Gluten, or scientifically gluten, is a protein found in cereals. We all eat it daily. However, unfortunately, wheat allergy is increasingly being diagnosed in children. In this case, a special diet is needed.
Gluten intolerance: how does it manifest?
Medicine does not stand still. Now, doctors at an early age can detect such an unpleasant disease as celiac disease (gluten intolerance, ICD 10 allergy code - T 78.1, section "Other negative reactions to food"). This is an autoimmune disease, which is characterized by a violation of the processes of assimilation of vegetable protein. Children suffering from this disease should not eat foods that contain wheat. The composition of many dishes includes this component. As a rule, the symptoms of celiac disease first manifest themselves during the introduction of the first complementary foods. Usually young parents use porridge for these purposes.
Signs of disease
This issue should be given special attention. As practice shows, not allparents immediately understand that this is how their child has an allergy. It is best to seek help from a qualified doctor at the first sign.
The main symptoms of celiac disease include:
- loss of appetite;
- vomit;
- increased flatulence, flatulence;
- slow weight gain;
- tearfulness.
If the above symptoms appear, you should definitely contact your pediatrician. The doctor will prescribe an appropriate examination and make an accurate diagnosis. If celiac disease is still confirmed, this is not a reason for despair. Many people live with gluten intolerance for many years. It is enough just to follow a special diet and not eat gluten. What products contain this ingredient? How to explain to a child that he should watch what he eats? Parents should teach the baby to proper nutrition from an early age so that in the future he can easily make up his own diet.
Gluten free diet
So what is she like? It should be noted right away that a diet for celiac disease is not a method of treatment, but only an opportunity to get rid of the unpleasant symptoms of the disease. What to do if a child has a wheat allergy? What to feed? The list of products that are unacceptable for consumption with celiac disease is quite wide.
It includes the following products:
- bread, flour and other cereal products such as barley, oats, rye and wheat;
- barley and semolina porridge;
- noodles and pasta;
- dishes in breadcrumbsbreadcrumbs;
- any canned food;
- mustard, mayonnaise and other industrial sauces;
- sweets (gingerbread, sweets, cakes);
- semi-finished products (sausages, dumplings, sausages, sausages);
- fast food;
- crab sticks;
- baking.
What can you eat?
Let's take a closer look at this. In fact, the list of allowed products is rather big.
Gluten free menu may include:
- Meat and fish in any form. It is better not to buy ready-made semi-finished protein products, since gluten may already be added to them.
- Fruits and vegetables, including potatoes.
- Buckwheat, rice, millet and corn grits.
- Beans.
- Nuts.
- Dairy.
- Vegetable and butter.
Gluten-free diets are often deficient in essential nutrients and vitamins. It is best to give them in the form of tablets or capsules. For children, following a gluten-free diet is especially difficult. What child doesn't want to try fresh pastries and sweets. Parents will need to convince the child from early childhood that all these products pose a danger to his he alth. If you develop the right eating habits, then a gluten-free menu will not cause much trouble. Parents have to do everything so that the child feels complete. Perhaps, with age, he will begin to show his character and will deliberately eat forbidden foods. In this caseit is necessary to conduct a preventive conversation with the child. Most likely, you will need the help of a psychologist. However, it should be borne in mind that a diet for celiac disease is the only possible way out.
Typical menu
What should I do if my child is allergic to wheat? What should not be eaten in this case? A gluten-free diet for children is practically no different from that for adults. The only difference is in the calorie content of the diet. Children just need smaller portion sizes.
The following is a sample menu for older children:
- 1 day: for breakfast - egg casserole, cocoa; for second breakfast - an apple; for lunch - pea soup, pilaf and compote; afternoon snack - yogurt; dinner - fish cake and buckwheat porridge.
- 2 day: for breakfast - pancakes, sweet tea; for second breakfast - an orange; for lunch - sauerkraut soup, mashed potatoes with chicken cutlet; for an afternoon snack - cottage cheese and fruits; for dinner - vegetable stew with beef.
- 3 day: for breakfast - cottage cheese casserole, tea; for the second breakfast - fruit; for lunch - borscht, buckwheat with stew, compote; for an afternoon snack - fruit with yogurt or sour cream; for dinner - cabbage rolls.
- 4 day: for breakfast - syrniki with cocoa; for a second breakfast - fruits (pear or banana); for lunch - mushroom soup, pea puree and tea; for an afternoon snack - fresh berries and yogurt; for dinner - stuffed peppers.
- 5 day: for breakfast - gluten-free cookies; for a second breakfast - fruits (pear or peach); for lunch - fish soup, potato casserole with chicken; for an afternoon snack - a banana and a glass of milk; for dinner - vegetable salad withfish cake.
- 6 day: for breakfast - scrambled eggs, tea, marshmallows; for second breakfast - kiwi with yogurt; for lunch - pea soup, potatoes with fish; for an afternoon snack - fruits (apple or pear); for dinner - stewed cabbage with meatballs.
- 7 day: for breakfast: casserole and tea; for a second breakfast - a glass of milk with nuts, for lunch - vegetable soup, chicken breast with buckwheat noodles, for an afternoon snack - apple juice and an orange; for dinner - fish salad with vegetables and herbs.
How to feed babies?
Allergic reactions are most serious in young children. Therefore, it is necessary to monitor their nutrition with special attention. During complementary foods, it is worth avoiding the use of cereals prohibited for taking. Try to enrich the diet gradually, making sure that it does not contain gluten. Always read the composition of the product on the packaging. Ingredients that a child should not eat should be hidden in inaccessible places. In addition, when the baby is present, other members of the family should not eat them.
Recipes
Let's look at the simplest recipes. Even if a child is allergic, this does not mean that he cannot eat tasty and varied. Many people think that this is impossible with celiac disease, but with the right approach, you can create a complete diet.
Here are some recipes for allergy sufferers to help diversify the menu:
- Pancakes. The main thing is to use gluten-free flour. Suitable rice or corn. Add to it half a glass of kefir, a pack of cottage cheese and five proteins. The resulting composition is thoroughly mixed and baked like regular pancakes.
- Cheesecakes. You need to take one pack of cottage cheese, an egg, a spoonful of sugar, three tablespoons of gluten-free flour. All components are thoroughly mixed. From the resulting mass, it is necessary to mold small cakes and fry them on both sides in a pan. Cheesecakes are best eaten with sour cream.
- Buckwheat/rice noodles with meat. Celiac disease doesn't mean your child can't eat noodles. The main thing is that it should not be wheat. Pieces of meat must be carefully fried with bell peppers and onions. Also boil buckwheat or rice noodles until tender. Then add it to the meat. Spices, soy sauce and garlic are added to taste in this dish.
Main dishes
What are they? All the usual dishes that are present in the child's diet are served in the same form. It is worth paying attention to the preparation of soups: they should not contain prohibited cereals and pasta. Salads should not be dressed with mayonnaise. As side dishes, you must use potatoes, buckwheat or rice. As for the meat, the main thing is that it is fresh. The main rule is no semi-finished products. So you can be sure that there are no preservatives and harmful components in the food. Sweets for the baby can be prepared independently. Children really like traditional lollipops - "Petushki". You can even bake cookies, just use special gluten-free flour for this. It is also worth preparing for the childspecial bread. Here are some simple recipes for such dishes.
Gluten Free Chocolate Cake
Wheat allergy in children does not mean a complete rejection of sweets. You can please your child with a real chocolate cake. To prepare this dish you will need:
- 200 grams brown sugar;
- 125 grams of butter;
- 125 grams of dark chocolate;
- 20 grams of cocoa;
- 50 grams rice flour;
- a quarter spoon of gluten-free baking powder;
- three eggs;
- nuts to taste.
In a water bath, melt the butter, add brown sugar and dark chocolate to it. The resulting mixture must be stirred until all the components have melted and combined into a homogeneous mass. Rice flour, cocoa, baking powder are poured into it and mixed thoroughly. Add eggs and nuts. The dough is poured into a pre-prepared form and baked at 180 degrees for 35 minutes. The finished dessert should be cooled before serving.
Gluten free bread
What is special about this product? When it comes to such a component as gluten (which products contain it, it was discussed earlier), the first thing that comes to mind is bread. However, an allergic reaction to gluten does not mean that a child will not be able to eat it throughout his life. You just need to cook the bread right. Use the recipe below.
Two teaspoons of dry yeast should be diluted in 125 ml of warm water. add onea teaspoon of sugar. This mixture should be left for a while so that it foams. Pour 300 grams of rice flour and one teaspoon of s alt into a bowl, make a small indentation in the middle of the flour slide and break an egg into it. Add yeast to this. Mix all ingredients. If necessary, add a small amount of liquid. It can be plain water, milk or yogurt. Then the dough must be poured into a mold and left to wait until it doubles in size. Bread is baked for half an hour at a temperature of 200 degrees. Refrigerate before drinking.
Banana Bread
This dish can also be prepared for children who have been diagnosed with allergies (according to ICD-10, the code was presented above). It is a cross between dessert and bread.
100 grams of pre-softened butter is beaten with 4 tablespoons of sugar. Two eggs are added to the resulting mixture. Two bananas need to be mashed, which is then added to the dough. Next, pour 150 grams of rice and 2 tablespoons of corn flour. Add 30 grams of gluten-free baking powder and a pinch of s alt. The dough is poured into a baking dish lined with parchment and placed in the oven. The dish is cooked for an hour at a temperature of 180 degrees. Served chilled.
Cookies
Wheat allergy in children does not mean that you need to deprive the child of simple childhood joys. All kids love cookies. If your child is allergic to gluten, use this simplerecipe.
100 grams of almonds must be ground and mixed with a glass of sugar and a tablespoon of rice flour. Two eggs are added to the resulting mixture and beat well. After that, the dough is left for 20 minutes. After this time, it must be beaten again well. The resulting dough is placed in a pastry bag and squeezed onto a baking sheet in the form of small circles. You can also just scoop out the cookies with a spoon. Place one almond on top of it. The dish is baked for 20 minutes at 180 degrees.
Conclusion
Wheat allergy in children is quite unpleasant, but not the worst pathology. The main task of parents in this case is to try to make the baby's menu rich and varied. The child must understand that he is not very limited in his choice of food. You can cook and invent new gluten-free dishes together. So the child will learn to live with his illness and eat right, and you will establish close contact with him. Many parents in this situation are concerned about one question: "How will the baby eat in the school cafeteria?". Try to discuss in advance with the management of the institution the possibility of providing an individual menu.
