Ohh! So Good: Allergen-Friendly Food Blog
Inflammation 101: What is it, why do we get it and how do we prevent it!
We’ve all experienced it before, swollen fingers, a puffy face, a muscle that feels like it's on fire and has been overworked. Inflammation is a natural process in our bodies and is needed to protect ourselves from infection and to facilitate healing. Inflammation is our body’s way of protecting us against foreign pathogens and anything that could harm it, such as infections, injuries and toxins as a way to heal itself. When it feels like it is being attacked or put in harm’s way, our immune system kicks into high gear ready to fight anything in its path! How do you know if you are inflamed? There are four cardinal signs of inflammation, these include; redness (caused by the dilation of blood vessels), heat, swelling and pain. Blended together, you have a powerful antibody fighting team who’s only mission is to help heal you from the inside out. When inflammation gets dangerous is when it occurs regularly and is not in response to acute injuries and infection and is now a chronic, long-term ache and pain problem. In today’s blog post, we are going to be talking about inflammation, foods to help fight it and lifestyle changes you can make to keep your body happy and healthy! Ready, set read! Anti-Inflammatory Foods: Anti-inflammatory foods do exactly what they sound like they do, they fight off inflammation. They help to reduce inflammation, improve symptoms of chronic joint conditions and diseases. An anti-inflammatory diet can be beneficial to those with heart disease, obesity, psoriasis, Alzheimer’s disease and digestive issues. There are six inflammatory inducing food groups that increase inflammation levels in the body that you should try to avoid as much as possible. Those include; sugar, artificial trans fats, hydrogenated oils, refined carbohydrates, alcohol and processed meat. So now that we know what foods cause inflammation, what should we be eating? Great question! Whole, real, from the earth foods! Tomatoes, olive oil, green leafy vegetables such as spinach, kale and arugula, full fat coconut, fresh fruits such as berries, pineapple and oranges. These foods all help to combat free radicals and lower inflammation levels in the body - we want to save that inflammatory response for when we need it, in an actual emergency! This might come as a surprise, but dark chocolate is a phytonutrient dense superfood that helps to combat stress, lower blood pressure, reduce inflammation, curb sugar cravings and support cardiovascular health. Cacao, the main ingredient in dark chocolate that gives it its velvety mouthfeel and rich flavour notes, is rich theobromine. Theobromine is a potent anti-inflammatory. Its richness in antioxidants, specifically flavanols, help the body to reduce oxidative stress and inflammation levels. Sugar-free dark chocolate has the ability to ease some of the inflammation associated with chronic illnesses, increase recovery time to reduce pain and stress levels in the body. So the next time you are craving chocolate, but know that it is in your best interest to reach for a healthier alternative, turn to your Ohh! Foods Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough that is free of the top ten allergens and packed with only the good kind of chocolate! Additional Inflammation Reducing Tips: When in doubt, always eat a salad. Pack it with a hearty leafy greens, an abundance of colourful vegetables and some fruit. Drizzle it with olive oil and some seeds for the perfect blend of antioxidants and inflammatory fighting foods! Take your meals to the next level and skip the beverage that usually accompanies them. Alcohol is one of the inflammatory inducing foods and can easily be eliminated, reduced or even replaced with a non-alcoholic version for one will see dramatic results. When you’re cooking at home or dining out, try to opt for a plant based protein occasionally to add more alkaline foods to your diet. Meat is a very acidic food, so combat that with extra greens and minerals! Lifestyle Changes: Changing your diet without changing your lifestyle is a recipe for doing a habit once and then forgetting about it. Creating an anti-inflammatory meal is great, but we need to create an anti-inflammatory meal plan - something that is going to help you build and maintain your healthy eating habit. Start by filling your fridge with anti-inflammatory foods; olive oil, healthy fats, plant-based proteins, leafy green vegetables and fresh fruit. Once stocked, start to collect some recipes that you would like to experiment with. Keep a collection of your favourites so you can build your own mini anti-inflammatory cookbook- this makes it easy to whip up a meal when you’re hungry because you have a stack of your go-to meals on hand! Just like you brought in nutritious food, we have to get rid of the inflammatory foods - processed foods, refined carbohydrates, sugar, alcohol and excessive amounts of meat. You will have them again, but for now, it is simply a matter of getting it out of sight and out of temptation! Now that your kitchen is packed with anti-inflammatory, whole, plant-based foods, it is time to focus on exercise and movement. Losing weight shouldn’t be the focus, but it will be an added bonus! Exercise helps to reduce stress (another contributor to inflammation!) and combined with a healthy diet, will result in weight loss which reduces your body’s systemic levels of inflammation. There you have it, everything you need to know about inflammation, how to reduce it, combat it and the best lifestyle choices you can make to become your healthiest self yet. Choosing to eat nutritious, whole foods is the key to fighting inflammation. When in doubt, turn to your Ohh! Foods Cookie Dough and Bites for an anti-inflammatory snack or dessert that is free of gluten, dairy, eggs peanuts, tree nuts and is both gluten free and vegan. Cookie dough on an anti-inflammatory meal plan? YES!
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The Top Ten Allergens!
Allergies. If you have them, your shoulders likely dropped and you let out an audible sigh while reading that. Whether it’s a seasonal or a food allergy that you have, neither are pleasant to live with. You’re always having to adapt your activities or what you eat to cater to them and on the inside you feel like you are missing out on some of the best moments and foods in life! Thankfully, there are companies like Ohh! Foods that have been created to eliminate the FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) when it comes to cookie dough and all things snacks related. Say hello to three allergen-friendly cookie doughs, coconut brownie and apple pie bites! Made with whole foods, real ingredients and not a single top ten allergen food, you’ll likely be going back for seconds and you might even share them with your non-allergy friends. Maybe! If they’re lucky! In today’s blog post, we are going to be talking about the top ten allergens in food products on the market today. What are they, why do you react and what foods you can substitute into your diet as an alternative. Gone are the days of missing out on eating yummy snacks and desserts - welcome to the land that we like “Flavourtown!” What Causes An Allergic Reaction? The allergic sequence of events begins when you inhale, ingest, swallow or come into contact with the allergen. Our proteins take a defensive strategy to combat the allergen and naturally create a protein called Immunoglobulin E or (IgE). This compound binds to the food molecule and triggers a cascade of events that cause the release of histamine, a chemical that is released by the white blood cells into the bloodstream when the immune system is being attacked by a potential allergen. In other words, it's basically a superhero coming to the rescue! The Top 10 Food Allergens Dairy Dairy, as sad as it is to say farewell to ice cream, milk, butter and cream, is one of the most allergy inducing foods. There are two main protein types in milk; casein and whey. Casein is found in the solid part of the milk that curdles, think of cottage cheese and cheese curds. Whey on the other hand, is the easier to digest protein that is found in the liquid part of milk and remains after it curdles. This is one of the most popular protein and muscle building supplements on the market, and for good reason - one scoop of whey protein powder contains 20-40 grams of protein. That’s a whole lot of muscle! On the other hand, it might be protein dense and taste delicious, but those who are allergic dairy or lactose intolerant may experience bloating, gas, indigestion, hives, nausea, vomiting and sometimes wheezing. Before you get all sad about not being able to enjoy ice cream or sour cream ever again, let us introduce you to dairy free options! Almond and cashew milks are two of the most popular nut milks on the market. Allergic to nuts? Try hemp, oat or even rice milk! The options are endless and there are more and more companies coming up with vegan alternatives for sour cream, yogurt, ice cream and even coffee creamers. Eggs: Who doesn’t love a classic bacon or tempeh, eggs and toast breakfast? Those with allergies. That’s who! Eggs, although they are extremely rich in protein, healthy fats and Vitamin A, cause an allergic response in a number of children and adults. The most common symptom of an egg intolerance is found on their skin - rashes, hives and itchy skin are all symptoms of an allergy. Other symptoms include runny nose, sneezing, digestive issues, nausea, vomiting, wheezing or shortness of breath. Finding a substitute for eggs is a little trickier than replacing milk with coconut milk. Eggs are commonly used in baking and can be replaced with chia seeds that have been soaked in water. Tofu or tempeh, both made from soy, can be used as a replacement for eggs by scrambling them, however the taste will not be quite the same. Peanuts: This one shouldn’t come as a surprise. Peanuts are the most common food allergy in children and the second most common in adults. Schools have banned peanut butter from entering the building and sunflower seed butter has quickly stepped in to replace it! Those who suffer from a peanut allergy, will likely experience an anaphylactic like response and struggle to breathe, break out in hives, experience swelling in their throat, a sudden drop in blood pressure and faintness and/or dizziness. Thankfully, there are numerous nut/seed butters that are allergy friendly and taste equally as delicious! Tahini, made from sesame seeds, pumpkin seed butter and sunflower seed butter are all natural substitutes for peanut butter! Soy: Soy is one of the most common food allergies because it is in nearly everything! Soybeans are commonly fed to cattle as part of their feed, along with grains and some grass. They are also used to make soy sauce, tempeh, tofu, soy milk, miso and a variety of vegan meat alternatives. It is common for someone to experience and eczema like reaction when they react to soy along with swelling of the lips, face, tongue and throat, wheezing, abdominal pain, difficulty breathing and a host of digestive issues. Thankfully, soy can be replaced with other legumes such as black beans, chickpeas, navy beans or lentils to add heartiness to a meal or texture to a stew or vegetable burger. Wheat: How many times have you heard the words gluten-free and celiac this year? They are becoming more commonly used and recognized as more and more of the population begins to experience reactions to wheat and gluten containing foods. Celiac disease is an autoimmune disease in which antibodies are produced in response to the gluten which results in inflammation and damage to the lining of the small intestine. Symptoms of a gluten allergy include constipation, weight loss, abdominal pain, gas, bloating, indigestion and lethargy. Gluten took a little long to recognize as an allergy promoting food, but nowadays, it is extremely common to find gluten free options or alternatives at every restaurant and supermarket. For those who struggle with wheat specifically, try rye or sourdough products as those are easier to digest! Tree Nuts Tree nut allergies are among the most common food allergies in both children and adults. These include; walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts, pecans, cashews and pistachios. But, it still leaves us with sunflower seeds, chia seeds, pumpkin seeds, coconut, sesame seeds and hemp seeds to work with instead! Shellfish Shellfish can be broken down into two different categories, crustaceans and mollusks/bivalves. Crustaceans include shrimp, prawns, crab and lobster, while mollusks/bivalves include clams, mussels, oysters, scallops, octopus, squid, abalone, snail. Of all of the shellfish, shrimp is the most common shellfish allergen for both children and adults. Fish on the other hand such as salmon, tuna, catfish and cod are the most commonly reported fish allergies. While there is no true vegan substitute for shellfish, chickpeas can be used to replace tuna in a tuna salad or sandwich! Sesame Sesame, there goes another peanut-free alternative! Have no fear, there is still coconut, hemp, sunflower, pumpkin and chia seeds to use! Sesame, also known as tahini in the seed butter form, is becoming a more common food allergy as more and more people react with rashes, swelling, itchy throats, nausea, vomiting or diarrhea. When eating out, ensure to ask your server which types of oils they use in cooking any dishes that have an Asian flare or could be sprinkled on top of a dish as a garnish to topper! Sesame is more commonly used in the kitchen than you would think! Mustard Mustard allergies are among the most severe food allergies and result in individuals experiencing itchy skin, hives, or a skin rash. As delicious as it is on hotdogs and burgers, mustard can be substituted for well, any other condiment really. If you like bold mustard like dijon, try using horseradish instead for the same throat-like punching feel. Be sure to read your labels when shopping for spices or condiments, mustard seed is commonly used in most spice blends and sauces. Sulphites Sulfites can cause allergy like reactions with symptoms such as wheezing, hives, itchy skin, trouble swallowing, dizziness, digestive issues and trouble breathing. Thankfully, sulphites are easy to avoid if you know where they hide! Sulphites are commonly used as a food additive to maintain food colour, elongate the products shelf-life and prevent the growth of bacteria. It is also used in food packaging like cellophane! The most common sulphite containing foods include baked goods, jams, canned vegetables, pickled foods, dried fruit, wine, potato chips canned soups. There you have it! The ten most common food allergies and a few alternatives to keep your kitchen fully stocked and to keep your belly feeling happy! Whenever you need a snack in a pinch, turn to your Ohh! Foods Cookie Dough or Bites - they’re free of all top 10 allergens and packed with real ingredients and a whole lot of flavour!
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#OhhMoments - Lynell Doyle shares her journey being a mom to kids who have allergies 🧡
My son Bryson has had food, medicine, environmental allergies and eczema since he was a baby. At one point, he was allergic to fish, shellfish, all dairy including eggs, wheat, peanuts, and tree nuts. He grew out of his allergies to wheat and eggs while picking up an allergy to black tea. Through the years, his food allergies have dictated activities and outings that he and the rest of the family could participate in or host. I have found myself preparing food for parties that were not even my child’s in order to ensure that he had something safe to eat. Most times people focus on what it is that my child cannot eat and the sadness that he surely must feel at never having been able to lick an ice-cold scoop of vanilla ice cream or wolf down a peanut butter patty. My wish is that instead of focusing on a perceived sadness and sense of missing out that they believe that he should have, is that they instead focus on including him in the activity at hand. There is a certain cost of food allergies and that cost is the isolation and sadness that is felt when food instead of the person is the made the focus of events. For the last twelve years, my child has enjoyed a very full, active, productive, and fun life while managing his food allergies! Does he still look forward to the day when he may be able to eat real pizza with his friends and not worry? Of course! But, until that time, he has so much more food free fun to have! And fortunately, when he needs a safe snack, there are allergy safe snacking companies like Ohh Foods that are there for him. In the future, I hope to see more emphasis placed on inclusive eating. I believe that in order for this to happen though, people’s attitudes about food allergies will have to change through not just education but through accepting the education that is needed for everyone to take food allergies seriously. Want to share your Ohh! Moment with us? We would LOVE to hear from you! Send us an email at Marketing@OhhFoods.com!
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#OhhMoments - Estefania shares her journey being a mom to kids who have allergies!
"Hi, my name is Estefanía, I live in Spain, I'm a mother of 3 Children, two of them with food allergies to the cow's milk protein and the egg. They also have atopic dermatitis, environmental allergies and asthma" In the case of Adrián (2011) due to his severe dairy allergy he suffers from eosinophilic esophagitis, a chronic immune system disease. With Hugo (2013) we are doing a program of induction of oral tolerance to the egg, every week we go to the hospital and we raise the dose a little, it is about making your body tolerate the allergen, always under medical supervision, since a month ago We had an anaphylactic shock. In 2015 I created my allergic recipe blog "Sin trazas de leche" (No Traces of Milk) to share with more families easy recipes to make at home. Although they are normal children, our daily day is complicated due to allergies, as it has reactions by contact. We would like people to have more empathy when it comes to hosting parties at school with food, birthdays and activities so everyone could participate. We always carry with us the adrenaline auto injectors and rescue medication in case of allergic reaction."We hope to overcome at some point our allergies!!". Want to share your Ohh! Moment with us? We would LOVE to hear from you! Send us an email at Marketing@OhhFoods.com!
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#OhhMoments - Henley Jackson shares her journey of being a food Allergy Warrior!
"My name is Henley Jackson and I was diagnosed with an anaphylactic milk allergy when I was 7 weeks old. It has affected every single aspect of my life" Throughout my entire life there have been so many people that have not taken this life threatening condition seriously. Growing up I was bullied severely because of my allergy. To the point where kids would even pour milk on me in the cafeteria at lunch. I have had to use my epipen, and have been admitted into the intensive care unit at hospitals so many times I can’t even remember how many. Due to these pretty traumatic experiences I have experienced quite a bit of anxiety and stressed around food. However, I do believe that I was given this hardship for a reason. I recently began competing in pageants where I am able to bring even more awareness to anaphylaxis. Also, I am a part of the contains:courage campaign which places a spotlight on the person behind the allergy. As for my hopes for the future of allergy awareness. I am a strong believer in being the change by helping things move forward. I hope to pursue a career in allergy and immunology. I hope that I can bring awareness to many more people. And I hope that I can be a part of many more amazing campaigns and movements like #OhhMoments. I am so ecstatic to be a part of #OhhMoments and to continue to bring awareness of food allergies to many more people. Want to share your Ohh! Moment with us? We would LOVE to hear from you! Send us an email at Marketing@OhhFoods.com!
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#OhhMoments - Sadia
"My name is Sadia and I am a mom of not one but two multiple food allergic children. They are allergic to dairy, wheat (not celiac but allergic), eggs, vinegar, red lentils, nuts and my son is also allergic to fish" My first encounter with food allergies was when I started giving solids to my first born. I fed my daughter chicken, she immediately had a reaction. As I had never encountered such a severe reaction before I did not know what to do or what it was even. All I knew was that something was wrong, I called Telehealth (a phone service, where nurses advise what to do). The nurse said put the phone down and immediately call 911. I called the ambulance, we went to the hospital and my daughter was kept under observation, almost for the whole night. She was diagnosed with food allergies at the age of eight months. This was 13 years ago. Back then there were hardly any allergy friendly products like OhhFoods, available in stores. I had to make everything from scratch at home. As you can imagine, some were a hit some were total disasters :). However, for the sake of feeding my kids, I learned and learned quickly. Over these thirteen years, I have come across all sorts of reactions from people. I have had people tell me you are making it up or asking what actually happens if they eat a certain food, in disbelief. Or if we refuse a certain food, they will offer another food that has another allergen in it, and I have to keep explaining and refusing. It gets pretty annoying and embarrassing sometimes. However, the one thing that everybody asks is what do I feed my kids? Well my answer to this is a lot different now than it was a few years ago, thanks to snacks such as OhhFoods. "I hope that we can raise awareness and also have a wider variety of snack options and restaurants available, where people with allergies can enjoy themselves, without the fear of a reaction" - Sadia Want to share your Ohh! Moment with us? We would LOVE to hear from you! Send us an email at Marketing@OhhFoods.com!
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#OhhMoments _ Jennifer Fortino shares her journey being a mom to kids who have allergies
"My name is Jennifer Fortino and I am a mother of two children, Arianna (4) and Alessandro (2). My daughter, Arianna, has a tree nut allergy - specifically cashews, pistachios, and hazelnuts" We learned about the allergy the hard way - ambulance ride and all! When she was almost 2 years old, I decided to have her try a cashew; immediately - literally after one small bite, she began coughing, vomiting, and was covered in hives, she then began to point to her throat and cry. I called 911 and within minutes, we were in an ambulance on the way to the hospital. Fear and worry took over my soul as I watched my happy little girl experience a severe allergic reaction. Those few brief (but never-ending) moments are etched in my mind forever. From that moment, it has become a mission of mine to help make this world safer through awareness, not just for her, but for all people suffering from food allergies. Throughout our journey so far, we have struggled with making some people understand the severity of food allergies. We have lost relationships with people that don’t seem to ‘get it’. However, we have also been blessed with people that have shown compassion, love, and understanding and do their best to help us keep our little girl (and others) safe. I truly wish all people could understand the importance of food allergies. I appreciate companies like Ohh!Foods that focuses on inclusive snacking; ensuring everyone’s safety, acceptance, and happiness. Want to share your Ohh! Moment with us? We would LOVE to hear from you! Send us an email at Marketing@OhhFoods.com!
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#Ohhmoments - Liz Lawton shares her son Food Allergy story and how she handled the situation
My second child, Henry, was born and breastfed easily for 6 months, with the only (retrospective) symptom of a possible food allergy being excessive spitting up. Because it caused him no distress, he was labeled a “happy spitter” by the paediatrician. He followed behind an older sister, who nursed easily for 12 months and took to solid food like a pro, eating any and everything without issue and never giving us any reason for concern around food.As a school psychologist, I was familiar with food allergies in so far as accommodating students who had them, but food allergies were not high on my radar as a concern for my own children. We started Henry on solids at 6 months and one of the first foods I gave him (green beans) caused him to break out in full body hives within 15 minutes. I had puréed them in a small attachment that goes to our blender (after all was said and done, it was residual almond butter causing the reaction but it would be weeks before we knew this). Our paediatrician saw him immediately, instructed us to continue giving him the three foods he hadn’t reacted to, and referred us to an allergist. For those three weeks, he would continue to break out in hives seemingly sporadically, without much of a clear link to what he had eaten. Skin testing revealed reactions to dairy, egg, tree nuts and peanuts. Blood testing corroborated this, with his number for peanut being low enough the allergist wanted us to orally challenge immediately- he did and passed, and so the other three remained our “official” allergens. (The result of eating a tuna salad sandwich while simultaneously holding Henry) Those first few weeks following his diagnosis were hard. Extremely anxiety producing. Isolating. Confusing. Guilt provoking. Overwhelming. Food- the purchasing of it, the preparation of it, the consumption of it- is a large portion of every single day of a person’s life. How could we possibly keep him safe from such a ubiquitous thing? The thought alone of using his Auvi-Q, of having to jam a needle into his chubby little baby leg while watching him struggle to breathe, had me in tears. What would I do if and when the day came I had to use it? I had to eliminate all these foods from my own diet if I wanted to keep breastfeeding- that meant an immediate learning curve for me. Broader and less pressing questions to do with school and birthday parties and restaurants and vacations swirled in my head too, but the immediate issue was educating myself on reading food labels and making our home safe for Henry.I have always loved to cook and family meal times are sacred to me- Henry’s allergies involved a massive overhauling of how I cooked. I felt thankful that he was still a baby, eating mostly fruits, veggies, simple proteins and fats and not family meals yet. It gave me time to refine my menus- see which meals I regularly made for my family that could easily be modified to be egg, dairy and nut free, and ones that we would be giving up (lasagna, old friend. We still miss you). I channeled much of this into a new Instagram account, @thetoddlerfoodie, in hopes of maybe making even one more mom feel like she could still cook nutritious and balanced meals for her family despite the limitations of allergies.We had choices to make. We decided we would not make our house dairy free. We had a (freshly) two year old who loved her cow’s milk and yogurts and cheeses. We made it a rule that her milk could only be drank at meal times and while she was seated at the table. We taught her to wash hands right after eating. We taught her she could never go up to Henry’s high chair during meal times and she certainly could not share food with him. There were a few mishaps with this, but truly and thankfully not many. She is an incredible advocate for her brother and sometimes even beats her father to asking “does that have milk in it? My brother can’t have milk”. We were so lucky to have already planned that for his first 18 months he would be doing a nanny share in our own home with one other child his age. Our nanny was extremely happy to learn about his allergy needs along with me, made sure she knew how to use his epi, and made sure he was safe during the three days a week I was at work.Slowly, our house felt like a safe place for food. Our family and friends have been extremely accommodating, and we feel safe going to their houses and feeding our child. Other gatherings are still hard. We don’t go to restaurants and on the rare occasions we do, we pack Henry’s food. Starting daycare at 18 months was terrifying. I’m still surprised our kids’ school didn’t ask us to leave and not come back due to how high strung I was. I strongly debated quitting working. But with much experience with kids with food allergies, the school navigated us through utilizing a separate and buckled chair during meal times, changes their milk Sippy cup protocol in Henry’s classroom, and made his room egg and tree nut free. As a parent who was once on the other end of this (having to remember not to send PBJ for my daughter who herself was in a peanut free room due to a classmates allergies), I did and do appreciate all the other parents shouldering the inconvenience of what they can pack for their own kids, who of course may have their own challenges such as gaining weight or pickiness, in order to keep our child safe. (Henry “shopping” for play cheese at the grocery store in our museum of play. No vegan cheese there!) Henry turned two in March and the next step is starting to teach him about his own allergies. We’ve started telling him about his Ripple milk being different from his sister’s milk. How we don’t share food. How cheese will make him sick. I hate the thought of him feeling different. I know that bullying and excluding of kids with allergies is a real thing. I know that birthday parties and holidays and school events will only get harder to navigate. He passed his baked milk challenge in the fall and is scheduled to challenge baked cheese this summer. His almond numbers look low and we hope to be able to challenge that in the near future, as well. I try not to think too much about “what if he outgrows them all?” because he may not and that disappointment will be real, and devastating all over again, and the fear of navigating food allergies with a big kid will be realer still. (Henry on vacation, eating homemade pasta Bolognese while out for dinner) My allergist told me during one appointment “it’s okay that you feel significant anxiety around this. It’s the parents who don’t feel significant anxiety whose kids have more frequent reactions. Your anxiety is keeping him safe.” Just like with anything in life, on a good day or in a good moment, I try really hard to find the positives in our situation. He is healthy and growing. He is a great and adventurous eater, and therefore his nutrition is incredibly well rounded despite the fact that he can’t access some major foods. We have come up with some protocols that have allowed us to keep him very safe. We are in a position financially where we can afford to test out 9 varieties of seven dollar vegan cheeses (only to have him dislike them all), and send him to a school that handles food allergies well. Most of all, It’s clear how many people love him and care for him and work to keep him safe. If it remains our lot in life to be a food allergy family, and for Henry to deal with this throughout his life, I hope it teaches all of us to be responsible, to educate ourselves, to be empathetic to other people’s special needs and limitations. I am hugely appreciate to companies like Ohhfoods for recognizing the (unfortunately) growing market who requires food options free of top 8 allergens. And also for encouraging families with food allergies to share their stories- it helps to feel like you aren’t alone in managing a child with food allergies, and it helps for people who don’t have to deal first hand with food allergies to perhaps see the day to day challenges experienced by people who do. Want to share your Ohh! Moment with us? We would LOVE to hear from you! Send us an email at Marketing@OhhFoods.com!
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#OhhMoments - Zane shares how having Food Allergies has given an opportunity to spread awareness about Food Allergies
"My name is Zane, I am 9 years (Zane will turn 10 on July 21st) and and I have multiple food allergies. My family discovered I was allergic to milk at 6 weeks old and then found out I was allergic to peanuts, soy, wheat and eggs when I was about six months old through allergy testing. Since then, I've outgrown my soy and wheat allergy, but I've also developed a tree nut allergy (except coconut)" Growing up with food allergies has been challenging and interesting. I would say it's been challenging because I see kids eating foods that I cannot eat like at birthday parties, parties at school, or even family celebrations. The challenge for me is to not feel left out when people are eating foods I cannot eat. Also it is challenging to feel safe when there are a lot of food and food crumbs around that contain my allergens. My mom has always prepared foods I can eat so that has helped me to never feel left out. Even though I try to be as safe as possible when around foods I am allergic to, accidents has happened. Most of my reactions happened when I was in day care and the teachers did not read ingredients in products that were used for class projects that had things I am allergic to inside. Since then, growing up I’ve learn how important it is to always read the product and food ingredients every single time. I’ve also learned to prepare my own foods which has made me feel in charge of what I eat and not left out. Making my own foods allow me to advocate for myself when in situations where food is involved. I like to cook my own foods because I can get creative and I am able to see that there really isn’t anything I cannot eat, I just have to add my own twist. Having food allergies has given me an opportunity to advocate for myself and to kids and families like me to cook fun and tasty foods for themselves. I get the chance to show others who have food allergies like me how it is possible to enjoy great foods through my YouTube channel and online blog. I hope one day to make Zane’s Teal Kitchen a real life restaurant that people who have food allergies can go and have a safe and enjoyable meal worry free. Want to share your Ohh! Moment with us? We would LOVE to hear from you! Send us an email at Marketing@OhhFoods.com!
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