Gluten sensitivity is a life-threatening disease. True or false?
Though gluten-sensitive people may feel like it’s the end of the world following consumption of their enemy, the answer to today’s “True or False” question is… FALSE. Gluten intolerance (or sensitivity) causes stomach issues, headaches, brain fog and more, but the good news is that these concerns will clear up once the gluten has left the system. On the other hand, gluten can cause...
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Showing our gluten-free kids (and families) some love!
Over the past few years, “gluten free” has become a mainstream term in our culture, and a way of life for so many. Some go gluten free just because it’s trendy, and they believe it to be a healthier way of eating. While for others, a grain-free diet is absolutely necessary for staying safe. In fact, an estimated 1% of the U.S. population is believed to have celiac disease – a disease that causes gluten to wreak havoc on the intestines, and research indicates around 18 million in our country may be gluten sensitive. That’s A LOT of folks affected by this tiny grain protein! If your child is among the many living with celiac disease or gluten sensitivity, we want to help you make folks aware of what they're going through, AND we’ll be doing that all this week in what we’ve dubbed “AllerMates Gluten Awareness Week!” So tune in for...
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The latest in treatments for peanut allergies (and other food allergies)…
If you’ve tuned in to the news lately, you’ve likely heard that a treatment or two for peanut allergies is on their way, with one already planned for availability in 2018(!). The first? A quarter-sized patch, dubbed Viaskin Peanut, which our younger kids will...
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Diabetes are caused by our kids’ diets. True or false?
In general, diabetes happens when a body has too much glucose (AKA sugar) in the blood. Regardless, the cause of type 1 diabetes is different from that of type 2, making the answer to today's 'true or false' question... FALSE. For children with type 2 diabetes, being overweight is the leading cause. While for kids with type 1 diabetes...
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Check your homes… these foods may need to GO!
Food allergy parents do all this work to keep our kids away from dangerous foods, and then BAM! The allergens show up where we least expect them. So check your pantry and fridge for this week's allergy-related food recalls, per the U.S. FDA, inside...
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What’s causing our kids’ health concerns? Are we too clean?!
As a parent to a child with a health concern, there’s nothing more frustrating than not knowing how your kid came to be the lucky one of 13 kids to have a food allergy or one of 10 to have asthma. It seems like every week there’s a different theory on why these issues exist, whether something we did during pregnancy or early childhood, or alternatively, something we didn’t do. One such theory we hear about regularly these days is the Hygiene Hypothesis. On the surface, it may seem pretty ridiculous. So ridiculous in fact...
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Hand sanitizer is a great way to help prevent cross contamination. True or false?
We’ve gotten so used to going for hand sanitizer in so many situations, but to address today’s question… preventing cross contamination should NOT be one of them, which makes our answer FALSE. A study was done in 2004 to measure how well certain cleaners removed peanut protein from various surfaces, including the hands. Guess what? Antibacterial hand sanitizer...
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A camp survival checklist for food allergy and asthma kids (and parents!)
Thinking back to childhood summers, there’s no greater memory that comes to mind than those of camp. It was a time to get away from home (from parents), to meet new friends and to do all sorts of fun things. It was also a simpler time, when we didn’t have to worry as much about […]
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Four sound reasons to always carry TWO shots of epinephrine.
Did you know that physicians recommend two shots of epinephrine be carried at all times? This is not because the pharmaceutical companies tell them to say that. It's because two auto-injectors are truly a must-have for any person with severe allergies and could make the difference between life and death. If you're wondering why, read on for four situations to consider...
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Protecting your life-saving epinephrine.
Yesterday marked the first day of summer, though temperatures suggested it started a couple or more weeks ago. And with temps only going up from here, I want to take a minute to remind you of the ill effects heat can have on our epinephrine auto-injectors, and share a few facts and tips for protecting this drug we simply cannot be without...
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Most kids outgrow their asthma. True or false?
If you’re a parent to a kid with asthma, don’t hold your breath because, unfortunately, most of our kids will NOT outgrow their asthma, which means our answer is…
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Food allergies that stay, and those that fade away
Food allergies are funny things, and I don’t mean “haha.” We don’t know why our children get them, but we automatically fall into planning and protection mode the moment we learn of them. Some of us will shed the extra work, and more importantly, the fear that we’ve lived with so gracefully. But many will […]
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A coconut is a tree nut. True or false?
Oh, such a touchy subject for so many, and the answer all depends on who you ask. If it's the U.S. FDA, the answer is... TRUE. However, if you ask most parents and physicians in the food allergy community, it's...
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Citrus fruits leave more than a sour taste for some of us… Meet the citrus allergy.
If you caught last week's blog post, you learned that two new charms hit the AllerMates store – mustard allergy and... you guessed it, citrus allergy! You also learned that their arrival was timely, as more people are affected by these two types of food allergies every day. Like the mustard allergy, I want to share some points with you on the citrus allergy to help create awareness and, in turn, safeguard our allergic kids. So here we go...
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How far will you go to protect your food allergy kid?
I once had a fellow mom ask whether or not it was safe for her peanut allergic child to go swimming. Now, I gotta be honest, when she asked the question, my mind went blank because I couldn’t even comprehend what she was asking. (In case you, too, are wondering… she was worried about her child being at risk for cross contamination with another child in the pool.) I didn't understand her concern, well, because my brain just doesn't work that way. I mean I'm very conscious of my kids’ activities and worry about their well-being (after all, I did create AllerMates, LOL!), but it makes me curious to find out…
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Mustard just doesn’t cut it for all of us… learn about the mustard allergy.
If you follow AllerMates on social media, you may recall our announcement of two NEW charms – MUSTARD and CITRUS – coming to our store a few months back. Well, the time has come to share with you that… they’re here! Obviously, if we’ve taken the time and effort to design a new charm and manufacture it, there has to be good reason. And there is. The reason is that a growing number of our children are affected by these two types of foods, and like all of our kids’ food allergies, it’s important to make people aware. Therefore, I want to share with you a few tidbits on each of these particular allergies, so that you can help spread the word. Up first? One of America’s favorite condiments. Here are five things to know...
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Have you met Dave? You should. He’s our hero.
While Dave Bloom may not be a name you’re familiar with, food allergy parents likely know his company, SnackSafely.com. I had the pleasure of meeting Dave and his lovely wife, Debra, several years ago, but probably not how you think. No, it wasn’t at a food allergy walk or related event; it was at a pre-school! Yep, our kids went to the same pre-school. What are the odds? Anyways, at AllerMates, we love SnackSafely.com, and often look to Dave and team’s amazing work when planning the treats for our allergy-friendly Goodie Boxes. Read my recent conversation with Dave, and see why we trust them so...
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Peanut FREE made easy: AllerMates guide to living happily without peanut butter.
When parents learn of their child’s peanut allergy, there are so many things that cross their mind. But you can bet one of the first and most gut wrenching is… “NO. MORE. PEANUT BUTTER?!” The joys of peanut butter are many. Not only does it taste wonderful, it’s an easy go-to for kids’ lunches. In fact, most people won’t recognize just how much it’s in our lunchrooms until they send their peanut allergy kid to school for the first time. (But we won’t go there.) If this hits home for you or you’re new to the world of peanut allergies, the purpose of this post is to let you know that you do have options, and lots of them. So let’s...
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Seven things to ease the pollen allergy pain
Year after year, we hear the media say THIS is the “worst year ever” for seasonal allergy sufferers, and year after year, so many of us roll our eyes at the media’s tendency to over-dramatize. However, this year I am not rolling my eyes. In fact, I’m rubbing them incessantly due to itching. If you’ve […]
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Breathe a little easier about exercise for your asthma kid
Jackie Joyner-Kersee. David Beckham. Amy Van Dyken. What do they all have in common, besides being world-class athletes? ASTHMA. And what about runner Paula Radcliffe and swimmer Peter Vanderkaay, besides being Olympians? EXERCISE-INDUCED ASTHMA. And they’re all living proof that our kids can have asthma AND be active. Even though every child is different, there’s […]
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Food Allergy Awareness Week 2015 goes down in the AllerMates book as a success!
First, just let me say that YOU. ARE. AMAZING. AllerMates set out to create awareness during this year’s Food Allergy Awareness Week, and you certainly rose to the challenge. Thanks to your efforts AllerMates posts reached well over 70,000 on Facebook and Twitter, which means that together we brought A LOT of awareness to our kids’ health concerns and even armed people with info on how to help our children in an emergency. While we celebrate this victory, we know that this does not solve our problem...
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Teach your Kids the Allergy Safety Rules!
If you recall in my last post, I shared the ABC’s of safeguarding kids with severe allergies. And now that we have a solid grasp on the basics of protecting them from their allergens, I want to share some things that you can arm your children with to help them ensure their OWN safety...
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Learn the ABCs of safeguarding your allergy kid.
As I’ve said on many occasions, we, as parents, are our children’s first and foremost educators. And it’s crucial to teach our kids about how to handle their allergies early on, so that good, safe practices are instilled in them before they enter their teenage and adult years, when we're not there to supervise their every move. How to do that? Well, it’s critical that we parents first understand how to do that, so I’ve come up with a few rules that correspond with the ABC’s to help...
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Always have an allergy action plan.
If your child was just diagnosed with a severe allergy, you’re likely scared and a bit confused. The good news is that you’re not alone and there are tons of resources available to help you. Take the Allergy Action Plan. It's a basic tool for managing your kid's allergy, yet the most important, outside of epinephrine and Benadryl. That's because it outlines all of the necessary steps for caring for your child in the event of a severe allergic reaction. The Allergy Action Plan tells you...
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Know the symptoms of a severe allergic reaction.
In a severe allergic reaction, the most crucial element to safeguarding your child is timing – being able to respond as quickly as possible. And that makes knowing and understanding the symptoms of an outbreak just as critical. If you’re a parent or caregiver to a child with food allergies, please take a minute to read the most common symptoms and commit them to memory...
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