Lower Weight and BMI Linked to Food Allergies

Food Allergies and Low Weight

A recent study of 245 food allergic children found that children with food allergies had lower percentiles for weight, height and BMI compared to age-matched "healthy" children. 

The information about this study was presented at the annual conference of the America Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (AAAAI). The study went further and looked at the relationship between growth and the number of food allergies.

No surprise here...children with a greater number of food allergies had lower height and weight percentiles. 

Dairy Allergy

More specifically, multiple food allergies and/or milk allergy was found to result in the lowest percentiles.

“The relationships uncovered between food allergic children,particularly those with more than two and those suffering from milk allergy, and the examined growth markers stress the need for nutritional assessment and intervention to ensure that food allergies do not contribute to any growth delay,” explained AAAAI President and study author A.Wesley Burks, MD, FAAAAI. 

I hope this also highlights the need for food allergy savvy nutritionists. We've visited two nutritionists recommended by our allergist. Both left me wondering why I was the one writing the check after I was told by the professionals, "Wow, you taught me a lot. I had no idea!"

Over the years, I've tried to enrich foods whenever possible by incorporating soy flour in my baked goods, adding almonds to recipes or using flax as an egg substitute. Fortunately many of the rice and soy milks now come enriched with calcium and Vitamin D. 

It's enough to worry about keeping our kids safe by avoiding allergens. Now we must also face what that avoidance is doing to their physical growth and development.

Sigh....

Do you have ways to sneak in some extra nutrients into your food allergic child's diet? 
Have you observed a correlation between food allergies and the impact on growth? 

You can check out the press release from AAAAI about this study for more information. 

Baby's Eczema and Food Allergy

Egg Allergy and Eczema

What a difference a decade makes. Back in the day, parents of babies with eczema were advised of the food allergy march: itchy, angry skin, leading to food allergies and to asthma. I remember our doctor saying "eczema is linked to egg allergy". As a result, we were advised to told to postpone highly allergenic foods, such as eggs, milk and nuts, for several years.

So we did, and as later skin and blood tests confirmed those food allergies, avoidance, we were told, was key. 

In a recent Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Australian researchers pointed to a genetic link between allergies and eczema. The study, by Murdoch Childrens Research Institute in Melbourne, found that babies with changes to the filaggrin gene had a higher chance of a positive skin prick test to egg allergy.

Now here's the interesting part, those babies with the changed fillagrin gene and the positive skin test to egg allergy who were then given egg at an early age, had a decreased risk for developing a "ful-blown" egg allergy. Delaying the introduction of egg (which many of us were told to do) actually increased the risk of egg allergy.

It seems that there may be a skin sensitivity to food proteins, but not necessarily a gut sensitivity. Many doctors are now suggesting early introduction of egg, milk and other typical food allergens in order to develop tolerance.

What's a parent to do? Talk to your doctor. Make sure they are up on the latest research- this is new information. If your baby has eczema or you are concerned about food allergy, see an allergist sooner, rather than later.

Food Allergy Research Boost With Multi-Million Dollar Grant

Milk Allergy

Perhaps you've read the news that David H. Koch, Executive Vice President of Koch Industries, has donated 10 million dollars to the Jaffe Food Allergy Institute at The Mount Sinai Medical Center. This donation, one of the largest in the Institute's history, will create the David H. and Julia Koch Research Program in Food Allergy Therapeutics.

This is great news for the food allergy community. Mt. Sinai has already brought to light the possibility of introducing baked milk and egg to people with milk and egg allergies. They have also lead the way in researching the link between bullying and food allergies, and the lack of a link between waiting to introduce foods to infants and the development of food allergy.

Part of this donation may go toward some of the clinical trials currently underway at the Jaffe Food Allergy Institute, such as using Xolair to help develop milk tolerance and the effect of Chinese Herbal medicine on food allergies. All great research paving the way toward figuring out what causes food allergy and how to prevent it.

Food Allergies and Baking With Milk and Egg

As I've reported, we're adding tiny amounts of egg and milk in baked form to my egg and milk allergic child's diet. As all these food allergy transitions have been over the years, it's been challenging finding recipes that work. It sounds easy- just add an egg or some milk to any recipe.

It's not that easy. We're trying to stick to the guidelines of baking foods for at least 30 minutes at a minimum of 350 degrees. That eliminates most cookies and muffins and primarily leaves us with breads and cakes.

We've been eating an awful lot of chocolate cake in our house recently.

I'm in the routine now of having one baked good that contains one egg and one that contains a tiny amount of milk. My child eats egg one day and milk the next. The egg recipes are easier. Most cakes call for two eggs. For now, I use one regular egg and I substitute the other- usually 1 tablespoon flax seed mixed with 3 tablespoons water. The milk recipes take an advanced degree in chemistry with a minor in math. My childis off the scale allergic to milk so we're proceeding with extreme caution. I found a cake recipe that calls for 1/2 cup milk. I use 3 grams (our food scale comes in handy here) of dried milk powder mixed with an 1/8th of a cup of water. Then I add 3/8 cup of soy milk.  The plan is to gradually increase the amount of milk powder.

So, I'm certainly not complaining. Any time we can add more options to this food allergy diet is cause for great celebration, but I do see a need for a new kind of cookbook as more people are able to tolerate baked milk and egg.

In the meantime, we'll have to share.

Dairy Free Chocolate Chips

I do love chocolate! When I realized that my Ghiradelli milk chocolate chips were no longer an option in our new world of food allergy, I was a bit panicked. Well, maybe panicked is a bit strong...

no, taking away my favorite chocolate chips did cause panic!

So, we embarked on a tasting of dairy free chocolate chips.  I was not interested in mini-chocolate chips. I prefer the regular size for most of my baking. Fortunately I discovered Barry Callebaut chips. I swear to you, you'll never miss the dairy in these chips. I order them from The Allergy Grocer, as they're not carried in stores. This works great, except:

•  the chips can't be shipped during the summer months due to high temps and melting
• they're awfully expensive, especially with the shipping...

but who can put a price on a good chocolate chip?

Imagine my excitement recently while shopping at Wegmans's, when I noticed their store brand of chocolate chips is dairy free. I bought a bag, giddy at the thought of saving on those shipping costs. We had a blind taste-testing in our home that night.

No comparison. Barry Callebaut wins out.

So, I'll keep ordering multiple 5 lb. bags of Barry Callebaut chips from The Allergy Grocer, but I'm always willing to do more taste-testing!

Any suggestions?

By the way, Allergy Grocer offers free shipping on orders over $100. Go ahead, you can do it...

Common Sense for Food Allergies

I heard on the news this morning that a recent study in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine shows that changing to a later start time for high school students is good for adolescents.

 Makes perfect sens to me. Years of research has shown that the body clock during the teen years shifts to going to bed later and getting up later. We know this and should use this information wisely.

What does this have to do with food allergies, you may ask?

Well, this study seems like common sense to me. I don't believe we've used common sense for food allergies. Allergic to pollen? Get regular injections of minute doses of pollen to desensitize the body to pollen. Allergic to milk? Avoid it forever.

I've never thought that made sense. We do it in our house because that's the doctor's orders, but it doesn't seem like good common sense. Since getting the blood test results for my allergic child last week, I'm even more convinced. After 10 years of strict avoidance of multiple foods, all numbers are up- by a lot. My child is not out-growing any of these allergies. As a matter of fact, things are heading in the wrong direction.

This isn't good enough any more. I'm hopeful about  a cow's milk immunotherapy study published recently in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. This study involved placing cow's milk protein on unbroken skin in an effort to desensitize people.

Just yesterday, DBV Technologies got the go-ahead from the FDA to begin human clinical investigation of peanut desensitization. Trials begin this month in six medical centers in the U.S.

Avoidance isn't working. Desensitization makes common sense when it comes to food allergy. I recognize there are risks involved and I certainly do not recommend desensitization at home right now. But, let's all keep talking to our allergists and pushing for something better than "strictly avoid".

Stay tuned. We're starting to use common sense in food allergy treatment.

Baked Milk and Egg Food Challenges

We met with the allergist last week. At the top of my list was to talk about food challenges for baked egg and milk. What I found out was quite encouraging.

She told me they've done many challenges for these foods over the past few months and nearly all have been successful. There are now dozens of children and adults in their practice who are successfully eating foods that contain milk and egg that has been heated to a high temperature. The most recent research, she said, is showing that those who eat baked milk and egg on a regular basis may get rid of all milk and egg allergy.

Woot!

We're going to give it a go this summer. She wants to start with egg first, using the angel food cake recipe used at Mt. Sinai for these type of challenges. It contains 12 eggs and will be baked at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. I'm a little nervous after a nerve-wracking and unsuccessful egg challenge a year ago, but I am feeling hopeful.

I'll keep you posted!

Egg and Milk Allergy Lead to Peanut Allergy?

A recent study involving 500 infants seems to show a link between early milk and egg allergy to later development of peanut allergy.

The Consortium of Food Allergy Research (CoFAR), a major food allergy research program supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) conducted the study and plans to follow the infants to age 5.

In light of this finding, researchers recommend parents of milk and egg allergic children speak to their doctor, or consult an allergist before introducing peanut in the diet.

Check out the full report. Interesting, huh?

Monday Review: Earth Balance

This Monday Review is sponsored by Earth Balance natural spreads.

Finding a "non-dairy butter" for baking and spreading is no easy feat. It was important to me to find something our entire family liked. As a matter of fact, I wanted a product that would fool everyone. My non-dairy chocolate chip cookies needed to taste just as good as anyone's cookies. The butter on my table for our dinner rolls needed to taste just like any other butter. Our non-dairy butter would be my little secret.

Well, I found the right product and I can't keep it a secret. I've used Earth Balance spread for years, ever since my son outgrew his soy allergy. Our local grocery store just recently began carrying Earth Balance sticks. This gives me another option in baking*. And now, Earth Balance has come out with a soy-free version of their spread. I've never been able to recommend a soy-free, dairy-free butter alternative. Until now. It's arrived and it tastes good. No wonder it got the 2009 Best Chef's Taste Award.

Check out all the Earth Balance products as well as some great recipes.

*Fleischman's Unsalted sticks are also dairy-free.

Children's Hospital in Boston

I recently posted videos from Children's Hospital in Boston where they are conducting a milk desensitization study. The latest installment is a grocery shopping trip with the mother of 11 year old Brett who is participating in the study. Brett has 15 different food allergies, his brother has 16- Yikes! People often say to me, "How do make food without dairy, nuts and eggs?". I've gotten to the point where it's pretty easy to avoid those foods, but when I hear about people needing to avoiding beef, chicken, turkey, nuts, eggs, soy, and so on...well, wow! Where do you begin to find good protein sources with all those restrictions?

The shopping trip shown in the video takes place at a Whole Foods Market. Take a look, you may learn a few things. I learned that Rice Dream®, a non-dairy alternative to cow's milk, contains barley which would be unsafe for celiacs and others. Who knew?

Milk Allergy Study in Boston

We've been hearing about peanut desensitization studies in the news recently. I'm thrilled to report that Children's Hospital in Boston is conducting the first ever milk desensitization study. Check out this video and follow along each week as 11 year-old Brett goes through the study.

This is great news!

I Had a Brain Freeze, but Brain Thaw Arrived in the Nick of Time

So we spent Memorial Day week-end at the shore. My son is taking Zyrtec daily for seasonal allergies. We ran out of his Zyrtec syrup during the week-end. No problem. We stopped at the closest CVS and picked up more. My brain freeze resulted in my thinking that we should get the children's chewable tablets instead of syrup. As I opened the package, my brain thaw occurred and I read over the inactive ingredients. Duh! I wrote a while back about Zyrtec tablets containing lactose monohydrate. I even sent a letter to them. It went unanswered.

Today I called Zyrtec and chatted with Malika, Zyrtec Customer Service Representative. She confirmed that lactose monohydrate contains bovine milk. She went on to say that the manufacturer of the lactose monohydrate had issued a "Certificate of Suitability." When I asked what that meant, I was put on hold- for 8 minutes. Finally Malika came back and apologized for the long wait. She said, "It contains milk, so those allergic to milk should avoid the product." Okay, I still don't know what a "Certificate of Suitability" is , but I guess it doesn't really matter.

I told her that I wanted to register a complaint that the label doesn't clearly state "Contains Milk" in big bold letters- make that super size letters so even those of us in a brain freeze can't miss it. She apologized and said she would forward my complaint to the appropriate department. Uh, huh- I'm watching...

If you want to register your concern to Zyrtec, call 1-800-343-7805.

Why don't medication manufacturers have to follow the same labeling rules that food manufacturers must follow?