Fed Up Tour August-September 2009

Here are some notes from the lecture tour. Thanks to all the dedicated organizers who are helping make this year’s tour such a success in helping people struggling with food intolerance.

BINGARA 17 August 2009

Our tour started in the tiny town of Bingara (pop 1300, “Better Beef” country) nestled in the foothills of the New England plateau in northern NSW. A mix of 80 parents and health professionals came to our lunchtime talk in Bingara’s beautiful art deco Roxy theatre, some driving for over three hours to attend. Just a few stories: the mother of a 9 yo exclaimed “your book saved my son from autism”; the mother of an asthmatic who “lives on Vegemite” had no idea about the sulphite/asthma connection or the MSG/yeast extract connection. Our new failsafe contact for NW New England is Jessica: pjjtaylor@bigpond.com. Thanks to organiser Tanya Heaton from Early intervention Family Services.

WARIALDA 17 August 2009

A tiny New England town (pop 1300) on the western slopes of the Great Dividing Range. There were 50 parents and teachers at the very friendly Warialda Public School talk - special thanks to Principal Peter and his wife Jan. Stories included: week long rage attacks from annatto 160b eaten once a week in an icecream as a treat; another child “living on Vegemite” this time with oppositional defiance and difficulty falling asleep; yet another restless 4 yo eating 5 pieces of fruit per day plus juice and dried fruit (nutritionists recommend 2 serves of fruit per day). Thanks again to Tanya.

INVERELL 18 August 2009

Inverell (pop 10,000 in the New England Tablelands) is called the Sapphire city because it is in the centre of much of the world’s production of blue sapphires. 140 people attended and thanks to Brumbys for take home bags of white iced finger buns. Furthest distance travelled: from Gympie in Qld (1500 kms?). Talk organisers were surprised by the woman who exclaimed: “Sue’s book saved my daughter’s life” (and burst into tears); obsessive compulsive symptoms related to salicylates; head banging that stopped on the diet. Thanks to organiser Kathy Croft of Inverell Disability Services.

RICHMOND 20 August 2009

One of the first settlements in NSW, Richmond is about two hours west of Sydney. 65 people attended the historic Richmond Public School; including two sisters (“we’ve read your book, we love you”) – after identifying Ribo Rash one emptied her pantry of all 635-containing foods (“it’s in everything) to find her rash disappeared and her children turned into angels (“I wouldn’t have said they had a problem with behaviour”). Also a teacher whose two children improved after 3 weeks of avoiding additives, one with behaviour, the other whose marked improvement delighted her speech pathologist; yet another report of headbanging disappearing on diet, and a success story about a 12 year old whose juvenile rheumatoid arthritis turned out to be caused by MSG (full story in the next newsletter).

KILLARA Sydney 24 August 2009

In Sydney I gave a daytime Q&A session at Borders Bookstore in Hornsby’s Westfield Shopping Centre and an evening talk in the northern suburb of Killara

Nearly two hundred people attended the lively and supportive Killara talk with a range of old and new failsafers coming from as far away as the Central Coast and Newcastle. Comments included “thank you for saving my sister’s life” and “there were tears and tears at our house but now that is over and we are really happy thanks to your book”. Many thanks to organiser and new Sydney contact Jenny (phone 0425 237 858) and her helpers Kathy, Bridget, Pam, Susie and Lachlan for the night and the failsafe tasting table; Castle Hill dietitians Jane Dostine and Amanda Turbill (both at the same phone number 9634 8600) ; longtime Sydney failsafe contact Annette (Annette.cowie@gmail.com), and Joanne Edwards from A Cut Above Butchery in Beecroft. Joanne tells us that failsafe sausages can be ordered from any AJ Bush butcher (more than 15 outlets).

BLUE MOUNTAINS Springwood 25 August 2009

I always love the crisp air of the Blue Mountains. The big friendly talk at Springwood Town Hall (130 attendees; Springwood is the last commuter train stop in the Blue Mountains from Sydney; people came from as far as Sydney, Bathurst, Penrith, Wollongong and Bathurst) was sponsored by the ABA (Australian Breastfeeding Association) thanks to Natalie, Learne, Hazel, Rob, Desley, Veronica, their army of helpers, husbands and babes in arms. The audience included a large number of Fed Up readers and many people greeted me before the talk with “I just wanted to say thanks for saving my life” or similar. One mother astonished the waiting queue by announcing “This woman is a living goddess – listen to everything she says!”, which just goes to show how strongly people are affected by the family harmony that comes with a change of diet. Due to the large numbers of failsafers at this talk, there was a lively Q&A session, including one failsafer who explained how she avoids additives in medications by buying from a Compounding Pharmacist (Kings something ..) through the yellow pages. She phones the order and they post it back. See more information on the Medications factsheet on our website. It was great to have many teachers and a maternal and child nurse in the audience. Veronica who organised the failsafe supper is our new mid Blue Mountains failsafe contact: veronica@brandt.id.au.

TUMBARUMBA 26 August 2009

Our presentation in the tiny town of Tumbarumba (pop 2000; nestled in the foothills of the Snowy Mountains) was hosted by the Carcoola Childcare Centre. Fifty friendly people squeezed into the playroom in decidedly chilly (for us) temperatures – the previous night there had been snow, compared to our experience of Sydney’s balmy maximum of 27 degrees which was 11 degrees above average only two days earlier. I have rarely seen an audience so willing to learn about salicylates – there were more stories of children “living on” dried apricots, sultanas, tomato sauce, zucchinis, broccoli, and spinach: “I thought they were the healthiest foods you could give kids, but my son is feral”, said one woman while another who had suspected milk at the beginning of the talk for her son’s toddler diarrhoea just gave a wry smile at the end: ”I know what it is now; it’s salicylates. That’s what he eats all the time”. It was good to see a number of teachers, child care workers and another maternal and child nurse in the audience. Anita who missed the talk was elected the new local failsafe contact, stand by for details.

OUR FOOD ON TOUR

“What do you eat on the road?” a number of people asked. We prefer self catering accommodation such as cabins in holiday parks, motels with kitchenettes (hard to find) or motels who will provide a microwave oven. Our mainstay is Wife Soup (chopped chicken breasts and shallots sautéed together then add chopped potatoes, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, swede, chokos and a tiny amount of carrot covered with water and simmered until tender; served with pasta spirals or bread rolls or crusty homemade bread ) or lamb stew from the FS Cookbook. Howard makes these in big batches when we have a stove and freezes it in containers – enough for about 4 meals. Sometimes we eat it for both lunch and dinner. Howard makes homemade bread (cob loaves with Demeter organic white stoneground flour, water and yeast – I can now tolerate gluten again after altogether about 9 years gf) on the weekends. We keep our bread in a cloth not plastic bag and it can stay fresh for up to a week. Or we buy bread and rolls from Bakers Delight or Brumbys. For lunch on the road we generally eat bread and cheese (for Howard who can tolerate both dairy and amines) or boiled eggs/microwave omelettes for me; with celery and lettuce id available; or Nuttelex and pear jam. If near a microwave we have small fresh corn on the cob (moderate in sals) as well. For snacks we have fresh pears, dried pears, raw cashews, bread and pear jam or rarely, Red Rock Deli chips. For breakfast we have rolled oats with A2 milk or soymilk, I add psyllium hulls for extra fibre; for supper rolled oats or weetbix (for Howard). We drink decaf or carob, and in cafes I order a flat white soy decaf – sometimes I have to take my own soymilk, see photo. For occasional treats we have failsafe goodies from the talks: e.g. FS sausage rolls; pear shortcake, Jane’s moist pear cake; rolled oat bars, Brumbys white iced finger buns. On the weekend we generally have panfried fresh steak or lamb chops with potatoes and stir fried cabbage/brussels sprouts with preservative-free G&Ts or whisky and soda. It’s simple, filling, nutritious and keeps us going on an insanely busy schedule. I am fanatical about sticking to my diet while travelling because otherwise I would never get through the amount I have to remember in each talk.

ALBURY 27 August 2009

Over 100 people attended our presentation in Albury/Wodonga (pop 100,000; on the banks of the Murray River), hosted for the third time by Sue Pringle and her team from Cooinda Family Support Group. The enthusiastic audience consisted of approximately equal numbers of parents and professionals, some from as far away as Mt Beauty, Khancoban and Wagga. Howard and I had to laugh at a father with his two delightful (failsafe) children: when asked why they came, the father said he was there for children’s behaviour problems while his daughters said they were there about adult problems. Vice-President Judith’s introduction for the evening included the personal success story of friends who attended last year’s presentation and subsequently saw a big improvement in their children; when their daughter’s behaviour recently worsened, they were able to identify the culprit – a new brand of toothpaste with an artificial blue stripe. I heard from many parents who had reduced additives with success but now realise they have been piling on the salicylates, “I thought I was doing the best thing for my child, but now I realise I should look at salicylates” said a number of attendees. “We are so glad we came!” said another couple. Thanks to the Commercial Club for providing an excellent venue and the pear shortcake (gf version) from the Failsafe Cookbook recipe. Sue the organiser has volunteered to be the new Albury failsafe contact 02 6056 4844.

A BREAK IN BRIGHT (VICTORIAN ALPS)

Please excuse our delay in updating this week – we’ve just had a particularly tough week due to heavy colds combined with a full-on schedule: 5 talks and about 1500 kms of driving.

Albury to Wangaratta: by now both suffering from heavy colds, we took a weekend break in beautiful though chilly Bright, gateway to the snowfields. On Monday we heard the rescue helicopter looking for Victorian Government Minister Tim Holding who was lost in a blizzard on Mt Feathertop. Howard has completed that route in similar conditions so we were relieved when Minister Holding was found after 2 nights in the snow.

But there has been some great feedback already:

“Well, you now have both towns (Warialda and Bingara) buzzing after your talks. The feedback has been extremely positive. Have you any plans next year to do another circuit up this way? – organiser, Bingara.

“Since your talk I have been thrilled to have several parents approach me to talk about my experiences with failsafe and ask for advice. At the rate we are going, half the School will be failsafe before we know it. Thanks again for doing the talk, it was great to finally meet you – parent, Manilla.

Thanks again for last night, you're both so lovely & down to earth. There's a buzz in the community today, everyones busy clearing their cupboards & replenishing with failsafe foods LoL!!” – Springwood organiser.

WANGARATTA 31 August 2009

Our first talk in Victoria was Wangaratta (pop 15,000 famous for bushrangers, beef cattle, wine and high country). So many people attended this talk that the venue was switched from Our Lady’s primary school hall to the larger church next door. Special thanks to organiser Cheryl Miller (with helpers Kat and Charmaine) and Principal Paul Maher whose extraordinary support and assistance made this talk such a success. People came from as far away as Myrtleford and Mt Beauty. There were some amazing success stories including two similar stories about misdiagnoses of behaviour/autism that turned out to be entirely due to food intolerance. Also an interesting report of psoriasis that worsens on both salicylates and amines (watermelon, strawberries, chocolate); and an annatto reaction in an 8 yo girl that starts within 2 hours of annatto coloured icecream with tearfulness, oppositional defiance, aggression and sleep disturbance, lasting 24 hours including sleep disturbance at night – the mother had worked it out through a food diary and challenged twice to confirm. Some of the foods mentioned most often at these talks are citrus, broccoli and tomatoes (very high in salicylates, amines and glutamates); at this talk: “my daughter just lives on mandarins - she’s impossible to live with and has a sore vagina”; “my son loves his broccoli – he’s out of control”.

MELBOURNE 1 September 2009

I particularly enjoyed this talk (about 220 people in the Ringwood Secondary College hall) because there were so many failsafers - lovely to catch up with you all - and it led to a spirited Q&A session. Thanks to organiser Chris Bozkewycz and her army of helpers from the Mooroolbark Early Childhood Education Centre; on the failsafe table, Kathleen Dahlmeyer and Jenny Ravlic and their army of helpers from the finM group; Bakers Delight for iced fingerbun (no spicewash) samples, and Nuttelex for free samples. Some stories: a father who said ”I was a complete sceptic until I saw the results in my son on day 4”; a breastfeeding mother who had seen the connection between unsettled baby with wine or apple cider – what could it be? (salicylates!); a toddler with multiple problems “living on avocadoes – do they have salicylates?” (yes, high in both sals and amines); plus two outstanding stories. The first, a child with longterm sneaky poos – “everyday for 10 years” - who has never been offered the elimination diet despite numerous medical investigations, this is a sad reflection on medical limitations and appalling for the family); and a 17 year old who told me and the rest of the after-talk queue: “I was diagnosed with ADHD and ODD when I was six, also learning disabilities and depression. I’ve tried to kill myself 3 times. Since the diet I am doing really well at school, people don’t believe I have ADHD, and I’m really happy. The diet saved my life.” This remarkable young woman has recently been discharged from the Mental Health Care system because thanks to the diet, there is now “nothing wrong with me”.

BALLARAT 2 September 2009

80 people attended the talk in Ballarat (pop 78000 historic goldmine town now Victoria’s largest inland city). Many thanks to organisers Heather and Jan of ECKA; and to failsafers for manning the book table Kylie (our longterm failsafe Ballarat contact, can advise about failsafe sausages and other local foods 5337 6592 daky@optusnet.com.au) and Sharon (from the Melbourne - finM - group). We only found out on the night that there was another speaker so thanks to everyone who was prepared to squeeze into a corridor afterwards for what turned out to be a lively failsafe discussion. This session included 5 mothers from a nearby town ”we love you, we have your books, they have really helped us”; a young mother “I saw your talk at the Ballarat hospital last year, we were desperate then and your book as made a huge difference to our family”; and a happy couple who had driven for several hours to attend “we started the diet two weeks ago, we’ve already seen a huge improvement” (in oppositional type symptoms). Issues discussed included the terrible quality of Ballarat water (it is best to have an RO filter); children who are very sensitive to fragrances – how can they manage outside the home – what happens when school suspends a child like this for bad behaviour which has been caused by the child’s exposure to fragrances at school e.g spray deodorants in the change room ? (some schools have banned spray deodorants); another mother reported her daughter’s “psychotic” outburst after exposure to strong floor cleaner; and the issue of shared custody – the elimination diet is impossible for parents to do without support from ex-partners.

MILDURA 3 September 2009

Mildura (pop 29,000) is famous for citrus, dried fruit and wine, so is it any wonder that this talk in the Latrobe University lecture theatre was completely booked out (150 people) days before the event. Many thanks to failsafers and new Mildura contacts Peta (bailey_26@optusnet.com.au 0427 083 337) and Monica (monhoppy@ncable.com.au 0400 899 706 who can advise on failsafe sausages and local foods); their helpers Sharon and Shona; and Health on Eighth for taking some ‘sets’ (both books and DVD for the low price of $50, usually only available at talks). Stories started with 3 accounts of “you saved our lives” – meaning huge changes in their children due to diet, including two children who had previously been diagnosed with ADHD: “it was food, we didn’t need medication”. One child leapt from the bottom learning group to the top of the top group after only six weeks on the diet. Also a story of a child whose eczema disappeared completely when the mother withdrew Vegemite (this is one of the top ten nasty foods with glutamates, amines, salicylates and sulphite preservatives). Other “worst foods” mentioned at this talk were flavoured packet snacks and biscuits such as rice crackers/cakes and Cheezels.

BORDERTOWN 5 September 2009

Crossing over the border between Victoria and South Australia saw us eating up our pears on the side of the road due to fruit fly quarantine restrictions on fresh fruit. For such a tiny population in a remote area, a very enthusiastic group (32) of mostly mothers turned up to the Saturday afternoon talk in Bordertown (pop 2500). Thanks to Glenda Mock organiser for the talk sponsors HAC (Hospital Advisory Committee) and the Rotary army of helpers led by Steve Dick. Several attendees had been to my talk in Bordertown at the Women in Agriculture conference 5 years ago. One woman said “it changed our lives, our daughter is a different child, this time I’ve brought my husband”. Another said “I think we need to look more at salicylates now”. There were the usual stories of children living on citrus, apples, tomatoes. I was saddened by a report from this talk and the last one from mothers who live in remote areas at least 5 or 6 hours drive from the nearest capital city and have travelled at great expense and difficulty to a capital city often with 2 or 3 or 4 impossible children in a car searching for answers, only to encounter a dietitian who was unhelpful or worse (“the dietitian said I should use better discipline”). Please if you have been to a very good or very bad dietitian, let us know so that we can help others. Attendees obviously felt very remote and far from help. “Thank you for coming here” many of them said. Very few had heard of salicylates and some had tried a naturopathic dairy free, wheat free, yeast free diet without ever challenging to confirm.

NARACOORTE 7 September 2009

Only an hour from Bordertown, Naracoorte (pop 5000) is gateway to the Naracoorte Caves, SA’s only World Heritage listed site. Attended by over 200 people from the surrounding areas, this talk was organised by mother of three Michelle MacDonald after last year’s Mt Gambier talk changed her life – “a huge improvement” in her children’s eczema, asthma and behaviour - and there were many others who reported the same. Thanks also to Geraldine from the Michelle de Garis Memorial Kindergarten, Soroptomists and many others community helpers.

As well as success stories, there was a report by a failsafer of a reaction to natural colour annatto 160b: her preschooler screamed for two hours at bedtime instead of going to bed as she normally did, had a nightmare in the middle of the night and wet herself the next day. This happened several times before she realised it was due to the new additive in vanilla Fruche. Also a six month old breastfed baby who reacts with vomiting and rash when his mother eats oranges, reacted the same to avocados at introduction of solids. Do avocados contain salicylates? Yes! Although a commonly used weaning food, avocados are classified by RPA as very high in salicylates and amines.

Also another report of a woman who had noticed she suffered from chest tightness due to sulphites in dried fruit. In the EU medications with sulphite must contain warnings “may cause bronchospasm”. You’d think it would make sense to label foods as well.

One woman reported her dietitian had recommended a Granny Smith apple per day on the diet. This seems unlikely since Granny Smiths are classified as high in salicylates (compared to Golden Delicious which are moderate) but in any case an apple per day is certainly enough to stop the diet from working. Please ask for names of experienced dietitians.

Another worst foods candidate: several reports of major reactions to blue slushies – in the pub or at school – in one case followed by 3 days of terrible behaviour. Slushies are definitely one of the worst foods for behaviour. You have to wonder what happened to commonsense when schools sell blue slushies to young children. And a question: which ingredient in Healtheries Rice Wheels could cause a skin rash in a preschooler? The labels list 85% rice and the next ingredient is 7% flavour. That’s a lot of flavour in snack made of mainly rice. Strong flavour additives can be high in salicylates, amines and glutamates. For fruit flavours suspect salicylates, for flavours such as cheese, BBQ or chicken, suspect glutamates. “Yeast” also listed is another natural source of glutamates.

ADELAIDE 9 September 2009

We were busy in Adelaide with interviews (Today Tonight, Mike Smithson at 5AA and Sonia Feldhoff at the ABC). Over 200 people attended the talk at Concordia College which turned out to be more like a Mini-Expo thanks to organisers Bron Pollnitz and Marianne Organ of finAD who also ran a failsafe display table; Debbie from the Small Food Catering Company with products such as pear jam etc; Bruce MacDonald from ADASA (Attentional Disorders Association South Australia) with information on ADHD management; Jenny representing organic foods (which are nearly all free of nasty additives); and a representative from Thermomix. Thanks also to Wayne from Concordia College and especially to politician David Pisoni, member for Unley and Shadow Minister for Education, a strong proponent for reducing additives in schools who attended and introduced the evening. There were the usual remarkable success stories including children with ADHD and a child with severe learning difficulties who experienced a “total turnaround” due to diet, and a woman who told Howard: “my husband and I now avoid additives and are completely free of asthma”. Some of the people who approach me after talks are unusually short. Short stature combined with lifelong low grade stomach problems can be a sign of coeliac disease, so I usually draw it to their attention, and a number of coeliacs have been diagnosed as a result of my observations. In this case, the woman agreed she had been born with “a delicate stomach” and her son’s stomach problems had improved massively when he went gluten-free on a doctor’s advice. The son hadn’t been coeliac tested because there were no diagnosed coeliacs in the family. But you have to start somewhere. Since undiagnosed coeliacs who continue to eaten gluten are at risk for bowel cancer, it is worth getting tested (and you have to be eating gluten for the test to work) so I will be interested in the outcome of that story. And lastly, a great new product was available for tasting: you can order Pear Scrolls instead of Apple Scrolls from Brumbys, thanks to Kathleen Daalmeyer from finM for that idea.

KIMBA 10 September 2009

The last talk of our tour was held in tiny Kimba (pop 636) “halfway across Australia” on the Eyre Peninsula on the road to Perth. Sixty people had come from as far away as Adelaide (5 hours) to attend. Many thanks to organisers Naomi and Kerrie from the Kimba Area School P&F and helpers for providing the talk, lunch and a crèche. There were a number of supportive health professionals in the audience. As well as the usual success stories about children with suspected ADHD or autistic symptoms that had responded to diet; a woman whose longterm severe asthma disappeared within 2 weeks on the diet said: “it wasn’t attacks, I just had a tightness in the chest all the time and couldn’t breathe, and medication didn’t help, it was awful. A lot of my other problems improved on diet too but being able to breathe was the best!”

Most people think that sugar causes children’s behaviour problems and it is true that a sugar free diet for children with behaviour problems will often help dramatically. However, it isn’t because sugar affects children’s behaviour. Commercial sugary products such as sweets, drinks and bakery products are usually full of artificial colours and other additives so a diet that removes sugar often results in an improvement because these other nasties are taken out – unless sugar is replaced by high salicylate fruit products. One mother was doing as I did originally – she had taken out the sugar and replaced it with dried fruit such as dates. Since dried fruits are very high in salicylates this approach is counterproductive. “Could this cause sleeping problems?” she said. Yes, it could! This is where I started my journey more than over 20 years ago.

Products: Why would Natural Confectionery Co products cause behaviour problems? asked one woman. Although the colours are natural, these products use strong fruit flavours which are very high in salicylates whether natural or artificial.

Organiser Naomi had done a survey of all the local bakeries in the Eyre Peninsula to find that surprisingly(!) they all still use preservative 282 (calcium propionate). Additive free supermarket brands are available although they do contain vinegar so Laucke’s premix is a good alternative.

Also a story about perfume sensitivity from a woman who works in a hospital and has suffered two severe asthma attacks (“I nearly died, I walked into the room and suddenly I couldn’t breathe”) first from exposure to lavender essential oil and secondly from a plug in scent sprayer. As a result of Hazard Reports for each incident, these products are now not permitted in the hospital. An increasing number of overseas hospitals and other workplaces have established Perfume Free policies, for example, see the website of the Hotel Dieu hospital in Kingston Canada, and you can read an account of our tour from the fragrance free point of view will soon be available.

THE END OF THE TOUR

And so we have come to the end of our tour. During the last four weeks, we have talked to over 2000 families and have driven 5000km so far. It’s like throwing stones and hoping the ripples will spread. The authorities who are supposed to be protecting our children are so obviously ignoring the problem that it is up to us parents to use WOM (word of mouth) to achieve change. Many thanks to all who have attended talks or followed our tour on the internet and are helping to spread the word!

Note that some of the situations mentioned above have been changed to protect privacy.