People suffering from Food Allergies need to be able to get information about the food you make or sell in order for them to decide can they eat this food without having an allergic reaction. Without medication these reactions can be serious. For more information on food allergies see: www.allergyfacts.org.au For information on how your business can deal with food allergies see: www.anaphylaxis.org.uk/cater.html

Winter squash, carrots and sweet potatoes are not only uncommon as allergens but also provide exceptionally rich sources of health promoting phytonutrients. Electing to eat organically grown foods also helps avoid the intake of pesticides and other allergy producing toxins. Food allergies involve a unique interaction between an individual and particular foods. Listen to your body. There are no hard and fast rules as to what foods cause allergic reactions.

Everything from body aches, brain fog, mental confusion to CFS, fibromyalsia, interstitial cystitis, digestive disorders, depression, IBS, bowel disturbances, learning disabilities, loss of energy ?

Avoid the suspect foods, then add them back one at a time, and your body will tell you. When your symptoms have calmed down, usually after five to ten days (sometimes longer), then begin to add foods back into your diet.

Strict avoidance of the allergy-causing food is the only way to avoid a reaction. Reading ingredient labels for all foods is the key to maintaining control over the allergy.

Allergies do tend to run in families. But for food allergy, it is common for only a single family member to be food allergic.

Most children outgrow their food allergies after avoiding eating the foods for a time. Fewer, however, outgrow their allergies to peanuts and tree nuts.

Science has yet to find a cure for true food allergies. The best approach to avoiding reactions is to eliminate the problem food from your diet. Physicians hope the vaccines being developed will control food allergy even if they do not cure the condition.

Some of our dishes contain wheat, dairy, eggs, nuts, soy or other ingredients which may cause allergic reactions in some people. Almost all of our dishes contain at least a small amount of spices, salt and/or sugar. Many times in the past we have tried to provide special diets for our guests with special medical needs and we wish very much that we could offer this service now.

Yes. Remember that the food plan is a well-balanced guide to sound nutrition and healthy eating. The length of time between meals is also an important part of the balance of the plan. The amounts of food and the meal times are no accident. We metabolize our food in direct relation to the balance that is designed into this food plan. Your body will become accustomed to eating this amount of food and will also adjust to the times you eat. Remember that you are not on a diet.

There is a cookbook that might be of assistance, as well as an organization that might be able to help. This is one of the best resources for information on food allergies. They have a number of handouts on foods which contain possible allergens and recipes which can be used. They could answer some of your specific questions. VRG carries a book - Vegetarian Cooking for People with Allergies that might be of interest. It is available for $15 (this includes media mail shipping).

One of the best sources of information is located on a web site nicknamed ANDI or www.autismndi.com. Two parent researchers Karyn Seroussi and Lisa Lewis originally set it up. They have large amounts of information on gluten and casein free diets. Everything from special recipe's to family support information. Everything costs. MFEAT has an article about the taxman and how to deduct. Some companies pay for speech-language, some for occupational therapy.

Amy's Kitchen recognizes the needs of our customers who have allergies or sensitivities to nuts, gluten, certain spices, etc. Amy's always fully discloses all ingredients (except for specific spices used in the product) on the ingredient statement and will answer any questions that will help consumers decide what products they can safely consume.

Answer : Delayed food allergies are now being associated with chronic diseases such as Irritable bowel (IBS), Crohn's, migraines, Lupus, and Rheumatoid Arthritis. The list of associated diseases are growing every day. To view a complete list see our section on related diseases.

Answer : Immediate allergic reactions (IgE) occur within a few moments to up to two hours, so it is easy to identify a correlation. Whereas delayed allergic reactions happened from two to 72 hours after eating, sometimes even longer. This is why it is difficult to logically connect the symptoms with food just eaten. The reason for this is protein takes 3 to 4 days to enzymatically digest, so foods you eat today are added to the foods you have eaten over the last three days.

Answer : The red cell is the answer. Immune complexes are being formed all the time, but they adhere to red blood cells that are carried to spleen and liver where they are cleared. Those individual who have more immune complex or less immune complex receptors on the red blood cell are the ones who suffer from chronic food allergies.

Answer : Allergists and general practitioners are taught that there is no response other than IgE. If tests for IgE are negative you may be told you have a non-allergic allergy. This is obviously an oxymoron. What the doctor means is you appear to have allergic symptoms, but your skin or RAST tests are negative. Most food reaction do not involve IgE.

Answer : Your doctor will instruct you to eliminate all of your reactive foods for a minimum of six weeks. This all will be spelled out with a booklet provided to you with your test results.

Answer : If you have any symptoms or diseases listed in the section on chronic conditions then you possibly do. The more symptoms you identify with the stronger the possibility of delayed food allergies. Our test will be able to specifically identify those foods causing your chronic symptoms. Everybody's chemistry is unique. The same food may cause migraines in one person and IBS in another.