Food Allergies and Gut Bacteria

A few weeks ago, my mom sent me these articles:

Gut bacteria that protect against food allergies identified
Reason Behind Increasing Food Allergies Discovered

This is an interesting concept.  If you don't feel like reading the articles, the gist is that researchers have identified a class of gut bacteria, Clostridia, which, when absent from the bodies of mice, caused the mice to develop allergies to peanut when exposed in the lab.  When the bacteria was reintroduced to the mice, they showed reduced allergen levels in their blood.  In other words, these manufactured allergies were reversible, to some extent, with the reintroduction of the missing bacteria.

This class of bacteria is common in humans, and so researchers are wondering if heavy antibiotic usage (in an individual or at the population level) is wiping out these friendly bugs and making children more likely to develop food allergies.  And more than than, they're wondering if reintroduction of Clostridia to allergic individuals could help in some way.

This jar is clean and has never been opened.
My kids' toy is safe.

I found the first article to be more helpful than the second.  The first is from a scientific source, and so focused on the actual study and its findings, whereas the second clearly hyped up the findings for a more enticing headline.

This study left me with a lot of questions, but many leave a hopeful feeling behind:

• How does this explain children who never received antibiotics as a baby--or at least never before their diagnosis?  Is heavy antibiotic usage in the population reducing their chances of picking up this beneficial bacteria?
• If the results prove applicable to humans, are we talking about a "cure" for those already affected, or an "immunization" of sorts to help prevent the development of food allergies in infants?
• Does this apply to all levels of allergic reactions, or are some people (those most at risk for anaphylaxis, for example) less likely to see any therapeutic effects?  After all, the article said the bacteria helps prevent the allergens from entering the bloodstream, but some people react anaphylactically when the smallest amount of an allergen touches their mouth.  That's long before the food enters the bloodstream.

Personally, I don't feel that this is the cause of food allergies, or even of increasing food allergy rates.  I do think it is probably one of many contributing factors that make a person more prone to developing food allergies.

I've been hearing a lot lately about the "microbiome," the community of microorganisms that share our bodies with us.  An article in Scientific American a year or so ago had identified a strain of bacteria (or maybe it was a virus, can't remember) found in the lungs of healthy humans, but which is absent from those with asthma.  Every time it comes up, I've wondered if tweaking the microbiome, especially with reintroduction of its symbiotic members, might be the future of medical science.  And here is a study that aims to do just that!

What do you think?

The Dreaded Phone Call

I'm going to disclaim this post by stating that Zax is fine, and was fine (in terms of allergies, anyway) in both of these cases.


I never knew my blood could run so cold at the sound of the phone until I started getting calls from the school nurse.

This happened to me twice within the first month-and-a-half of kindergarten.  The first time it happened, it was also the first day Zax had had a substitute teacher.  Our health assistant introduced herself and asked me how I was.  I answered with the usual pleasantry, all the while thinking "Is there any reason for me NOT to be okay???"

Nothing had happened, but she was checking in because the substitute had been handing out plain m&ms as incentives, and did we let Zax eat plain m&ms?

I relaxed a bit.  We do, and have never had any problems, and I appreciated her checking in with us.  But then I tensed up again.  While we allow our peanut-allergic children to eat plain m&ms, there are plenty of others who do not--whether for higher levels of sensitivity or plain old caution, it's a valid dietary choice either way.  Zax later reported that he'd asked his usual "Does this have egg or peanut or nut," and the teacher had said, "No, just chocolate."  Her ignorance of the fact that plain m&ms say "may contain peanut" on the label underscores my trepidation about how safe my child is when someone other than his classroom teacher is in the room.

That first substitute took me by surprise (Zax had known about it the day before, but didn't think to share until he saw the substitute as he was walking into the classroom.)  Since that day, I've made a habit of reminding Zax to be extra careful of any food a substitute offers him, and I also walk to the door to talk to the sub.  "I'm sure this is in your information," I tell them--I think they're more receptive when I say it this way.  "But my son has food allergies to egg, peanut, and tree nut.  I just wanted you to be aware."


The second phone call from the health assistant--a few weeks later--sent the already-familiar chills down my spine.  Again I picked up, thinking "get straight to the point!"  Zax wasn't having an allergic reaction, or at least she didn't think so, and he swore he hadn't eaten anything.  What was happening was that he had completely shut down in class, he was hot, and he said his head and stomach hurt.

Again I got the chance to calm down.  This sounded a lot like his migraines.  (He hasn't been diagnosed with migraines, but they run in the family and he's had a handful of headaches that fit the description.)  I had to pick him up early, of course, so I headed down to the school.

Upon arrival, I had plenty of reason to be impressed by the health assistant.  She had the lights low because the light bothered him, and a trash can beside his bed (because he'd thrown up several times since we'd hung up the phone--more migraine pattern), but most importantly she had her notebook of Allergy Action Plans open to his page while she bent over my son.  She was ready for action.

The moment I saw Zax, I knew he was having a migraine.  Actually, I think he had a virus that had given him a migraine (he's had fevers and migraines at the start of colds before, a pattern I'm just starting to recognize.)  The health assistant doesn't know Zax the way I do, however, so I was gratified to see that she was ready and watching for any signs that said "Allergy!"

Fortunately, I haven't gotten that dreaded phone call again since late September.  I hadn't anticipated it scaring me so much, but I'm coming to realize that I will probably panic every time I get a "your kid got sick in class" kind of call.  It's just the nature of the beast.  I try to take heart from the fact that at least they can get ahold of me anywhere.  When my mom sent me off to school, she lost all lines of communication if she left the house for any reason.  Cell phones have truly revolutionized the world!

How do you feel when the school nurse calls?

This is a test, just ignore please

Crockpot Chicken Burritos!

Dinner last weekend was nice and fast, thanks to my old slowcooker chicken burrito recipe!  I love the simplicity of this recipe, and it tastes so amazing that it's hard to believe it's so simple!  All you need is:

• 1 lb (give or take) chicken breasts
• 1 cup chicken broth (we use Better Than Bouillon)
• 1 packet (or equivalent) taco seasoning

Directions:

Place raw chicken into the bottom of a crockpot.  Mix taco seasoning into the chicken broth, and then pour the mixture over the chicken.  Cook on low all day.  (You can do it on high for just a few hours, but add at least 1/2 cup water to the broth because the liquid will boil off this way.)

The chicken comes out very tender by the time it's done cooking, so all you need to do in the evening is shred it with two forks and you're good to go!  Serve with your choice of tortillas and toppings!

Note:  Because of the broth and taco seasoning I used, my meat was free of all the main allergens except for milk and soy (we used flour tortillas too, so wheat/gluten appeared in our final meal.)  Conceivably, you could make this dish free of the top 8, depending on the contents of your broth and seasoning.  Homemade stock and seasoning would work just as well!  (And of course, if you want it dairy free, you'd have to substitute or omit the cheese and sour cream.)

The boys used to spurn all Mexican foods, but have recently taken a liking to quesadillas.  I'm glad, because this opens up a whole new category of safe restaurant dining, since many Mexican restaurants use little to no peanuts/tree nuts!

Linking up again at Allergy Free Wednesdays

These leftovers will last us through much of this week, with more to pack in the freezer.  What are you cooking this week?

Food Allergy Friendly Birthday Party - Zax turned 6!!!

Zax turned 6 at the end of October!  This year, he requested a Lego birthday.  With the help of the internet, I managed to find some easy and fun Lego games for us to play.

 We started out by decorating Lego minifigures.

Then we had a "balance Legos on a spoon" race.

Followed by "pin the head on the minifig."

We played a variation of musical chairs, in which the kids danced to "Everything is Awesome" from the Lego movie, and then had to find a Lego brick to stand on when the music stopped.

Finally, we took some time to build the party favors!

The cups were minifig heads!

The birthday boy amidst friends.

And of course, since Zax is allergic to egg and peanut (and me to tree nut,) his cake had to be free of all of those allergens.

I have a bit of a masochistic relationship with birthday cakes.  We've known about Zax's egg allergy since before he turned 1, so each and every cake I've made for him has been without egg.  Before I had kids, I was content to bake a simple cake, slap some frosting on the top, and call it good.  I made the occasional two-layer cake, but that was the extent of my decorating prowess.  But ever since having kids, I've felt the desire to make them into something creative and fun--and often very elaborate.  I consider this to be masochistic because of how easily eggless cakes fall apart, and how late I have to stay up to finish them.  But I persist, and I've learned a lot over the last six years.

Here is Zax's Lego Birthday Cake!

Free of egg, peanut, tree nut, soy, fish and shellfish (the last two are probably obvious with cake).  It would also be dairy free, if not for the frosting.

(If anybody knows of a good dairy-free frosting recipe, I'd love to see it!)

One of my friends has some kids who collectively need to be free of gluten, corn, and soy, so I made some cupcakes for them.  I made my recipe with Deby's gluten free flour, and used Private Selection organic powdered sugar (which uses tapioca starch instead of cornstarch) for the frosting.  I wanted to put fondant dots on the top to make them look like Lego bricks, but there was no way around their allergens in the fondant recipe.

We had a great day!

Ham and Bean Soup - Free of the Big 8 Allergens!

My Sunday dinner was free of the top 8 allergens this week without my even intending it!  Once I realized that, I just had to share :)

This is not a fast recipe by any means, but if you've got the time to let soup boil all day, it's well worth it.  I had a leftover ham bone in the freezer, and I've been waiting for a nice, cool day to turn it into soup.  In addition, all of us, asthma sufferers and non-asthma sufferers alike, have been dealing with residual coughs from previous colds, so making the house both warm and humid was an added bonus!

I loosely followed this recipe for the ham stock:

• 1 ham bone*
• 1 large onion, chopped (2 cups)
• 2 carrots, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick slices
• 2 celery ribs, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick slices
• 3 large garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 teaspoons dried thyme, crumbled
• 3 whole cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon black peppercorns
• water to cover

Place all ingredients in a large soup pot and cover with cold water.  Allow to boil for a few hours, replenishing liquid as necessary.  Then strain the stock and remove the meat from the bones.  Save the meat for the soup, and discard the rest.

Then for the actual soup (taken from Black Bean Soup from McCall's Cooking School)

• 2 cups (1 lb) dried black beans
• Cold water
• 1 leek
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 6 cups (roughly, okay if it's less) ham stock
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp brown sugar, firmly packed
• Chopped red, yellow and green onions (optional)
• Tortilla chips (optional, omit if you need corn-free!)

Directions:

1. Soak the beans (overnight or quick-soak.)
2. Drain the soaked beans; discard soaking water.  Return drained beans to a large pot and add fresh cold water to cover.  Bring beans and water to boiling over high heat; reduce heat, cover and simmer for 2 hours or until beans are tender.  (I did this at the same time my stock was cooking.)
3. Drain the cooked beans, reserving liquid.  Set beans aside.  Add reserved bean liquid and, if necessary, water to the ham stock to make 6 cups liquid.  (I actually had closer to 7 or 8 cups total.)
4. Trim leek:  Cut off root and and green stem.  (Leek should be about 5 inches long after trimming.) Wash leek thoroughly to remove dirt and sand.  Cut on diagonal into 1/4-inch-thick slices.
5. Heat olive oil in large soup pot over high heat.  When hot, add leek, onion and garlic.  Saute until vegetables are browned, about 5 minutes.
6. Add salt, brown sugar, beans, and ham meat to leek mixture.  Stir in ham stock.  Bring to boiling over high heat; cover and reduce heat.  Simmer for 10 minutes.  Serve soup topped with chopped onions and tortilla chips.

Alternatively, if you soaked the beans overnight, you could just cook the beans in the same pot while making the stock.  You'd be unable to pull out all the stock veggies and whole spices, though, because the beans would be in the way.  Hubby isn't fond of cooked veggies, and he definitely would have turned up his nose at carrots and celery that had been boiling for three hours, so I made the stock separately.

The original recipe said to add butter or margarine to the broth at the end to thicken it, but I completely forgot that step and to be honest, the soup didn't need it.  This was the perfect, hearty and warm meal for the end of a chilly day.  (If only the kids had liked it.  Their loss, I'm afraid!)

Linking up at Allergy Free Wednesdays, Gluten Free Fridays, and Corn-free Everyday

 

*To be honest, I can't say that our soup was entirely allergen free, because we ate most of the ham when I threw the wrapper away months ago.  I understand that hams sometimes get treated with wheat, or the glazes can contain any number of allergens.  Our ham was safe for us, but you would need to make sure that your ham bone (or shanks or hocks) is safe for your family.

Halloween recap

Happy November!

I hope everybody had a safe and enjoyable Halloween!  Ours was jam-packed!  Between the last two weekends, we trick-or-treated four times:  at our rec center, Boo at the Zoo, at Zax's school, and then in our neighborhood.  Talk about candy overload!  Even after removing all of the unsafe and unlabeled items, we still have a lot of whittling down to do before making the trip to a local dentist to sell back some candy.

As I'd sort of expected, our teal pumpkin didn't get much notice in our neighborhood--although it may have gotten more if we'd been home longer to hand out treats.  We're definitely doing it again next year, regardless!

My parents didn't have a teal pumpkin, but they did have the sign, and they thought it needs to be reworded next year.  Parents understood it, but they had a lot of kids think the sign meant there was no candy at their house.

We had a fun time, and everybody stayed safe.  Time to breathe for a few days, and then start packing up the Halloween decorations to prepare for the next big holiday.  This is such a busy time of year!

How was your Halloween?  What did you do, and how did you keep your children safe?