I am a married, working mother of four beautiful children. Our entire family has severe food allergies. So, I thought I would create a blog to help others navigate the crazy world of food allergies.
My entire family is allergic to a mish-mash of things, it can and often is a crazy, daily roller coaster ride that is so confusing and at times...downright frustrating. I wanted to share what I have learned to help ease the challenges for others on their journey; for all different kinds of families, whether your budget is unlimited or a shoe-string budget (like my family).
My journey began when my best friend (Sarah) from high school was coming to visit for a few weeks. Sarah has an extreme strain of celiac disease* and our house needed to be gluten-free for 1-2 weeks, due to the severity of her allergy condition before she could come and stay with us. We removed all the gluten from our house and ate gluten-free until she left a couple of weeks later. And let me tell you... We felt great! We all had more energy and didn't feel so heavy and bloated. Our brain fog (when you just can not seem to focus or understand what is going on or what someone is trying to say or do.) went away and our kids' grades went up. They played and talked more and were able to understand more of what people were saying.
It all took off from there. Patrick (my husband) loves to learn and investigate, so when we all started feeling better, he took to the internet to solve the questions, why? Why were we feeling better, why was there such a dramatic difference in such a short period of time, why did removing gluten have such an impact on our bodies? Why, why, why?
So we then made the decision to stay gluten-free. Even though we were all feeling better, it only lasted a few months. We stayed gluten-free but some of us were having brain fog (not thinking clearly), sluggishness, and bloated feelings again. While others were constantly tired, irritable, and having stomach pains again. Patrick found out that the same protein that is in wheat, barley, and rye is very similar to the protein that is in corn, rice, and soybeans. So, by eating the corn, rice, and/or soybeans we were triggering the celiac symptoms all over again. It did not stop there. The more we matched up the pieces of this puzzle, the more pieces we found. Through trial and error, we have found out that the six of us have the same base allergy, corn. Yep, that delicious fun summer veggie quickly became our enemy, and it happens to be in almost everything.
It has not stopped there, as we have continued to research and try different things; our family's allergies have split into several different directions. Some of my children can have potatoes while others can't. While our allergies continue to go in different directions our base allergies all remain the same. Here is a brief list of our base allergies.
* Corn (corn syrup, canola oil, corn starch...everything corn)
* Wheat, barley, rye, amaranth, sorghum
* Dairy (cow's milk)
* All fish that is farm-raised and all meats that are NOT grass-fed
*Ascorbic Acid
*Dextrose
*Maltodextrin
*Palm Kernel Oil
*Food Colorings
Here are some food allergies and food aversions that break off from the base allergies that some of us can have and some of us can not have.
* Pecans, cashews, peanuts, hazelnuts, almonds, coconuts, and walnuts
* Eggs, bananas, potatoes, sweet potatoes, peas, and beans
* Goat (butter, milk, cheese, yogurt, and ice cream)
* Sugar, cocoa, chocolate, brown sugar, agave, honey, maple syrup
* Cassava, and buckwheat flour
Overall, we feel that we have the majority of the food allergies that are out there.
Since you are on this blog and reading this post, you most likely either have a food allergy or have a family member that has one or more food allergies, and are trying to get more information on how to make life, a little easier or perhaps you just want to eat healthier.
I will be adding various information regularly about food, recipes, shopping on a budget, how to save on groceries, personal stories, tips on cooking for multiple people with different food allergies. How to have kids navigate and deal with their food allergies at school and how to make day-to-day life a little easier. My goal is to help other families with their food challenges and obstacles.
My family is an average American family who does NOT have an unlimited budget. We are not the Lox and caviar people (there is nothing wrong with living like that) we just don't and can't. Feeding our family does not include one-stop shopping at Walmart or Target and heading home. We have to shop weekly, and at least at four-five different stores.
It will be nice to get to know you, folks, out there. Please feel free to email me any questions you might have. I will either address them personally or through a post if others have that similar question.
*Celiac Disease - Over time, the immune reaction to eating gluten creates inflammation that damages the small intestines' lining leading to medical complications. It also prevents the absorption of some nutrients (malabsorption).
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