We are very excited to impart to you the seven principles of health. We are looking at what can allow you to live a vibrant, happy, fulfilling, and healthy life. Of course, any of the information we will share with you is purely information, not medical advice. You are however, most welcome to go and seek your own medical advice, specifically from your own health professional. But this information tells about proven methods against the test of time.So you’ve heard a lot of talk about my health and living as well as the seven principles of health. There are a lot of different thoughts about these principles. In general, we are talking about the health principles that really matter. Sure, there might be a couple which you could apply in your life, but these are certainly the most essential ones, those that you should definitely have to include in your lifestyle. In fact, the whole aim of this article is so that you can get a good appreciation of them, so that you too can live a healthy life for yourself.We don’t want people to be sick, and we certainly don’t want people to be taking mostly prescription drugs when they don’t have to. Now, is there any reason why we think that way? Because there are a lot of natural health measures that you can do to prevent ailments in the first place. You can certainly take alternative health measures. For instance, you can take a look at your diet, consider what you really partake of everyday. Is it really toxic to your body, or is it good for you? Are you, unknowingly building things, or destroying things in your body? These are what the seven principles of health really build upon. It really gives you an idea that you can move forward in a positive way for your body, not in a negative way. If you stifle your own growth and the cleansing processes of your body that’s naturally set up, then you’re really preventing yourself from being healthy. We’re only going to touch the surface, only looking the concept in a general point of view because there is a vast information available out there for this topic, and there’s only so much that we could share. But we’re certainly excited to talk about these things, which you can apply in your everyday life. That’s the beauty of it. Helping you take care of yourself everyday using health principles.WHOLE FOODSNow let’s have a look at the first one, Whole Foods. These include natural whole foods, such as fruits, vegetables, grains, nuts, herbs, and other things which are naturally-grown and unprocessed. You can just literally grab them off the tray or consume them without any preparation at all. So how is it that for several millennia, people have looked after themselves and have not gotten themselves into the same troubles that we are into now? It seems like we’ve gotten a lot sicker and a lot more frail. That is because of the processed foods that we have been consuming nowadays. We’ve upset our balance of the natural foods that we should be partaking. If you take a look at the Western diet of today, we can see that we’re having way too much sugar, saturated fats, and we substitute water for sodas or colas. It’s just not right because our whole body is being thrown out of what it’s used to. Our bodies are expecting some sort of natural foods or sustenance to build and repair itself, and it’s not getting it most of the time. So if our bodies are getting something different from whole foods, we would be expecting different results of course. That is why people get a lot sicker nowadays, as opposed to those who lived many centuries ago. The processed food revolution of the last hundred years have really changed our health and brought it downhill. If we go back and embrace the principle of natural health food the way they used to do many, many years ago, where the people did not experience the health problems that we are experiencing today because they haven’t been laden with chemicals or impurities in their bodies, we could look at whole foods as real eye-openers. This is one of the basic principles of good health. Just like in taking fruits alone, with its healing properties and its ability to provide energy and vitality to our bodies. It is just a matter of taking in fruits, which will really help boost our energy to keep us healthy and stable. We won’t have to worry that much about viruses, bacteria, and other harmful agents that will enter our body, because they will be removed fairly quickly. Vegetables are also good food sources for they will strengthen our bodies and keep us strong and healthy. That’s especially true if you consume the ones with low GI, such as sweet potatoes, brown rice, beet roots, carrots, and the like. They will really help strengthen our bodies.You know, it’s funny talking about whole foods, herbs, and spices. Take a look at the ancient methods that the Chinese used, or the old civilizations that used herbs to heal and help cure things. These are the reasons why they work. Certain herbs target specific parts of the body and there’s no reason why you can’t incorporate them into your diet as well. Any sort of research or understanding on Chinese medicine and the old ancient ways might reveal some of these herbs to you. It is most exciting that you can apply these in your life today, just as they did thousands of years ago, to treat the ailments that they had. Nuts and seeds, and other berries are really, really good for you. You can include them in your diets as whole foods to allow you to move forward as a healthy being.Another of these which are really mentioned quite a lot is milk. There’s nothing wrong with milk. If it’s raw milk, it’s got all the nutrients which will be really good for your body. It’s full of protein, essential fats, and gives you strength.The other food which I would like to mention is natural, raw honey. It is full of enzymes which can really boost immunity and it is antibacterial as well. It really stands out in giving good health and vitality, and you can even apply it to your external wound. If you ever get a cut or a lesion, honey is very good in healing the wound and keeping it clean as well. So, as you have read, there are heaps of natural and whole foods which can help you to build and maintain a healthy state. And, as they say, it is never too late to introduce them into your diet as well. That is, if you have been lacking them in the past. There’s no reason why you can’t introduce them now to help boost and change your lifestyle, allow it to be a healthy one instead.WATERAnother principle of health is Water. Now as you know, we are all made up of more than 70% percent water, which is applied a lot in the building of new cells in our bodies. Water is an essential part of us and we should allow it to work with us. By not drinking water, you are allowing yourself a disservice and depriving your body of its proper health and nutrition. On a cellular level, you’ve got to consider that each cell needs the delivery as well as removal of certain nutrients. If you look at one cell, it might have a building block, which may need a certain nutrient to complete its function. However, it can only get there with enough water in the system. Now, electrically-charged water is certainly good for us because we are electrically-loaded beings. We survive on the electricity that’s running through our bodies. There are pulses inside us that run here and there in order to send electrical signals to and from the brain and the other parts of our bodies, such as cells, muscle groups, and others. So, in order for this to happen, water has to be an essential part of this process. Salted water is also very good. If you have the right amount of salt in your diet, then the delivery of nutrients and energy between the cells will be easier because you have the right charge.Now, the secret to any good weight-loss or fitness program is that you drink sufficient amounts of water. The reason for this is because water can remove and flush out toxins and excess fat cells that are not needed by the body. Without the sufficient amount of water, your body won’t be able to carry out this process properly. So, as you can see, water is an essential part of the body’s system. Let’s maintain it and work towards building it up in the future. And we should drink at least eight glasses of water per day. If you’re a larger person carrying excess weight, however, then you might have to increase that to, say, 10-12 glasses per day. It depends on your body’s structure too. If you feel thirsty, your body is already starved of water, it’s already dehydrated. The idea, then, is to keep your water levels at a sufficient amount. A good indicator of this is the amount of sweat you produce and urine color. If your urine color is cloudy yellow, drink more water so it would be clearer and lighter in color. It’s a matter of maintaining that as well. So, water is an essential part.AIRNext is Air. It is very important to us, for the obvious reason that we need it when we breathe. But as you know, every cell in our bodies survive on oxygen, and we need to allow our bodies to breathe, every cell has to breathe. So with insufficient oxygen flowing through us, we will slowly get asphyxiated, and toxins won’t be released. So breathing sufficiently is very important. If you go outside, you can get electrically-charged air as well. It is very important. If you ever go to the beach, or if you’re around lightning strikes, you might find some ozone in the air. You can actually smell the ozone, especially if the lightning cracks around you. It is the same sort of smell when you go to the beach; it’s the ocean’s smell. That is extremely good for you, that is O3. It basically gives life and vitality, heightens your senses and energy levels, and it’s just really good for you. In fact, if you take five deep breaths for multiple times per day, it will allow your whole body to get rejuvenated. Deep breathing is great because it opens up your airways and it brings your oxygen levels up.SUNSHINENext on the principles of health is Sunshine. Getting enough sunshine is crucial for health and vitality. Now I’m not saying that you should go get sunburned. What I’m saying is that you should spend about 20 to 30 minutes out in the sun every day. Now you should do that during the “safe-sun” hours, which is usually before ten in the morning and after two in the afternoon, if possible, because the sunlight between ten in the morning and two in the afternoon will probably get you burned a bit easier. So getting enough sunlight is very important. If you allow the sunshine to penetrate or to be absorbed more by your body, and expose more of your skin to the sun, then you will get energy a lot quicker.Now we all know that we get Vitamin D from the sun, and it is very important for your health and the recognition of your nutrients to break down and be accepted into your body. It’s almost like a gateway, wherein Vitamin D allows your minerals to be absorbed properly into your body. So if you don’t have Vitamin D, then this process can’t work properly. You will find that you’ve got a lot of deficiencies as well. You might also be worried about skin cancer. Well, we’ve got different thoughts on that. I don’t believe we could get skin cancer from the sun itself, I believe it’s more on the toxins and the impurities in your skin which are actually burned and which turn against you. So, how come we haven’t got problems on melanoma and skin cancer before, and then all of a sudden, within the last 50 years, we’re now having melanomas? Does that mean that the sun has changed? Or is it because we, and our diets, have changed? I would think it’s probably more so because of the latter. Our diets have certainly changed. The amount of chemicals and radiation inside of our bodies are the problem. The sunlight actually reacts to these chemicals and impurities in the body, under the skin, which actually turned against us. So, a little bit of sunlight every day, in the safe-sun periods, away from being sunburned, will actually do more good than harm. It is very important that everyone will recognize that sunshine is a vital part of health.If you’re not feeling very well, if you’re feeling ill and off-color, well, go for a walk in the sun. Expose your body to the sun and get 20-30 minutes of sunshine. You will feel the energy levels radiating out of you, you’ll feel a lot better afterwards, and it is amazing to see that it actually does you good. If it can make plants grow, make living things flourish, then it is bound to do you good as well. So, don’t just listen to those who are saying that the sun will do you a lot of damage, when it can actually do you a lot of good. It is a matter of managing and doing it properly. Sunlight is very important for health.EXERCISE and MOVEMENTAnother principle is exercise and movement. This is number five out of the seven principles. You need to move; you need to exercise. When I say exercise, I’m not saying you need to be running a marathon. I’m saying you can get out and do some walking, some stretching of your body, and doing some general movements through your whole body. This will do you more good than harm. In fact, we’ve got these things called lymph nodes right through our whole body, and they are not circulated from the heart. The lymph nodes’ fluids are not circulated because they are being pumped by the heart. Instead, they are circulated because of your movements and exercise, as well as through massage. So it is very important that you keep this happening always. Otherwise, they’ll build up, which will cause problems in your lymph glands. It is also important that you keep flushing them and moving them about because they will be stagnant and clogged with toxins.I’m sure everyone can move, walk around, do some stretching, and just generally get up and about. This means that you could get out for 20-30 minutes each day, and it will be a lot easier if you’ve got a routine related to this. If you haven’t got one, well, anytime you get out, you could stretch and move your whole body. It will do you a lot good. So, once again, if you’re feeling under the weather, it’s important that you actually do move. It is important that you do stretch and get the fluids within your body moving so you will be cleansed and the toxins will be removed from your body. Some areas of your body need movement to flush the toxins out and if you’re not moving, they’ll be just sitting there and become stagnant. If you see people with a lot of fluid in their legs, especially elderly people, they’re just sitting there, the fluid builds up in their legs. Now if you want to keep your body parts vital and alive, it’s important that you move about certain parts so that new blood can circulate through your body and through the parts that aren’t moving much. So, to flush out the toxins in your body, movement and exercise is very important.REGENERATIONNumber six on the principles of health is regeneration. This encompasses rest, relaxation, recuperation, and regeneration. That means that everyone needs to rest. Everyone needs to lay flat and lay their heads down, parallel to the earth’s surface. This is so that you can rest, regenerate, and recuperate. Our bodies are designed so that the magnetism and the electrical charge can actually flow properly. To do this, you need to be lying down. Have you ever worked too hard and think you just need to lie down? That is the feeling you get when your body’s saying, enough is enough, and that it needs to regenerate. It’s like a good battery: it can only go for so long before it depletes. If it’s lost, you can’t function properly. And that’s why regeneration is important.Now part of regeneration means that when you do lie down and close your eyes, it does not mean that you get some smartphone or iPhone app or other electronic device and try and fiddle with that because your brain is another organ that needs rest and recuperation as well. And that means shutting down the conscious and allowing it to go into regeneration mode. When you lay down and you rest, that means resting your brain as well. And it’s very important that you do have periods to rest every day, wherein you do not do anything except sit and reflect. Rest and recuperate. That means mentally as well. Otherwise, you will suffer from some sort of burnout later on, and we don’t want that. If you’re feeling ill, then rest and relaxation will surely bring you back to health. When you’re feeling overtired, rest and sleep will allow your body to regenerate and your brain to kick back into gear and reset itself every night. And it’s important that you get at least six hours of sleep every day. If you’re not, then you’re really cheating yourself, and later on you’re going to pay the price and you’re going to really suffer mentally about this. So it’s important that you get about six to eight hours of sleep per day. Rest and recuperate, lie flat down, and allow your body to kick-start itself and regenerate. That’s what the cells need: regeneration.RELATIONSHIPS and PASSIONThe last of the seven principles of health is the Relationship and Passion. Everyone needs to have good relationships, whether it’s with a passerby, you treat them very well, as you would want to be treated. This is also for the long-term relationships with your friends and loved ones as well. You want to have great relationships with positive people to uplift and build. You don’t want bad relationships that would tear down and destroy you. And that also pertains to your general health as well. Positive relationships build, while bad relationships destroy and tear down. It is important that you recognize this, because if you are around toxic people, who constantly batter and bring you down, then it would bring your health down as well. So, it’s a matter of minimizing the time and exposure to toxic people, and building up and allowing positive people to give you more influence instead.The other point there is passion. If you are passionate about something, then you will want to spend more time doing what you are passionate about. That includes your favorite hobby, sport, friends and family. You would want to spend time with these people or these passions. There is a saying that, without hope, we have nothing. Now, we have to have something in our lives which we would want to strive for, get up every day for, move forward for, and that is our passion. Whether it’s strictly for a relationship, for building ourselves up, some sort of hobby, or sport that we really enjoy, it’s important that we have hope in our lives. After all, if we don’t have a passion, then what are we here for? What are we really doing?In the passion, in the relationship, it is also a passion towards your Creator. God is a great avenue to rely on. You might think I am getting a bit spiritual, but it is true. Everyone needs a relationship with the Creator. Everyone needs a relationship with spiritualism in their own life. You need to reach out and realize it. It’s not all about you. You are part of the greater creation and you are part of a greater being and a greater purpose. To have a great relationship with your family and friends is great, but to have a relationship with the Creator is even better. To have a passion, a drive about these things, an inner drive wherein you know where you are going and what you are doing, that’s very important. Spiritualism is very important. Being passionate about something else other than yourself is also very important.Okay, so we’ve discussed on Whole Foods, Water, Air, Sunshine, Exercise and Movement, Regeneration, Relationships and Passion. If you tie all of these things together, and you live by these, and you use them as a driving force that you want to include in your life, then you will have a great and healthy life. And that’s what this is all about, health and living, to do things the right way. You will certainly function properly and healthfully as well. So, are you including all of these in your life? I hope so.I hope you’ve got the opportunity to actually reach out and allow others to help you as well. By helping others and allowing others to help you, by embracing these seven principles of health, you will live a much richer life. It is all about reaching out and helping others through these as well, not just yourself. So if you’ve got the opportunity to help, whether it is just for yourself or for others, this is what it’s all about.It’s very exciting to talk about these principles of health, for you will realize which one of them is lacking in your life. And then it’ll be up to you to go work on these things. If you’re not eating enough whole foods, or drinking enough water, if you’re not getting out and enjoying enough fresh air in your life, open your house up and let the air just breeze right through your house. Get out in the sunshine and enjoy that. Go for a walk, enjoy your rest time, allow your brain to regenerate and recuperate. Put enough effort into relationships and passion and you’ll feel the fulfilment of life right through your whole being.
The Health Care Evolution – Ten Trends That Can Revitalize Nursing
Nurses are at the forefront of an evolutionary wave in health care. Whether we take leadership or not will determine nursing’s future.These ten trends can revitalize nursing if nurses break free from the confines of the medical model and use their education and skills to become wave riders.1. Aging Boomers
Boomers are living longer. Quantity of life is driving a desire for better quality of life. This generation wants to learn how to stay vital, mobile, healthy and productive. They are looking for guidance in health promotion and wellness, not only disease prevention and treatment.2. A 2nd Boom
Boomers Grandchildren are driving a huge demand for family health information and support for new and working moms. From birthing to family health education and sick child care, family systems need and want professional advice and innovative strategies to raise a brighter, stronger next generation.3. Information explosion
Internet access provides health consumers with tons of information, but not the knowledge or wisdom to know how to use it without getting confused. They need knowledgeable health professionals as gatekeepers, trusted advisors, or health system navigators.4. Holism
People are increasingly spending out of pocket dollars for alternative and complementary health care. Nursing education focuses on systems, whole person, life cycle perspectives that can guide in selecting appropriate options along a continuum of care.5. Consumer driven health care
As consumers rely less on employer health coverage and more on personal health spending, they are seeking innovative and home based solutions for care including advanced home monitoring, telephone consultation, personalized care, and individualized treatment.6. High Tech – High Touch
The need for personal connection, listening, and caring has never been higher. Nurses consistently rank first in every consumer poll for most trusted professional.7. Shortages and Cost Containment
Professional shortages and a drive to contain costs, creates a push to use mid-level and low-level providers for technical care. Nurses will continue to be driven away from the institutional bed side. With decreasing numbers of people in institutional care, face to face professional health care will be delivered in the home and community.8. Accessibility
Health information and care will be delivered on a global, mobile, remote, phone and internet basis. Nursing phone advice lines are increasingly popular with consumers.9. Back to Basics
With increased interest in information and coaching on proper food and nutrition, supplements, stretching, meditation, simplicity, life balance, joy in work, and relationships wellness and health coaching is a growing field.10. Self-Care/Self-Responsibility
People are realizing that doctors, medication and illness care are not going to keep them well. Employers, third party payers and common sense are driving consumers to take health care into their own hands. This trend will continue to drive an increase in self care information and reduction in in-patient and long term care.Tomorrow’s nurses are not working under a doctor’s direction, or in an institution. To remain viable, nursing will have to think beyond the institutional medical care box.Consumers are desperate for professional nurses to fill the need for proactive community
and home based health care.Tomorrow’s nurses will be innovative community health leaders, who develop and deliver services directly meeting the changing needs of health consumers.Progressive, professional nurses will form cooperatives, and creative health delivery systems that support families throughout the life span. They will provide continuity of health information and care while supporting people to navigate an ever more specialized and complex techno-medical system.Grab A Board – Surfs Up!© Aila Accad, RN
Stop! My Kid Can’t Eat That: Food Allergies In Children
In the middle of the night in Atlanta, I got a frantic call from my daughter in Chicago. “Daddy, I’m so sorry to wake you, but Michael just ate a little piece of cashew and now his face is swollen and he’s breaking out in a rash all over his body.” Once I realized that her voice wasn’t just part of some bad dream, I gave my doctor’s orders: “Give him Benadryl and take him to the emergency room immediately!”As a board-certified allergist for 25 years, I recognized that my grandson was having a potentially serious allergic reaction and that his symptoms could get worse-much worse. Fortunately, by the time they arrived at the hospital, the swelling had subsided and his hives had resolved.Even though my grandson’s diagnosis was easy to make, food allergies can be one of the most frustrating and complex allergy issues facing physicians, patients, and families. If you consider the unlimited number of foods and additives we consume today, the variable time between ingestion and allergic reaction, and the varied and often-subtle symptoms, it seems miraculous when an allergy-triggering food is actually identified.Food Allergies In Children: A Disturbing TrendAsk anyone who raised children 25 years ago if they ever heard of food allergies back then, and the likely answer will be no. Yet today, who doesn’t know a child-if not several kids-who have severe food allergies? Pediatricians and allergists are observing first-hand that food allergies in infants and children have increased to epidemic proportions over the last few decades. Studies have shown that in the under-18 age group, the prevalence of reported food allergies increased 18% between 1997 and 2007. Approximately 4% of Americans are estimated to have food allergies. That’s more than 12 million individuals. The prevalence of food allergies is even higher-6% to 8%-in infants and young children under three years old.Any type of food can trigger an outbreak, yet the “Big 8″ account for more than 90% of all cases: milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, shellfish, soy, and wheat. Sesame is quickly becoming another common cause of allergies, especially in those with Mediterranean diets. The good news is that the incidence of documented food allergies decreases with age, probably due to the development of tolerance in children allergic to milk, wheat, soy, and eggs. Of the 2.5% of children allergic to milk, approximately 80% will “outgrow” their allergy by age five. Kids with peanut or tree nut allergies aren’t as lucky: Recent studies have shown that only about 10% to 20% of children will lose their allergy as they age.Pediatric Food Allergies: Instantaneous Outbreak Of the two main types of allergies, the “immediate hypersensitivity reaction” gets the most hype, probably because you can see the symptoms (whether it’s hives or swelling) right away. The other kind is aptly named “delayed hypersensitivity reaction.” Otherwise known as IgE-mediated, the immediate allergic reaction is the best understood and the most easily diagnosed. Yet it can also be the most serious. When the proteins in an allergenic food come in contact with an IgE antibody (located in the skin, gut, and airways, or in the blood), a cascade of cellular events occurs resulting in the release of histamine and a multitude of other chemical mediators. The rapid release of the histamine and other chemicals is what causes the allergic reaction. The outbreak, which generally occurs within minutes of ingestion, can be relatively mild or severe. Moderate symptoms might include a rash, generalized itching and redness of the skin, facial or eyelid swelling, abdominal cramping, vomiting and/or diarrhea. These can be treated with a quick-acting antihistamine and tend to run their course over a few minutes to hours. The most severe reaction is called anaphylaxis, which can occur instantaneously or a few minutes after ingestion. As a general rule, the quicker the onset of symptoms, the more serious the reaction is likely to be. Symptoms of anaphylaxis might include those mentioned above, but can also rapidly progress to breathing difficulties and chest tightness (due to bronchial constriction and swelling of the airways), a drop in blood pressure leading to shock-and even death. Epinephrine (also known as adrenalin), which is available for self-injection in the form of an Epipen and other auto-injectors, must be given immediately and repeated if necessary. Foods that commonly cause severe reactions include peanuts, tree nuts, fish, sesame seeds, milk, and eggs. The most serious reaction I ever witnessed resulted from the ingestion of a single pine nut. That tiny seed (it’s not really a nut) transformed a healthy teenager into a critically ill patient within a matter of minutes. Fortunately, the patient recovered, but anaphylaxis can be fatal if not treated immediately and aggressively. If your child has ever had an immediate allergic reaction to a food, you should consult with a board-certified allergist. To identify or confirm the symptom-triggering food, the allergist will likely give a few tests, either through the skin or blood. From there, you and your allergist can come up with a plan to eliminate the food from your child’s diet and discuss prevention and management of future reactions.Delayed Allergic Reactions: Subtle Yet ElusiveWhile less dangerous in terms of one’s immediate health, the “delayed allergic reaction” can be much more difficult to diagnose and treat. As the name implies, it can take hours or even days after ingestion for the symptoms to show up, making it harder to establish a cause-and- effect relationship. The typical symptoms can involve several organ systems and may be quite subtle in their presentation. In addition to the classic allergy symptoms (think nasal congestion, a runny nose, and a rash), delayed reactions may also present with very vague and nonspecific symptoms, such as frequent headaches, recurrent or chronic abdominal pain, fatigue and lethargy, irritability, dark circles under the eyes, leg pains, and recurrent ear or sinus infections.Part of the difficulty in diagnosing these food reactions is that there’s no reliable allergy test that can accurately identify or predict a delayed outbreak. Skin testing and blood tests aren’t helpful because they only measure the IgE antibody, which is responsible for immediate reactions. Research has not yet identified the antibody or antibodies responsible for delayed reactions, although there has been considerable interest and research in the possible role of the IgG antibody. Blood tests to measure this antibody are available, but its reliability as a predictor of delayed allergy has not yet been established.So how can you figure out if your child’s symptoms are the result of something he or she is eating? The best method we have right now is to eliminate the suspected food (or drink) from your kid’s diet for four weeks. If you notice a significant improvement in symptoms, you’re ready for the challenge phase: Serve the food in question for several days straight. If the symptoms start recurring, you can be relatively sure that a cause-and-effect relationship has been established. Even after avoiding the food culprit, it can still take a few weeks for symptoms to completely disappear, so be patient.By far, milk and other dairy products are the most common cause of this type of reaction. Over the years, many teenagers have walked into my office with their parents complaining about stomach discomfort and profound tiredness. By the time they’ve come to see me, they’ve usually been through various tests and have seen multiple physicians, including gastroenterologists, and have often been diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome. After hearing about their saga and symptoms-and seeing the dark circles under their eyes and their pale, sallow complexion-I can usually tell that it’s a dairy allergy. Fortunately, many responded dramatically to a few weeks off of milk. They couldn’t believe that the innocent act of drinking milk and eating dairy products could make them feel so ill-and that avoiding these products could restore their good health and vitality in such a short time.Food Allergy Cross-ReactivityIf you’re like me, you may have a food allergy that’s directly connected to your sensitivity to tree and weed pollens. Called “oral allergy syndrome,” this condition shows up when there’s a cross-reactivity between tree or weed pollens and corresponding foods that share a common allergen. For example, because ragweed pollen and foods in the gourd family share a common allergen, people allergic to ragweed may exhibit symptoms after ingesting foods such as melons (watermelon, cantaloupe, and honeydew), zucchini, cucumber, and bananas. Because I’m allergic to ragweed pollen, I cannot eat melons or ripe bananas without developing intense itching in my throat. If you’re sensitive to birch tree pollen, you may react to apples, pears, and apricots. Celery may be a problem for those allergic to mugwort pollen.The typical symptoms, which are generally mild and transitory, are itching of the throat, mouth, and tongue. That aggravating throat itch often compels sufferers to rub their tongue against the soft palate, making a characteristic “clucking” sound. The vast majority of patients experience symptoms within five minutes of ingestion. Depending on the time of year, the presentation can be affected by the particular pollen season. The upside of this condition, which is the most common food-related allergy in adults, is that symptoms are only caused by the ingestion of raw or uncooked fruits or vegetables. The heating process that occurs during cooking breaks down the allergic protein, so you can eat boiled, baked, fried, or roasted fruits and veggies without triggering symptoms.Allergies In InfantsBecause of their age, newborns and infants can be especially sensitive to food allergies. Symptoms may include colic, irritability, excessive spitting and vomiting, rashes (including eczema or hives), nasal symptoms (such as congestion and runny nose), coughing or wheezing, and other gastrointestinal symptoms (diarrhea, bloody stools, or constipation). There can also be poor weight gain. Allergies in infants up to age one are almost always caused by food-most commonly cow’s milk. Yet a baby doesn’t have to drink milk straight for symptoms to break out: The proteins in cow’s milk can enter the baby’s system through some commercial formulas, as well as by passing through the mother’s milk during nursing. A small percentage of milk-allergic babies are also allergic to soy.In recent years, researchers have devoted themselves to understanding the disturbing rise of food allergies, especially in infants and kids. What they have discovered is leading allergists and physicians to dramatically revise recommendations on how and when we introduce foods to infants. For many decades, the time-honored and well-established approach was to delay the introduction of highly allergenic foods into the infant’s diet to prevent the emergence of food allergies. For example, solid foods are generally not recommended until six months of age, cow’s milk until one year, eggs until two years, and peanuts, tree nuts, and fish until three years. There is also a widely accepted notion that breast feeding alone for the first six months of life will minimize or delay the onset of food allergies and other allergic diseases (including asthma), as well as atopic dermatitis or eczema.The latest medical evidence, however, is debunking these age-old theories. Indeed, the recommendation to delay the introduction of foods to infants as a means of preventing food allergies may be the wrong approach altogether. Recent studies have revealed very credible scientific evidence to suggest that the common practice of delaying the introduction of cow’s milk, eggs, peanuts, and other foods may increase the child’s risk of developing food allergies. And, even more importantly, there is evidence to suggest that the early introduction of allergenic foods may actually prevent the development of the allergy to that food. As an example, a recent study demonstrated that children in England were ten times more likely to be allergic to peanuts than children in Israel. One very strong hypothesis to explain this finding is the fact that Israeli infants are introduced to peanuts, generally through Bamba (a Peanut flavored snack that is used as a teething food), at about six months of age. On the other hand, children in England are generally not introduced to peanuts in any form until approximately three years of age. This study is just one of many that strongly suggest that an early introduction to certain foods can help babies build desensitization, thereby decreasing the risk of developing a food allergy.Managing Severe AllergiesHistorically, the treatment of serious food allergies has consisted of avoiding exposure and ingestion of the allergenic food, and making antihistamines and epinephrine immediately available. Total abstinence is indeed difficult and often impossible, as evidenced by the large number of accidental ingestions and allergic reactions that have resulted in emergency room visits. Even with strict avoidance measures, the potential for sudden and life-threatening outbreaks can lead to extreme anxiety in both the child-and the parent.Fortunately, medical research has now proven that orally-administered immunotherapy can result in a significant degree of desensitization, or tolerance, to a given food in most allergic patients. This form of therapy, however, is associated with a significant amount of risk and should only be performed under the watchful eye of a board-certified allergist experienced in oral tolerance induction. Presently in the United States, this form of desensitization is being performed at a few highly-acclaimed medical centers.An Allergy-Free FutureWith all the time and money being put into food allergy research, there is excitement in the medical field about the possibility of new breakthroughs in the near future-both in prevention and treatment. I, for one, am optimistic that a safe and effective treatment is close at hand.