Healing with Allergies, Embracing Life

1. Claritin 24 hour tabs


2. Benadryl Liquid Gels


3. Eternal Naturally Alkaline Water--for re-hydrating and cleansing the body post-allergic reaction.


4. Now Solutions 100% Shea Butter--to soothe the skin when I have a rash break out during my reaction. Warning! Shea Butter does come from the tree nut, so if you are sensitive to tree nuts, I really don't recommend it. The only nuts I am sensitive to are peanuts. And of course, nutty people ;)


5. Epinephrine (Epi-Pen) --I carry this with me at all times.

Relaxing and healing in our favorite cozy spot.

Today I had some accidental exposure to soy while at work. There was a bustling conference of about 30 people zooming around the front lobby I was working in, and they had just ordered a plethora of pizzas, breads, sauces, steaming wings, sandwiches, and more. It wasn't the first time I'd been around a lot of allergens so I thought I'd be pretty much fine...and I was for a short time. That changed quickly when a few people approached my counter with steaming plates of allergen filled food and asked me for some favors. I served them quickly as I felt my throat tightening from inhalation of the steaming food. I made a run for my allergy medication.

The reaction got severe enough to cause twitching, shaking, numbness in the limbs and chest pains even after the throat swelling went down. I actually sat with my EpiPen in my lap for the first time in months. Right now, I'm bringing myself back to health and a good mindset from the safety of my favorite worn in seat on our cushy couch. After a food allergy scare, I remind myself it's okay to feel vulnerable and it's normal to recoil to a safer place. Nourishing myself with freshly made green juice with ginger (natural anti-inflammatory), hot water with lemon, and a comforting plate of buckwheat pilaf is a nice way to return to my spirited self. I find taking some time to heal physically and mentally, or in whatever way suits you best, is more beneficial in the long run than simply trying to play tough and reckless by just "powering through" a reaction and the aftermath. I don't take my health for granted. Not anymore. I treasure myself.

This video by the Food Allergy Initiative illustrates the life of an extremely food allergic young boy. His father speaks of the importance of being aware, growing as a food allergic individual, and trying to find that sacred balance between being careful and thriving happily. It's true to say that food allergic children are different from others, but I believe it's a difference that gives strength eventually, instead of initial fear. A stronger individual emerges from every challenge faced in life, and food allergies are no exception. I have hope for food allergic children (and adults) everywhere, that we will grow brighter in spite of setbacks and supposed limitations. I love this video, and it is very eyeopening to these realities. Let's rally our strength in hopes of a brighter future for our kids and for a food allergy cure.

Watch the video below, or Click the Link here.

What are your thoughts?

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12 Ways to be Self Sustaining

Usually the term self sustaining refers to living a greener, more environmentally friendly life that helps you to be able to rely less on modern produce and other items. I believe being self-sustainable goes way further than that. When we apply this self-sustaining mentality to our entire being, a transformation occurs. Think of your mind, body, and spirit as a garden that you would grow to be more self-sustaining. You have to nourish it each day to ensure that it continues to blossom and bear fruit. Often we get caught up in the whirlwind of everyday life, and while the following steps may seem basic, it's amazing how many people forget them with time. It's Back to Basics for a new sustainable you! Body, Mind, Spirit, and Lifestyle.

• Eat less Sugar—Excessive sugar consumption is actually the number one factor leading to premature aging! Limit your processed/refined sugar intake and focus on eating more fresh fruits and fresh squeezed juices instead. Which leads to…

• Make your own Juices and Smoothies—This is a fun one and a great way to experiment with different food combinations. We have two different juicers at home—a citrus juicer, a power juicer (more for vegetables), and we also have a high power blender. Try mixing different fruits and vegetables into juices and smoothies that resemble the V8 fusion juices or veggie juices you might buy in the store. Health starts from the inside out. Read more about making yummy juices here.

• Get enough sleep!—Getting enough shut eye really plays a part in how you think and act during the day. If you’re constantly running low on sleep and energy, it’s easy to fall into habits such as being cranky, thinking negatively, and running your body down. Just because you’ve pumped yourself full of caffeine with your morning Latte doesn’t mean your body and mind aren’t still tired.

• Living with purpose—Find your passion and pour yourself into it. Find what interests you most and work towards making that a large part of your life, maybe even your career. If you love what you do, you'll always be more spirited and inspired.

• Take responsibility—Stop blaming others. As soon as you blame the responsibility for a situation onto someone else, you are admitting helplessness and you give up the control you once had. If you take responsibility, you are more likely to take action to fix the problem or situation. No one should have to do it for you. I like the saying that one of my former workplaces had framed on the wall: “This ain’t your Momma’s house. Clean up after yourself!”

• Practice a positive attitude towards everyone you meet—Everyone has a story. You never know where they've been or what got them to where they are now. Be compassionate and treat every person as just that--a person. Don't treat passing cars as just cars--cars are people so drive with caution and conservatively.

• Brush it off—There are always negative forces in the world that will threaten to dim your spirit. Brush off negative thoughts and comments and don’t let the insecurities of others get to you. Insecure people will always try to spread the blame around for their own issues

• Stressing is a no gain—So someone screwed up the order at work again and you spend the next hour having to redo, even though it’s not your job. Things like this are small in the scheme of things. Don’t allow yourself to slip into the habit of letting the small stuff ruin the rest of your day. I often see clients and workers in my line of work stressing to the max when the slightest things go amiss. One situation that happened recently was a man rising to anger and frustration over a crowded breakfast area in a hotel. The man yelled at me in front of everyone, and instead of asking me if there was additional seating (which there was in the next room over), he decided to yell: “You don’t have any additional seating! Where am I supposed to sit now?” I answered in a friendly manner that there was a whole different breakfast room in the next room over. He then seemed sorry for yelling as he led his children to the next room. Be a good example for yourself and others. Children mimic their role models.

• Challenge yourself to see potential mishaps in a new light--That hot-tub at the hotel you booked is down for maintenance? Now you have more time to go explore the new city you’re visiting! Which I guarantee is going to be more exciting than some hot water and bubbles.

• Reinvent your mind—I try to do brain exercises a few times a week. I know it might sound funny at first, but you work out your body, so why not work out your mind to keep it in good shape? Exercising your brain helps ward off mental decay such as dementia. I use a free podcast called "Brain Ready" through Itunes. Check it out here.

• Savor the peaceful moments and carry them with you wherever you go--Draw upon them during hectic days and situations to help keep calm and in control. Meditation really helps with keeping this balance. I often try to visualize a safe beautiful scene in my mind while meditating and then picture the image in my mind later on when I feel I need a moment to revitalize. I started meditating with Chill Meditation podcasts here.

• Stop worrying what other people will think—Who says you can’t take some you time and go see a movie on your own? What other people think about who you are is none of your business. You know who you are the best, and it’s great to get to know that person even more. I think Dr. Seuss put it best when he wrote something along the lines of: “Be yourself no matter what the kind. Those who mind don’t matter, and those who matter don’t mind.” That’s not an excuse to be a cruel or negative person though ;)

Going back to simple lessons and basics makes for a more sustainable you. Keep it simple sweetheart!

What is your key for applying the self-sustaining mentality to not only your garden, but your life?

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Earthquakes, thunderstorms, and the mystery culprit.

It seems my life has been a bit of a tornado lately, and I haven't had much time to post.  Well, actually it's been more like an earthquake...literally.  Last week, I thought I was just feeling woozy after a double whammy (gluten and soy attack in the same day), but apparently a 5.8 or 5.9 earthquake hit part of Virginia today and the aftershocks shook our brick apartment building here in Ann Arbor!  I was surprised to hear that someone as far as the Netherlands felt some shaking afterward too.  Glad I didn't have to add "earthquake-y feeling" to my soy reaction symptoms! That one would have the doctors even more puzzled...

This week, I'm finally starting to put a small bit of weight back on, as my body is healing and I'm beginning to absorb nutrients correctly again.  As I understand, soy can attack the villi of the small intestine in the same way that gluten can attack it in Celiac Disease.  I've been taking some extra vitamins to help the healing process and was thrilled when Nature's Bounty company responded to my inquiry regarding the use of soy in their letter vitamins.  They responded with full details about allergen standards and cleaning processes to assure me that no cross contamination was present.  Nature's Bounty was super helpful.  Be sure to read the labeling on each product though, since some of their non letter vitamins may contain soy, gluten, or other allergens.  I am currently taking the C-500 with Rosehips and the B-12 dissolving tablets without reactions.

I wish it was as easy to contact and receive response from every company as it was with Nature's Bounty.  I've had to stop writing this post three times already today to try and get my latest soy reaction in check.  You would probably have a difficult time guessing what the culprit was.  I couldn't figure it out myself for the last few weeks.

I'd been dealing with small to moderate soy reactions a few times this past week, but the worst showed itself yesterday and today.  Here's the scoop: I was using Meijer brand eggs in my allergen free Browine and Blondie mixes.  About 10-30 minutes after eating said sweets, moderate reactions bubbled up and I was in the Benadryl zone for the next 8 hours while my body attempted to rid itself of the offending food.  As I thought back, I realized that each time I had eaten Meijer brand chicken or eggs, I'd experienced soy symptoms.  Though I have not confirmed it with Meijer, I suspect that they are using soy feed in their chickens.  It's absolutely crazy the places you find this stuff.

Yesterday (obviously before today's realization), I ate two Brownies made using Meijer eggs and had quite an off night during the raging thunderstorm.  I took two Benadryl to control the reactions over the course of 8 hours, and still had to take another one before hitting the sack.  Upon waking, I was feeling much better and decided to treat myself to a Brownie for breakfast (C'mon, don't judge! ;) )  Shortly after, I felt a lump in my throat and the familiar stomach swelling.  And it was Benadryl to the rescue again, before things could get out of hand.  (On a side tangent, Benadryl is seriously awesome and works for me within 10 seconds.  I bite open the liquid-gels before I swallow them for faster absorption.  Whoever invented this stuff totally rocks...even though it rocks me to sleep).  Long story short, I had to stop writing this entry 4 times due to the reactions from Meijer eggs in my allergen free mix.  Moral of story and new mission: Find soy free eggs stat!  And chicken for that matter.  I'm wondering if anyone else has these problems, or if I'm just ultra sensitive. Let me know if you've reacted or what you think in the poll box, or leave a comment below.

[polldaddy poll=5485259]

As luck would have it, a new follower of my twitter page ( https://www.bethyglutenfree.twitter.com ) named @soyfreeeggs links to a site called http://www.soyfreeegg.com which has information regarding a completely soy free egg.  I have yet to order or try it out, but I plan to contact them within the next few weeks to see where their products are distributed.  I'm hoping anywhere in Michigan is on the list. But for now, I'm off to cook some herb encrusted broiled steaks while my boyfriend cooks his delicious Belarusian style fried potatoes. This hearty meal should help us both fight off this nasty cold we've had for a week...  I'll list the recipe for the steaks coming up in one the next few posts.

Next post:  Soy free, gluten free Makeup!! I finally found it!!

Stay well, let your light shine,

xoxo Bethany

P.s. Here's a few pictures from my cousin's beautiful wedding at Cranbrook House and Gardens in late July.  The meal I had was a gluten free quinoa dish that was absolutely fabulous.  The best part is, it was also soy free as I was sans reaction.



At the Cranbrook House and Gardens after dinner.

Soy here, Soy there, Soy is Everywhere: B.V.O

I've been doing some philosophizing lately.  Well, I suppose it's less philosophizing and more learning from experience but nevertheless, this whole soy allergy thing has got me asking a lot of questions.  The first seems obvious; Why is soy in everything?  Why has it been pumped in such a high amount into modern society?  Why is this modern society okay with consuming high amounts of genetically modified cash crops that are mainly designed to make big corporations (example 1: Monsanto) big bucks?  Some may say it's a cheap way to feed a large world population...but at what cost?

It is a fact that Soy contains high phytoestrogen levels; something that can mess with hormones in your body.  When soy saturates most processed foods, is fed to a large portion of animals in the meat packing industry(I've had strong allergic reactions from soy feed vegetarian feed chicken, and vegetarian soy fed eggs.), lurks in health and beauty products, and even coats some fresh produce in the form of wax to make already delicious natural food look more appealing, I'm still waiting to hear how that much soy is a good thing.  Sure it contains isoflavines which are "good for the heart!", but when you're unknowingly consuming loads of soy every day, why would you want to add another cup of straight soymilk on top?  I'm frankly surprised more people aren't asking questions.  If you ask me, overload and over-consumption of soy may be behind a great amount of disease and sickness in the U.S.

Not to mention the soy in Brominated Vegetable Oil--Yes, it's made from Bromine.  Now I'm a fan of heavy metal, but I don't want Bromine anywhere near what goes into my mouth.  The sad reality is, millions of people around the world are consuming it almost on a daily basis.  Brominated Vegetable Oil, or BVO, can be found nearly all sodas in the U.S. and some juices.  I've personally had a reaction to the BVO that may be in Pepsi, Coke, and Simply Orange "natural" orange juice.  The reaction to Simply Orange was extremely bad.  I wonder if spikes in cancer and other serious diseases can be partially explained by the addition of Bromine into the commercial food system.  Another not to mention...it's not labeled!

Now that all that has been said, it's time to focus on what you can eat!  I'm currently contacting many brands and parent companies in the U.S. that could potentially be on the safe list.  I've heard back from about 10 companies so far that practice allergen testing and/or good manufacturing processes to eliminate cross contamination between products.  I'll be uploading "The Good List" a.k.a the soy free brands/products I've put into an excel spreadsheet in my next post.  Stay tuned =)

Staying positive is key when dealing with health issues, and I've found it more helpful than bitterness and anger in the past.  I find positive affirmations to be inspiring and helpful.  Louise Hay's writings and quotes are full of positivity and encouragement.  Here is one I'd like to share:

"You have the power to heal your life, and you need to know that. We think so often that we are helpless, but we're not. We always have the power of our minds…Claim and consciously use your power."--Louise L. Hay

I also thought I'd share a picture of our little sweet Max ;)  Remember, let your little light shine!

Best,

Bethany xoxo