Carnation Explanation

In my last post I mentioned that I put Carnation in Clara's milk, and a couple people asked about that. The reason I do that is kind of a long story, but I'll try to make it brief. Clara was recently (a month ago) diagnosed with Celiac Disease. That means she can't have gluten, a protein found in wheat, rye, and barley. If you'd like to learn more about the disease, click here. As if having to rid our household of wheat wasn't challenging enough, lactose intolerance also goes hand in hand with Celiac disease. Fortunately, once the villi grow back she should be able to digest lactose just fine (again, if you want to know what I'm talking about, click here).

You're probably still wondering what Carnation has to do with being lactose intolerant. Well, since Clara can't have regular milk, I have to give her Lactaid or Soy milk. She can tell the difference, so I'm masking their flavors with Carnation. Plus, the Carnation gives her the vitamins and things her body has been deprived of because of the gluten in her system.

At first she was hesitant to this new "milk," but once she actually tried it she was hooked. She actually drinks this way better than real milk. Once we go back to good ol' regular cow juice, I'm nervous she won't want to. We may have to keep putting the Carnation in it.

Because of this recent diagnosis that thrust our family into a gluten free world, I'll probably have some posts dedicated to Celiac and gluten free eating. If any of you or your children have Celiac, I would love some advice. I've already been given some great advice from family (my brother found out he had it a couple years ago) and a dietitian, but I'll use all that I can get. It's going to be quite an adjustment.