Life with Food Allergies
When my daughter was about 10 months old, I gave her a tiny bit of egg to try—we had been trying many new foods successfully, especially pureed fruits and veggies, and a bit of mashed up egg was next on the list and considered age appropriate. She was so miserable. She couldn’t talk much, of course, so I couldn’t figure out why she cried and cried and cried ---and then the throwing up began. No more eggs. At age 2, she tried a tiny bit of almond for the first time and her reaction was the same. My pediatrician thought that waiting until age 3 for allergy testing would be sufficient, but, when my daughter’s eyes swelled nearly shut after accidentally touching a bit of egg white, I knew I’d be visiting the allergist sooner than three years old.
We have an egg and nut free household now. We’ve been reassured that she may outgrow the egg allergy, but these two ingredients are so prevalent that everywhere I go, I have to ask what is in a particular dish. I bring food with us to restaurants, vacations, and friend’s houses, just to be on the safe side. I have to make sure that she is not around any cooking with eggs as this reaction has become more severe over time. Some people understand the life-threatening danger a simple food can pose, some do not. We try to make food life fun, though, by making Jello and Rice Krispie treats together as these are two of the few “treats” she can eat. She helps me make bread regularly and we have a great time doing it, but….
Is this strong allergic reaction hereditary? My husband and I do not have food allergies, but my sister’s son does. What is the cause in the 18% rise in incidence of food allergies between 1997 and 2007 (Center for Disease Control and Prevention)?
Regardless of the cause, it is something that keeps you on alert, especially when away from home. We plan to homeschool (not because of this) but even at homeschool co-ops, birthday parties, and extracurricular activities one must be always ready to break out the Children’s Benadryl, or worse, the Epi-Pen.
How do other parents out there cope with food allergies? We focus on trying not to make her feel different from others and “celebrate” the many things she can eat---what are some positive things others do?
Brenda Schultz lives in Milton. She is a stay at home mom of a 3-year-old, formerly a public school teacher. She cares for other children part-time, and teaches beginning piano. Brenda is a community blogger and is not a part of The Gazette staff. Her opinion is not necessarily that of the The Gazette staff or management.
Jun 12, 2011 at 11:34 a.m.
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You're not living near a highway or driving a diesel vehicle, are you? Diesel exhaust is one pollutant suspected of causing food allergies. Mold in the home may be another. While they still can't cure food allergies, it may be possible to avoid developing more.
http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/a...
Jun 11, 2011 at 2:43 p.m.
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Food additives don't just cause allergies, but also asthma - which has also been on the rise - esp with kids. An allergic state often causes asthma.
All food that you don't make at home is likely full of additives. You can see the food industry scrambling to switch over to more natural ingredients but the truth is - they have been harming us with their "food" for years.
While it may seem weird to exclude these foods right now, soon we'll all been avoiding them. Some of them like grains and soy, are really not natural for us to eat.
Jun 11, 2011 at 2:33 p.m.
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The reason why food allergies are so prevalent is because of processed foods. The processed foods (colors, additives, pesticides, etc...) break down our body's ability to recognize real food from fake food, thus the allergy. That's why real food is the cure - and why your doctor has your child on a strict diet
It's not just kids obviously. They are just a canary in the coal mine - smaller.
Read Michael Pollen's books on food.
Jun 10, 2011 at 12:30 p.m.
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We are dairy, egg, wheat, and oat free in my household. I think that allergies are becoming more and more prevalent. It would be interesting to find out why that is. The first thing I did when we found out about my daughter's allergies was to buy an allergy cookbook and start researching recipe substitutes for these various items on the internet. We try not to make a big issue out of her allergies though.
Jun 10, 2011 at 11:28 a.m.
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We began a very restricted diet with my son when he was 7 due to his health issues. He could not have gluten, dairy, eggs, soy, peanuts, nuts, fish, shellfish or refined sugar. Needless to say it was tough to switch to his diet initially. Like you, we focused on the positive. One of the things we did was at Halloween he went trick or treating then auctioned the treats that he could not have, which was everything except plain potato chips. He had fun doing it and we made sure that he made enough money to buy a toy that he wanted. It worked well for us. Another thing I did was wrote a cookbook because I couldn't find one to meet my sons restricted needs. I put the cookbook on the shelf with all the others so cooking for my son's diet was just like any other cooking in our house.
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