Allergies!!

Hi,

It has been a very long time since I posted. We have been so busy. We are loving our positions as house parents at a Christian school.

As part of the benefits of living here we get to eat in the dining hall. It has made me aware that we've definitely got some food allergies going on -- much beyond what I could muscle test for, or at least it seemed that way.

I contacted a dear friend from George Fox days, Dr. Christina Cooke, ND. She sent us kits and had my son and I tested for 95 different foods. The big surprise that came up on both of us was eggs!! We are both quite allergic to them. For me, it was huge -- a six on a scale of one to six. Aaron is also allergic to wheat and sugar. We are keeping him off dairy and nightshades at Dr. Cooke's recommendation for a month, then we'll experiment.

Other big "hits" for me were: Almonds, asparagus, almost all grains, peas, broccoli, most dairy.

Soy is an issue for both of us. Here is the full list:

Cottage cheese

Yogurt

Milk

Eggs

Chicken

Coffee

Sugar

Yeast

Banana

Cranberry

Papaya

Pineapple

Crab

Lobster

Oyster

Tuna

Almonds

Peanuts

Sunflower

(Basically all nuts except Walnuts, pumpkin seeds and occasionally pecans)

Wheat

Soy

Rye

White rice

(Basically all grains except corn and occasionally barley or brown rice)

Peas

Asparagus

Broccoli

The doctor also wants me to avoid nightshades: Tomato, potato, peppers, eggplant.

Cooking oils are an issue. I'm allergic to soy and sunflower -- the two main cooking oils and the primary ingredients in margarine. Plus, I'm allergic to milk, so no butter, either. Olive oil and canola or safflower oil are okay.

My son's results:

Eggs

Sugar

Oyster

Lima beans

Soy (including our margarine & cooking oils)

Wheat

Rye

Spelt

The doctor wants him to avoid: Dairy and nightshades (tomato, potato, eggplant, peppers) for one month. After that, she will let us know what foods to add in as a test to see how they affect him.

Since discovering these allergies his grades have gone up dramatically. Other parents are commenting on the positive change in his behavior. I'm really proud of him -- this hasn't been easy, but he's been a trooper. He's got all As and Bs in his classes except for one class that he'd been previously failing. He's now passing that course! Yay :)

I've been having to come up with "super allergy" recipes, so I'll be posting those as I have time.

Blessings,

Sharron