As allergic reactions to everything from peanuts to poodles become ever more prevalent we are all likely to find ourselves sitting on the horns of some uncomfortable dilemmas. Two recent stories, culled from John Scott's' latest news' files, illustrate what I mean... Story 1. …
Peanut/treenut allergy
Should allergens be banned from a household with an allergic member?
I just came across an article from an recent Sunday Telegraph headlined 'Food fight over allergy ban' which investigated, once again, the extremely knotty problem of whether or not you should allow allergens into a household with an allergic member. There are in fact, two …
‘Food allergies in children over-diagnosed’
Oh dear, here we go again... The old chestnut. 'Over 40% of the population believe they have food allergies but in fact less than 5% do so the other 35% are unnecessarily restricting their diets and may be making themselves ill by not eating sufficient nutrients. This is …
Childcare – and hugging your non-allergic child
On the radio this morning I heard an interview with Dr Aric Sigman, a fellow of the Society of Biology, who has been looking at the cortisol levels (stress hormone) in infants and toddlers in day care as opposed to those cared for at home. He found that the levels are higher in …
Invisible allergens
When you are diagnosed with a dairy or wheat allergy/intolerance, or when your tests come back positive for coeliac disease, your first reaction is to panic! Everything that you normally eat now seems to be off the menu – how are you going to survive? What will you eat? Will you …