Archive for the ‘food allergies’ tag
Gluten Free Food Ideas – Pressure Cooker
It seems that no matter how much time we have, our scheduled activities expand to use up all of it. Those homemade meals that we remember from our childhoods are a mere memory, leaving us scrambling to feed our families in between work meetings and after school activities. The problem is that most easily accessible convenience foods have some amount of gluten in them. Fast food places or prepackaged foods from the supermarket simply aren’t safe options for anybody who needs gluten free food ideas.
Sometimes the answer isn’t as complicated as it seems. The pressure cooker, a tool that was once present in every kitchen, is making a comeback. Being able to prepare soups and stews that taste as if they were cooked for hours in only a few minutes is certainly the biggest reason, but that’s not the only one. Newer models, called “second generation” pressure cookers, are safer than the old, hissing beasts of our nightmares. So many safety features are built into them that exploding simply doesn’t happen anymore. These pots make it possible to come home from work, feed the family and then head out to the evening’s activities without making any compromises in flavor, safety or nutrition. The pressure cooker is great for gluten free food ideas and recipes.
You can learn how to use a pressure cooker quickly and easily with several online websites providing tutorials. You’ll have to look hard for sites specifically dealing with gluten free food ideas in a pressure cooker. However, you can just substitute many of the gluten ingredients for gluten free instead. One chef who has a great series of cookbooks specifically for cooking in a pressure cooker is Lorna Sass. Her recipes are not all gluten free, but most are vegetarian and again you can substitute gluten for gluten free where applicable. Her cookbooks are worth testing.
Great Vegetarian Cooking Under Pressure teaches the basics, such as how to choose, take care of and use your pressure cooker. Pressure cooking takes one third or less time than cooking on the stove top does. How else can you take soaked black beans and have them on the table in ten minutes?
If you want a gluten free soup, creamy risotto or a great applesauce dessert – you can prepare them all in just minutes with the pressure cooker. Loran’s book has great recipes for each that are perfect for your gluten free food ideas each week. The black bean soup is my favorite. The beans after soaking in water overnight and having the skins removed before cooking, turn into a wonderful gluten free rich and hearty soup in just minutes.
Be sure to check out Lorna’s cookbook along with the many other cookbooks on using a pressure cooker to prepare fast and tasty meals. You can combine the recipes in a gluten free cookbook with those in the pressure cooker cookbook to develop some gluten free food ideas and recipes to use with the family.
It can be difficult to cook for a gluten free family, but with options such as a pressure cooker and searching several recipe books you can create a meal the whole family loves that doesn’t take hours to prepare. Obviously, you won’t want to cook with it every night ( or maybe you will after you try it out for the first time ) but you can use it a few times a week during the weekdays when you have the busy schedules to save a lot of time.
So next time you look at your schedule for the week and realize you have a lot to do, think of the gluten free recipes you can prepare for the family with the pressure cooker that will save you time and make you look like the gourmet chef you always wanted to be.
Mel Anne Knight is a writer for several sites on living a gluten free lifestyle. Learn more about gluten-free food plans shared at Mel’s website. In addition get new gluten free dinner recipes and meal plans.
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Symptoms Of Food Allergies
Having an allergy is tough, but having food allergies is worst. Sad to consider that you cannot munch that luscious dessert in the table because it has peanuts and dairy products and you are hypersensitive to those ingredients.
Watch out for disastrous attractions
When you ingest a small amount of food you are allergic to may be greatly disastrous.
It is not only a awful and damaging reality, it is also sad. Imagine yourself unable to munch food that has peanuts, cow’s milk or dairy products. The list of food you’re not allowed would probably a lengthy one.
You’ll need to recognize you are having these food allergies.
However, you are not the only one experiencing these allergies. Millions of individuals hold food allergies. A number more than others.
This reaction is caused by the immune system because of its spectacular reaction to allergens. The immune system thought this allergen as a threat, attacking it and causing the reaction.
Either to eat or not
When you eat food you are hypersensitive to, your immune system releases histamine. Then you wiil have reactions to your eyes, nose, throat, skin, respiratory tract and digestive tract.
Some experience prompt reactions while others take hours. The body’s response to the allergen varies from mild to serious. Symptoms may be skin rashes, redness, runny and itchy nose.
Severe reaction can go up to anaphylaxis. In this scenario, there is constricted air pathways resulting to difficulty in breathing, decrease blood pressure and swelling of the tongue.
Some of the allergies go away when an allergic person grows older while other allergens can get reactions for good.
have yourself tested
What kind of food that causes these reactions is the most important thing to be aware of. You may try hair testing. By taking a list of food you are allergic to, you can now take steps to avoid them.
Some of the allergens though can be unavoidable so the next best thing is to consult with an experienced physician.
Doctors can tell you what to do when you get life-threatening reactions.
So be sure to have yourself examine because some of these allergies can last you a lifetime. It is best to educate yourself on how to deal with your allergies. It is safer and more rewarding when you are able to prevent your food allergies.
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Are Common Food Allergies Dangerous
Data from the Mayo Clinic shows that approximately two percent of adults in the United States suffer from some form of allergic reaction to food. Additionally, kids with food allergies account for another six percent. While those percentages may seem low, in a total population of over three hundred million in the United States that translates to 6 million and 18 million individuals, respectively.
Like other allergic reactions, a food allergy happens when the immune system overreacts to an allergen. Common food allergens include, but are not limited to, dairy based items such as cream, seafood, shellfish, peanuts and eggs.
In response to contact or consumption, the body releases an antibody termed IgE (immunoglobulin E) since it views the food not as nutrition, but a outside invader. The allergy symptoms are produced by the release of histamine, prostaglandins and various other substances which are stimulated by the antibodies.
Food allergy symptoms are inclined to be more extensive than those that mark other allergies. These include the possibility of watery eyes and congestion of the nasal passages. However, they are typically accompanied with or even overtaken by such things as swelling up of the lips, throat or tongue, urticaria or skin hives (itchy red bumps that form on the surface of the skin), sickness, wheezing and even abdominal pain.
Anaphylactic shock can be the result in more serious cases. Anaphylaxis is a systemic (overall body) allergic reaction. It involves several serious symptoms such as lightheadedness, constricted airways resulting in breathing difficulities and a dramatic decrease in blood pressure. It comes on quickly and if left untreated, can sometimes cause death. Upwards of 200 deaths per year in the United States are as a result of anaphylaxis.
In some cases, food allergy reactions are localized. For example, some folks will experience a tingling sensation in their mouth after eating fresh fruit or vegetables. The cause is considered to be proteins similar to those found in ragweed pollen.
Differentiating between a food intolerance and a food allergy needs a professional diagnosis by an allergist.
To ascertain if a person has an allergy to certain foods, the allergist will carry out an allergy skin prick test. The doctor takes a minute quantity of the suspect substance and exposes the person to it by introducing a tiny quantity under the skin with a lancet. The area of skin is then monitored for around half an hour to determine if any itching or swelling occurs as a result of any response to the suspect substance.
In order to guage the amount of IgE produced by the body when ingesting a certain food, it may be necessary for a blood test to be made although this does not always give a definitive answer.
An example of where the symptoms are alike but not the same as an allergic reaction is lactose intolerance. This is caused by the genetic lack of a digestive enzyme that is required by the body to process cows milk safely.
The best line of defense for a person with a food allergy is to get rid of the problematic food from their diet and environment. For instance, individuals with an known allergy to eggs should simply not ingest eggs or products that are made with them. Others that are sensitive to peanuts and peanut dust can generally avoid coming into contact with it.
In the absence of any known cure for allergies, avoidance is the best medicine for the time being. Nevertheless, symptom relief is possible when accidents occur. Antihistamines are a good option as is an Epipen or similar device. The latter contains ephinephrine which can be injected by allergy sufferers in an emergency situation caused by coming into contact with certain allergens. This can head off a serious attack of anaphylaxis.
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Important Facts About Food Products causing Food Allergies
Allergic reactions occur in most people in one form or another. But among the most common types are food allergies, which cause adverse immune system reactions when you ingest a certain food protein. It can be as simple as peanuts, or even shrimp, but have the same basic principle of reactions.
How The Body Reacts To Allergens In Food
How much the body will react when exposed to a food allergen ranges from mild irritation to anaphylaxis, which has the whole body reacting to the allergen and even possibly causing death. Depending on the severity of your allergy, reaction to food allergens can occur from a few hours to even just a few seconds after ingestion of the food containing the allergen.
In some types of reactions, it may be that there is just some mild tissue swelling, being itchy and irritating at the most. Of course, the swelling varies, so it can also cause obstruction in the air tract and causing difficulty breathing.
Common Food Allergens
At over ninety percent of all causes of allergic reactions, the most common food allergens have the bulk of the attention given to food allergies. They are divided into eight materials, and individually they are common enough that a person having an allergic reaction to these food materials better stay away from them to avoid having to undergo treatment.
Being allergic to milk is pretty common, and so are peanuts, eggs, soy, and wheat to name some. These are found in everyday food products that a person allergic to them will have to pay careful attention to what he or she is eating to avoid having an allergic reaction. Seafood and shellfish are also quite common available everyday surroundings.
Diagnosis, Testing, And Treatment
If you suspect that you’re allergic to a certain food product, it would be best to consult an expert allergist. Your physician will be able to guide you in this area, and recommend someone you can go to. Tests can be conducted to see what kind of material you’re allergic to. One common testing method is the skin prick test to see if a person is allergic from the media being exposed below the skin. Another would be the blood test diagnosis for another type of allergen.
The final test type would be to have a blindfold test to see if the patient is allergic to the actual allergen or a placebo. This is usually conducted in the hospital setting where patients may be treated quickly if their reaction becomes severe.
Once a patient has been identified as having an allergic reaction to food products, several treatment options can be taken at this point.There is no cure if you’re allergic to a certain food protein, and most doctors agree that injections or allergy shots don’t work for food allergies.
The surest method for treatment of food allergies is avoidance, and with this you’ll just have to learn which food your allergen is present in, and avoid it. For accidental ingestion, epinephrine can be given to stabilize the patient’s system. Before you find yourself in this situation though, it would be best to make sure that you know just what to do before a
severe reaction occurs.
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