To start off this blog, I'd like to describe where we are with food allergies. When I married Meredith and took on Ethan as a son, I had no idea how encompassing the effort was to work with them in the food allergies. To me, that means giving of myself in order to support Meredith as she keeps her and Ethan on the straight and narrow. Now there are times when she makes exceptions, but it is not my place to determine these times for her.

So here is the current list of allergies:

• Ethan and Meredith are both allergic to: egg whites, garlic, gluten, watermelon, wheat
• Ethan is also allergic to: asparagus, avocado, cantaloupe, cashew, celery, eggplant, grape, lemon, lettuce, pea, sweet potato, sesame, soybean black tea, tomato, black walnut
• Meredith is also allergic to: crab, cow's milk, baker's yeast, brewer's yeast, oats, peanuts, salmon, sole, tuna
• Ethan and Meredith are both sensitive to: black pepper, carrot, coconut
• Ethan is also sensitive to: baker's yeast, bell pepper, blueberry, broccoli, oat, orange, peach, strawberry, white pepper, white potato
• Meredith is also sensitive to: almonds, corn, lima beans, pea, safflower, soybean

Yikes! God does not have us down an easy road! But we know that He will provide for our needs. Thankfully, we live in a world where there is an abundance of alternate foods and other people who go through the same things. We are blessed to be close to the Levins family who also shares many of our allergies. Meredith and I both believe in homeschooling for other reasons, so we are able to keep Ethan on the diet. We also have family and friends who support us through this.

Why do we know that these are allergies? Meredith and Ethan have both been tested for antibody levels in their blood. The "allergic" items represent one threshold of the antibodies that means that we should cut the foods out completely. Not doing so will produce allergic reactions. Doing so may remove the antibodies from the bloodstream. The "sensitive" items represent another threshold that means that we should limit consumption to about once a week.

Apart from blood testing, they have seen various symptoms, both mental and physical, that indicate when foods give problems. Ethan's face can become red. Meredith gets foggy, irritable, and tired. Ethan gets a little hyperactive. They can both have diarrhea. Meredith itches. It's not good, and we have to work through these issues.

Why do these allergies come? We're not clear, but we know that Meredith and Ethan are somewhat celiac, meaning that the villi of the intestinal wall are damaged. So they have to maintain a gluten-free lifestyle. Furthermore, they both have a compromised gut. We're not sure why, but the current theory is that food particles pass through the intestines that shouldn't and cause antibodies to form.

So what does this mean for us? It means these things:

1. We have to avoid wheat and other things that have gluten. Bread, wheat cereal, milk, etc are out. We do eat a lot of buckwheat. (Insert Little Rascals references here.) I will write later about our experiences with this.
2. We rarely have pre-processed foods. Exceptions to this include sausage (no garlic or sulfites), corn chips and tortillas (corn, water, lime, salt, and limited oils), and other things that promise to be free of our allergens.
3. We rotate food, having a weekly regimen of foods spread across the week. We have one fish day, two beef days, two chicken days, and two pork days. We have one quinoa day, one red potato day, two rice days, and three buckwheat days.
4. Seasonings tend to be simple. Dishes tend to be focused around their ingredients and don't have much fluorishes.
5. Meredith and Ethan have conflicting allergies regarding dairy: Meredith can't have dairy, and Ethan can't have soy. There are a few rice-based dairy items (milk, yogurt).

So this blog will continue to talk about our journey in this area. I hope that it serves to journal our experiences as we try things.

-Brent