Six-year-old Paul really likes popcorn. He becomes positively giddy about it, in fact. I buy it only occasionally because some brands have unhealthy oils (palm or coconut), and other brands have food dye. I've yet to get him an air popper.
After the girls fell asleep tonight and it was time to read to the boys, I made them some popcorn. Paul broke out in hives within fifteen minutes--his first case ever! It took me five minutes to assess the situation and then I promptly gave him Benydryl. He is sleeping soundly now, with no apparent breathing problems. I can only hope since this is the first sign of allergy, that this episode will be mild. Corn is a common allergen, but not on the Top 8 list. If one is allergic to corn--a cereal grain--it is possible one will develop other cereal grain allergies.
Paul always refuses corn, but does like corn muffins and corn tortillas, both of which he's eaten in the past forty-eight hours. He's had no new foods lately, except for a smidgen of honey on his corn muffin. Honey isn't a common allergen, and besides, that ingestion was over twenty-four hours ago.
I'm a bit discouraged about this. He started crying when I told him he might have a corn allergy. His passion for popcorn runs so deep! He was devastated. And mad. The only thing I could offer was that some children do grow out of food allergies (except for peanut allergy of course).
Although husband's family has serious seasonal allergies, none in that family have food allergies. My mom and sister have a milk sensitivity, but other than that my side is free from food allergy as well.
Three of my children are plagued by eczema, and in the past two years, both boys have developed pollen allergy. I'm wondering what other allergies might surface. Corn, as you probably can guess, is in so many things! There is even a dusting of corn starch in food packaging. What a nightmare!
Some days I just can't believe how complicated life gets.
I can only think of two positives right now, in regards to this. First, we started on a whole food journey a few months ago. That will help enormously if I have to eliminate all corn derivatives. Second, Paul has always been a very picky eater. Now I see that maybe the slower introduction to many foods could have been protective.
So, do you have any good news? I'd really like to hear some good news! Please.
3 comments:
That stinks!
Ya know, life is hard. No pretty speeches here :o) but thankfully this isn't all there is. There is a place coming that is allergy free.
In the mean time we learn to love each other and him in the middle of all the hard stuff but no always fun :o(
Hugs to you and that popcorn lovin little man. I`d be so devastated too.
Bummer about the allergic reaction, I hope you figure out what it is.
Just a quick note -- coconut oil is one of the healthiest oils around! Research it, as you are able, on your food journey.
Thank you, Sandi and Liz. No hives today at all. You are right, Sandi. All these little things just contribute to a kingdom focus, which is a good thing.
I am going to call his doctor at some point today and ask if I should withhold corn derivatives, or just things made with mostly corn.
I did read a long article about fats recently and there was big disagreement among the foodies in the comments section as to whether tropical oils, including coconut, are healthy or not. I just wanted to know which cooking oil is the best. There was huge disagreement about canola oil as well, but I finally decided to stick with that for baking and cooking. I'll keep researching.
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