Page 68 - Winter2008

So for all of find your groove with food preparation and your mine, is there another sweet blessing from above

you new time budget. in our future? Definitely!

I leave you with a story I came across a
readers out while back. A grandmother on a farm prepared Jen Allbritton is a Certified Nutritionist and has
there the meals for her family. Just before the food was been researching and writing on all topics of
contemplating ready to be cooked or baked, Grandma would nutrition for over ten years. She lives in Colorado
take a container out of the cupboard, open the with her husband and two sons, and spends lots
the lid and put a pinch of what was in the container of time in the kitchen cooking up WAPF-friendly
possibility of into every dish she made. When she died, her creations. If you have topic suggestions you
increasing the family went through the cupboard. And when would like to learn more about, contact her at
they found the container, they looked inside. It jen@nourishingconnections.org.
size of your was empty—except for the word love, which they

family, found written on a piece of paper. REFERENCES
1
1.
Kesten, Deborah. Feeding the Body Nourishing the Soul:
Chills run down my spine every time I read
I highly that story because I am reminded of the kind of Essentials of Eating for Physical, Emotional, and Spiritual
Well-Being. Conari Press, 1997.
recommend mom I want to be. Putting love, purposefulness 2. Sicherer, Scott, M.D. The Complete Peanut Allergy Hand-
book. Everything You Need to Know to Protect Yourself and
it! and conscious attention into my family life and Your Child from the Most Deadly Food Allergy. Berkley
meal preparations will truly make a difference, Books, New York. 2005. p. 8.
but having the time and brain power to do it is 3. Young, Michael, M.D. The Peanut Allergy Answer Book. 2nd.
edition. Fair Winds Press, Gloucester, Mass. 2006. p. 46.
often the trickiest part. Believe me, it can be 4. Von Ehrenstein OS, Von Mutius E, Illi S, Baumann L, Bohm
done…some days are easier than others, but it O, von Kries R. Reduced risk of hay fever and asthma
among children of farmers. (Germany) Clin Exp Allergy
is possible. 2000;30:187-93.
So for all of you readers out there contem- 5. Ownby DR, Johnson CC, Peterson EL. Exposure to dogs and
cats in the first year of life and risk of allergic sensitization
plating the possibility of increasing the size of at 6 to 7 years of age. JAMA. 2002 Aug 28;288(8):963-72.
your family, I highly recommend it! What better 6. Weston S et al. Effects of probiotics on atopic dermatitis: a
randomised controlled trial. Arch Dis Child 2005;90:892-
family than one such as yours that is striving to 897.
live this authentic, enriching life! As for me and

GO EASY ON THE CLEANING

Not that I am a horrible housekeeper, but given the choice, I will gladly forgo dusting when there are things to do
in the kitchen. And there is proof that my preference is healthier for my children, too! Compared to a generation ago,
allergic symptoms in general are much more commonplace today. We are seeing more environmental allergies, food
allergies and conditions such as asthma, eczema and hay fever. But why?
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The “hygiene hypothesis” is the best idea to date and has to do with a child’s exposures during his first few years
of life. The immune system is designed to identify and handle invading germs; however, if things are “too clean,” the
immune system in effect “re-sets” itself so that it is more likely to react abnormally to otherwise innocent substances in
the environment and diet. What this means is that when a baby’s immune system is not properly trained to become
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resistant, some immune cells are more likely to misbehave and turn their attention to harmless proteins and common
substances in the environment.
The dangers of being overly clean are confirmed with children and pets. Children living on farms and exposed to
animal germs have a lower prevalence of allergies compared to those in the city. Similarly, many children exposed to
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dogs and cats early in life tend to have fewer allergic conditions than those without pets in the home.
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One last “germ” theory has to do with the good bacteria called probiotics that reside in our intestinal tract. A recent
study published in The Archives of Disease in Children saw significant improvements in a group of 18-month-old, eczema-
affected babies given probiotics. Eczema is closely connected with allergies. The researchers believe the improvement was
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due, at least in part, to the probiotics “re-training” the children’s immune systems. Not only do people tend to consume
too few probiotic-rich foods—yogurt, kefir, raw cultured vegetables—but many common lifestyle habits destroy our vital
intestinal bacterial ecosystem, such as the consumption of sugars and refined foods, use of oral antibiotics or ingesting
them second-hand through animal products, and the intake of pesticides and other chemicals found in our foods and
water supply.

68 Wise Traditions WINTER 2008