Throughout the months of May and June I discovered several failsafe foods that John could not tolerate. These include gelatin, tofu (but soy is ok), malt flavoring, and corn starch. I trolled the Internet again and found the <low MSG> diet. This has considerable overlap with the failsafe diet. It's easy to see a real improvement on one, when you should actually be on the other. Fermented foods and modified protein, for instance, contain both amines and MSG. These large classes of foods are eschewed by both diets. Yet there are differences, gelatin for one. It is high in MSG and low in amines. The MSG diet was a much better fit for my son. apparently he reacts to glutamates, while amines (in general) are not as serious as I had first thought.
That's great news, really, because there are plenty of high-amine foods that are free of MSG, foods that are back on his safe list. He loves salmon, and that helps supply his omega fatty acids, which he may be missing. But the low MSG diet isn't a breeze either. We've been working diligently for almost four years, and we still can't find a safe bread or bun. We believe we have found a safe cereal, and a safe bagel, but we're not sure of that either. Something goes terribly wrong whenever baked goods are brought in.
The biggest problem with John and his diet is my inability to say no. He wants so much to go to restaurants, like everybody else, and that always gets us into trouble. The batter on the nuggets contains hydrolized protein and corn starch, soups and stews contain yeast or yeast extract, salad dressing contains vinegar, the steak is often seasoned with "spices" (e.g. Fudruckers), the bun on the burger contains malted flour, the pizza crust contains caseinate (Hungry Howies), the oil on the fries contains beef flavoring (McDonalds), the pad thai noodles have a fermented fish sauce, all chinese dishes contain soy sauce, the pancake batter contains buttermilk (Ihop), and on and on. I think we finally know how to cook for him at home, but when we're on the road, there isn't much he can eat.