Author: Cheri Thriver

Hello, Cheri Thriver here blogging about cooking, thriving, and the intersection of the two. I’ve been living a gluten-free lifestyle for over 15 years. I understand that it’s rarely a lack of knowledge or the availability of appropriate food that keeps us from making healthy choices. More often than not, it’s an emotional connection, previous trauma, or fear of social reprisal that keeps us stuck. My wish is that you’ll find something here that informs, entertains, or inspires you to change anything that needs to be changed for you to live fully and thrive.

Let Curiosity Lead

If your physician has exhaustively tested and cannot provide a diagnosis to explain intestinal issues. itchy rashes, and fatigue you may want to let curiosity lead. When your health team begins suggesting the best next step is to consider dietary or environmental triggers, it can be easy to resist. Getting curious can help get you past reluctance to explore.

It’s easy to hear the suggestion of dietary or environmental triggers as I won’t be able to have anything I enjoy; or I’m going to have to spend time I don’t have cooking. To some extent, you may be correct. But it’s unlikely that you won’t be able to have ANYTHING you enjoy. And you will most likely find ways to spend less time than you anticipate.

The easiest way to move past a feeling of I CAN’T is to start wondering what, when, why, how?

Think of the process as a treasure hunt or mystery to solve. You may discover things you’ve known all along but put aside as silly or impossible. And you may feel better more quickly than you think.

What is causing the problem?

Keeping journals or lists is a good way to start determining what makes you feel bad or leads to specific symptoms. Write down where you are, what you just did, and what is happening when a symptom begins.

If you break out in a rash after your morning coffee. Write that down and also include the room where you consume it, and any other food, drink or medication you have taken. If you’re in the kitchen and someone sprayed a cleaner of some sort, record that too.

If you sneeze every time you go to the bathroom, mold or mildew may be a trigger.

If your chest feels tight when someone sprays a certain disinfectant, something in that product may be a trigger.

If you burp excessively or have reflux after eating chocolate, that may be a trigger.

It is time consuming to keep track, but it will allow you to see patterns that narrow the field. In the long run, that’s faster than hit or miss guesses.

When do I have a problem?

If you’re keeping a journal but not really seeing a pattern, observing when you have a problem can help. Before I figured out that my toothpaste was causing a rash, I observed that the rash went away when I was traveling in my RV. So, I had a problem when I was at home, but not as much when I was on the road.

From that observation, I made note of what I do differently on the road. While that didn’t immediately lead to me remembering my travel toothpaste was different, once I noticed my tongue felt swollen and my mouth felt unusually dry after I brushed my teeth, it became confirming evidence for trying a change in toothpaste.

Why do I have a problem?

Once you’ve observed when and where you have an issue, you can go back to asking why. This question can lead you back to your doctor to determine whether you have an allergy, sensitivity, celiac disease, or some other autoimmune condition or dysautonomia. Taking the patterns you’ve identified to your doctor can inform their next steps.

This is not an automatic guarantee you will get a diagnosis. There are many conditions that take years to diagnose. That’s frustrating and discouraging but doesn’t mean you can’t find some relief. There are diets you can try on your own without sacrificing nutrition.

How do I proceed?

Get support for your mental health. If your medical team begins to treat you as though you may be imaging symptoms, it can make you feel crazy. That doesn’t mean you are. Physical and emotional health are intertwined.

Ask questions. If you have read something you think could be related, ask your doctor about it. Take them a research study you found. Doctors are busy. They may not be aware of the newest research.

Get a second opinion or a third if you need to. If you have the means, you may want to consider getting a referral to a physician in a larger city or at a more diagnostically sophisticated hospital.

Take an advocate. If you’re exhausted and not sure you can absorb what you’re being told, take a trusted relative or friend with you to ask questions and note the answers.

Do what you can. When you discover a trigger you can safely eliminate that may be contributing to your symptoms, eliminate it and see what happens.

When answers are hard to come by, the quickest way to relief can be to let curiosity lead.

Teal Pumpkins

If your child has a food allergy or sensitivity, be on the lookout for teal pumpkins this Halloween. The Teal Pumpkin Project began with one mother who wanted allergic children to have a great Halloween experience. https://www.foodallergy.org/our-initiatives/awareness-campaigns/teal-pumpkin-project It was later adopted by Food Allergy Research & Education (FARE) and made a national initiative.

Halloween illustration. Black square with round teal and blue circle containing flying bats, a bare tree, and jack-o-lanterns.

The idea is to provide non-food Halloween treats in teal pumpkins that are easily identified. This means an allergic child can go directly to treats that are safe for them. There’s no standing around feeling like the odd man out.

In general, filling a teal pumpkin with non-food treats is simplest for everyone because no labeling or label reading is required. One of the things that makes Halloween hard for the allergic is individually wrapped candy often has no ingredient list other than on the outside packaging. Once candy goes in a host’s bowl, there’s no label available for trick-or-treaters to check.

If your child is especially prone to feeling different, you may want to solicit help from friends and neighbors. Encourage them to participate in the teal pumpkin project. In addition, provide each one with a small bag filled with safe edible treats marked with your child’s initials. Text when you’re about to arrive and have them place the bag on the top of the teal pumpkin.

If you have a trick-or-treat route filled with teal pumpkin providers who choose non-food treats, you can also have a special pumpkin at home that has plenty of safe, edible treats for the end of the evening.

Your family might also choose to make some treats together like cake-ball spiders, lava cake dino-destroying mountains, popcorn balls, or caramel apples. The specifics will have to work within your child’s particular restrictions, but the memory-building family time can make everyone feel included.

Adapt your child’s favorites into scary appearance and ramp up the atmosphere by using Halloween themed serve ware. Don’t worry about perfection or trying to do too much. Going overboard can make a kid feel just as different as leaving them out.

The idea is just to let the child see that they are seen, considered, accepted, accommodated, and welcome as part of the family, crew, troupe, or friend group. I know that probably sounds like a duh statement, but othering from adults is an everyday occurrence. And children follow their example.

In spite of its national presence, your community, neighborhood may not yet participate in the Teal Pumpkin Project. In my city of 207,000, there’s currently one household on listed on the Teal Pumpkin Project map. Households may be rare in your area as well.

You can change that by becoming a Community Captain https://www.foodallergy.org/take-action/teal-pumpkin-project/teal-pumpkin-project-community-captain You’ll find many resources for getting started on the website.

Even if you don’t have time to be a Community Captain, you can add yourself to Teal Pumpkin Project map, print out one of the free participant signs or flyers, or mix a few non-food treats into your regular candy bucket.

My Halloween focus again this year is offering Breakfast Bags of nutritious food in addition to candy for anyone who wants one. Last year, I ran out in 30 minutes and had to throw together a few more from items in my pantry.

This state has the highest percentage of food insecure children in the nation. Allergies and sensitivities are a big deal. They can be life-threatening. Starvation is life-threatening as well.

No matter how you may view adults in your community, hunger and allergies are never a child’s fault. Providing for them is the least we can do. Please consider a teal pumpkin.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Maybe It Isn’t

Sometimes you run across something that sounds good on the surface, but on further examination, maybe it isn’t. This is especially true when it comes to food and nutrition myths like these:

All food made from plants is good for me. Not if it’s a processed or ultra processed food. Stick with plants that remain as close to their original state and harvest date as possible. Those are the healthiest plants, especially if you can find some that are pesticide-free.

Line of dairy cows ready to be milked with yellow tags in their ears.

Raw milk is better than pasteurized. There are currently no scientific studies showing raw milk is more beneficial than pasteurized milk. While there seems to be a link between children who drink raw milk and fewer instances of asthma and allergies, scientists warn that the risk of bacterial infection is a greater health risk than any possible benefit.

I spent time milking cows as a kid. We sold the milk. I can tell you that our milk would have been at high risk for bacteria. I’ve also been to commercial milking barns. Much care is taken to clean equipment and stalls, but the milking is still done in barns that are full of cows who sometimes poop during the process.

Today, there’s a new raw milk cheese recall due to E. coli contamination that has sent 8 people to the hospital and sickened people across nine states so far.

Beef tallow is the best cooking oil. While it is true that beef tallow contains some fat-soluble vitamins, minerals, and omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, it is also saturated fat. It’s fine to use beef tallow on occasion, but I would choose olive oil for everyday cooking. Olive oil is part of the Mediterranean Diet that is consistently linked to longer lifespan.

Going gluten-free will make me healthier. If you have celiac disease or are gluten-intolerant, then this is true. If your body tolerates gluten well, there’s no reason to be gluten-free. You could argue reducing grain carbs in general will make you healthier, but that means eliminating or reducing gluten-free grains as well.

One gummy will give me all the nutrients or fiber you need. If you have fresh, nutritional food available that is naturally high in fiber and you don’t have an allergy or condition that keeps you from consuming it, you can get the most benefit from consuming food. Supplements can be helpful for special circumstances and deficits.

I know there’s lots of noise everywhere right now. It can be less overwhelming to funnel information through fewer channels. The problem with that in this moment is that algorithms serve to create echo chambers. That can amplify misinformation and prevent us from getting additional information we need to make good food choices.

Every day, I see people ask good questions about the food supply, diet, and nutrition. I also see questionable assertions, claims, and advice that’s potentially dangerous. The next time you see an idea that sounds good, look further before you adopt it – maybe it isn’t.

https://www.webmd.com/diet/raw-milk-health-benefits

https://diet.mayoclinic.org/us/blog/2023/the-mediterranean-diet-a-path-to-longevity-healthy-aging-and-weight-loss/

Communication

If you understand the importance of communication and do your best to communicate well, it can be frustrating when co-workers don’t. But the truth is, you can only control your side of the equation.

In this world of abbreviations and emojis, I’ve noticed it’s much easier to say nothing than ever before. This may work fine in some situations. In fact, it can make you appear to be more of a team player than you actually are.

But saying nothing can also be deadly. If you are a pilot, communication with the tower or other aircraft can determine whether or not you make a safe landing. If you are a doctor, clear communication of instructions to your staff and patients can make the difference between complications or smooth recovery. And closing the communication loop builds trust with clients, patients, and colleagues.

Seems like internal communication would be an area of emphasis in policy and training in all industries. And yet, communication is often the most broken system in an organization.

Two men seated. One is masked and gesturing. Blonde female with ponytail and mask leaning toward second man with gloved hands out palms up.

In healthcare systems, this is unimaginable. And yet it is problem repeated day in and day out.

Developing good communication systems is not as complicated as setting criteria for transplant eligibility, developing infection control procedures, or reducing the number of opioid prescriptions. But it can make a huge difference in morbidity and mortality.

So why do health systems focus on external communication and image branding instead of the kind of internal communication that makes patients feel seen and cared for? This would build the brand in a more significant way and get better health outcomes. Better health outcomes will further a positive view of the brand.

This is a rhetorical question. I don’t know why it’s not a priority. I’ve served in multiple advisory positions in a hospital as well as a vendor that worked with hospital marketing departments. Overall communication procedures are something that just never get much traction and, in one instance, direct push back.

In that instance, I feel like there was a desire to avoid transparency. But that’s not always the case. Often, it’s just a lack of thinking the process all the way through and spending the time to write policies.

And there’s currently a weird belief that presenting facts is somehow being confrontational. A lot of people avoid anything that resembles, or that they can imagine might be, confrontation.

Other than quality managers, it’s possible that health system leadership simply doesn’t recognize the importance of communication. Their training may include bedside manner, but most of the focus is scientific.

A pilot study of the effects of more complete communication on medical outcomes in a specific group of patients and/or patients and families could be instructive. If it shows improved medical outcomes in a group that receives more communication, it could help the issue gain legitimacy within the industry.

And all of us can let our health providers know that communication is important to us. Highlight it on every quality survey you receive. Mention it during every doctor visit. Put it in the comments in your patient portal. And express appreciation when the system gets it right.

We can’t control what the system does, but all of us together are a lot of voices. If we keep communicating, at some point, they will hear us.