Triggers In Your Pantry?

I’m sitting here with a face so swollen that anyone will immediately recognize I have a bad case of the “uglies”. Now this is not stated so that lots of people will say, “Oh No, you look just fine.” Nope, today it’s a really bad case of the “uglies”. And yes it has a HUGE connection with Preparedness. Today I will once again be a visual aid, (no I won’t run a virtual reality clip, you just have to believe me.)

In the last few years I have acquired a disease that has changed my outlook on a lot of things. It is a strange thing and has a very long impressive, but not very well known name. One of the complications of this “interesting” disease is that my face swells, and I look as if I were very badly burnt in a bad car wreck. Many times it is the result of a food trigger. And sometimes it triggers itself. But its impact on what and how I eat and the things that I can or CAN’T have in my pantry is amazing. Would you believe just a tiny overdose of healthy-for-you carrots can be lethal for me. Do you realize how many of those wonderful dried soup mixes I’ve had to take off of my shelves and give away? (I won’t let them test me for chocolate!)

Many of you deal with hay fever, known as an allergy. But today I want to talk to you about severe allergic reaction and food triggers. If you have one you know it – maybe. Food triggers and a severe reaction could cause death or a hospital stay to save your life.

There follows an excerpt from Preparedness Principles*, to create awareness for you. But this is not just your everyday, ordinary awareness. This is AWARENESS!

If someone in your family has gluten intolerance, there are often other grains besides wheat that are often acceptable and trouble free. Check with your health-care provider for suggestions and information. Because food allergies and triggers are all different, the grains that will be acceptable in your situation will differ also. In filling your pantry shelves, pay attention to grains, nuts or other ingredients that may be similar, but not the same as the exact allergen that you have dealt with previously. They may also be a problem for you. For example, wheat, spelt, and buckwheat are similar in makeup; if you’re allergic to wheat, you may have a reaction to the other two – or not.

Most tree nuts are also allergenic; an allergy to one often means an allergy to others. Even though peanuts are a legume or bean, they are highly allergenic.

Please do not share or rely on the cures or solutions that some one else swears by, especially in difficult times when it may prove to be difficult to get proper medicine or medical help. Their solutions may not work for you or your family member. For them it may just be an allergy; for you or your loved one the same food could cause a severe reaction or trigger.

Before you stock up on other grains, or potentially allergenic foods, make sure you are OK with them. If not, don’t buy or store them!

A major rule of preparedness must be – don’t assume that because times are hard and that problem foods are all there is to eat, that somehow you will be blessed and will be able to eat it. You won’t! That’s not to say I don’t believe in miracles, I do. However …

Back to my case of the “uglies.” There are now quite a few of “what I used to call regular or normal” foods that I had in my pantry. “Had and used to” – both past tense terms. I now must read labels even more diligently than I did before. If things were really tough and my disease broke through I could have a terribly difficult time – IF I did not have the remedies on hand. On the other hand I must not have certain foods that could contaminate or get mixed in or mistakenly used or I would have a serious crisis in the middle of another crisis.

Now is the time for you to check out the mixes, the contents, and the ingredients of the foodstuffs in your cupboards or pantries. Now is the time to see what causes the “sniffles” for a family member. Perhaps you have been saying, “Oh, It’s not a big thing, it happens every time he/she eats such and such a food, their nose runs like a faucet.” Don’t panic, but do you need to think again?

Now to make sure all of your priorities are in place you have been reading all of the recent nutritional reports that indicate how good chocolate is for you. Right? Right! (No, I don’t sell chocolate and my middle initials are not M&M. Yes I have done some family research and no ancestor is named Hershey either. Hmmmmmmmmm, maybe I could be adopted.)

Take a look at Preparedness Principles on the website www.solutionsforpreparedness.com


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