Happy Birthday Abigail!

 

Happy 7th Birthday Abigail!

Yesterday was Abigail's 7th birthday.  It was a big day involving sweet treats, gifts, parties and lots of little girls running around our house screaming!

The day started by taking treats to school.  This is always tricky because the sweets have to be store bought.  I've found a grocery store that carries cupcakes from Freed's Bakery which are peanut/tree nut safe.  However, due to a conflict, we had to bring our treat at morning snack.  Abigail wanted doughnuts.  Well, as already posted, neither Krispy Kreme nor Dunkin Doughnuts are safe.  I was stumped at what to bring, but finally remembered the "Sweet 16" powdered doughnuts.

After school, Abigail got her first American Girl Doll.  I'm glad she's not too "old" for dolls yet. We invited 6 of her friends over for a pajama party.  They each came in their PJ's and brought their doll and pillow.  I put down a bunch of quilts and pillows on the floor, made a canopy of streamers, pink, of course, and had hoped that they would hang out, have a fashion show with their dolls, watch a movie, do a craft, eat some pizza and cake, and so forth.  Boy, was I wrong!  Seven girls, aged 6 and 7...whew..they were way too hyped up to "hang out".  It was crazy!  And, quite frankly, I was glad when the party ended, and everyone went home.

As usual, I made her birthday cake, and as usual, didn't finish it until about an hour before the party started.  Having a peanut allergy means that stopping by a local grocery store and purchasing a cake is not an option.  Nor is ordering a cake from most specialty bakeries.  Luckily, my mom used to decorate cakes so I have her expertise and a lot of her old cake supplies at my disposal.  Given the pajama party theme, I made "sleeping bag" cakes for each of the girls and a larger cake for the family.  I couldn't bear to buy a boxed mix after all our new eating changes so I made a scratch chocolate cake using organic ingredients.  It was the first time using the recipe, and it tasted great, but it was a disaster trying to get the cakes out of the pans.  They all stuck, and I had to "glue" them back together with frosting.  Every year as I struggle to make the perfect cake, I think...why?  I don't think that Abigail is old enough to appreciate the work that goes into her cakes.  Every year I'm wishing I could just order a cake and be done with it.  But then I think that even if she wasn't allergic to peanuts, I'd still want to make her cake.  Maybe one day, I'll have the opportunity to make that choice!

So, darling Abigail, Happy Birthday!  I love you!

 

                                       

Healthy Change #10: Avoid Genetically Modified Foods

Well, I've put off writing the 10th and final change in my "Ten Changes to Make for Healthier Living" series as long as possible.  It's now the first of February, and I can no longer procrastinate. For me, it's the hardest of all the changes, not just writing about, but also following. I barely have a handle on this change myself.

Change #10:  Avoid Genetically Modified Foods

In order to make crops more resistant to disease, weeds and pest, more tolerant to drought and cold weather and more nutritious, many have been genetically modified.  Genetically Modified (GM) Food has been unnaturally altered by inserting genetic fragments (DNA) from one organism to another. According to the World Health Organization, the inserted DNA is usually from a different species. The genes can be taken from bacteria, viruses, insects, animals and even humans. 

Other than the fact that we are not eating food in it's true form, why avoid foods that have been genetically modified? According to the Academy of Environmental Medicine, "GM foods pose a serious health risk in the areas of toxicology, allergy and immune function, reproductive health, and metabolic, physiologic and genetic health and are without benefit."  Just last month, The Huffington Post wrote of a study linking GM food to organ failure.

But beyond the food we eat, there is a serious impact to the environment.  The Center for Food Safety (CFS) outlines the environmental impacts to include an "uncontrolled biological pollution, threatening numerous microbial, plant and animal species with extinction, and a potential contamination of all non-genetically engineered life forms with novel and possibly hazardous genetic material."

The US doesn't require food manufacturers to label GMO products so it's difficult to know which foods have been altered.  I've read that there is an estimated 30,000 foods found on grocery store shelves that contain a GM ingredient or 75% of processed foods in the US.  DisabledWorld.com reported that from 1995 to 2005, total worldwide land surface growing GMO crops increased from 4.2 million acres to 222 million acres.

There are many GM foods, but five account for the highest volume of food and food ingredients.  The CFS reports that "currently, up to 85 percent of US corn is genetically engineered as are 91 percent of soybeans and 88 percent of cotton (cottonseed oil is used in food products)." Canola is one of the top five, and newly added is sugar beets.  Some examples of these GMO products:

Corn - corn flour, meal, oil, starch & syrup, sweetners (fructose, glucose), modified food starch
Soy - soy flour, lecithin, vegetable oil, soy beverages, tofu
Cotton - cottonseed oil
Canola - canola oil
Sugar Beets - any sweetener not labeled 100% cane sugar, evaporated cane juice or organic sugar

Unless the product package specifies that the food is non-GMO, then you can assume that if it has one of these ingredients, then it's been genetically modified.  The best list of GMO crops I've found is on DisabledWorld.com.  Here's an incredible Non-GMO Shopping Guide.  It lists products by brands, includes brands that do use GMO ingredients and lists a ton of "hidden" GMO ingredients.

What's most difficult for me, is that I can't seem to avoid GMO foods without making drastic and unwanted changes to our shopping and eating habits.  In fact, it makes me downright angry to find out that we've been human guinea pigs for years now, and that I've unknowingly feed my family these foods.  It's possible that the soy formula and milk that Abigail drank from 7 months of age to the age of 2 could very well be the cause of her peanut allergy.  Since 1996, when GMO's hit the mainstream food supply, food allergies and chronic diseases have doubled. From what I am reading, there is not adequate testing, our government is leaving it up to big business to determine what's safe and what's not, other countries' governments have long since realized that there is a serious health risk and are imposing regulations while big business is doing everything in it's power to shut down the small farmers who want to avoid the use of genetically modified seeds for their crops.
 

NaturalNews.com has created a good list of ways to avoid GMO foods.  Obviously, eating organic is the easiest.  Using the shopping guide I mentioned above is helpful, but frustrating.  The products tend to be more expensive and many aren't safe for our household because of the risk of cross-contamination with peanuts/tree nuts.  I've done a few things like purchase organic produce, rice and canned goods, switched to Safflower Oil for cooking, purchase Kashi crackers and cereal, and Kettle potato chips.  Trader Joes is another source for non-GMO snacks.  However, I've got a really long way to go!

Here are a few more links if you want to do a little more reading. 

Snow Day Requirement

It's snowing!  And, has been since yesterday afternoon!  We've had some sleet, but mostly, just snow.  It's wonderful.  Where we live in North Carolina, we often get freezing rain, but not inches of nice, powdery snow.   We're up to about 6 inches and counting.  It's been years since we've had this much.  The kids have already been outside and are now back in warming up.  Abigail's first request upon entering the house was for hot chocolate.

I didn't have any packets of hot cocoa so we improvised.  It actually turned out really good, and I don't mind at all that Abigail drank the whole mug.  I purchase organic chocolate soy milk for my 2 year old son to drink at lunch.  I heated a mug of the milk in the microwave for 45 seconds, stirred it and then heated it again for another 45 seconds.  Topped with a couple of marshmallows, it was not only a very rich cup of hot chocolate, but probably more nutritious than any of the powdered kind.

Recently, I contacted Nestle about their hot cocoa.  Abigail's class was having it for a treat one day at school, and I needed to find out if it was safe for her peanut allergy.  Here's an excerpt from their response:

There is no risk of peanut or tree nut contamination in our cocoa products.....

Factories that use a critical allergen as an ingredient take all precautions to avoid cross-contact of products that do not normally contain these allergens and products that do not carry a specific mention in the ingredient statement. Precautionary measures include efficient cleaning of production lines and equipment and strict separation of materials that may contain critical allergens. If an allergen does not appear on the ingredient statement, then it has not been added to the product and the likelihood of cross-contact is so extremely low that the risk is insignificant.

Please note that ingredients and manufacturing conditions can and do change. If you do need to pay attention to allergens in your diet, we strongly encourage you to always check the product label and the list of ingredients.

Now that I know I can just heat up our organic soy milk, I won't be purchasing any more "snow day" packets of cocoa mix. They're too "processed" anyway. But, I do have a question.  How do you moms that have kids with life-threatening nut allergies, or you adults with an allergy, feel about that statement "the likelihood of cross-contact is so extremely low that the risk is insignificant"?  I ask because I feel it's a "CYA" statement from Nestle.  But mostly, I ask because when I initially read the statement, my first thought was that any risk was too much.  I then started thinking that I'm just being over-the-top cautious (and many would think I was).  In this case, I let Abigail drink the hot chocolate at school, but I did so hesitantly.  So, if you have an allergy in your household, I'd really like to hear your opinion.  Too risky? Or not?

One side note for purchasers of soy milk.  The "Silk" brand soy milk is no longer organic.  Dean Foods, the new owner of the "Silk" brand removed the "organic" label on the packaging without alerting the public.  They state on their website, that the "Silk" product is not made with genetically modified soybeans, however there is a large movement in the organic community to boycott this brand.  Organizations like the The Cornucopia Institute are stating that Dean Foods are using conventional soy beans from China, not disclosing important information and are purposely trying to confuse consumers.  Something to consider.

For those of you with snow...hope you are having fun too!

Doughnuts....Just another reason!

I remember fondly back in college heading to Krispy Kreme for a late night study break. Seeing the "Hot and Now" sign lit up was a real treat. My friends and I would easily consume a dozen doughnuts before we even got back to our dorm room. After I got married, there were many Saturday morning trips to Krispy Kreme to celebrate the start of a weekend. That tradition continued until we moved to our current house only to find that there was not a Krispy Kreme within a 20 mile radius. Instead everyone talked about Dunkin' Doughnuts (I never could understand preferring DD over KK). It's just as well anyway, now that I'm "older", consuming 12 grams of fat in one glazed doughnut is not nearly as appealing.

Not thinking that doughnuts would be one of those items that she shouldn't have, Abigail has had both brands, usually as a special treat. In doing research though, both warn of the risk of peanut cross-contamination. Dunkin' Doughnuts warns of it right on the front page of their Nutritional Link..."Please be advised that any of our products may contain allergens, including peanuts. Please see nutrition details for specific products for allergen information."  I had to e-mail Krispy Kreme for their information.  Here's their response:  

We often receive questions from consumers like you about the likelihood of peanuts in our doughnuts. We recognize how serious peanut allergies can be, and are unable to make a "nut-free" claim for any of our locations or products. Let us give you a little background into why. While we currently do not knowingly add any peanuts or other nut derivatives to our doughnuts, we do purchase from some suppliers who do have products that are not nut-free. In addition, we are in the process of testing an ice cream concept in several stores throughout the country in which nuts may be selected as a topping. The final decision to consume Krispy Kreme doughnuts will always rest with the consumer. 

I've started a list.  Here's one more reason to make the 2 1/2 hour drive to Duke. She'll be able to make her own late night visits to Krispy Kreme!

Duke Clinical Trial Update

I haven't written about our visits to Duke in a while simply because we haven't gone in a while.  Our last visit was the first week of December, and we don't go back until the second week in February.  Abigail is on the maintenance dose which means we no longer have to go every other week to increase her dose.  We go back in February for blood work, in April to discuss her pending food challenge and the end of May for her food challenge.

Speaking of food challenges, they've started for this study.  The first food challenge occurs 12 months after entering the study.  It's double blinded so that each child will get both a round of peanut flour and oat flour. They do that because nausea and vomiting can be a side effect of both a peanut reaction and pure anxiety. When I talked with our doctor late last week, 6 children had already completed their food challenge, and another 2 were schedule for each week over the course of the next couple of months. 

The first 3 kids to do their food challenge ended up being on the placebo, and will have to re-enter the study.  They're guaranteed to get the peanut protein this time around. There were mixed results on the other 3 that were getting the peanut protein. They didn't see particularly good results on the first two children, and it sounded like there were some extenuating circumstances for both.  However, the third child tolerated the full dose of peanut flour. Did I mention that it was the equivalent of 8 1/2 peanuts??  I know it's just one child, but I couldn't help getting very excited when I heard the news. Only time will tell, but it is very encouraging and makes our food challenge something to look forward to as opposed to dreading!

It's believed that just a small amount of daily peanut protein, over time, will re-train the immune system to accept the offending allergen as normal.  What Abigail's doctor explained was that the immune system is very slow to respond.  A year may not be long enough to re-train the immune system.  So, the results of the first food challenge aren't necessary indicative of the final outcome.  Between me and you though, I'll take 8 1/2 peanuts all day long!!

Congratulations Again!

I put off announcing another winner one more day to make sure I gave Christine R. lots of time to get in touch with me.  Christine, I'm so sorry, but I've got to pick another winner!  It's been 3 days.

I gave Abigail the honor of picking our new winner.  She loved it!  I made her close her eyes, mix up all the numbered slips and pick one out.  It was a very high tech process!

Congratulations to our new winner, Ginny B. (13).  I have your contact information so I'll make arrangements for Cookware.com to ship you your new blender.  I hope it's as cool as it looks!

One more thanks to everyone that participated and to Cookware.com for sponsoring this give-away!

Healthy Change #9: Know your Plastics

Late last week, the FDA revised their opinion on the safety of BPA (Bisphenol A), a chemical component in plastic products that leaches into food and beverages, even cold ones.  In 2008, the FDA stated that they thought BPA was safe.  Regardless, many parents had long since decided to listen to the many researchers who were claiming that BPA was linked to cancer, heart disease, Type-II diabetes, obesity, sexual dysfunction and early-onset puberty.  This is very evident in the influx of new products advertising BPA-free.  Three years ago, after reading about the risks of plastic baby bottles, I had to special order BPA-free bottles for my youngest child.  Now BPA-free bottles and feeding utensils are on every shelf in every store.

Finally, the FDA looks to be getting up to speed.  They've revised their position and are "now concerned" about the chemical.  According to USA Today, however, they neither called for a ban on the chemical or called for a change in consumer purchasing behavior. They are though investing $30 million in BPA research with results expected in 2 years.  In the meantime, parents must continue to make their own decisions on the safety of this chemical.

The 3 plastics to avoid are PVC, polystyrene, and hard polycarbonates.  Can't tell?  Look for these recycling symbols on the bottom of the object.  They're typically found on clear food packaging, disposable plates and cups, meat trays, take-out trays, baby bottles and many drinking containers.  Each of these plastics have shown to leach BPA.  The website, thedailygreen.com, has a really good article on the recycling symbols on plastics, what they all mean and the benefits/risks of each.

Another source of BPA is that white lining inside cans.  Tomato base foods (higher acidic) tend to have the highest leach levels, beverage cans appear to have the least.  There's irony in the fact that my "organic" diced tomatoes are in lined cans.

Liquid infant formula is of particular concern.  Infants and pregnant women are most thought to be at risk of side-effects of leaching BPA.  According to another article in USA Today, "All U.S. manufacturers use BPA-based lining on the metal portions of the formula containers. Tests of liquid formulas by FDA and EWG show that BPA leaches into the formula from all brands tested. Enfamil formula appears to have the highest concentrations of the 20 tests."

A couple of other suggestions:  Watch out for that plastic lined coffee tumbler. Look for stainless steel that is not lined with any type of plastic.  Look at the bottom of your plastic drinkware and your children's dishes and check the symbols.  Also, watch your microwave bowls.  Make sure they don't have the improper recycling symbol.  In fact, switch to glass bowls whenever possible when heating foods in the microwave.

The USA Today article states that according to the CDC, more than 90% of Americans have traces of BPA in their urine.  That's reassuring isn't it?