Keeping on top of things and constantly innovating is the biggest challenge when managing food allergies. To this end one of my favorite resources is a magazine called, “LIVING WITHOUT” – The magazine for people with allergies and food sensitivities (http://www.livingwithout.com/)
Picture taken from www.livingwithout.com
The magazine devotes a lot of ink to gluten-free living but it also talks about other food allergies, latest research, recipes, substitutes and so much more. The contributors are excellent – so, the articles are packed with useful information. They also have an interactive section which answers many queries which even an allergist may feel hard-pressed to answer. My favorite part – I become aware of companies manufacturing allergy-friendly products and organizations offering valuable resources for allergy-friendly living.
Every food allergy sufferer should get their hands on this magazine at least once to judge its usefulness…chances are you will become a subscriber 
So, the next time you are are at the checkout line at the supermarket, pick up a copy for yourself or for a family which is dealing with food allergies! Also, subscribe to their free recipe e-newsletter, http://www.livingwithout.com/recipes.html - some of the recipes are pretty good!
As some of you may have noticed, I have not blogged regularly in the past month. The past few weeks have been action-packed…my 4 year old son, Arjun started pre-K which was an exercise in ensuring that he, his teacher and the other school staff who came in contact with him were aware of his multiple food allergies. Then we did his annual blood work to see if he had overcome any allergies. But, I am getting ahead of myself here so, let me start at the beginning…
My pride and joy, Arjun
When Arjun was just 4 months old, his whole body broke out into hives as he was ingesting less than 2 ounces of Enfamil (a dairy based baby formula). It was one of the most frightening and sad moments of my life. Arjun came into our lives after 3 miscarriages. Seeing him squirm in pain, his lips swollen and his tiny hands reaching out to unsuccessfully relieve himself from the itchy hives was heart-rending. I did not need to be a doctor to realize that he was having an allergic reaction. Subsequent blood work showed that he was allergic to all the top 8 foods that cause a majority of the food allergies. Since he was so small, they did not test him for too many other foods. The bottom-line was…I could not give him anything new without the doc’s permission and even then it had to be introduced very slowly. The doctor told me to continue nursing him exclusively till he was at least 6 months old because studies have shown that nursing has a positive impact on how quickly children outgrow food allergies. Here the doc and I made our first big mistake! He did not tell me and I did not research because of the intense fear that had gripped me – I did not exclude the food items that Arjun was allergic to from my own diet. So, Arjun continued getting exposed to the very food items that he was allergic to in tiny amounts…an absolute no-no!
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A couple of months back, a friend of mine, Raman Prasad, wrote this piece after he had a chat with me about how families deal with food allergies and celebrate holidays like 4th of July…
Four-year-old Arjun will be breadless this Fourth of July: no hamburger buns, no hot dog buns, no bread of any kind. Arjun suffers from severe food allergies. He is not alone: Four percent of U.S. children have a food allergy, according to the Center for Disease Control. As scientists scratch their heads at the reason for these potentially deadly allergies, patients and their families have changed their diets in an attempt to keep them under control.
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Last weekend I was at a family gathering. Amidst all that excitement, I made a shocking discovery as I was talking to one of my cousins who is in her 50s. She mentioned that she had recently been diagnosed with severe “flax seed allergy”. Prior to that, she had no food allergies so; it had been quite a challenge for her and her allergist to zero in on the possible allergen. That is one of the difficulties of developing food allergies at a later stage in life because we have already included hundreds of food items in our diet.
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Raised in a South Indian household, I have grown up eating various types of yummy savory pancakes or dosas! The original recipe needs overnight fermenting but this is my quick version for all us parents who have kids with allergies and have to spend a lot of time cooking. My version of the dish uses more of the bean flour than would be used in the traditional recipe to make it a good source of protein. This alteration also yields softer pancakes.
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Surprise, surprise - amaranth is a genus of herbs There are tons of species available under this genus. Some of these are plain old weeds but some have great nutritional value as leafy vegetables and even more importantly cereal.
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Just got back from an invigorating vacation in Switzerland – yayy! My greatest find during the trip…a friend in an amazing lady, Bhavna. An acupuncturist by profession, she is also a store house of knowledge on health foods. She is the one who introduced me to the nutrition-packed, versatile Amaranth and this allergy friendly recipe is inspired by her. This incredible grain is rich in proteins, fiber and calcium which, makes it a great source of nutrition for those with multiple food allergies.
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.’ Then the good folks at Enjoy Life foods came up with chocolate made from rice milk and it is definitely their best product yet. My son and even his friends who have no allergies love it!
