The Rise in Food Allergies and Why

Heading off to a women's retreat today with a friend but came across a headline this morning that deeply saddened me but also alarmed me.

The headline was of a 14 year old who died from food allergies.  The unusual part of the story was about WHY so many children are developing food allergies now a days.

By Gabe NobleGiovanni Cipriano was an ordinary 14-year-old high school freshman who had a passion for baseball and had just made the honor roll. One quiet night, as he snacked on trail mix and watched a movie with his mother, his throat began to incessantly itch. Unbeknown to Giovanni and his mother, there were peanuts in the mix, which he had been allergic to since he was 18 months old. His mother gave him a double dose of Benadryl and frantically rushed to the hospital.
"I took his hand and I said, 'Don’t worry, we’re here.' And when I grabbed his hand, he was cold and his body was blue," Giovanni’s mother, Georgina, said. The anaphylactic reaction led to a coma, and he died several weeks later.
Giovanni was one of the 6 million children in the United States who suffer from food allergies, an alarming number that has nearly tripled in the past two decades. Dr. Martin Blaser, a microbiologist and professor at New York University, is working tirelessly on groundbreaking research into this dramatic spike in food allergies. His hypothesis is that exposure to antibiotics early in life is diminishing positive gut bacteria and thus weakening children's immune systems, making them more susceptible to allergies. Blaser warns parents: "Antibiotics are not free, they do have a cost. And it is not just monetary but in the development of the immunity in children."
Blaser’s theory has been tested on young mice. They were fed a strong dose of antibiotics, and soon after their immune system changed and they developed a peanut allergy. They were then given the missing positive bacteria, and the results were astounding: The allergy was gone!
While his research is still a work in progress, the results so far are positive and could potentially lead to a cure for food allergies.

(to watch the interview click HERE)

This is exactly why we try very hard to only buy  hormone and antibiotic free meats.  Did you know that 80% of all antibiotics used in the US are used on animals?  Mainly the ones you are eating.  In turn, YOU are consuming that antibiotic. It can be through meat or animal by products( milk, cheese, etc). 

So not only are we seeing these super bugs develop that antibiotics are no longer helping to get rid of and antibiotic allergies on the rise,  but it looks like it is contributing to these deadly food allergies that are everywhere now. 

Little Miss is allergic to nuts, but not in a deadly way.  She would break out from the peanut oils on her skin in what appeared to be blistery hives.  I tested her again recently and she didn't appear to have the topical reaction so I thought, "Yes! She's outgrown it!". 

I fed her peanut butter and jelly the one day and then PB banana the next only to have her end up with horrible diarrhea.  As soon as I removed peanuts from her diet again, the diarrhea abruptly stopped. 

That is only a small problem though compared to those with severe nut allergies, so I am grateful. 

What you eat really does matter, and what your children eat really does matter.  

Knowledge is power.

Many Blessings,

The Mama