So ... I continue to do research on Paleo. Can't quite explain to you why I'm so slow at jumping at this - guess I just need to be sure this is what I want to do. KWIM? But, as I said in my previous post, I need to find suitable Paleo ingredients safe for peanut allergies. Food Allergies - huh???
Today I came across some great information and it just hit me: Where was PALEO when we sat with the nutritionist.
OK, need to back-up here. In September 2008, my oldest son (just about 4 yrs old) was at his annual allergy & asthma checkup with our Allergist. He was already diagnosed with a Peanut allergy. We had been told he was allergic to milk but had "outgrown" that. [I didn't know what that had meant - figured it was that his body matured enough for milk/casein.] He underwent blood work for additional allergy testing because his primary care physician had only done environmental profile (which- by the way, was all positive except cockroach & mulberry - yeah!) Test results came back & we were devastated - allergic to wheat & soy. Told we should see a Nutritional Counselor & off we went.
So, my husband, mother-in-law and I went to see Julie, a Registered Dietician at one of our clinics. She pulled up my son's test results/medical record and I will never forget the words out of her mouth, "Wow! I don't know what you're going to feed this kid!?!?" We all just froze - and then I spoke: Why?
Julie showed us the results: elevated IgE levels for corn, tomato, peanut, soybean, wheat, milk, egg white. WHAT!?!?! She was told to focus on wheat, soy & peanuts with us by the Allergist. We learned how his body was rejecting the food we were feeding him and that this poor little almost-4-year-old was actually malnourished!! (Oh, and the Allergist was really ticked off that she brought up all the other foods)
We were diligent - doing everything we could to avoid wheat & soy and avoided all peanuts like the plague. We gave him supplements like crazy & cooked everything in cast iron (he was anemic) and he got healthier. Skin issues (eczema) persisted with frequent infections - we can teach you a lot about staph infections! School started the following year & we handled it with limited drama. Another year passed & we were preparing for Kindergarten. I asked if we could re-test... I had been "slipping" some wheat into my son's diet and his skin reactions were not concurring as they had been before.
So, we tested again in September 2010. Guess what? All test results were either the SAME or...HIGHER!?!?!? What the...But, since he had been re-introduced to wheat and shown little reaction, the gold standard food challenged had been passed. We took him out for pizza that night & had a little party. Since then, he's been eating soy & wheat on a regular & daily basis. I nearly tossed out all my gluten-free and food-allergy cookbooks but, for whatever reasons, I opted to keep them since there were some family favorites I still use today.
Now, why would you think I became a bit upset today when I started reading some Paleo information - why humans should not be eating certain foods & what it does to their bodies...
It hit me like a ton of bricks: Why didn't Julie tell us about Paleo in 2008? Why? Why? Why? Lack of education? Lack of "believing in it"? I admit, I got a bit angry about this, too. And why hadn't any of the many people I met in online in the food allergy community know anything about this?
Who knows... But I guess the point is: I'm here now. I have more knowledge about the devastating impacts to your body these foods can have - they caused my son to be malnourished through infancy & his toddler years. His body adapted but not in a way I would've wanted... Had I known then what I know now.
So, the search intensifies starting today. He brought cold lunch to school today & it was totally a Dinsoaur lunch: uncured/nitrate-free hard salami, red bell pepper strips, baby carrots, star fruit & a large prune (aka, "big raisins") - all organic & healthy. And he loved, loved, loved it. (Let's not talk about how he washed it all down with chocolate milk!)
I purchased my two starter books today: Practical Paleo and Eat Like a Dinosaur. Got them for just over $40 with free shipping on Amazon!! I'm still not going to dump out my pantry - learned that lesson. But, I'm definitely going to find that coconut oil & coconut aminos so I can get beyond 50% Paleo...Starting NOW!!
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