Rachel,
As ever, thanks so much for your good suggestions!

The Sage Pesto is from Loretta Barrett Oden, owner of Santa Fe's "Corn Dance
Cafe". (http://www.corndancecafe.com) It appeared in the Nov. 1998 issue of
"Delicious!" on page 32. The lavender lemonade is my recipe. I am looking
forward to buying a copy of your cookbook, I hope you'll be announcing when
it is finished :-) Sounds like your cookbook is EXACTLY what I need in my
kitchen.


>I would suggest eliminating the nuts.  Nuts are high in omega 6s, as
>jeanclaude mentioned, and harder to digest than pure fats.  There are
>constituents in nuts that can cause or aggravate skin problems for many
>people.  I really think it's the nuts that are the major problem.

Interesting, Zoe had bits of undigested macadamias in the stool I used to
give the sample for the test. I asked the nutritionist (hereafter "Jen",
easier) if she thought that the test showed undigested fat due to the
undigested nuts. Jen seemed to think that this was unlikely, and she assured
me that the lab woul dhave taken the undigested nuts into consideration. But
a macadamia is a really high fat nut, Jen's statement didn't make any sense
to me. The only nuts that Zoe is eating now are the occasional walnut from
my bowl.


>
>If she is truly fat intolerant or has a fat digestion problem she would
>typically have symptoms such as gas, bloating, food stagnation, and feeling
>terrible after eating a high fat meal, such as a meal with pork sausage,
>and
>she would have fat in her stools and clay colored stools.  If this is the
>case, artichoke extract (sold in capsules in health food stores) can help.
>The use of this herb is backed by clinical reserach.  I know of people
>who've used it with great success.

I noticed something in her stools that was gray and mucousy. I thought it
was mucous. Could it be fat? I thought that fatty stools float. She's not
using the toilet, but when I empty her diaper into the toilet the stools do
not float, they sink hard.

>
>It's possible that part of the problem is an omega-3 deficiency and omega-6
>excess.  Eating more wild salmon would be good.  I'd also suggest giving
>her
>2 teaspoons per day of Carlsons' Lemon Cod Liver Oil.  It's the most
>palatable and highest quality I've found and tried; it does not smell or
>taste fishy.  Be sure to keep it in the refrigerator AND fill the bottle
>with filtered water as you use it, to prevent oxidation.  (The water will
>displace air in the bottle).

I will try this oil. She will NOT use the oil that I bought for her, which
is Twinlab's Dale Alexander signature Mint flavored cod liver oil. She will
spit this stuff clear across the room and won't go anywhere near anything I
try to sneak it into. We can get lots of good wild salmon, I will increase
this in our diet.

>
>It would be preferable to use a less processed meat and fats than are found
>in pork sausage.  You can season ground beef, lamb, turkey, or chicken to
>taste similar to sausage.   You might also consider cooking up steaks,
>burgers, or lamb for breakfast, or leftover chicken or turkey.  If you buy
>sausage, you might want to buy hormone and antiobiotic-free beef sausage,
>which contains fewer PUFAs than pork sausage.

The pork breakfast sausages we are using are "hormone free, antibiotic free,
and fed a natural diet"...which could mean just about anything. I really
think she's had too much pork. I have had major problems trying to get her
to eat red meat for breakfast. I will try again. I have switched to turkey
breakfast sausages which I am cooking in water for the time being. She needs
more red meat.


>The diet you've described that Zoe eats is not rich in zinc.  Zinc
>deficiency can cause or contribute to many different skin problems, from
>rashes to eczema to psoriasis, to acne.  You might want to give her a zinc
>supplement as well.

Our local apothecary made her an allergy formula zinc supplement, she had a
reaction when I gave it to her! Can you recommend a product? What about a
topical cream, would this be absorbed? I was also recommended by her
homeopath to get a little copper bracelet for her to wear when she sleeps,
to balance the zinc. But I can't find one.

>
>I would not hesitate to use coconut milk or unrefined coconut butter.  I've
>never heard of anyone having trouble digesting it.   In fact, coconut oil
>derivitives are used in hospitals for tube feeding  of people who have fat
>intolerance, because bile is not required for digesting and assimilating
>the
>short and medium chain saturated fats that are the principle components of
>coconut milk and fat.  Omega Nutrition makes an excellent coconut butter.
>I
>would not use Spectrum, which is refined, and says so right on the label.

Ok, thanks for the reassurance about this. Does heat destroy lauric acid?
When she drinks coconut milk, she has a much better day. Perhaps this is
because she is actually digesting the coconut fat even when she cannot
digest other fats? Jen had never complained about our paleo diet until she
saw Zoe's test, now she is telling me that I am feeding her way too much
fat.

>
>I don't think an allergy elimination diet, rice feeding, etc., is
>necessary.

Me too.

Thanks!

Gratefully,
Stacie
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