments on 8084 0081.