10 Steps to Living Allergen-Free (& Doing it Well) - Women's Lifestyle

Women's LifeStyle Magazine Jan. 2012 - Fresh Starts (Find this article pgs 36-37)

After being featured in their October 2011 issue, This Tender Foodie is so pleased to be a new writer for Women's Lifestyle Magazine this year.   This article is reprinted here with their permission.  But do visit the full January 2012 issue called"Fresh Starts".  It is full of great stuff for the new year. Plus, this article (and all of the others) is so gorgeous laid out in the magazine!

Food Allergies Have Risen - Have You Noticed?

The number of people diagnosed with food allergies or intolerances (aka “Tender Foodies”) has risen significantly and rapidly.  An online search will lead you to gads of stories about people, including celebrities, who struggle with their reactions to food.  To help us understand how quickly food allergies have “spread”; here are a few facts:

•    Peanut allergies have tripled from 1997-2008 (FAAN)
•    There are 4 times more people with Celiac Disease than there were 50 years ago (March 2011, University of Maryland study).  
•    12 million people (and counting) have classic food allergies (FAAN)
•    In March 2011, a study revealed that as many as 18 million people are suspected to have gluten sensitivity.  (U of Maryland study).


This rapid rise in food allergies has also spawned virtual Petri dish of confusion.  Thus, in honor of 2012, this Tender Foodie column will start at the very beginning (it’s a very good place to start) with some tips to help you better understand what your Tender Foodie life is all about.

Take These 10 Steps

1. Understand Your Reaction to Food

There are eight types of foods that cause 90% of all allergic reactions (namely, eggs, dairy, gluten, soy, fish, shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts).  Very simply, allergic reactions occur because your immune system mistakes a food (or foods) for a foreign invader.  There are several different types of immune responses that can cause a variety of symptoms including hives, itching, eczema, difficulty breathing, swollen joints, diarrhea, constipation, fatigue, nasal congestion, depression, anxiety, anaphylaxis (a severe reaction to an allergen) and possibly death.  

So when it comes to living with food allergies, the first step to “doing it well” is to understand your particular reaction to food.   Is it a Food Allergy?  Intolerance?  Sensitivity?  Celiac Disease?  Or is it something else?  This is sometimes difficult to determine, since not everyone defines “food allergy” the same way and not all food reactions are alike.  To help, I contacted Sheila George, M.D., C.A. (a family medical practitioner in New York, specializing in chronic disease) and Alessio Fasano, M.D., Director of the University of Maryland Center for Celiac Research.  With the input of experts like these, we have compiled a working list of fundamental definitions at www.TenderPalate.com.  If we can speak the same language, doctors, patients, friends and families can come to a better understanding and Tender Foodies can live in better health.

2.  Find the Right Doctor

If you think your symptoms are because of the food you are eating, it is very important to find the right doctor …and the right diagnosis.  There are many types of tests available now, including skin prick tests, blood tests, food challenges, and intestinal biopsies (if warranted, to diagnose Celiac disease).  Ask your doctor about the tests available and if you should be referred to a specialist.  If you need a guide, bring this article and print out the food allergy definitions page on www.TenderPalate.com.

3. Develop an Emergency Action Plan

You could have more than one food allergy or intolerance, each with a different type of bodily response.  Work with your doctor(s) to answer these fundamental questions:
•    Exactly which kind of food allergy or reaction do I have?  
•    Is there an underlying reason for my food allergies or intolerances?
•    How do I treat the underlying cause?
•    How severe is each allergy/intolerance?  
•    Which foods (if any) should be on a rotation diet?  
•    Which foods (if any) must I completely avoid eating?  
•    Which foods (if any) are dangerous to inhale?  
•    Do I need an Epi-pen?  
•    When and how do I use the Epi-pen or any other medication?   

Then develop your action plan and review it with your doctor(s).  Your plan should include how to recognize each type of reaction, what to do if the reaction is a severe one, and who to include in your plan should action be needed.  

4. Learn to Read Labels

It’s not as easy as it sounds.  Along with words that even rocket scientists can’t pronounce, labels contain allergens “hidden” from plain view.  For instance, most regular soy sauce contains wheat.  “Smoke flavoring” can contain barley malt (gluten).  Whey is derived from dairy.  Livetin contains eggs.  “Non-Dairy” does NOT mean “Dairy-free”.   Don’t ignore the “May Contain” labeling, either.  Significant amounts of an allergen can be present in foods because of processing, even if that allergen is not listed in the ingredients.  For more on this, visit “Hidden Allergens” at www.tenderpalate.com.  A good general label-reading rule is that if you don’t know what it is, don’t eat it.

5. Do a Pantry Cleanse

If you have a severe reaction to food particles that can become airborne, like wheat flour or peanuts, remove that allergen from your home.  Go through your pantry, refrigerator and freezer, and then dump (or give to a food pantry) any food with ingredients you or your family can’t eat. Even your medicine cabinet needs a good “once-over”.  Vitamins and medications can be made with or derived from things like wheat, eggs, dairy, corn or yeast.   For mixed households with less severe reactions, separate the non-allergenic brands from others to keep from making a mistake or cross contaminating.   After all, breadcrumbs can easily make it into the family butter, nut butters can get into the jam (via a knife), wheat crumbs can get on your gluten-free toast (just from the toaster) and sponges can carry allergens from counter to dish . . . (you get the picture).

6. Check Beauty Products

Researchers recently warned that cosmetics like lipsticks, foundations and powders often contain gluten, but are not labeled as such.  Vitamin E, for instance, is typically derived from wheat.  This can be very dangerous to celiac folks and people with wheat allergies.  Check your shampoo.  Many skin care products also contain coconut and nut oils, which can cause a reaction in people with those allergies.  So don’t stop with the kitchen.  

7.  Find Your Brands

Adding more whole foods like fruits, vegetables, and whole grains to your diet can help remove those long, multi-syllabic mystery ingredients from your worries.  But not all foods are processed alike.  Find those brands (whole grains and otherwise) that pay attention to processing and that test for your particular allergies.  Some really wonderful brands have popped up, find them and relax a little.

8.  Get Out of the Box (and Enjoy it.)

So you can’t eat certain foods.  This doesn’t mean that you are banned from the world of culinary delights.  Your delights will simply be different.  According to many doctors, a varied diet is important to a healthy digestive system.  Wonderful grains like quinoa, buckwheat, teff and millet are packed with nutrients.  Dairy-free coconut milk and yogurt are filled with those important medium chain fatty acids that are tough to get in other foods.  Not all allergen-free products are healthy (some are quite unhealthy), so use your newfound knowledge to be creative, expand your palate and improve your health.

9.  Create Your Tribe

It can be tough to “train” your family and friends.  It’s hard enough to train yourself.  Share this and other articles like it, with anyone who is responsible for feeding a food allergic person.  Share the action plan that you and your doctor create.  Your tribe” could be teachers, family, and friends; even restaurants that have done their homework.  Give your family a list of your allergens to keep in their kitchen.   Always discuss the menu, the ingredients and what needs to be cooked separately before you go to someone else’s house for dinner.  Be gracious but firm.  If someone can’t or won’t accommodate you (they don’t have to), you could suggest the option of bringing a dish that you can eat and share.  Helpful, active support groups are popping up all over the Internet and in towns across the United States where you can discuss common social issues as well as food allergy products and practices.   

10.  Lastly, know that you are not alone. 

There are millions of Tender Foodies just like you.  

Parents: How to Talk Turkey (and Food Allergies) at Thanksgiving

This guest article continues our series on Thanksgiving with social tips to help dicuss food allergies with family and friends.

Next!

Phew!  Halloween has come and gone and you managed to  A) Keep you child with food allergies safe and sound while  B) actually enjoying the Halloween events – the class party, perhaps some Trick or Treating, and maybe a spooky Haunted House too!

Now, it’s November, and just as you find an allergen-laced Snickers™ bar hiding under the living room couch, the phone rings and it’s Aunt Apathy.  You know, the one who doesn’t seem to care about your kid’s life threatening food allergies?  “Allergies?” she questions you.  “Can’t you just give your kid a pill for that?” 

UGH!  You were dreading this call.  The entire extended family is gathering for the traditional Thanksgiving feast at Aunt Apathy’s.  Here we go – another holiday and another celebration with the potential to hurt your child, little Elsa, who is severely allergic to peanuts and intolerant to several other common foods.  

In this three part series, we will be addressing how to  1) Prepare your relatives for the cautions necessary to keep your child safe, 2) deal with the emotions when other adults just don’t “get it” and3.) Enjoy the big day while focusing on what Thanksgiving is really all about:  Gathering together with thankful hearts.

Here’s what you know for sure:
1.    You don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings.
2.    You don’t want to skip Thanksgiving or the memories.
3.    You need to keep your child safe.
4.    Again, you need to keep your child safe.

Accept the invitation, thank her and hang up.  Review 1, 2, 3 and 4.  Those three points are what you want to accomplish when you call her back.  So, write a script and call her back within the next 24 hours.  Open the conversation with “Have I caught you at a busy time?” so you are assured she is present and truly listening, then smile the entire time you are chatting with her on the phone.  People can hear you smile.  Be calm, yet friendly  – pretend you are in Mr. Roger’s neighborhood.  There’s never ever family drama there.

Here are a few scripts that might fit into your personal scenario:

The key phase here is “Would that be helpful?”

Everyone in our family is so excited to be coming to your house for Thanksgiving!  Elsa can’t stop taking about it! (This points out how important it is to Elsa and makes Auntie feel important in Elsa’s life, which she is.) I know it’s tricky to plan such a big event when someone with a food allergy is attending, so I wanted to offer to help in any way. (Keep talking so she can’t insert a “Oh No DEAR, that won’t be necessary”)  I would be happy to make a side dish or two that everyone could enjoy and Elsa could eat easily.  Would that be helpful so that you can prepare all the traditional dishes that you do so well?  

Now…onto the cross contamination topic…

Your concern (Open with this, even if she never seems concerned) about Elsa accidently being exposed to an allergen is always appreciated.  You don’t have to worry about her touching dairy products – she just can’t eat them or she will get pretty sick.  But, she can’t touch peanuts.  That’s the one you need to worry about the most, but it’s okay, I can be helpful with that.  Gosh, I can’t think of anything that you might be serving with peanuts though, can you?  OH, I just thought of one –my neighbors fry their turkey in the gigantic turkey fryer in the back yard – and I just learned they use peanut oil.  I would never had thought of that – peanuts in turkey!  There are so many hidden sources.  This might be helpful, save me the wrappers from any food and I’ll look over the ingredient list and we can decide then if Elsa can have it.   Or, would you like me to come and help the night before or early that morning?  (Now you have given her options to accept your help.  She maintains some power over her big event while you keep your child safe.)

When a traditional dish is ALWAYS part of the feast in your family, but your kid is allergic to it.

One of the things I am looking forward to are your famous sweet potatoes with that amazing buttery, maple sugar sauce!  It’s such a wonderful memory from my childhood! I know it won’t be a yummy as the one that you will make that day, but how about I bring a similar dish of sweet potatoes for Elsa?  That way, we can still have the tradition of your dish that means so much to all of us, and Elsa can have her own version too.  It is just really important to me that Elsa shares that memory with you.

Try these recipes for squash,  and for sweet potatoes.

When your child has a new or unanticipated dietary restriction...

I just wanted to give you the heads up that we took Nicholas off sugar 3 month ago.  It’s the first time that his immune system has done its job!  He didn’t catch any of those nasty start-of-school bugs that kept him home for weeks last year.  His doctor has encouraged us to keep it up (always good to insert an authority figure, like a doctor), even through the holidays.  I didn’t want to hurt your feelings if we bring him something sugar-free for dessert.  Or, would it be helpful if I brought  two or three of those fabulous sugar-free pumpkin pies from Molly’s Allergen-Free Bakery?
 
These conversations aren’t always easy: Aunt Apathy just isn’t going to see life the way you do, because food allergies are a new phenomenon for her generation.  But, deep down, we all have the same purpose for Thanksgiving.  It’s about gathering family and friends together, creating memories and establishing traditions.  If the two of you focus on those intentions, you have a common goal.  That means you care about the same thing.  Next thing you know, you’ll have to start calling her by her real name.  But for now, just call her “Auntie” and send her flowers the next day to thank her for all of her hard work and  for creating memories for your child will always cherish.

More Article for Parents

For more tips on dealing with schools, read:  How to Feel Less Stress With a Food Allergic Child in School.

Read Aimee's Story:   Second Thoughts About Thanksgiving.

About The Author

Melanie Potock, M.A., CCC-SLP of My MunchbugMelanie Potock, MA, CCC-SLP, of www.mymunchbug.com.  Melanie is speech language pathologist who specializes in feeding.  Her work brings her into the homes and schools of her clients, kids, who for various reasons have difficulty with food or with eating. She works with kids and their parents to develop effective strategies that help children become “more adventurous eaters”.  At least 50% of her clients have food allergies or intolerances, and for them, “adventurous eating” takes on a special meaning.

Shop in Allergen-free Teams for Less Stress in Severe Weather.

Courtesy of Accuweather.com Shopping with food allergies often means mulitple trips to multiple stores.  This can be exhausting in any weather.  During severe storms, stocking up before a hurricane hits can be very complicated when food allergies are involved.  People with food allergies have to eat certain foods that are not readily available or convenient to find.  If you need help, or know of a neighbor who does, partner with them or with the people in your local food allergy support network. 

Each person can take a list with specific products for each person in the shopping group.  One person is assigned to one or two stores.  Keep the groups manageable.  Keep the lists to essentials -- but get enough.  The news warns to have enough food, water and flashlight batteries for 5 days.  And of course all mediations, including Epipens, need to be accounted for and with the allergic person at all times.  Pick a local spot that is convenient to everyone and exchange food and money accordingly.

If you don't know of any other person with food allergies, perhaps a friend or family member can help by picking up some stuff for you at their regular grocery store while you do your shopping at the allergen-free store.   

When times get tough, it takes a community.  To all of our friends on the East Coast, stay safe, secure, and loved.  Lots of good energy is coming your way.