The John Tesh Blog

What You Need To Know About Food Allergies

Can you imagine using food to threaten a child?  According to the Globe and Mail, kids with food allergies are faced with threats of being touched by or forced to eat a food they're supposed to avoid. Some call it "allergy bullying."

What about food allergies?   ABC News estimates that one in 25 Americans has a food allergy, including 3 million children.   

You can be allergic to a number of foods, but there are eight common allergens that account for most food allergy reactions:
    •milk
    •eggs
    •peanuts
    •soy
    •wheat
    •tree nuts (such as walnuts and cashews)
    •fish
    •shellfish (such as shrimp)

Research shows 20% of kids will outgrow food allergies when their immune system stops developing.  Some foods like milk, eggs, wheat or soy are easier to outgrow.  However, according to TeensHealth.com only 20% of children grow out of their allergic reaction to peanuts. 

Here's what happens in the human body during an allergic reaction.  In the body of a person allergic to peanuts, their immune system mistakenly believes the peanuts are harmful.  To protect the body, the immune system creates IgE antibodies to the peanuts.  The IgE antibodies  release a chemical into the bloodstream.

One of the chemicals released into the system is histamine.  This chemical acts on the eyes, nose, throat, lungs, skin and digestive system - also known as allergy symptoms.

Some allergic reactions affect only one area of the body such as the skin where hives appear. When the digestive system is  affected, you may experience stomach cramps, nausea, vomiting or diarrhea.  With a respiratory allergic reaction you could get a runny nose, itchy, watery eyes and sneeze and cough.

Some people have serious life-threatening allergic reactions in which one or two body systems go out of whack - this is called anaphylaxis.  This includes swelling of the throat, serious breathing difficulty, a drop in blood pressure and loss of consciousness.

What can you do to avoid an allergic reaction to certain foods?

•Go see an allergist to run a skin test.  With a skin test the doctor will place liquid extracts of different foods on your forearm and prick the skin to see if there's an allergic reaction.  Once your doctor knows what allergens you have a reaction to, he can decide the best treatment for you. 

•Avoid the food in question. Some people experience allergic reactions mainly to raw food. Once certain foods are cooked, such as fruits or vegetables, the allergens are broken down and no longer cause symptoms.  The same is true for a person who is allergic to food oils. A person allergic to soy, corn or safflower is unlikely to be allergic to these oils because the purification and processing breaks down the oils.  Since peanut oil is less processed, it remains a potential allergen.

•Take medications for treating food allergies.  Antihistamines treat such symptoms as hives, runny nose or stomach pain connected with an allergic reaction. In a situation where there is breathing difficulty, sensation of tightness in the throat or where two body systems show allergic reactions, a doctor may prescribe epinephrine.

•Read labels in supermarkets and ask questions in restaurants.  Food manufacturers in the U.S. must list on their labels whether their product contains any of the eight common allergens.  It's important for a person to know whether the "hydrolyzed vegetable protein" in the food comes from peanuts. 

When in a restaurant and you know you have an allergy, ask your server what the food is made of. If the server does not know, he can ask the chef.

John
Email John:  johnsblog@teshmedia.com

For more information on food issues, diet and nutritional health, read my new book Intelligence For Your Life:  Powerful Lesson For Personal Growth.  You can purchase my book at your local bookstore or on line at Amazon.com or Barnes and Noble.

Make Your Cleaning Greener

Like it or not, claims the Los Angeles Times, an increasing number of consumers are buying green cleaners. Last year the growing “green crowd” spent $105 million on natural cleaning products.

What’s so special about these products?   

•they contain natural – not synthetic – agents. 
•they break down quickly in the environment.   
•they pose less of a toxic threat to humans than traditional everyday cleaners. 

But just how dangerous to our health are the everyday cleaning agents?

In a Town and Country special edition article, Dierdre Imus, wife of radio jock Don Imus cites an EPA list of the killer household chemicals we are exposed to everyday:  cancer causing formaldehyde in fabric softeners; neurotoxins in air fresheners; nitrobenzene and phenol in furniture polish; ammonia, which is damaging to the lungs, skin and eyes, and chlorine bleach, whose fumes can cause severe eye and lung irritation.

For the person who wants to use safer cleaners, here are several time-tested products:

•Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day Products contains ingredients derived from corn, sugar cane and coconut in place of synthetic solvents, bleach and petroleum distillates.
•Seventh Generation manufactures a bathroom cleaner that uses hydrogen peroxide rather than chlorine to remove stains
•Method Cleaning Products makes an all-purpose cleaner made of soda ash to break down grease.

Here’s an easy-to-follow list of measures we can take to keep our household cleaners actually clean:

•Use vinegar or baking soda to clean just about anything.  When you mix either of these with warm water, you’ve got yourself an all-purpose cleaner.  Care2, a website about green living, suggests other ingredients as household cleaners:  plain soap, water, washing soda (sodium carbonate), lemon juice and borax.

However, be prepared to use a little more elbow grease with green products. Green products, says Live Science, requires more effort to achieve the same visual cleanliness than the conventional cleansers. 

•Try to avoid chlorine, such as bleach.  Grist, a website source for environmental news, warns that chlorine bleach is highly caustic - it can burn your eyes and skin and be fatal if swallowed.

Instead of trying to disinfect your bathroom or kitchen surfaces with scouring powders and cleaning solutions which contain chlorine, white vinegar helps kill bacteria, mold and viruses. 

Commercial non-chlorine bleach products include Bon Ami scouring powder and cream cleansers form Earth Friendly and Ecover. 

•Choose dish and laundry detergents that are plant based (corn, palm kernel or coconut oil). To remove stains from your clothes, try soaking fabrics in water mixed with borax, lemon juice, hydrogen peroxide, washing soda or white vinegar.  You can also purchase non-chlorine bleach made form sodium percarbonate available from Bio Pac or Shaklee.

•Avoid standard oven cleaners.  The corrosives  (lye and sodium hydroxide) contained in oven cleaners can irritate your eyes, skin and respiratory tract.  Grist.org  recommends you use a paste made of baking or washing soda and coat your oven surface and let it stand overnight. Scrub off the paste the following day wearing gloves.   

•Consider alternatives to air fresheners and other perfumed products. An open box of baking soda also removes odors or you can just open up your windows.  Stay away from air fresheners that contain phthalates, also found in dish detergents and fabric softeners.  These chemicals have been linked to cancer. To some people fragrances can trigger asthma and allergic reactions – headaches, skin and respiratory reactions and watery eyes.

Follow these helpful tips to make your home both clean and green – a safe place for your family.

John
Email John:  johnsblog@teshmedia.com

In my book Intelligence For Your Life:  Powerful Lessons For Personal Growth I have more information about how to live a cleaner life. You can purchase the book at your local bookstores or order it online from Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.

How To Cut Costs On Buying Organic Food

You may love the taste and health benefits of organic food, but have you noticed their sticker price?

One mom reports she plunks down 10%, 20%, sometimes 100% more on organic food so her kids are not eating pesticides with their fruit. Consumer Reports claims people shell out 50% extra for organic food.

But is the extra cost we pay for organic food worth it?

Business Week claims research has not yet proven any adverse affects from consuming low levels of pesticides found in the food we eat.  However, for the highest risk group - children and pregnant women – it makes sense to avoid fruits and vegetables tainted with any kind of pesticide or fertilizer. 

If you want to eat produce free from pesticides and meat uncontaminated with growth hormones and antibiotics, you’re going to have to pay more.

However, you won’t pay a lot more if you do your homework and find cheaper ways to purchase organic food. To start you off, here are several helpful suggestions to help reduce your organic shopping bills.

•You don’t have to buy all organic items.  Consumer Reports adds that not all organic-labeled products offer any health value.   For some items it makes sense to buy organic:  apples, peaches, spinach, milk and beef.   It might be wise to skip the organic shampoos and seafood which often carry misleading labels.

•Run a price check of organic foods among local grocery stores and compare. Shop where you find the lowest prices.  Research the following websites to find organic food sources in your local area: Organic Kitchen, Organic Consumers Association and Eat Well Guide.

•Don’t forget to check out organic growers at your local farmer’s markets.   When visiting a farmer’s market, if you don’t see a sign saying the produce is organic, be sure to ask.  For a listing of local farmer’s markets, visit Farmers Markets and the Local Harvest.

•Join a farm team. Buy a share in a community supported agriculture (CSA) program and you’ll receive a weekly supply of produce from spring until fall.  Consumer Reports suggests the costs to feed a family of four using a CSA ranges from  $300 to $500 for the season.  For a list of community supported farms go to The Organic Pages. 

•Buy “big” when produce is in season. As the produce is harvested, there’s a greater supply available and you’ll find your favorite fruits and veggies are dirt-cheap.

•Don’t steer away from organic supermarket brands.  According to bankrate.com any food with the word “organic” on its label still has to go through the same certification process regardless of its brand name. If you find an organic house brand at your supermarket, you can save a lot of money.

•Shop for organic food online.  If you cannot dig up a local source for the organic food you want, jump online.  The GreenPeople directory is a good place to launch your online search for inexpensive organic foods. 

•Ease into eating organic food. There’s no need to switch everything over all at once. You can start by swapping out the food that is most likely to have the highest levels of pesticide residues such as apples, apricots, peaches, pears, red raspberries, strawberries, spinach, peppers, celery and potatoes.

John
Email John: johnsblog@teshmedia.com

For more information on healthy eating, check out my new book  Intelligence For Your Life:  Powerful Lessons For Personal Growth.  You can buy it at your local bookstores or order it online from Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.

Is A Lack of Sleep Affecting You?

It’s not uncommon for hard-working people to brag about how little sleep they’re getting.  Living without much sleep has become a badge of honor . . . 

According to CBS 60 Minutes a 1960 survey by the American Cancer Society asked one million Americans how much sleep they were getting. Eight hours was the average response.  Today that number has slipped to 6.7 hours of sleep each night. 

Is it really so bad for us to be getting a little more than five or six hours of sleep?   Check out the serious side effects of not getting enough sleep:

Increases Your Risk of Diabetes
In a research study at the University of Chicago School of Medicine volunteers underwent six nights of sleep deprivation. The physicians noted after six nights with limited sleep the subjects entered a pre-diabetic state!

A Good Housekeeping April 2008 article claims the less you sleep the more you almost double your chances for diabetes. One Columbia University Medical Center doctor warns, “Losing just an hour of sleep a night increases insulin sensitivity, which in turn increases the risk of diabetes.” But that’s not all . . .

Slows Down Your Physical and Mental Effectiveness
Not getting enough sleep can impact your health in the form of physical and mental impairments.  A lack of sleep can affect your ability to think, make decisions, handle stress, maintain a healthy immune system and balance your emotions.

Other affects of sleep deprivation include depression, heart disease, hypertension, irritability, slower reaction times, slurred speech and tremors.

Brings Noticeable Weight Changes
CBS News reports chronic sleep deprivation is connected to America’s obesity problem.  A study suggests lack of sleep has an effect on the “appetite control” hormone leptin. 

During sleep deprivation, leptin levels lower and inform the brain you have a food shortage in your body and need to eat. When leptin levels are higher, your brain tells your body that you’re getting enough food.

For those with sleep deprivation, you end up feeling less  satisfied by what you eat. You eat more to satisfy your inner cravings for food and you begin to gain weight. 

So when we experience sleep deprivation, we overeat. If you’re trying to lose weight but are not getting enough sleep, you may not be seeing the results you want in your weight loss.

A Dire Need For a Good Night's Sleep
Besides prescription and over-the-counter sleep aids, try these easy remedies for a good night’s sleep:

•Start by exercising more. Experts tell us if you want to get a good night’s sleep, you need to have a good day’s workout.  Why would exercise help you sleep better?  Exercise places physical stress on the body, and the brain responds by increasing the amount of time we spend in deep sleep.

•Avoid eating one to two hours before crawling into bed. It is difficult to stay asleep if you your body is trying to digest the food you ate for your late night snack.

•Avoid napping during the day.  This can make it more difficult for you to fall asleep at night. You may be creating a vicious cycle, as a lack of nighttime sleep leads to the need for daytime naps.

•Reduce your levels of stress. Be sure to have an active social life, interesting hobbies and anything else you can do to give yourself a sense of well-being. You want to go to sleep at night without having excessive worries and depression.

John
Email John:  johnsblog@teshmedia.com

In my book Intelligence For Your Life:  Powerful Lessons For Personal Growth I've written on how you can make the best choices for your health. You can purchase the book at your local bookstores or order it online from Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.

Be Sure Your Pet's Food Is Safe

Last year pet owners spent $16.2 billion on food for their animals. Yet we’re not sure if the food we’re giving our pets is 100% safe.

MSNBC.com reports that in 2007 thousands of dogs and cats were killed due to a contaminated pet food recall. One manufacturer, Menu Foods, recalled about 60 million cans of dog and cat food - 91 different brands all together.

The pet food contained imported Chinese ingredients tainted with the chemical melamine and cyanuric acid. These contaminants were added to plain wheat flour, enabling it to be sold as more expensive, higher-protein ingredients.

According to the Pet Connection blog, not much has changed since the pet food scare.  The inspection of pet food plants has not improved; pet food industry standards have not been overhauled and pet food labeling has not been revised.

Legislation that has passed relies on pet food companies to voluntarily recall any contaminated product. Even China is expected to police its own product safety without outside inspection.

To be fair, some pet food manufacturers claim to be using better ingredients in their products and are more careful about where their ingredients come from.

Are our pets any safer one-year later?  Here are some questions you need to ask to make sure your pet is eating the right stuff:

•What should pet owners expect to find in animal food? The common ingredients in pet food include grains such as corn, wheat, rice and grain by-products. The meat products found in pet foods are chicken, beef, seafood and meat by-products.

•What should you look for when reading pet-food labels? The FDA informs us that ingredients must be listed is descending order by weight.  MSBNC.com informs us, “Meat and poultry are heavy ingredients that contain about 60 percent water, so it doesn’t take much to land them at the top of the ingredient list. They might be followed by wheat, wheat middlings and wheat meal run.”

Connection.com tells its readers to choose a food with meat as the primary ingredient. However, be sure the specific type of meat is listed on the packaging, such as chicken, lamb or turkey. Don’t settle for the generic word “meat.”

•Is organic pet food any safer? Feeding your pet an organic food product is definitely better for your dog or cat. However, there’s no guarantee against contamination.  Some toxins can occur naturally.

•Is our best choice to give our pets a homemade diet? Some people refuse to purchase commercial pet foods. They prepare their own, using the same meats and other ingredients they cook for themselves.

Giving your pet a home-cooked diet gives the owner the assurance their animal’s food contains no by-products or mysterious meat.  Some animal nutritionists are concerned that a home-prepared diet may not provide the animal a complete and balanced recipe.

•How do I know if a commercial pet food is contaminated? Once you open a new bag, pouch or can, check for an unusual appearance or odor.  If you find something “off,” don’t feed it to your pet. If your pet becomes sick after eating a new diet, stop feeding and get in touch with a vet.

If you suspect anything wrong with any pet food, check the packaging for the manufacturer’s phone number and contact them immediately to report a problem.

Your pet relies on you to provide it with uncontaminated food. You should be able to depend on your pet food producer to sell a product that has been tested for contaminants.

John
Email John:  johnsblog@teshmedia.com

My new book Intelligence For Your Life:  Powerful Lessons For Personal Growth is now available in your local bookstores or you can order it online from Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.

How Safe Is the Medicine You're Taking?

Caution! The medicine or multivitamin you took this morning may be dangerous to your health!

Recently, Baxter’s blood thinner Heparin, made with active ingredients from China, appears to be tainted by a mysterious look-alike substance.  Already 19 U.S. deaths have occurred and 800 serious drug reactions.

In the Fall of 2007 one million counterfeit OneTouch diabetes test strips went on sale in 700 pharmacies in 35 states.

Are our prescription and over-the-counter drugs safe or not?  Roger Williams, CEO of Pharmacopeia, warns Americans, “should be quite concerned.”

More than 150 million Americans take vitamin and mineral supplements regularly, but according to U.S. News and World Report those tablets don’t always contain all the active ingredients promised on the label.  You may be getting more or less of the ingredient you paid for!

What should we do?

Know that the best pharmaceutical products are still made in the USA. When a drug is imported from outside the U.S., the FDA cannot assure their safety.  In July 2004 the FDA discovered one website advertising Viagra, Lipitor and Ambien as Canadian generics.  The drugs were found to be fake and dangerous.

According to an industry publication, “one in seven drugs worldwide is fake - that’s $35 billion annually in counterfeit drug sales.”

Our drug safety net is not what it used to be since we started importing pharmaceuticals from other countries like China and India.

U.S. News and World Report claims, “between 2,000 and 3,000 overseas pharmaceutical manufacturers that sell to the United States are registered with the FDA. However, some of those have not been inspected in eight to 10 years . . ."

To put things into perspective, in the last five years, Chinese pharmaceutical imports into the U.S. have more than doubled, to $698 million. Half of the aspirin used around the world comes from China, as do 35% of the painkiller acetaminophen and almost all synthetic vitamin C.

Examine pills and packaging when you obtain a new prescription. Make sure the drug company stamp is correct and readable on the pill or tablet. Check the sticker on the pill bottle that tells you what to look for.

Note if the medicine tastes different, dissolves differently or has different effects. If something is off, go back to the drug store and speak to the pharmacist.  Call the manufacturer and complain.

Recognize the risk you take when buying drugs over the Internet. The Internet has created a marketplace for unapproved medical products, illegal prescribing and products marketed with fraudulent health claims, according to the FDA.   

In May 2007 the FDA warned that people who bought Xenical, a weight-loss drug, over the Internet received pills that looked identical to the actual pill but contained talc and starch. 

Think about this before you punch in that pharmaceutical order over the Internet. According to MarkMonitor, 38% of E-mail hawking Internet drugs come from China; 24% from the Russian Federation and just 2% came from Canada.

•You know you’re on an illegal site when they dispense prescription drugs without the necessity of a valid doctor’s prescription.

•When you buy medication from a questionable web site, you’re taking a risk.  The drugs can be outdated, contaminated, too potent or not potent enough and improperly manufactured.

•Beware of web sites that claim dietary supplements will prevent, treat or cure any disease. Some of these websites will tell patients not to undergo surgery, chemotherapy or other prescribed legitimate treatments. 

Our drug safety net is frayed at the edges. It’s up to you to check to be sure your medicines are as safe as possible.

John   

Email John:   johnsblog@teshmedia.com

My new book Intelligence for Your Life: Powerful Lessons For Personal Growth is now on sale.  You can purchase a copy online by visiting Barnes & Noble.

How To Find the Germs Before They Find You

When it comes to germs, what freaks you out the most?  Gas station bathrooms? Port-A-Potties? Public restroom door handles? 

Did you know the bulk of germs are hibernating in places you least suspect? Here’s the list:  playground equipment, the phone receiver, ATM keypads and elevator buttons.   

"Dr. Germ," a professor of environmental microbiology cautions: “People have a false sense of security when it comes to germs.”

The kitchen sink is one place with the most germs because it contains the most surfaces that remain moist. Though the kitchen is more germ populated than the bathroom, our restrooms still have their fair share of illness-causing bacteria.

Yet if we change some of our hygiene habits, we can get our bathrooms as germ-free as an operating room.

Color code hand and bath towels. It’s important that family members don’t swap towels and viruses.  Neil Schachter M.D., author of The Good Doctor’s Guide To Colds and Flu advises: “If people are burrowing their faces in towels, they are doing more than drying off, they are depositing germs.”

Don’t share toothbrushes. Color-code your toothbrushes to make sure everyone has their own. Here’s why: when you brush, you remove plaque and particles. Your toothbrush becomes infested with bacteria, blood, saliva and oral debris. These contaminants are passed on to you if you share someone else’s toothbrush. WebMD suggests toothbrushes make no contact with any other toothbrushes stored in the same holder.

Always flush with the lid down.  Charles Gerba, a professor of microbiology at the University of Arizona warns, “Polluted water vapor erupts out of the flushing toilet and it can take hours for these particles to finally settle.” Make sure your toothbrush is not too close to the toilet if you choose to keep the lid up when you flush.  You don’t want to brush your teeth with what’s in your toilet.

Wipe down high-touch surfaces. WebMD suggests using disinfectant spray or wipes on faucets, toilet flusher handles, cupboard handles, doorknobs, shower door handles and any other areas that come into contact with your hands.

Set up a paper cup dispenser.  It sounds like a good idea to use paper cups in the bathroom rather than plastic or ceramic cups.  An enormous amount of germs are spread when we use plastic cups that are shared among the family members.

Wash your hands thoroughly when you use the bathroom.  Dr. Germ reminds us, “80% of infections are spread by hand. The solution is proper hand hygiene with soap and water or an alcohol-based sanitizer.”

Here’s bad news for men.  According to ABC News one-third of men don’t bother to wash after using the bathroom, compared to 12% of women.

Frequent hand washing is the single best thing people can do to avoid getting sick from colds and the flu.

One microbiologist from Primary Children’s Medical Center in Salt Lake City suggests carrying sanitizer gels and wipes in case you are unable to wash your hands.

Shake water from the curtain after showering. Why?  Getting rid of excess water will prevent buildup of mold and mildew.  Always leave the curtain open as well as a bathroom window so water evaporates.

Occasionally, remove your shower heads and soak them overnight in vinegar.  You can also use a commercial cleanser.  This process removes build-up and dirt that clogs the head and contaminates the shower water you stand under for ten to fifteen minutes a day.

These simple clean-up tips can make quite a difference in creating a sanitary environment in your bathroom.

John   
Email: johnsblog@teshmedia.com

Have you heard about my new hardcover book Intelligence For Your Life: Powerful Lessons for Personal Growth? You can pre-order it today at half price and you'll receive a free John Tesh Alive Music&Dance DVD by just clicking here.