Allergies and Asthma
Allergies and Asthma are two of the most common health problems today; they are chronic illnesses that require careful attention. With the proper medication and careful monitoring people can have a comfortable life by avoiding the causes that can trigger an allergy or asthma attack.
In this article, you will know what comprises an allergy and asthma along with their symptoms, causes and medication.
What Is Allergy?
An allergy is a hypersensitivity disorder of the immune system. An allergic reaction occurs when a person’s immune system reacts to normally harmless substances in the environment. Particles in the air or pollens come in contact with lymphocytes or small white blood cells which carry out the functions of the immune system. People with no allergies react very little or not at all when exposed to the same conditions. The reason for the allergic is that the body releases certain chemicals as a response to the exposure; no one knows why people develop allergies however it can be a matter of genetics at times or can be caused from a previous illness. Allergies can happen at any time of your life, but are most common during young adulthood or early childhood years.
Different Types of Allergies
There are many different types of allergies that one can be affected with during his or her lifetime. One common type of allergy during spring is allergic rhinitis, or hay fever, which is an overreaction of the immune system to air borne substances that a person inhales.
Atopic Dermatitis is another one which usually affects children; also referred to as “eczema,” it can be similar to having an itchy rash. The skin can appear red, irritated, itchy, and sometimes develop small, fluid-filled bumps. The main cause of this allergy is usually from food or environmental factors.
Food allergies are a very common type of allergy. Symptoms appearing on the skin may include hives, swelling and redness. The mentioned symptoms can be seen within a few minutes of eating the food or sometimes after a few hours. Sometimes the reaction can be more serious with nausea, vomiting, sneezing and can even be life-threatening.
Skin allergies are very common, however it can be difficult to determine the actual cause. The main culprit of this allergy is usually a negative reaction from plants like poison ivy or certain types of food. The symptoms can be anything from hives to various rashes and dry skin and are most common in children and young adults. Identifying the cause of the skin irritation is essential to relieving the symptoms.
Wondering what is in your Naturally Timeless Norwex Personal Care?
I frequently have customers contact me wondering “what’s in it?” when asking about our Norwex Naturally Timeless Skin Care line. I contacted Norwex recently to get a list of ingredients. If you have allergies, be sure to check the list closely, and contact our Norwex corporate office with any questions.
NATURALLY TIMELESS FIRMING FACE SERUM: 
Aqua, glycerin, methyl gluceth-20, malus domestica fruit cell cultuer, xanthan gum, lecithin, behentrimonium methosulfate, cetyl alcohol, butylene glycol, caprylic/capric, triglyceride, teprenone, euglena gracilis extract, carbomer, polysorbate 20, palmitoyl oligopeptide, palmitoyl tetrapeptide-7, salvia sclarea oil, amorphophallus, konjac root powder, isohexadecane, squalane, olea europaea, fruit oil, simmondsia chinensis seed oil, dimethicone, tocopheryl acteate, allantoin, hamamelis virginiana extract, propanedoil, ployacrylamide, c13-14,isoparaffin, laureth-7, c12-15 alkyl benzoic acid, gluoconolactoine, sodium benzoate, calcium gluconate, dehydroacetic aciud benzyl alcohol, phenoxyethanol, limonene.
Aqua, isopropyl, myristate, glyceryl stearate se, glycerin, isohexadecane, butylene glycol, carbomer, polysorbrate 20, palmitoyl oilgopeptide, palmitoyl tetrapeptide-7, caprylic/capric triglyceride, teprenone, malus domestica fruit cell culture, xanthan gum, lecithin, cetyl alcohol, prunus amygdalus dulcis oil, olea europaea extract, sodium hamamelis virginiana extract, sodium hyaluronate, squalane,simmondsia chinensis seed oil, butyrospermum parkii, allantoin, tocopheryl acetate, sorbitan tristearate, propanediol, c12-15 alkyl benzoate, polyacrylamide, c13-14 isoparaffin, laureth-7, parfum, edta, benzoic acid, phenoxyethanol, dehydroacetic acid, gluconolactone, sodium benzoate, calcium gluconate, benzyl alcohol, limonene.
Tips for a Gluten Free Lunch Box
Tips for a Gluten Free Lunch Box
Every day, Gluten Free (GF) kids head off to school each day without having the ability to buy lunch in the cafeteria. Even if you are planning to work with your school district’s nutrition services to determine possible GF options for your child, that will take time and there will probably be quite a few lunches needed before that happens.
Here are some easy ideas for those first few days:
- Cut up fruits and veggies
- GF brands of corn chips with a container of salsa
- Corn tortilla wraps
- Hard boiled eggs – a favorite in our house
And if your child can eat dairy:
- Cheese sticks
- Cottage cheese containers
- Yogurt with some GF granola to mix in
One of the most important Gluten Free lunch box purchases is a small hot thermos – I recommend buying a high quality camping thermos, not a kid’s one. You will want to be sure the food was still hot at lunch time, and we always heat the thermos with some boiling water before putting in the food.
Here are some hot lunch suggestions:
- Rice – plain is fine, but homemade chicken fried rice is even better
- Soup – You can make it from scratch, but there are more and more GF brands available every day
- Mac & cheese – Trader Joe’s makes a good one that is also the cheapest, but there are other brands, too
- Leftovers!
It probably seems like time you won’t have to make a hot lunch while also making breakfast, but kids love to help, and before you know it, they will be heating things up in the microwave and boiling up the mac & cheese noodles themselves.
Your child will probably notice right away that turkey or PBJ sandwiches are no longer showing up in lunches. As most people discover, packaged gluten free breads are prohibitively expensive and don’t taste all that great. There are definitely some good mixes available, but expense and taste are a consideration with those as well.
If you enjoy making yeast breads from scratch, Nicole Hunn’s Gluten Free on a Shoestring is an excellent resource. If you have the time and inclination to bake, this is the place to go for recipes and tips – everything from sandwich bread, tortillas and hamburger buns, to muffins and cookies of all kinds. If you want to splurge on bakery bread and live in the Minneapolis / St Paul metro area, Bittersweet Bakery is a favorite of ours.
In a few more years, maybe our schools will have as many Gluten Free options in the cafeteria as grocery stores and restaurants are starting to have in the real world. In the meantime, lunch from home can have lots of variety and nutrition for our Gluten Free kids. It may take a little extra time and planning, but maybe not as much as you think, and it is totally worth it!
Eating out Gluten Free
Eating out at a restaurant is so nice to do on occasion. It’s relaxing, gives you an opportunity to talk with your spouse or family, and you can have something you may not otherwise have for dinner. When you must eat gluten free foods, eating out may not be so easy.
Eating gluten free foods at a restaurant can be SCARY because you just never know if you can trust the chef and other employees to do what needs to be done to make sure it’s completely gluten free and not cooked alongside or in something that was also used for a non-gluten free product. While this may be difficult, if you have an understanding of what questions to ask, you’ll feel better about eating at that restaurant.
More and more restaurants are adding gluten free meals to their menu so it’s easier for those that must be careful to have the ability to eat out as well. To find out if your favorite restaurant has this type of menu, I recommend that you call your location. Sometimes what one location does is not the way another location does it, so it’s better to check than to assume and find out after it’s too late that you can’t eat there. You will want to ask specific questions about how they deal with food allergies before you go to the restaurant.
Another way to be certain you can eat at a specific restaurant is to know what they serve; this will help you to plan what you can have before you get there. Eating gluten free foods may not allow you to eat at certain restaurants, but when you look at the menu ahead of time you’ll know for sure.
If you’re uncertain if a meal is gluten free and would have no cross contamination, it is important to ask questions. Make sure that your server knows you have an allergy to gluten (wheat) and make sure they understand that it’s important for you to find meals that in no way contain this item and that no cross-contamination could be possible. When your server and the chef knows your situation, they’ll help you to find a meal that you can have to eat. It is also a good idea to speak to a manager and make them aware of your allergy.
It can seem intimidating to go out to a restaurant when you have a food allergy, and you may feel limited in what you can eat and where you can go to eat. When you’re informed, and when you know what questions to ask, and you know for sure you can have, going out to eat at a restaurant won’t be that intimidating.
What steps do you take to make sure your food is safe when eating out??
Dust Mites and Allergies
Struggling with a Dust Mite Allergy?
It can be difficult to believe that something so little you that need a microscope to see it can impact your life in such a big way. Dust mites are microscopic bugs that are related to the spider.
They eat skin cells regularly shed by humans and their furry pets such as dogs and cats. Dust mites thrive in humid, warm temperatures of dwellings and workplaces.
The places you lounge around your home such as mattresses, bedding, pillows, and carpeted areas are ideal living spaces for these mites. There can be up to 100,000 dust mites found in a piece of carpet measuring one square yard.
Your bedroom mattress offers all a dust mite would want – warmth, moisture, and dead skin cells to feed on. The average mattress can double its weight in ten years. How, you may ask? The added weight comes from alive and dead dust mites, their feces, and our sloughed off skin cells. If your pillow is two years old, 10% of its weight comes from, you guessed it, alive and dead dust mites and their waste.
Dust mites can also be found on curtains, stuffed animals, upholstered furniture, and the list goes on. Often the most overlooked item is that cute teddy bear in your child’s room. Dust mites are especially attracted to stuffed animals made of wool or stuffed with down materials. Years of droppings and dead and alive mites add up quickly. To keep dust mites at bay, clean the stuffed animals often and spray regularly with the Norwex Mattress Cleaner.
Dust mites are linked to asthma and allergies, especially in children and the elderly. The dust mites themselves are not actually harmful to people. It is the decaying bodies of dust mites and their feces which is protein that causes an allergic reaction. The dead bodies and feces are a major component of house dust. Some people have a genetic trait to dust mite allergies, but others can develop it over time. Some homes have enough allergens present that it causes sensitivity to people who would otherwise not have an allergic reaction. To sum it up, a person who was not allergic previously could develop an allergy given enough dead dust mites and feces.
Symptoms of a dust mite allergy include sneezing, runny nose, watery eyes, cough, congestion, facial pressure, and asthma attacks.
What can you do to give yourself and your family a better quality of life?
Getting a handle on the dust in your home can help tremendously.
- Dust with the Norwex Antibac Dusting Mitt that will trap the dust in the mitt rather than allowing it to float in the air.
- Vacuum the carpet under your bed every few weeks to control the dust mite population. Use a vacuum with a HEPA filter.
- Spray your mattress with our Norwex Mattress Cleaner. It provides guaranteed elimination and removal of dust mite waste and organic material. Active zinc encapsulates and micro organisms remove odor causing particles and other organic material from mattresses, sofas, and bedding (including comforters). It minimizes bacteria and dust mite growth, etc. A few sprays applied once every two to four months dramatically changes the lives of those with asthma or dust mite allergies. It will eliminate dust mites and their waste in a natural chemical free manner.
- Wash your bedding weekly in HOT water.
- Clean your flooring weekly with a mop and water. We recommend the Norwex microfiber mop packages.
- Dust furniture in carpeted areas prior to vacuuming, so dust settles to the floor to be vacuumed. Vacuum carpeting thoroughly weekly rather than a light cleaning daily.
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