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Ramping Up the Food Challenge–Day Five

7 May

Bakery on Main Gluten-Free OatmealToday is day five of my ramping up my food challenge, as I am having an upper endoscopy on June 21 to see if I have eosinophilic esophagitis. This disease appears to be more recently recognized and has to do with multiple food allergies that might otherwise go undiagnosed. Since I have had crushing esophagus pain from some foods (oranges) and trouble swallowing at times, often choking on liquids (my nickname has been “RainBird”), my new gastroenterologist looked at my food allergy test results (skin prick tests done by an allergist) and decided there could be more to my food reactions than other conventional allergy testing has shown.

It’s really difficult, though, psychologically, going back and eating things I have avoided for the last 5 to 15 years. I keep looking at the boxes on the shelves in the store and wanting to read all the ingredients, and then thinking that I should just try anything I want. I also don’t want to “waste” this opportunity to eat the things I used to love by eating the stale bread that comes with meals at lesser restaurants, or fast food take-out that I didn’t even like when I did eat it.

I have actually been asking my friends “what’s your favorite Chinese restaurant?” or “where can I get the absolute best croissant in town?” and making a point of not going out of my way to get too many special gluten-free foods for the time being.

Even though I haven’t gone back to a full food challenge, I have been eating so-called gluten-free oatmeal every morning, as I react to oats, as well as having orange juice each day. I’m not planning on going for the hardcore gluten-containing products until May 17, the day I finish this semester’s finals, as I don’t want any negative reactions to cause problems with my studying.

So far, I haven’t been having very major reactions, but I am queasy pretty often and have confused signals about whether or not I’m hungry. I have also had some heartburn which I knocked out with some Pepcid. Today, though, I woke up feeling achy all over, something like the beginning of a flu or bad cold. I also have a headache that feels different from the ones I usually have. I’m feeling less-coordinated than usual, and having a little brain fog.

None of this is as bad as it gets by far, but the few things I am having are definitely having an effect. I think the oats are the culprit for most of the body/brain stuff, and the orange juice for the heartburn. I have also been eating more corn lately, which is another food that kicks up acid reflux.

Hoping I can keep it up and get through the challenge period, and that I don’t become too difficult to be around. And I also hope I learn something useful from the whole experience.

BTW – if you have celiac disease and can eat oats, I highly recommend the Bakery on Main brand instant oats. I have been enjoying the maple flavor ones for the last 5 days now and wishing I could keep them as part of my diet from this point on. :)

Some of my wishlist products (not all “healthy” or gourmet):

  • croissant – both plain and almond-filled
  • crusty baguette
  • Round Table pizza – maybe pepperoni and double cheese?
  • garlic bagel with lox and cream cheese
  • clam-stuffed breaded and fried calamari
  • Chinese food – almost anything
  • Mexican food – especially chilies relleno
  • old fashioned-style doughnut/maple glazed
  • baked manicotti
  • Grape Nuts/Wheat Chex
  • Oreos

And that’s just for starters… it’s not going to be pretty, but I have to provoke a reaction. Might as well enjoy it while I can. :)

Food Challenging Starting Soon

30 Apr

I went to a new gastroenterologist last week and he wants to conduct an upper endoscopy on me to see if I have Eosinophilic Esophagitis which is a condition where your esophagus develops inflamed rings as a result of increased inflammatory response, usually because of allergies. Even though I recently had a thorough set of tests to see if I had food allergies through the skin prick method and was found to not have anything horrible show up (other than allergy to lobster, something I eat every day! J/K ;) ), I could still have other adverse food reactions occurring which are measurable on my body somehow. Therefore, upper endoscopy.

Better than a colonoscopy because I don’t have to do the prep (if you’ve had one, you know, and if you haven’t, you’ve probably heard).

My doctor recommended I start a food challenge the month before, eating all the things that I don’t tolerate normally. This should kick things into high gear. I have been opposed to this methodology in the past, but think I’m going to give it a shot. I am trying to decide if I want to challenge gluten, as well, since he’s not going to be doing a biopsy on my small intestine. I am getting the blood tests done though. I don’t think a month is long enough, but since I will be feeling crummy anyway, might as well go for it, right?

Anyway, waiting until my finals end, and that’ll give me a solid month of time to eat it up. I’m already planning things I’m going to try, like the best croissant I can find in town, or a pizza at a former favorite place – maybe some Mexican food and definitely some Chinese. I’m almost as excited as I am scared!

I do plan on keeping you posted so keep on the lookout for updates, here and on Facebook. Wish me luck!

Did Paula Deen Give Herself Diabetes?

18 Jan

Paula Deen and butterUnless you’ve been living under a rock, the most likely word association you make when you hear the name “Paula Deen” is “butter.” As in, lots of it. Any episode of her show I’ve seen praises the mighty yellow stick as if it’s the second coming, and makes sure it’s slathered, melted, injected, creamed, or cut into every recipe possible, especially baked goods.

I remember watching a flurry of Food Network stuffing/dressing recipes for Thanksgiving, including Paula’s recipe, which largely seemed to be a batter mixed with about a dozen eggs poured over some bread cubes and liberally laced with twists of butter. And when she was done, she added another layer of butter. There was so much butter I actually stopped salivating and looked on in shock that any industry would promote such extreme butter usage. I wondered if Paula’s show was underwritten by the dairy industry.

(Just in case you were wondering, I think this is the stuffing recipe, though I think she embellished it even more on tv)

Now the news has broken that Paula has type 2 diabetes. Formerly considered “adult onset diabetes” because it doesn’t occur unless at-risk people who eat a consistent diet of highly processed foods such as white starches and sugars tend to develop it as they age, this disease is becoming more and more prevalent in younger people. In fact, current estimations are that one out of three people will develop type 2 diabetes in their lifetime.

It’s easy to point fingers at our modern diet, but we know better at this point: we know that diet is important and can contribute to the risk of developing diabetes, but diet and lifestyle alone does not create type 2 diabetes. People who have a genetic predisposition for diabetes are more likely to develop it over time, and it’s even possible for those people to do so while following a healthful diet.

Paula didn’t “give” herself diabetes, however the lifestyle she promotes through her decadent recipes didn’t improve her chances for not developing it, either. And they also promote an unhealthful diet for people with any health condition risk.

Diabetes is only one of many conditions contingent on a healthy lifestyle. Additionally, we don’t know who is more likely to be susceptible to this disease. The best thing any of us can do is make sure we have a healthy diet of whole grains, high fiber, fruit and vegetables, and lean meats. And don’t forget exercise!

That doesn’t mean it’s bad to have a little butter or sugar here and there because that’s not what’s going to give you diabetes. Keep in mind that your chances of getting type 2 diabetes may be out of our control, but your lifestyle is, and type 2 is fully treatable and even reversible if you eat healthfully and exercise.

Allergy Testing For Food, Pollen, and Molds

3 Dec

Allergy Testing ArmI recently had a series of allergy tests done – 5 sets in all – to see if I was allergic to anything to the point where I should be carrying an EpiPen, and then to learn more about non-allergic adverse reactions to foods and other things, such as my reaction to the nightshade family (potatoes, peppers, tomatoes, eggplant, kava, and tobacco).

During the testing, I had to lie down on a table and the technician brought in a tray of allergens in a theme, such as major or minor foods, then pollens/grasses/trees/molds in various combinations. For some they wanted further clarification, so shots were injected subcutaneously into my arm after the testing on my back was completed.

The skin testing helps determine what you would react to in a severe way, possibly requiring the use of an EpiPen to prevent anaphylaxis if encountered. While I have many adverse reactions to foods, I know that only about 1-3% of adults have true allergies to foods so I wasn’t thinking I would show any positives in those tests. My doctor explained that a person may still have adverse reactions even if they don’t show on the skin test, but that those are not likely to result in life-threatening ways, so other options are available for treatment, such as taking a certain antihistamine cocktail for a few days before trying them out. He really took the fear out of food reactions for me, as most of mine, while fairly unpleasant, only last a couple of days, and I realized that if I was stuck somewhere with no other food source, I would not starve because I would bite the bullet and eat what was given, even if I felt sick for a bit after.

The skin test is a little prickly and then itchy, especially where they poke you with the pure histamine which is used as a control to make sure they are getting a good reaction –  I was instructed to be off all antihistamines, including those for acid reflux, for 5 days before each set of testing as they can interfere with the results. I had to lie there in the little room for 20 minutes each time while I felt all sorts of itchiness occurring and really wanted to scratch my back but instead found something to read to distract myself. The results are determined by measuring the urticaria or wheals that form and then the redness circumference around the wheal, so a positive would have a wheal of >3mm wide and redness >10mm wide, or written as 3/10.

I found out that the only two foods I have a true, skin-testable allergy to are red pepper (3/13) and lobster (6/30 – my wheal for lobster was as wide as the histamine!) Allergy to one shellfish gives a 75% likelihood of being allergic to other shellfish. I was surprised I didn’t have a positive test for oranges, as I have had a reaction in the past after drinking some juice and having some fresh. I did test positive for many pollens from grasses, weeds, and trees, as well as molds, and this can explain why some foods are allergenic when consumed, as some pollens are very similar in structure to food proteins, which may cause a faulty allergic reaction in the body when consumed. An example is being allergic to birch pollen might give you an adverse reaction to apples, peaches, or melons.

With the results in, I am looking at the way I eat food a little differently. I was told by my allergist the more I avoided certain foods that didn’t provide a true allergic reaction, the more sensitive I would be to them, such as potatoes. That instead of eating less of them over time and getting more reactive, I would have been better served to keep eating them to maintain my body’s ability to tolerate them. I’d wondered about that in the past, so am looking forward to future appointments where we discuss strategies to maybe make it possible for me to regain some of those forbidden foods in my diet.

I’m not suggesting anyone do this out there without the help of a doctor, but if you haven’t had allergy testing and have problems with specific foods, it may be worth your while to make an appointment. It’s worth a shot! ;)

Amish People Aren’t Autistic Because They Aren’t Vaccinated?

3 Dec

I remember when I was a kid, how important science was in education, and we understood that the scientific method helped us to understand and explain phenomena. If it was backed up by enough evidence, it became a scientific law, such as the law of gravity, though even scientific laws can be “broken.”

People are understandably upset about autism, especially since no one is able to figure out what causes it. So we look for patterns and try to piece it together. This is an anecdotal article about Amish people that claims that only three Amish children were ever vaccinated, and of those, two of them developed autism. I understand the strong desire to explain things, and when things are unexplained, then people want to develop conspiracy theories, but the truth of the matter is without any actual documented data to back it up, you can’t make any conclusions about the Amish as a people and their apparent (at least in this article) lack of autism.

I am posting about this because I am passionate about science and understanding why things work, and every form of research I’ve read indicates there is no connection between vaccinations and autism. I know that there is a similar thought about going gluten-free to reduce the effects of autism, yet there is no science to back that up, either.

I hope that people don’t stop vaccinating their kids because we have already seen the resurgence of whooping cough as a result of this practice. I would hate to see polio and other diseases come back, out of fear that these vaccines allegedly cause autism.

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