The Diet

Laurel cannot metabolize the amino acid Phenylalanine.  Phenylalanine is an essential amino acid that is found in everything that contains protein.  So this means no meat, dairy, nuts, beans, tofu, bread, and on and on. 

So what does she eat?!  Laurel eats measured amounts of fruits, vegetables, low protein bread, vegan cheese, noodles (in moderation), coconut milk products (yogurt, ice cream), and low protein snacks (crackers, cookies).  Also, something that we are learning to enjoy is creating alternatives for existing recipes using low protein products.  I hope in the near future that this blog can be an outlet for sharing some of these recipes as well as the outcome of following others’ recipes in the PKU community.

Doesn’t seem so bad…

The problem is, all of those foods have phenylalanine too.  So that leads us to our most utilized kitchen accessory…the scale (and his friend, travel scale).

The scales

We use the Low Protein Food List to determine the milligrams of phenylalanine per gram of the food that Laurel eats.  Once we locate the mg/g we are able to weigh the food, Laurel eats, we reweigh, do some math, and record in The Book.  I will get to the The Book in just a second but first I’d like to expand on who “we” is.

Laurel does not have to attend daycare because our amazing families were able to more or less rearrange their lives to help us.  Katie and I are extremely blessed to not have to worry the entire time we are at work because we know Laurel is the hands of people who are just as concerned about getting the math right as we are!  You will all never know how grateful we are for what you do.

How much pineapple did Laurel eat on August 27th, 2012?  She ate 105 grams if you really want to know.

The Book in all its glory

We have recorded every bite of food that Laurel has eaten since she was three weeks old.  This is necessary because Laurel, as I mentioned in another post, has to have an exact amount of phenylalanine each day.  The Book keeps a running total throughout the day to be sure that her dinner gets her to exactly the number her doctor is looking for.

Making sure your child eats all of their vegetables is one thing; watching, weighing, and measuring every morsel, of every piece of food they eat is something else altogether.