Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Food Allergies


Oh where, oh where to start.
Many of you know the struggles we've had with Clayton's allergies. If you don't know you can click here.
Clayton has not had a rash or real flare up of eczema for about 2 years now but we decided to have a food panel done on him anyway, just to make sure we weren't missing anything. For the two years we have been very watchful of what has gone into his mouth. Only things that have been minimally processed or not at all. I grind our wheat. We only eat whole plain yogurt and use cultured dairy products when we can't get raw dairy products. We stay away from corn and corn syrups, msg, yeast extracts etc. We eat grass feed beef and eggs from chickens that are mostly raised on pasture, and lots of fruits and veggies. We cheat maybe once a month and get dinner from Left Coast Siesta or a pizza from the Pizza Garden but other than that we don't eat out much.
Our eating habits changed about 5 years ago thanks to a wonderful cookbook called Nourishing Traditions. It was put out by the Weston Price Foundation and I think it has been crucial in how Clayton has done so far.
We had Clayton tested in April by our new ND (Dr. Dramov in Tigard, OR) and went today to find out the results. This food panel tested against 96 foods and they rate the foods according to the antibodies against those foods in Clayton's blood. Rated O-VI, O being low and VI being extremely high.
Here's the thing.
Clayton tested in the III-V range (low to very high) for different types of dairy, eggs, and wheat but he hasn't had any reaction in the last two years and these are common foods in our house.
So what's the difference?
I believe it is the way we eat those foods. Our eggs we get from a local source where the chickens are pasture raised. Our dairy is whole, cultured, minimally processed and because I grind our wheat, it has no preservatives, no added nutrients, and then most of the time we soak the flour in an acidic medium to help break down the hard to digest stuff. He also tested a II (or low risk) for almonds and peanuts. But again, when we eat almonds and peanuts, they are nuts that I've soaked in salt water and then dried with low heat in the oven. Thus they are basically somewhat predigested. All stuff I learned from Nourishing Traditions. Clayton has also been taking cod liver oil and probiotics every day, though this is more recent.
I was so afraid that I would have to relearn to cook and we'd have to be even more diligent in guarding what he puts in his mouth but what we're doing already is enough I guess.
But if he starts to react to something, if his eczema flares up, if he develops asthma or gets a cold and can't quite shake it we will know what foods to avoid but as of right now we can continue on doing what we're doing, eating what we're eating and keep praying that he grows out of it.
Praise the Lord.

1 comment:

Ronda Honda Pumpkin Pie said...

You are a wonderful mother. Lord bless you girl!