GUEST POST - WELCOME JEN FROM NANNA'S WISDOM

My family has a real problem with food allergies. Most of us are lactose intolerant and allergic to sulphur. My sister is allergic to red meat (!) and is also a coeliac. That's a hard life to maintain. Last night I tried to have a glass of red wine with my dinner. Usually I have an anti sulphur spray but I had run out. I stupidly thought I could risk it and ended up with red, swollen hands. Damn that sulphur.
 I had the great honour last week of being guest blogger on the blog Nanna's Wisdom. (http://lumpyone.blogspot.com.au/2015/07/yes-ive-got-news.html)This week its Jen's turn to be my guest blogger and when out of frustration with my allergies, I suggested this topic, she took up the challenge.She makes some really interesting points.

 Allergies - We Do Not Want Them

Have you noticed how many people have allergies these days? I know for sure it is not because we are getting weaker as humans but rather us humans are changing the way things are or should be.

Many people think that we are living longer these days but I hate to be the bearer of bad news, it is actually a fallacy, a myth put out there by pharmaceutical companies . We like to think that with modern research and advancement with medicines that we are curing diseases, and do not get me wrong we are doing some brilliant work.

You need to look back 120 years and you may understand my statement , and by way of figures we certainly are living longer now, but take a closer look. We have had 4 wars in that time in which there were hundreds of thousands killed, including woman and children. This makes the average age very low compared to modern times. So can we really say we are living longer, I will leave that one up to you.

We in today's society are seeing more food allergies , so why have they suddenly appeared? We did not hear of nut allergies or gluten intolerance or dairy allergies when I was growing up. Were they around and I was just not aware of them?

Our food is not like it was 50 years ago, it is grown with chemicals , pesticides, herbicides on our fruit and veg ,medicated foods in our meat. The nutrient values are changing at an alarming rate.

Just take a look at this study on fresh fruit and veg done in Japan.

Processed food

Not only is our food changing in the way it is grown, but also the way it is processed for us. Take our humble milk that we have had all our life. When I was growing up milk was delivered to the door in glass bottles with a thick layer of cream. Today's milk is far from this natural creamy product.

I was in the supermarket the other day and had my attention made to a big stack of can soup, advertised as " healthy & hearty winter warmers". Okay they may warm the belly on a cold winters day , but honestly " healthy & hearty" they were not. These cans were so high in sodium, saturated fats and of course those nasty things like flavour enhancers, stabilizers, artificial colouring. Prepackaged instant just heat and serve meals are great for the non cook or just in a hurry meal but ...... fresh is best.

All these things that are added to our food is not natural for our bodies. We were never meant to be consuming additives like MSG, enhancers or stabilisers. Our poor bodies have no other option but to react in the way of allergies. Okay some people are lucky; nothing ever affects them , but I know several people that suffer allergies, all coming from different walks of life and all having different health issues.

 I for one have an allergy to the sun, yes the sun. How you how ask? Well I will explain.

I have what is called Solar Urticaria , and only developed it in my early 40s, when I started having breakouts of  raised burning welts all over my skin that itched for a week after . I had no idea what it was. What I did know that it always happened outside and on my exposed skin. Eventually I was diagnosed .  This happened because of a reaction I had with some medication making me super sensitive to UV . The medication was made from artificial chemicals and full of things that give you side effects.

So What Can We Do?

We cannot change the way things are grown or made but we can change the way we personally eat and live.

Here are few things that can help you stay a bit healthier by staying away from the bad things .

•  If you can buy organic , it may cost you a little more but I find it hard to put a price on my health. Local markets are good but make sure the produce are organically grown, if there is no sign stating organic then the chances are it has had contact with chemicals.

•  Remember any  processed food ( including take away) are usually high in all the things you do not want to be consuming like fats, sugars, salt.

•  Fruit , vegetables, grains and meat are mostly farmed on the larger scales so it is highly likely that the use of herbicides, pesticides , fertilisers and even antibiotics are used. So is this leaching into our foods? My opinion is yes.

•  Cook from scratch. If you want soup , then make it at home. Soup is so easy to make and if you use fresh raw ingredients you cannot go wrong. Cooking from home with even the basic knowledge in the kitchen can produce some mighty fine food that is full of flavour and hopefully nutrients. Bake your biscuits and cakes.

•  If you are lucky enough to own a Thermomix or similar then you can make so much , like all your own pastes for your curries and the likes. Fresh chutney, pickles, jams etc are all too easy in one of these wonderful machines.

•  Try growing some veggies and herbs at home. Use natural sprays like garlic to keep the bugs away. You will find they taste so good compared to store bought.

•  There are chemicals in our shampoos, hand & face creams, deodorants , sunscreens and our cleaning goods, ( just to name a few) but we do have a choice to change to chemical free. Even if it is only one thing at a time, it all helps.

 I think we all need to get back to the basics, what are your thoughts?

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Thank you Jen for your really interesting post. If you would like to follow Jen on any of her social media accounts , all the links are below for you to click away on!

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JEN

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Till next time...xxx

ST

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