Food, Allergies & me
Celebrating food is who I am and how I was raised. Family gatherings for happy and sad times always had cuisine familiar and filling. So when I realized that food that I spent my whole life loving was making me sick, I was shocked and angry. As an infant and toddler I suffered with bronchitis during the winters and lived in the hospital - literally. My home was an oxygen tent so that I could survive and doctors told my mother that this would never change. Our family relocated to a different climate away from low sea level and so much humidity. I developed seasonal allergies that were so severe, my eyes would swell up and my nose ran constantly from March until May each year. It was such a part of my life, I refused to set my wedding date during allergy season. I felt that this was my normal and nothing would ever change.
I often had sinus infections and upper respiratory infections. I was diagnosed with endometriosis as a teenager (another ailment I thought was normal). I went to a variety of doctors for a variety of ailments but there was never a connection with my symptoms. After I had my first child, I realized she also had respiratory ailments and we went to the doctor often. It was only after a trip that we left her with my parents and accidentally left her cow's milk at home did we realize this was the source of her problems. The constant green, runny nose and the rattling in her chest disappeared immediately. When she started preschool, I was mistakenly told by her pediatrician that she could be reintroduced to dairy (she now has a new pediatrician). This was met with disastrous results and frequent calls from her schools about how she was physically ill. Her current pediatrician suggested that we remove butter, cheese and milk from her diet. I took that on as a personal cause. I began reading labels in grocery stores looking for the words "whey" "dairy" and "lactose" but often saw the word "wheat" at the beginning of the ingredients and ignored it. I knew little about wheat and felt that as long as I was removing dairy that she would be better. My daughter immediately felt better and I could tell when she would eat a shared snack or sneak something from a friend at school because hiding lactose intolerance is about as easy as hiding an elephant in your house.
Once my daughter's health was under control, I began to feel symptoms that I had never experienced (and all the while still dealing with my ailments mentioned earlier). I found myself fatigued easily and had difficulty thinking but chalked it up to the long hours I worked as a teacher. Soon I began to have muscle aches and knots that would no go away, no matter how many times my patient husband would massage them. Then came the migraines that were unbelievably painful. I would spent 2-3 days in the bed not eating, drinking and barely sleeping. Add to that anxiety, depression, lack of sleep and hormonal imbalances and I was a walking mess. My doctor prescribed medications for each symptom and at times I would feel halfway normal. I distinctly remember the day I sat in her office in tears not understanding why I was so miserable and my body felt under attack. I was taking several different triptophans for migraines, a pain reliever for the daily headaches, a prescription for sleep and medication for the endometriosis pain as well as medication for stress and hot flashes. The final straw was the weekend that I spent 3 days in the bed with a migraine that was so bad that my teeth hurt and I never left my bedroom. As a type "A" personality, I finally hit a wall and decided to begin researching what could be the source of my health problems. Numerous searches finally lead me to gluten intolerance as a possible solution. After reading about some of the foods that contained gluten, I decided that I needed to stop eating them immediately. I was too impatient, tired and in pain to wait for formal testing. Within 2 weeks, the fog lifted from my head. I felt a renewed energy. The muscle knots that were always there suddenly went away and I was no longer having hot flashes. My sinuses stopped the daily drainage and I could breath again at night. Then the real work began. How do I eat day to day? What about eating out? Does the rest of my family have to go gluten free and what about incorporating dairy free?
I had no idea that wheat was in so many foods. Going to the farmer's market was a breeze since it was meat and vegetables but if I wanted a hamburger or a hot dog then things got complicated. I began trying products a little at a time and was disappointed over and over again. I was shocked that there would be a variety of gluten free items that proclaimed to be good and tasty but were neither. So the research into flours began and I began gathering my materials. The morning is a hectic time for us so I always want food that I can quickly feed to my kids and not feel guilty about. I began experimenting with waffle mixes and biscuits. I threw away a lot of batches of food until the food began to taste more edible. During this time, my mother wanted to began a bread company and asked for my advice about how to make her products. I told her that I could only help her if the items were gluten free. She quickly agreed and we began experimenting in the kitchen together. The first product we created was the mini loaf. Then the waffles, inspired by my daughter, were our next creation. With my diagnosis of a allergy to tree nuts, I felt even more strongly that our products should be free of the major allergens so that others can truly enjoy food with friends and family.
We were blessed to find a facility that had the same vision as ours - delicious food without gluten, dairy, soy and nuts. So began Weat Free Breakfast Foods. A special thanks to my husband for being the guinea pig for the many batches of foods baked and his creative influence.
I often had sinus infections and upper respiratory infections. I was diagnosed with endometriosis as a teenager (another ailment I thought was normal). I went to a variety of doctors for a variety of ailments but there was never a connection with my symptoms. After I had my first child, I realized she also had respiratory ailments and we went to the doctor often. It was only after a trip that we left her with my parents and accidentally left her cow's milk at home did we realize this was the source of her problems. The constant green, runny nose and the rattling in her chest disappeared immediately. When she started preschool, I was mistakenly told by her pediatrician that she could be reintroduced to dairy (she now has a new pediatrician). This was met with disastrous results and frequent calls from her schools about how she was physically ill. Her current pediatrician suggested that we remove butter, cheese and milk from her diet. I took that on as a personal cause. I began reading labels in grocery stores looking for the words "whey" "dairy" and "lactose" but often saw the word "wheat" at the beginning of the ingredients and ignored it. I knew little about wheat and felt that as long as I was removing dairy that she would be better. My daughter immediately felt better and I could tell when she would eat a shared snack or sneak something from a friend at school because hiding lactose intolerance is about as easy as hiding an elephant in your house.
Once my daughter's health was under control, I began to feel symptoms that I had never experienced (and all the while still dealing with my ailments mentioned earlier). I found myself fatigued easily and had difficulty thinking but chalked it up to the long hours I worked as a teacher. Soon I began to have muscle aches and knots that would no go away, no matter how many times my patient husband would massage them. Then came the migraines that were unbelievably painful. I would spent 2-3 days in the bed not eating, drinking and barely sleeping. Add to that anxiety, depression, lack of sleep and hormonal imbalances and I was a walking mess. My doctor prescribed medications for each symptom and at times I would feel halfway normal. I distinctly remember the day I sat in her office in tears not understanding why I was so miserable and my body felt under attack. I was taking several different triptophans for migraines, a pain reliever for the daily headaches, a prescription for sleep and medication for the endometriosis pain as well as medication for stress and hot flashes. The final straw was the weekend that I spent 3 days in the bed with a migraine that was so bad that my teeth hurt and I never left my bedroom. As a type "A" personality, I finally hit a wall and decided to begin researching what could be the source of my health problems. Numerous searches finally lead me to gluten intolerance as a possible solution. After reading about some of the foods that contained gluten, I decided that I needed to stop eating them immediately. I was too impatient, tired and in pain to wait for formal testing. Within 2 weeks, the fog lifted from my head. I felt a renewed energy. The muscle knots that were always there suddenly went away and I was no longer having hot flashes. My sinuses stopped the daily drainage and I could breath again at night. Then the real work began. How do I eat day to day? What about eating out? Does the rest of my family have to go gluten free and what about incorporating dairy free?
I had no idea that wheat was in so many foods. Going to the farmer's market was a breeze since it was meat and vegetables but if I wanted a hamburger or a hot dog then things got complicated. I began trying products a little at a time and was disappointed over and over again. I was shocked that there would be a variety of gluten free items that proclaimed to be good and tasty but were neither. So the research into flours began and I began gathering my materials. The morning is a hectic time for us so I always want food that I can quickly feed to my kids and not feel guilty about. I began experimenting with waffle mixes and biscuits. I threw away a lot of batches of food until the food began to taste more edible. During this time, my mother wanted to began a bread company and asked for my advice about how to make her products. I told her that I could only help her if the items were gluten free. She quickly agreed and we began experimenting in the kitchen together. The first product we created was the mini loaf. Then the waffles, inspired by my daughter, were our next creation. With my diagnosis of a allergy to tree nuts, I felt even more strongly that our products should be free of the major allergens so that others can truly enjoy food with friends and family.
We were blessed to find a facility that had the same vision as ours - delicious food without gluten, dairy, soy and nuts. So began Weat Free Breakfast Foods. A special thanks to my husband for being the guinea pig for the many batches of foods baked and his creative influence.
