peanut allergies

Food allergies can be hard to live with. Between reading every ingredient list at the supermarket and being extra careful at restaurants, eating can get complicated. FitSugar reader Mandygm tells us how life has changed since she first found out she had food allergies on her OnSugar blog Allergy A-Go-Go.

I am watching and listening to the rain fall and wind gust between claps of thunder right now. The power has flickered off a few times now. My first severe allergic reaction occurred in a storm just like this one five years ago. In order to have an allergy to a food, you must eat it or be exposed to it at least once. The day before my first allergic reaction I tried sugar snap peas for the first time. The next day I couldn't stop eating sugar snap peas. I loved them — for a short time. Then my mouth, lips, and throat started to itch. My eyes swelled up and watered like I was sobbing. I was sneezing, and my nose and eyes were really itchy. I started vomiting right when the power went out during the storm. A year later, I was enjoying Ethel M chocolates — the almond coated toffee variety to be exact. My lips swelled up Angelina Jolie-style and my throat was really itchy. Shortly after this, I went to the allergist, and discovered that I am allergic to peanuts, tree nuts, soy, peas, and environmental allergies I already knew about.

Read about how Mandygm copes with her allergies after the break.

For the love of gingerbread! Gathering around the table with sheets of gingerbread and bowls of candy is an annual tradition in many families. But for those with food allergies, it can be just another activity they need to sit out of for fear of going into anaphylactic shock. Unless of course, you purchase a safe kit!

A&J Bakery, a Rhode Island-based nut and gluten-free bakery that ships nationwide, is introducing Allergen-Friendly Gingerbread House Kits ($30) this year. The peanut, tree nut, wheat, gluten, soy, egg, dairy, and sesame-free kit includes everything budding architects need to create their confectionery masterpieces, including pieces of pre-baked gingerbread, a variety of five allergen-free candies, and non-edible decorations for additional fun. Mama's got to act fast to get her hands on a freshly baked kit — A&J is only accepting orders until Dec. 21!

Source: Flickr User Carrie Stephens

Most kids turn out all right! That's something Dr. Mehmet Oz says nervous new parents should be reminded of. It's important to let children live! The cardiac surgeon and author, whose latest book You: Raising Your Child (The Owner's Manual From First Breath to First Grade) ($14) is a must read, speaks from experience, as he is also a father of four! But, I recently had the chance to chat with him about hot topics from vaccines to diapering.

LilSugar: Is the threat of whooping cough a huge issue or a highly publicized issue?
Dr. Mehmet Oz: Well, I'm worried about it. These are Victorian era illnesses that we hadn't seen in a long time. My father who is 85 had siblings who died of Whooping cough — these are not rare events in the 20s and 30s. In NYC, there was a huge outbreak of adults and whooping cough, so I got vaccinated because I'm around patients a lot, and I don't want to give them something that could potentially be lethal to them if they were getting heart surgery. I think it also makes sense for children.

My wife and I were very cautious about vaccines. Lisa is very skeptical of a lot of the information that is in support of vaccines. I tend to believe it because it's my cultural background — to look at the information and tend to trust it, but there's schisms within families like mine (let alone in society). But, I do think that if you make sure your child is healthy when they get the vaccine, keep them nutritionally up-to-date, and keep them sleeping well when they get the vaccine, they will tolerate the inflammatory condition which is caused by a vaccine because there will be some inflammation around it. The majority of kids tolerate vaccines well, and for the majority of their life (if not their entire life), they are then immune from an illness that could be life-threatening. It turns out that whooping cough vaccine does not give you life-long immunity for a lot of people, which is why you have to get revaccinated. Certainly as a child, I would get vaccinated; that's not one of these new color vaccines that people moan and groan about. These are old time vaccines that have been in use before I was born (and I'm 50) with a pretty good track record.

To see Dr. Oz's comments on peanut allergies and the cloth versus disposable diaper debate, read more

We are all aware of what our lil ones eat, but parents of kids with allergies have to be extra sensitive when it comes to the menu. The rate of allergies has increased over the past 20-30 years and now more than three million kids have them. By the time they enter middle school, one in every 20 kids is watching what she puts in her mouth.

Fifty-four percent of LilSugar readers' children attend a peanut-free school or daycare center, making them well-aware of the issues. While most kids know someone affected by food, eczema, asthma, hay fever, it is virtually impossible for them to understand the emotional issues they deal with on a daily basis. This Sunday, Sept 27., Nickelodeon takes on the world of life-threatening allergies with a new special called I’m Allergic to My World. The Nick News with Linda Ellerbee special follows the lives of several children with various allergies and shows what it is like to spend a day in their shoes. The eye-opening program is a must-see for anyone who has ever questioned their school's no-nut policy. Will you tune in to watch it?

Photo courtesy of Lucky Duck Productions