How will I know if my baby is allergic to foods?

 

The word on starting solids and allergies is confusing for most- parents and health professionals alike. We seem to be moving away from restricting traditionally allergy inducing foods such as eggs, nuts, dairy and wheat  when starting babies on solids.

 

 

It is becoming more widespread that offering babies small amounts of variety of foods can be beneficial in reducing food allergy in children.  We have to accept that it is common for babies and children to have food intolerances and sensitivities.

 

The big question is how did this happen.  Of interest to note is that people living in Asia, consuming an Asian diet have very little food reactions.  When these same people adopt a western type of food diet the incidence of food reactions increase to reflect the population  they have adopted.

 

So what is it?  I don’t have the answer but I suspect it’s that we live in a toxic world.  I believe it is not only in the food we ingest but also the things in our environment. Nothing new and startling – just sensible.

 

Why do I think this?  Because foods  which were considered “safe” from a  reaction point of view are not necessarily safe any longer.  We are now seeing reactions to potato and rice- once noted to be considered safe  not so long ago.

 

So what do I think?  I think introduce  whole foods- that is real tangible foods like fruit and vegetables that your family eats and you need to prepare yourself.  Introduce one new food for 3 times  before considering it safe and slowly increase variety in their food repertoire.  Where you can choose organic do so.  For many that is cost prohibitive.  The most important thing is to offer real foods, washed, no chemicals if possible.  When starting offer soft textures in your foods.

 

If a food does not agree with your baby the reactions will be one or more of  the following– unexplained and out of character constipation, skin rashes, vomiting, windy, or tummy pain.

 

There is of course some other factors to consider  when starting solids.  These are my basic thoughts on food and food reactions. future articles will cover more aspects of food and your baby.