As my son is on the "maintenance" side of his allergy tolerance training (oral immunotherapy for peanut, cashew, pistachio, and egg food allergy), I have had to get crafty to think of ways we can keep these healthy proteins in his diet without simply giving it to him in the oft boring form of the simple nut or egg. After a while, eating thirty peanuts every morning just becomes a form of torture for a young child. I get it.
With the inspiration from some top dietician friends (I love 4Q Method), recipe creators, and the time constraints of a major mama problem I needed to solve (keeping enough of these allergens in my son's diet in a balanced way, everyday), I have come up with traditional recipes we love, with a healthy twist. The recipes I share, like this Cereal with Milk recipe, are all child, adult, and dietician approved.
Incorporating Recipes Like These are Important, Even if Your Child is Not Food Allergic
Did you know that keeping top allergens in your child's diet is important in managing and preventing food allergies, even if your child doesn't have food allergies? That's because your body may develop responsiveness after long periods of avoiding certain proteins. What we want is for your immune system to have sustained unresponsiveness, so it may safely tolerate any and all potential allergens. And sometimes, even when you do all the right things, there is a small chance you may still become food allergic.
The best way I know to achieve and maintain sustained unresponsiveness, after seeing and interviewing world's leading immunologists, functional health doctors, and dietitians, is to keep potential allergens in your diet. The science is called oral immunotherapy, and it is exactly how my son reversed his food allergies and is able to eat every allergen that used to give him anaphylaxis.
Oral immunotherapy must be done in a supervised setting with a board-certified allergist. It requires the supervision of a doctor, extreme precision (weighing allergens on a jeweler's scale), timing, and nuanced details that can only be guided and decided on by you, your child, and your doctor. If you or your child have a food allergy, please do not attempt to use these recipes that encourage eating potential allergens to prevent and manage food allergies.
Just as important as keeping the potential allergens in your diet is incorporating a diverse diet. We know the gut is directly connected to our immune system. In fact, 70% of our immune system is in our gut. The more diverse we eat, the healthier our gut microbiome becomes. So recipes like these become important because they offer more than just cereal and milk. Which, is also fine. But hear me out...
When you have the option, you might spend a little more time cultivating a more balanced meal. Not only is this great for the "food-in, health-out" function, but spending time on making food for yourself and your family, even a couple minutes, cultivates self-respect and self-worth. And that's a big win for self-confidence. It's simple actions like taking the time to create a balanced meal that make you feel like, "I'm worth this extra time, satisfaction, and deliciousness. I am worth feeling great." And that's a good thing for yourself, and for your child--physically and mentally. And we know how powerful the mind is.
Let me know if you make this Cereal with Milk traditional recipe with a twist. Follow and DM me on Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, LinkedIn, or Twitter. Listen in to the Whole-Body Health podcast to learn more about all the ways we can access health through the advice and interviews of the world's top doctors and thought leaders. It's really amazing how many ways and paths we can take to access whole-body health. And it's really so different for all of us. For some of us, it's more mental than physical. And vice versa. And it changes in seasons. That's the fascinating thing about allowing ourselves to be human and present through all our lived experiences.
Whatever you need, whenever you need it, I pray it arrives for you. You're doing great. And you've got this.
All my love and hugs.
