Jul

22

Teach

Filed Under Food Allergy 

It may be quite difficult for kids with food allergies to cope.  They may feel dismayed when they are not able to eat what all their friends are eating.  Imagine if they have a milk allergy and have to give up all the sweets and chocolates.  They start to feel left out and may even get angry at you, the parent, for not allowing them to.  They may feel tempted to take just one bite but with certain food allergies, even one bite can prove to be fatal.

You will need to be patient in getting your kids to understand more about their food allergies.  Explain to them about the types of reactions that they are possibly going to get.  Let them know the risk that they put themselves into, even with just a bite of the food that they are not supposed to be eating. 

Educating the kids to be independent is also important.  You cannot always be around with them all the time.  Hence, teach them how to read food labels.  Also let them what to do if they should suspect that they are having an allergic reaction. You need to let them know what are the allergic reactions to look out for eg. a tightness in the throat, swelling throat or tongue, a hoarse sounding voice, feeling faint, breathing difficulty, wheezing, coughing, nausea, vomiting, stomach pain, diarrhea, indigestion, and also bluish skin around the lips or nails.

Jul

13

Common

Filed Under Food Allergy 

You may feel depressed when you first start realising that you have food allergies.  In many cases, the food that you develop reactions to happen to the same ones that you absolutely love.  However, do not despair just yet. There can be food substitutes that you can turn to. You would be surprised to find that they can taste just as good and without triggering possible allergic reactions in you.
Here are some common food substitutions you may want to consider to alleviate your food allergies:

1.  Cow’s milk – Many of us are allergic to cow’s milk.  However milk can be found in many dairy products such as coffee creamer, milk for cereal and drinking and even milk for cooking.  Several substitutions exist that can replace cow’s milk such as soy milk, goat’s milk, rice milk, almond milk and more.  You just need to ensure that the rest of the milk mentioned here can do the trick for you.  Many of subtitutions also have enough protein for cooking purposes. Of course, if you have multiple food allergies, some of these milk substitutes may do more harm than good.

2.  Eggs – It is hard to find a substitute for eggs.  However, as a substitute during the cooking or baking process, there are leavening mixtures which suitably replace the role of eggs. Do note however that for recipes which are made mostly from eggs like sauces and special puddings, these egg substitutes will not work.

3.  Flour – Wheat allergies are also very common.  However, many traditional recipes require flour made from a wheat product. Should you have a wheat allergy, then you need to look into other flour alternatives.  Of course, because of their different properties, one type of flour may work for cakes but not work for bread. In other words, you will need to experiment to know which flour is suitable for what cooking or baking process.   Corn, rice, potato, millet, quinoa and amaranth are just a few of several different types of food products that could be made into flour.

4.  Beer –  Beer is not a common food allergy trigger but what you need to be aware of is that many brands use gluten, corn or wheat ingredients in their brews.  Hence, find beer that are free of these ingredients.  Yes; they do exist.

5.  Pasta noodles – Many pastas are made of egg products. Hence, you will need to check with your grocery store or local whole food market for pasta alternatives to stay clear of food allergic reactions. There are pastas that are both gluten and wheat free. These options are made from bean paste, rice, corn and a variety of other grains. You will have to use your allergies to dictate the type of pasta that you can purchase.

Comments