Gut bacteria have a crucial role in protecting against food allergies, according to recent research. Cow's milk is the most common food allergen among children. When scientists transplanted gut microbes, or microbiota, from healthy human babies into mice with no bacteria of their own, the animals did not have an allergic reaction on exposure to cow's milk. In contrast, germ-free mice that received gut bacteria from human babies with cow's milk allergy did experience allergic reactions to cow's milk. Allergy to cow's milk is the most common childhood food allergy. The researchers, who report their findings in the journal Nature Medicine, also identified a bacterium that, when present in the gut, prevents allergic responses to food. "This study," says senior study author Cathryn R. Nagler, Ph.D., a professor in food allergy at the University of Chicago in Illinois, "allows us to define a causal relationship and shows that the microbiota itself can dictate whether or not you get an allergic response." She adds that the results "strongly suggest" that treatments that work by altering gut bacteria could help to reduce the "food allergy disease burden." http://bit.ly/2TbigpZ #cowsmilk #cowsmilkallergy #cowsmilkproteinallergy #cowsmilkintolerant #cowsmilkintolerance #cowsmilkproteinintolerance #allergies #foodintolerances #babyallergy — view on Instagram http://bit.ly/2FHjNl8
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My Baby is Allergic to Cow’s Milk But Has No Problem with Australian Fresh Milk
A little history to begin with...
As some of you may already know, Dozer had a bad case of eczema from birth till 1+. He was allergic to cows' milk and silicone and his poor face would get a bad breakout if he came into contact with any of these 2.
As simple as it sounds, the allergy wasn't a straightforward one. For example, if he came into contact with certain types of plastics, his rashes would flare up. These included things like the Haenim play yard and even plastic toys from lesser known brands.
Haenim play yard
Dozer’s allergy specialist suggested that some plastics have elements of silicone in them and for sensitive children, even if the milk teat on their bottle was made out of latex, silicone element in the plastic milk bottle itself could trigger the eczema.
The rashes never started off bad. It always started off with blushing red cheeks and you could see the veins appearing, then the cheeks would get redder and redder throughout the day, until they looked like patches of dry skins. The rashes would then breakout and then if he was continuously exposed to the allergen, pus would form and his rashes would be oozing. It was absolutely heartbreaking to see and even though he never seemed overly distressed apart from wanting to scratch them, I always shed tears whenever his rashes flared up.
Despite these episodes, it helped tremendously knowing the source of his rashes. Upon finding out that he was allergic to silicone, I instantly removed his silicone pacifier (despite suffering through his cries) and saw an IMMEDIATE improvement on his rashes on the way back from the doctor.
Later on I got him HEVEA latex pacifiers and they worked well for Dozer. (Read till the end for information on the allergy specialist I went to.)
Outgrowing his allergy
When Dozer was 18 months old, I had to wean him off breastmilk because I was pregnant with Baby Junior. His paed suggested that I try feeding him a little fresh milk just to see if he had outgrown his allergy and so I bought a carton of Farmhouse milk to try out. Nothing happened! I couldn't believe it! He had outgrown his allergy!
So Dozer started drinking Farmhouse fresh milk without any apparent adverse consequences. April 1st, 2015 came and GST was implemented. Prices started going up and a carton of Farmhouse went up to RM9++. I was REALLY tempted to switch to other brands because RM9 for a carton of milk...?!?!
Now I initially chose Farmhouse because it is Australian-produced and I do have a high regard for Australian products. It is fair to assume that general perception towards Australian-made or manufactured is that they have a higher standard of quality in comparison with products from say, China or Malaysia. No bashing, please. I know there are exceptions to the rule but in general, they probably adhere to higher standards than we do for now.
Anyway, I decided to try out Goodday, which is one of my favourite brands since young and guess what happened when I served it to Dozer?
HIS RASHES CAME BACK!!!
I couldn't believe it. So I stopped him from all dairy products for a week and waited till his rashes subsided. Thankfully they were mild so they subsided within a few days. Then I tried Goodday again.
AGAIN, THE RASHES RETURNED!!!
Farmhouse = no issues
Goodday = rashes outbreak
How not to trust Australian-made, you tell me?!?!
Since then, Dozer has been alternating between fresh and formula milk with an unwavering loyalty to Australian brands for fresh milk. We have tried Pura and he is fine with it too.
The new convert
Now, you might have read about Timothy Tiah's Farm Fresh incident. Farm Fresh is a local and relatively young brand. If you're getting confused between Farm Fresh and Farmhouse, you're just like me! I always go Farm...(pause to think if it's "fresh" or "house") whenever I need to talk about these 2 brands.
In brief, what transpired was a post by Timothy Tiah, complaining about spoilt milk which he had the misfortune of purchasing TWICE. The post went viral and caught the attention of Farm...(pause to think)...Fresh management.
What happened next?
Well, hats off to Farm...(pause)...Fresh. They issued a public statement on their social media platform offering to replace any spoilt milk that customers had purchased. The CEO then personally reached out to Timothy Tiah with an e-mail, explaining the incident along with a heartfelt plea; “please don’t give up on us”.
Honestly, when I read the e-mail, just like the other n number of consumers out there, I became a convert. If you haven’t read about the incident, go read the post on Timothy Tiah’s blog and you will know what I mean. I decided to give Farm Fresh a go the next time I went shopping.
The moment of truth
A couple of weeks passed and out of habit, I kept buying Farmhouse. Then last week, I suddenly remembered that I wanted to give Farm Fresh a shot and purchased a carton of it. I happily served it to Dozer the next morning and by noon, it suddenly occurred to me that...
...HIS CHEEKS WERE RED!!!
No rashes, thankfully, but they were definitely red with signs of worsening if I continued to give him whatever was triggering it. I decided not to mention anything but when his Daddy saw him in the evening, he actually asked me, “Don’t you think Dozer’s cheeks are a little red today?” a.k.a. our code sentence for “Is his allergy flaring up again?”
Anyway, the redness subsided the next day and I bought a new carton of Farmhouse for Dozer.
So, what is it with locally produced fresh milk???
As of today, I have no answers yet but this recurring matter has intrigued me sufficiently to research on it and I’ll update as I go along!
You might be interested in my previous posts concerning Dozer’s allergies:
1. Dr. Wong Meng Kiang, Skin Specialist of Tangkak
2. Who Would Have Thought it Was Silicone?
3. Of Rabbits, Carrots and Milk
Hi, I’m a certified Dr. Sears Health Coach, full-time mum and entrepreneur! Connect with me at:
- Facebook: facebook.com/graciouslittlethings
- Instagram / Dayre: @graciouslittlethings
If you’re interested in working with me as a blogger, please e-mail
[email protected]
Also, please check out www.littlebabygrains.com where I sell organic and chemical-free rice for your babies suitable from 6 months onwards!
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