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Pregnancy, Food Allergies

This comes from Jess, an allergic girl in Boston and new mom. Anyone have any resources for her? Thanks!

"There are tons of books out there about pregnancy, tons of books about being a parent to a child with allergies, but nothing that deals with an allergic person who is pregnant. I luckily gave birth to my first child on Christmas Day without any problems. But now I'm worried about him developing allergies and was wondering if you had covered that in the past. He was 5 weeks early on top of it all, but he is luckily doing just fine."
Posted by Allergic Girl® at 9:07 AM 3 comments: 


Divvies, Kettle Corn

Divvies, I heart you, seriously
Posted by Allergic Girl® at 10:17 AM No comments: 


Chef David Hall, Thyme for a Chef

According to AZCentral.com: Chef David Hall in Arizona, owner of Thyme for a Chef changed his menu to gluten-free. “After meeting his wife, Debbie, his culinary expertise expanded to include specialized menus for gluten-free, dairy-free, yeast-free and other wellness diets. His knowledge and ability to create menus for special dietary needs has earned him national recognition. In July, the certified gluten-free chef will teach classes on meeting special needs of the celiac and autism communities at the 14th Annual United States Personal Chef Association national conference in Denver. The catalyst for his focus was Debbie, diagnosed at age 37 with celiac, a disease that disrupots [sic] the small intestine's absorbtion [sic] of nutrients.”

I bet we're going to read more and more stories like these as more peeps get diagnosed with celiac disease.
Posted by Allergic Girl® at 5:28 AM No comments: Labels: celiac, chefs, food intolerance, food news


WSJ, Food Allergies

From the Wall Street Journal:

"Many kids whose allergies were diagnosed on the basis of blood or skin tests alone may not be truly allergic to those foods, experts say. Blood tests measure the level of antibodies, called immunogloblin E (IgE), a body makes to a particular food. But having IgE antibodies doesn't mean that a person will actually have an allergic symptom when they encounter it. Skin-prick tests are slightly more predictive, but there, too, a red wheal in response to a skin prick doesn't necessarily mean that a child will have an actual allergic reaction to that food. The only way to know for sure—short of encountering the food in real life—is with a food challenge test in a doctor's office or hospital...Experts agree that the most important part of a food-allergy diagnosis is a history: What did the child eat and what kind of reaction did he have? Even if it seems clear-cut, most doctors will also do a blood test or skin-prick test to confirm that the child has antibodies to the suspect food."

Read more from this important article from the Wall Street Journal, written by Melinda Beck.
Posted by Allergic Girl® at 12:35 PM No comments: Labels: allergies, allergist, allergy challenges, food news


Holy Cross, Dining Services

From College of the Holy Cross:

As national reports of food allergy prevalence increase, schools nationwide have begun to offer special services to accommodate students who suffer from allergies to foods such as milk, eggs, peanuts, soy, wheat, and corn. Although Holy Cross has always worked to serve the needs of these students, Dining Services recently expanded its allergy-free accommodations with the construction of a new “allergy-free kitchen” in Kimball Dining Hall, and introduced a gluten-free meal equivalency program.

Thank you for the link Allergic Girl reader!
Posted by Allergic Girl® at 7:47 AM 1 comment: 


Memorizing Your Order, The Washington Post 


Kinnikinnick Foods Inc. 

I loved almost everything.

For more nut-free info go to the Kinnikinnick website. 


Coaching, Boston Globe

Here's an interesting Boston.com article about coaching that I was alerted to through colleague Laurie Edwards on Twitter.

Excerpt: “Therapy helps you overcome the challenges of the past and coaching helps you very clearly identify your vision of the future...Coaching is a process of change that revolves around strengths and potential, rather than feelings of pathology and pain." More here.

If after reading this article, you’re interested in food allergy coaching by a licensed psychotherapeutic social worker -- that would be this Allergic Girl -- here’s my professional site or email me for more information and a free consultation.
Posted by Allergic Girl® at 8:19 AM No comments: 


Food Challenges, Allergic Girl

Coconut milk - am OK.

Mango – will wait until they are back in season.

Eggplant – FA- too afraid.

Shellfish-shrimp – oy. Haven’t even considered this yet.

Pumpkin Seeds – need to get on this one. 


Gluten-Free Hassle Free, Brown

Colleague Marlisa Brown, RD, CDE has written a gluten-free guide from the perspective of a registered dietitian and a gluten-free girl and if you are a newly diagnosed gluten-free girl you may want to check this one out: Gluten-Free, Hassle Free: A Simple, Sane, Dietitian-Approved Program for Eating Your Way Back to Health .

Marlisa and I met several years ago when she was doing a gluten-free presentation at the International restaurant and Foodservice Show at the Javitz center where I also speak about food allergies (and will be doing again this year with FAAN's, Julia Bradsher, Ph.D., M.B.A., Chief Executive Officer.) I was truly honored when she asked that I write a foreword to her book, Gluten-Free, Hassle Free: A Simple, Sane, Dietitian-Approved Program for Eating Your Way Back to Health (Disclosure: I wrote the foreword to her book.)

Many of you who have been diagnosed with gluten intolerance, celiac disease, or non-celiac gluten-intolerance weren’t given much else, like what to do, how to eat, what nutrients are needed, what’s missed when you cut out the protein found in wheat barely and rye. Marlisa is here to fill those gaps in a quick but chunky read packed with a ton of dietary information that only a RD with 25 years experience can tell you. I especially found the vitamin section helpful. A few months back there had been a ton of tweets on Twitter.com about the loss of nutrients on a GF diet, started, I believe, by the Gluten-free Goddess herself, Miss Karina (a wonderful blog if you don’t already know her).

Looking to expand your GF world, especially if you are newly diagnosed? Consider Marlisa's Gluten-Free, Hassle Free: A Simple, Sane, Dietitian-Approved Program for Eating Your Way Back to Health
Posted by Allergic Girl® at 8:48 AM 2 comments: 


FAANtastic Divvies Cookie Contest

Am thrilled to see these two great FA forces teaming up.

More about FAANtastic Divvies Cookie Contest - FAAN: The Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN) and Divvies are proud to announce and sponsor the annual FAANtastic Divvies Cookie Contest. The FAANtastic Divvies Cookie Contest celebrates those who work to make the lives of those with food allergies more delicious. This is an opportunity for all the bakers-from-the-heart to share their wonderful creations with the food allergy community and be recognized and rewarded for all they do. We are asking for cookie recipe submissions from across the U.S. for consideration and judging. The FAANtastic Divvies Cookie Contest entrants may send in as many cookie recipes (designed safely for those allergic to peanuts, tree nuts, milk, or eggs) as they would like. More info here. And yay!
Posted by Allergic Girl® at 7:49 AM No comments: 


Self-Help Books, Food Allergies

Ten years ago, when I was a newly minted social worker working at an outpatient mental health clinic, we were taught to encourage our clients to seek out and utilize whatever resources available to them, including self-help books.

Now as a private clinician, I continue to encourage all of my clients whether Worry-Free Dinners members or individuals to use all resources available to them, including self-help books.

"Self-help" is not limited to a book seller's classification system and can come in many forms. One of my individual clients loved French Women for All Seasons: A Year of Secrets, Recipes, & Pleasure She felt it helped her reconnect to the pleasure of food even after her diagnosis of food allergies and food intolerances. Brilliant idea! I just ordered it from my local library, am curious to check it out.

Have there been any books of late that have been helpful to you or your food allergic family? Do tell.

PS: I have a stack of self-help, diet and cookbooks on my desk, reviews are on the way.
Posted by Allergic Girl® at 8:00 AM 1 comment: Labels: allergies, book review, gluten-free, self-help

Monday, January 04, 2010

Kissing, Allergic Living Magazine

Allergic Living, a magazine just for the food allergic and food intolerant community out of Canada has done an article on kissing and food allergies/celiac disease. Here’s a teaser that readers of this blog may recognize as part of the story I relayed over the summer):

“Ninety-nine per cent of the time, [Sloane] could rattle off in her sleep safety measures for such a situation, but that evening she was rattled, period. “Here I am, in my 30s and pretty capable when it comes to my allergies. But covered in hives and wheezing, I definitely had a moment of: ‘What do I do first here?’”

For more, check out Allergic Living.
Posted by Allergic Girl® at 8:37 AM 6 comments: 


Canus Goat’s Milk Soap

Posted by Allergic Girl® at 6:26 AM No comments: Labels: allergies, nut-free, product review

