Ohh! So Good: Allergen-Friendly Food Blog
#OhhMoments - Katie Greene shares her sons journey with food allergies and how she found out her son had food allergies
"Hello, my name is Katie Greene and I am a stay at home mom to two wonderful boys, Jack(3) and James(1). My son James is highly allergic to egg, dairy, peanut, and various fruits" At the age of 4 months, my son developed extremely bad eczema all over his body. His paediatrician at the time dismissed it as "just eczema." Within that same month, he continued to get worse and soon broke out in hives all over his face. After our 3rd trip that month to the Dr. I refused to accept that this was only eczema. We finally were given a food allergy blood test and it was determined that he was highly allergic to peanut, egg, and dairy. I remember feeling completely overwhelmed and terrified but also validated. I knew something wasn't right with my baby and I got the answer. I soon realize this would become a common theme. I had to constantly prove that there was a true threat to my child's health. I often heard, "Well dairy isn't as dangerous as peanut so you don't have to worry that much, " or "Egg allergies are usually outgrown and aren't that big a deal." After I hear these remarks I then feel the need to educate others that all food allergies are serious. The impact it has had on me is that it changed my entire outlook on how people view those with food allergies. I realized that many minimize the food allergy to better comfort themselves. I made it a mission to educate people and advocate for my son. All food allergies should be taken seriously, and no parent should ever have to show proof that their kid is in danger. I would like to see more top 8 education and awareness. I think that with more education comes more understanding, which leads to more inclusiveness. And as always more top 8 friendly snacks! 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 - Hiromi Feitoza shares her story about her sons having severe allergies
"Hello I am Hiromi Feitoza, mom of three beautiful children, a meal planner and a founder of Innerlove Nutrition. Two of my children have got server food allergies, one with dairy, egg, peanuts, tree nuts and sesame and another with gluten" My first son had anaphylactic attack with formula at the age of 7 months when I introduced it for the first time to him to try to stretch his sleep. I was so shocked when I saw he was covered with hives and heard he was wheezing from his chest. It did sound like asthma so I suspected he was having anaphylaxes. Luckily he threw up all the formula so it didn’t progress further but we took him to GP. Unfortunately by the time we managed to see the doctor, all the symptoms were gone and doctor couldn’t quite diagnose him and suggested to try it again or give him soya based formula. We were left in wonder and we decided to take further step visiting another clinic for the skin prick test. He was diagnosed with multiple allergies from the test and we took him for another visit to GP to get a referral to see an immunologist. After the blood test with immunologist, he was confirmed to be anaphylactic to dairy, peanuts, tree nuts and sesame and allergic to egg. He had an egg challenge at the local hospital last year but it was unfortunately unsuccessful. With second son, we found out he’s highly allergic to wheat at the age of 10 months when he was given a piece of wheat bread. He started to cry so hard because of stomach cramps followed by hives. We took him to the GP and the doctor confirmed that it was anaphylactic attack. We also took him to see immunologist and he was confirmed to be highly allergic to wheat after the blood test. We’ve once faced the incident where we needed to use Epipen with our first son. We took him to my daughter’s school gala and we did ask all the ingredients in any food he ate but he still had anaphylactic attack. We are still unsure what really caused anaphylaxis which is scary. He cannot bear with cross contamination especially with dairy so we really need to be cautious. I also found feeding them with balanced diet and more variety of meal without allergen could be challenging. My son cannot eat dairy which is believed to be food source of calcium, egg which is supposed to be good source of protein and nuts which is good source of fat and protein. To ensure they are getting enough nutrients, I am studying nutrition and have completed my course to become a qualified meal planner. I am currently finishing up my study to become a nutrition and health coach as well. I try not to say food allergies is hard but to be frank with you, it isn’t easy. When my kids attend special events at nursery or birthday party, we need to make sure kids won’t touch any food which contains their allergens. And the thing is we hardly found any food they can eat at the party or events. Occasionally some of my friends are very supportive and try their best to provide allergen free foods for my kids which I am really thankful for. But events run in public place, we need to be super cautious. We are not 100% sure if we can feed any food without worrying about cross contamination. The good thing is it’s getting easier to find allergen free snacks in super markets in New Zealand which we are very grateful for and feel so fortunate. It will be even better if we could get more varieties of healthier options in near future. What we need the most is more awareness around food safety with food allergies. Many people know anaphylaxis with tree nuts or peanuts but I still feel many people are not aware of some other allergens and some people refused to believe that people get anaphylaxis from other allergens such as dairy and egg. Some people get airborne with egg meaning they cannot even stay in the same room someone is cooking eggs. Food allergies could cause serious causality and prevention comes in first place. I really hope my story could contribute food allergy awareness. 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 - Nicole shares her Food Allergy Journey and what makes her inspired to be Food Allergy Influencers
"Hi, I’m Nicole, a future registered dietitian nutritionist, current food allergy advocate, as well as the founder and content creator of Nutritionally Nicole, LLC. I was born with multiple anaphylactic food allergies including milk, egg, peanut, tree nuts, sesame seed, poppy seed, mustard seed, coconut, and lamb". Believe it or not, there were even more foods I was allergic to as an infant in the late nineties. Being a young adult in my early twenties, I must self-advocate throughout life to stay safe needless to say I have been through various unique situations where my food allergies needed to be managed. For the majority of my time growing up, my food allergies were respected by family, friends, restaurant staff, and travel destinations. Food allergies as a medical disease may not have been understood but people did understand the severity and potential fatality of my food allergies if a reaction were to occur. To be honest, I felt safer eating out and travelling when I was younger whereas I currently avoid eating out, only book hotel rooms with kitchenettes included, and pack an extra suitcase solely for food. With the rise of food allergies, higher prevalence of food intolerance including sensitivities, and people blurring the lines of the conditions’ diagnosis criteria, I no longer feel that safety in public. The world has become more dangerous in that way. The frustration of not finding social media influencers sparking relatable food allergy conversation for young adults like myself seamlessly led to my passion for sharing my experiences with the world via written blogs and YouTube videos. I strive to help those living with food allergies to cultivate positivity, navigate through similar situations, and find a love for their life. There is much more advocacy needed especially when conveying the severeness and psychological implications of food allergies to those blessed without them. I aim to inspire the education of future food allergy allies who can help strengthen the food allergy community." 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 - Danielle Coates shares her youngest son Food Allergy Story
" I'm Danielle, a single Mum to three amazing boys. Brodie, my eldest is ten. Tobiah, my second is five and Sawyer, my youngest is 20 months old. Sawyer is different to my other two children because he has allergies, quite a list of allergies" He is currently allergic to dairy, soya, eggs, fish, shellfish, peanuts, tree nuts, coconut, avocado and oats. He has both iGe and non iGe reactions, so some things will make his face swell and he will be covered in hives, other things he will end up covered in eczema and suffer with mucus filled nappies for days. Before Sawyer came along I had no idea that a baby could react to food through breastmilk, once I realised he had allergies I had a lot of changes to make which at times felt quite daunting and also stressful. These changes haven't been easy and the whole thing hasn't been without its difficulties, we've had little to no support throughout this and I actually initially diagnosed Sawyer with Cows Milk Protein Allergy (CMPA) myself. Sawyer's big brothers have also struggled with the changes we've had to make to the household and our lives too. We can no longer eat out at most places due to the amount of allergies Sawyer has and some things have had to be banned from the house due to the severity of his reactions. Amazingly they have been very understanding and they have both learnt to check which foods are and aren't safe for Sawyer. One of the most difficult parts of this journey for me has definitely been the feeling of being isolated. Toddler groups can be very difficult to attend because of snacks and messy play. We did start at one group, which seemed to be very understanding of Sawyer's allergies until one week they had wheat flour and paint brushes out and Sawyer reacted to the flour dust in the air, his face swelled and he was quite poorly for a couple of days, so we haven't been back since. It makes me sad because he's a very sociable boy but his health and wellbeing are obviously my top priority. Unfortunately doctors have never been very supportive and in the beginning they didn't take me seriously at all. I visited our doctors surgery on a number of occasions but was told it was "just eczema" and his 6-10 mucus filled nappies a day and bubbling tummy was normal for a breastfed baby. At one point I was even told that I was just a paranoid Mum that wasn't coping very well! Me being as stubborn as I am, I refused to accept that was the case and I knew there was something wrong, call it Mothers instinct, so I set to work researching what could be wrong with him. It took me researching for myself, cutting out dairy and soya initially and taking before and after photos of Sawyers skin into the doctors surgery for the doctor to finally agree there was more going on and he did indeed have CMPA. It took 4 days of cutting dairy for me to see a massive improvement in Sawyers skin and mood. As time went on I found more allergies. By the time Sawyer was 8 months I had figured out and cut all of his allergens both from his diet and my diet (as I breastfeed still). I did this through food diaries, elimination diets and trial and error really. He's now 20 months old and loves his food, he's happy and mischievous and most people have no idea what he's been through. In the future I would love to see more awareness of allergies in general, better and faster diagnosis, more support for families of allergy children, more allergy friendly foods in restaurants and a better variety of readily available top 8 allergy friendly snacks, it's pretty difficult to find ones that are top 8 friendly and not all parents always have time to bake their own snacks. For Sawyer I'm just hopeful he outgrows some of his allergies because let's face it a life without them would be much easier once he starts school but for now I'll carry on breastfeeding him and doing all I can to keep him safe. 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 - Noreen Okarter shares how she grew up with Food Allergies during the early and mid 80s
Noreen Okarter, Food Allergy Coach – Founder of Food Sitch, Allergic to Tree nuts, peanuts, sesame, coconut, wheat and grew up with an allergy to eggs. I have had food allergies since babyhood. While I outgrew my egg allergy in my twenties, my allergies to tree nuts, peanuts and sesame turned anaphylactic in my twenties too. I grew up during the early and mid 80s when the concept of a food allergy was relatively unknown. I also was usually the only person in my class to have a food allergy. As a result, I had to constantly educate people about what a food allergy was and the full implications of having a food allergy life. I learned to explain my food allergies to others at school and college, at the work office, at parties, while travelling, etc. As my allergic reactions became more severe in my early twenties, I took charge of my health. I began to take inventory of what foods I was putting into my body – even those to which I was not allergic. Determined to feel confident about my body’s strength after multiple emergency room visits, I began working out and eating healthier foods. These lifestyle changes led to me to lose 40 pounds and to become a 5 time marathon runner. My challenging experiences managing my food allergies and having to go through scary emergency room visits have motivated me to take my coaching skills and passion for helping me in order to become a food allergy coach. As a certified health coach and wellness coach, I help people with food allergies manage everyday life, build confidence in living a food allergy life and make sure they accomplish their health and life goals along the way. What you hope to see in the future as fat as inclusive snacking or food allergies as whole? I would love to see a change of consciousness in our society where people are open to including people who eat differently than they do. My dream is to have people with different dietary preferences eating at the same table and establishing connections with one another. With an open heart, open mind and preparation, this dream can happen. 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 - Lindsay shares her daughter Food Allergy story and how it changed her mom life
At 9 months old, my daughter, Emma, had hives reactions to dairy, eggs and peanuts, and we later found out through blood tests that she was also allergic to tree nuts. In an instant, my world was turned upside down. I was in a dark place of depression and it was truly a time of grief for me. Grief because the life I had envisioned for our family was suddenly taken away. I’m here to tell you that even though I would never wish this life for anyone, it has grown our entire family in ways I never thought possible. Life is HARD y’all. There is not a single person in this world that doesn’t deal with struggles in their life. I can tell you that our biggest life struggle thus far has been learning to deal and cope with allergies. Let me share with you a few things I’ve learned through this journey: I am not in control. This one is tough. I like to be in control of EVERYTHING and allergies make me feel completely out of control. Once I learned how to let go of that control, it has brought me peace. SO much peace. For me it was giving control up to God, but for others, it me be something different. Whatever it is you have to do to get there, DO IT, because you will feel so free! Don’t miss out on life. I didn’t even realize how much our lives revolved around food until we were dealing with food allergies. Food is everywhere and part of every occasion and is impossible to avoid. I decided we can either stop living our lives and put Emma in a giant bubble the rest of her life, OR we can learn to work around the food. So for holidays, birthday parties and all events we go to, I always pack food and snacks for Emma. That way she won’t miss out, and we also have peace of mind that what she’s eating is safe! Learn to live in the moment. This one goes alongside the whole “control” issue. If I let my mind wonder and worry about the future, I will find myself at the beginning of an anxiety attack. But let me tell you, after you let go of the control issue, you can learn to live each day. Don’t worry about ten years from now, just focus on the right NOW! I’m telling you… it’s a much better place to be in. Hopefully these tips will allow you to live a fuller life despite allergies. Another thing that helps with living a stress-free allergy life is having amazing companies like Ohh! Foods I will be forever grateful for Ohh!Foods and all the allergy-friendly companies for giving our kids a chance to experience some normalcy. I know these companies go through a lot of obstacles to make sure our kids are safe, and I love that they make delicious snacks that everyone can enjoy! 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 - Bethany shares her struggle growing up with Food Allergies
"My name is Bethany and I’m 19 years old. I’ve been anaphylactic to dairy and allergic to nuts since I was born. Also, 4 years ago I went gluten-free because of digestive issues" Growing up with food allergies is hard. I missed out on treats at school, I have to be selective of who’s house I eat at, I only eat at 1 restaurant I know is safe for me, I bring my own food when I go out and when I go on holiday. My Mum’s closest friends make an effort to see what I can and can't eat when I go to theirs. This makes me feel included and means I can enjoy social activities. People who are supportive and accommodating are key. Safe food and snacks make it easier to eat out. Food Allergies Not Being Taken Seriously There is one time that really stands out to me regarding my food allergies not being taken seriously. I was at secondary school (year 8 (UK) or 7th grade (US)). We went over my allergies and they said they understood and all the lunches would be fine as I would get a different meal. Then one day I was given a bake-well tart that they said was dairy-free, nut-free and gluten-free. I checked with them and they rechecked the packet and they said they were safe for me to eat. So, I ate it. At the weekend, we went to get some of the bake-well tarts. When we checked the ingredients, they contained almonds. When I went back to school on Monday, we had a meeting with the school cooks and the nurse/first aider. The cooks didn’t take it seriously. After that, I always took a packed lunch. This was good as I knew the food would be safe. But it was also bad because I was the only one in the entire school doing it. It made me feel embarrassed and singled-out. To this day, I still struggle with eating my own food when I go out. Lessons Learned Always check the packet yourself even if it seems silly and you’ve eaten it a thousand times before. A good way to do this is to check the ingredients when you buy it and when you go to make it. Only recently, I ended up checking the recycling to check the ingredients on potato waffles. I’ve had them all my life but I still check them each time I buy and eat them. They were safe and it gave me such peace of mind knowing I could eat them without any problems. In The Future In the future, I would love to see… People with food allergies to feel included when they’re eating out and eating at home. People with food allergies to enjoy eating, cooking and baking food. People to have knowledge about food allergies. People with food allergies to be able to buy food on the go and safe snacks that they can take with them. This is why I’ve started my blog Allergy Bakes. So that I can help people with food allergies enjoy baking again and feel included. How You Can Help You can help by: Asking people you know who have food allergies or celiac disease how you can help them Educating yourself on food allergies, there are lots of great information on all these sites: FARE - Food Allergy Research & Education Allergy UK Anaphylaxis Campaign (UK) Allergy Facts (Australia) Food Allergy Canada If you want an allergy baking substitutions guide for eggs, dairy, gluten and nuts, sign up to my newsletter here. 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 _ Kiley Oesterreich shares her daughther Lylah's story and how it affects the family
" Hello, my name is Kiley and I am a stay at home mom of three wonderful kiddos. Only one of our children, Lylah, our only girl, who is six years old, suffers from allergies as well as a disease called Eosinophilic Esophagitis. She is allergic to many things including dairy, wheat, soy, eggs, tree nuts, bananas, pineapple, cauliflower, carrots, broccoli, honey, rice, oats and a few others. It’s easier to name the foods she can have rather than can’t! Lylah was sick as a baby, she suffered from acid reflux, needed to be on a special baby formula that didn’t have the cows milk protein in it, and was somewhat unhappy a lot of the time. When she became older, around the age of 1, she started vomiting a lot. There was no pattern, no rhyme or reason why she was. Trips to the doctor over and over and we were turned away saying she just must do it when she doesn’t feel well. After a year of not giving up, we finally got a referral to a GI and a pediatric allergist. Her tests came back and she had this long lost of allergies and her doctor suggested we have an endoscopy to check for Eosinophilic Esophagitis or EoE. After what seemed like forever, we finally had answers. She was allergic to so many things, it was so overwhelming and on top of it she had this chronic disease that was causing all her vomiting and the reason she didn’t feel good. Thank goodness Lylah was only two at this time and it was easy to remove foods from her diet, so she has known from a young age she has a special diet and there are many things that she cannot have. This impacted our family in a big way. It was honestly very stressful for me as a mom. My life obviously was in her hands, but now she depended on my husband and I to keep her 100% safe all of the time. Keep her away from unsafe foods and never let our guard down at parties or around other people who didn’t understand her condition. Things have become such a norm for us, that now it seems almost easy and just our way of life. Now that Lylah is in school and getting older, it can be hard since she’s around so many other kids and their food. She packs her own lunch each day for school, and isn’t allowed to have any food unless we bring them from home. Her school doesn’t allow food treats for birthdays or special occasions which has been so helpful, and we really love that idea. In the future I’d love to see food just completely shut out from school activities and lessons. I think there are plenty of ways to learn and food doesn’t necessarily have to be included in there. I hope to see more allergen friendly restaurants around. Some places are so good about it, but some places do not have the knowledge to keep someone safe while eating there. How awesome would it be if there was a restaurant every food allergic person could feel 100% safe eating at?! I could get on board with that! " My hope is that we would keep spreading awareness about food allergies and educate others on how dangerous they are. Some people literally have no idea, and that isn’t their fault, but I do think the nation as a whole needs more education on food allergies and keeping people safe" - Kiley Oesterreich 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 - Mimi Hymel Shares her experience on Food Allergies & her passion in Pageants
" Hello! My name is Mimi Hymel and I run the allergy awareness blog, EpiQueen. Through this blog I hope to promote food allergy awareness by providing information, tips, recipes, and more. I created the name "EpiQueen" by combining my passion for food allergies and love of pageants! " I personally have food allergies, growing up with an egg allergy and then developing a tree nut allergy at the age of 9. While I outgrew my egg allergy, the tree nut allergy has stuck. Having a food allergy has completely flipped my life upside down. I’ve been going to doctors for years and they knew I had an allergy and never asked if I had an epipen. Finally one asked me about it, and I responded no, my allergies aren’t that severe. She was able to get me a prescription and tell me how important it was to have it with me because allergies can be unpredictable and just because one reaction was mild doesn’t mean the next one will be. This was only about 2 years ago! And luckily she told me, because a few weeks later I had my first anaphylactic reaction and she prepared me when I otherwise wouldn’t have had a clue what to do. I used to accidentally eat tree nuts and remember my tongue swelling and getting tingly while my throat felt tight. I would take a Benadryl and it would go away within an hour or so. I never thought twice about it. Now that I know the facts, I am so lucky nothing ever happened and I personally think everything happens for a reason so for me that purpose was to raise food allergy awareness for others who started in a situation like me, not really understanding how severe it can be. In the future I hope to see more inclusion and understanding of food allergies. Going to college has already started to make obstacles for me. Finding a roommate who won’t eat my allergen in the room has proven to be more of a challenge than I thought! I think by continuing to spread awareness and get the word out there it will start to click for others that this is not a diet or an intolerance. It is a life threatening disease! This is a pageant picture of me in the evening gown competition. While this does present food allergy struggles like eating at lunch during the pageant, I have not let my allergies define me and still participate in activities like pageants! (BONUS: pageants has even opened more doors for my voice to be heard about food allergy awareness!) I partnered with SunButter and was able to donate 18 five pound tubs of SunButter to St. Vincent de Paul to make allergy friendly lunches! 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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