The Super Allergy Girl Blog

The must see movie on cancer: "Burzynski, the movie"

We raise money for cancer every single day of the year. Now, we even have children raising money for cancer. Billions of dollars are given over to "find a cure" for the horrible cancers that take our friends, our family, or co-workers, our neighbors and even people we don't even like. Our tax dollars have been spent on cancer for decades and the cancer industry is one of the largest employers in our country. Yet, how many consumers have ever spent much time researching cancer? How much research has the average consumer done on the subject of cancer? How much money have you donated in the big 'race for the cure'?

Six years ago when I was calling individuals across the country who I thought could help me with my daughter's health issues, I was told in no uncertain terms that I should research cancer. When five unrelated strangers tell you on five separate occasions that you should do something - heads up, you might want to think about whatever they are suggesting. In this case, I did research cancer even though I didn't want to. I can understand the feeling of not wanting to know what there is to know.

Now, thanks to Burzynski, the movie, you can sit in the comfort of your own home and be enlightened about cancer. The research has been done for you. Here is the link to the website: www.burzynskimovie.com. Do you care about cancer? Do you really care? Do you want to know what is happening in the area of cancer that has been hidden from your view? This is, in my humble opinion, a must see movie! Go to the website www.burzynskimovie.com and purchase a copy - no better yet - purchase two copies. Watch the movie and share it on facebook, Linked in, Ning, Digg, on your blogs or the blogs you visit. If you watch the movie, please come back and post a comment and let me know what you think about the movie!

If you want to know more about one of the largest industries in America, I would highly recommend a book titled "The Cancer Industry" by Ralph W. Moss, PhD, which was originally published in 1980 by Grove Press, Inc. as "The Cancer Syndrome" and then a major revised edition was published by Paragon House in 1989 as "The Cancer Industry". When I researched cancer six years ago, Ralph W. Moss's name came up quite a bit. He has won many prestigious awards in cancer, done grand rounds at major cancer hospitals or facilities. He is highly recognized in the field of cancer and cancer research. Going back to my original question: Do you really care about cancer? Do you really want to know what is going on? Get the movie. Watch it. Pass it on. Together we can make a different in cancer. Stay tuned. I actually have a lot more to say on this topic, given the research I have done.

Love,

Lisa

Wegmans Stores Now Carrying The Super Girl™ Allergy & Celiac Cookbook

Wegmans is now carrying my gluten-free and allergy free cookbook - The Super Allergy Girl™ Allergy & Celiac Cookbook. Just over half of the Wegmans stores (about 40 stores) have it in stock. I received a list of Wegmans stores that have the book and I have added a store locator to my website. The store locator on my website is brand new, and as such I have more locations to add to the list. The websites that also carry my book will be added to this store locator as well. This is very exciting as I am adding new distributors every week it seems. I am in the process of getting my 3rd printing ordered - I have to review the proofs tonight. I am humbled by the success of my book and the generous and loving comments people have provided as testimonials for my book. Thank you everyone for your love and support.

While I am updating you on the status of things, I am gearing up to bring out my second cookbook. My target date for publication is the fall, however I am having so much fun and it is coming along so well I may end up completing it ahead of schedule. We'll see. I do have three adorable children and a life...I'll be doing more public speaking this year, which means that I may be coming to a town near you! First up on the schedule is Delray Beach and Boca Raton, Florida the first week of March! I'll be presenting at the Celiac Disease Foundation meeting, the details of which you can find on my speaking calendar. More on that later. Speaking of traveling, people often ask me if I travel with my children. Yes, I travel with my children as much as I can. My kids accompany me to Penn State when I meet with students. Earlier this month I went to Penn State without my children, and I felt like I was missing a limb or something.

I am living proof that you can have a great life with major food issues. Let me know how I can support and empower you with your health and well being. If you want more immediate attention to your questions or comments, the best place to get fast attention is to post to my blog! Have a wonderful week!

Love,

Lisa

Gold Star to General Mills for Reducing Sugar in their cereals

On Wednesday, December 9th, General Mills announced in a news release that you can find on their website, www.generalmills.com, that they will be reducing sugar in their cereals advertised to children to single-digit grams of sugar per serving. According to the news release, "General Mills has been reducing sugar in cereals advertised to children, while increasing key nutrients, such as calcium and vitamin D, and providing whole grain." This type of action begs to be acknowledged in my humble opinion. While General Mills is not (yet) making gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, nut free and peanut free cereals that my children can eat, I have a commitment to health and well being for everyone.

If I were handing out gold stars, General Mills would get a handful! According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, over 9 million children between the ages of 6 to 19 years being either overweight or obese. Since 1980, the number of children who are obese or overweight has tripled bringing with it serious health concerns. Reducing sugar in the cereals advertised to children is a very good thing. I hope that General Mills will continue on this path and remove artificial food colorings, and artificial flavors as well.

To those of you who are not on restricted diets, I hope you will consider supporting those food manufacturers who are digging in to meet consumer demand. More and more consumers are waking up to the fact that sugar, some fats, and food additives, chemicals and colorings are not necessary and not healthy for humans. I've seen more food companies taking out hormones, preservatives, chemicals and food colorings, so the message is getting through. This is good! Thank you General Mills! 

Happy Eating!

Love,

Lisa

Top 5 Reasons Why The Gluten-Free Diet is Not a Fad

I just opened up our new Reader's Digest, the December 2009 issue, and on page 82 is a little one paragraph bit titled "Fad Diet Danger" by J.G., which basically states that a gluten-free diet may do more harm than good if you don't have celiac disease. Whew- take a deep breath! This is statistically and factually not the case. Read on...I released two PRWeb news releases on this very subject this summer. If you missed those, here they are:

http://www.prweb.com/releases/Gluten-Free-Diet/Cookbook/prweb2959144.htm

http://www.prweb.com/releases/Cookbook/Gluten_Free_Diet/prweb2762514.htm

By the way as a means of full self-disclosure, I am the author of The Super Allergy Girl™ Allergy & Celiac Cookbook", a gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free and peanut free cookbook. Here is a summary of why we need to stop referring to the Gluten-Free Diet as a fad diet.

Top 5 Reasons Why The Gluten Free Diet is Not A Fad

1.             3 million Americans have celiac disease and are required to be on a gluten-free diet.

2.             According to recent research – there are another 8 million Americans with celiac disease that have no GI symptoms. (“The Immunology of Gluten Sensitivity Beyond the Intestinal Tract” published 2008 by A. Vojdani, et. al.) “Although it is believed that the prevalence of celiac disease is one in one hundred, for every symptomatic patient with celiac disease there are eight patients with celiac disease with no GI symptoms.”

3.             Special diets used for health symptoms (outside of celiac) including ADHD, Autism Spectrum Disorders, depression, anxiety, aches and pains, fatigue, etc. provide that many more millions more could find a gluten-free diet helpful to their health issue.

4.             Wheat is one of the top 8 allergens and the number of people with a wheat allergy is expected to increase proportionately with the increase in the number of people allergic to wheat (IgE mediated food allergy).

5.             Gluten intolerance is yet another condition which calls for a gluten-free diet. It is unclear the total number of individuals who fall into the classification of gluten intolerance, however Dr. Scot Michael Lewey, a gastroenterologist, estimates non-celiac gluten sensitivity or gluten-related disease to affect between 10% and 30% of the population.

 

The newest medical research is calling for a re-examination of the celiac diagnostic criteria because physicians are finding patients that do not meet the strict clinical criteria, yet gain significant improvements on a gluten-free diet. There are 275 papers on Atypical celiac disease, 239 papers on silent celiac disease and 179 papers on latent celiac disease – a sum total of 693 medical papers according to PubMed, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health.

 

New scientific research (A. Vojdani, et al) has indicated that gluten sensitivity can impact other organs like the joints, the heart, thyroid, brain cerebellum and the neuronal synapsins (synapsin is a neuronal phosphoprotein involved in the regulation of neurotransmitter release). Gluten sensitivity has been associated with the following neurological disorders: cerebellar ataxia, epilepsy, myoclonic ataxia, chronic neuropathies and dementia. Ataxia is defective muscular coordination especially that are manifested when voluntary muscular movements are attempted.

 

Any way you slice the above statistics and scientific research, it seems to me that we have at least 20% of the population who could benefit medically from a gluten-free diet – and that is being fairly conservative in my humble opinion. That means approximately 60 million Americans with potentially life-saving or life-changing benefits from a gluten-free diet. I don’t believe we call something that saves a life or dramatically improves it a fad. I welcome your comments and thoughts on this topic.

Love,
Lisa Lundy

 

 

Lisa Lundy's recent Article in The Autism File USA Magazine

Yes, my first article in The Autism File USA appears in Issue #33 on sale now at your local bookstores! The title of the article is "Things Worth Knowing When It Comes to Food", and it is a 6-page article on some of the top aspects of food. The website for The Autism File magazine is www.autismfile.com. And while I am completely biased as the author of this article, I would definitely recommend that you race right out and purchase it while it is still available! Some of the aspects covered in this detailed article include how food can affect health and human behavior, emotional states, and cognition and learning; how changes in your diet can help repair the immune system; the distinction between malnutrition and malabsorption; and how rotation diets can be used to prevent the development of new food allergies or sensitivities and health issues. Below is what the cover looks like for your information.

The Autism File USA cover that features my recent article. Issue # 33 2009.

The fact that I have an article appearing in The Autism File USA may leave some of you wondering what exactly is my connection to the Autism community. About 9 years ago, Bette Hagman* came to Buffalo to talk to the local celiac community about gluten-free baking. For those of you unfamiliar with Bette Hagman, she was the pioneer of gluten-free baking cookbooks. At Bette's presentation I met a delightful Mother by the name of Katrina who was the mother of a child with Autism. Katrina and I hit it off, talking for a long time after Bette's speech, and Katrina invited me to join a local gluten-free and casein-free food group. Since my son Noah was gluten-free and casein-free (and egg-free, nut-free, soy-free, etc.) due to his food allergies, I was thrilled. Noah's diagnosis for celiac disease would come years later and only after much research on my part.

My only concern from Katrina's invitation was whether it would be o.k. for a parent of a typical child to be coming to a GFCF food group. I jumped in and loved participating with these delightful mothers! I did not actively promote the fact that I did not have a child with Autism, and it would be a long time before some people figured it out. I did not hide the fact that we did not have Autism as an issue, I simply did not make a point of it. Some time later, after much experimentation, I would come to realize that both of my sons would have likely been diagnosed with ADHD had they not been on the GFCF diet. Both of my boys were on the GFCF diet due to being highly intolerant to gluten and dairy. Many years later, I would come to find out that the assumption was that I had at least one child with an Autism diagnosis. I am thankful beyond words for Katrina's early invitation to join the local GFCF parent group.

Many of my closest and best friends came out of that GFCF group! And that was the beginning of my roots with the Autism community. Earlier this year I was a guest on Teri Arranga's live radio program on www.VoiceAmerica.com. The program went so well that she invited me back and then asked me to host a program on Autism One Radio, which I was elated to accept. The Autism One Radio programs that I do are pre-recorded programs, which you can listen to at your leisure at www.AutismOne.com. Thus, I have along-standing and proud affiliation with the Autism community.

If you are looking for great information on food, get a copy of The Autism File USA and read my article. I'd love to hear what you have to say after you read it! You can post your comments on the article right here on my blog! Happy eating and good health to you!

Love,
Lisa

*Note: Bette Hagman and I would eventually become good friends. Bette passed away two years ago, and I miss her very much. I still think of her often. She was an amazing leader who blazed trails that were needed.

A Plea to Dear Abby for Help for Millions of Children and their families

 I am going to make a personal plea to Dear Abby and ask all of you and everyone I can to do the same thing.  The Dear Abby Column, over years has made a big difference in our society and I am committed that Dear Abby could and can help millions of parents right now.  But first a bit of background.  The Dear Abby column, today, Tuesday, June 23, 2009 was titled “Parents share secret shame” or “Parents of ‘Problem’ Children Share Mom’s Secret Shame” and it was remarkable on one hand and sad on the other.  Here is a link for today’s column: http://www.uexpress.com/dearabby/
The column basically talks about children who are “difficult” to manage and how badly the Mom’s feel, and how often they have negative feelings about their child as a result.  So far, that is a good conversation to get out into the public.  But it gets better!!  One of the writers (Enlightened in Minnesota) discovered after 3 years of dealing with a child who was “spinning out of control, constantly whining, aggressive toward his siblings and unpleasant to be around even on a good day” that he has celiac disease.  This is the good news.  There are hundreds and hundreds of children YET to be diagnosed with celiac disease! 

Authoritative medical experts estimate that close to 3 million Americans have celiac disease or roughly 1% of the population.  The kicker is that 97% of them don’t yet know that they have it!  In children this often shows up as behavior issues or irritability!!  Dear Abby, you could help get nearly 3 million Americans diagnosed with celiac disease and not only save millions of Moms and Dad’s aggravation, but you would be saving lives as well!  Some people with celiac disease die before they get diagnosed.  Untreated celiac disease (read undiagnosed) increases the risk of cancer 200-300%!

Here is the sad news, what was missing from this Dear Abby column was the rich research that proves conclusively that foods, food dyes, preservatives, food additives and chemicals can cause learning issues, behavior issues, emotional issues and social problems in children.  So, I wrote to Dear Abby on line, which you can do also, and I urge you to do this.  Here is the link: http://www.uexpress.com/dearabby/dearabby_form.html

If you have not checked out the Feingold Association and their fabulous website and group, please do!  They can be found at www.Feingold.org Their site is loaded with information and research.  Another site loaded with information is Dr. Doris J. Rapp, M.D.’s website at www.DrRapp.com Dr. Rapp, M.D., has been a physician for more than 50 years.  In her clinical practice, she saw the impact of food and other allergens on children.  Dr. Rapp has written several books to help parents including the National Bestseller “Is This Your Child?” 

It is high time that the public understood that for more than 2,500 years physicians starting with Hippocrates, the Greek physician considered to be the Father of Medicine, have known that food can injure some people.  Dear Abby, would you please join forces with the Feingold Association, Dr. Doris Rapp, myself and the many other organizations that recognize that food can affect how you think and feel?  This would help millions of parents who are struggling!!  Readers, I request that you contact Dear Abby!  Here is the address for snail mail:  Dear Abby, PO BOX 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069.  If enough Moms’ like us write to Dear Abby, I believe that she will get the message and help us help others!
Let the games begin!
Love,
Lisa

Free Taste Testing Event in Western New York on Tuesday

Before I give you the details of this wonderful event, let me prepare my allergy and celiac readers that there will be very few foods that are gluten-free and/or dairy free at this event.  However, I know that Kettle Cuisine will be there with a frozen gluten-free and dairy free soup that is also free of hormones and preservatives!!!  Pretty exciting for the gluten-free & dairy-free consumer!  According to Lisa Davin, one of the representatives of Conagra Foods, "We are trying to get local food shoppers to come and try refrigerated and frozen food offerings that are available at Tops and Wegmans. Each couple that attends will get a $10.00 gift for the chain of their choice as well as a reusable grocery bag and valuable coupons."

If you know anyone that would like tickets, please have them contact Lisa Davin at the following e-mail or phone: lisa.davin@conagrafoods.com or (716) 681-2901.  She is very nice and said she has plenty of tickets.  I am excited about this event because while they will only have a limited number of foods that are gluten-free and dairy free, they will have Kettle Cuisine soups for us to try!!  Kettle Cuisine soups have no preservatives and are now being sold in the frozen foods section of Wegmans (Nature's Market I would think).  At any rate, here are the specifics:

Taste of Excellence (A food tasting event)
Date: Tuesday, October 28th, 2008
Time: 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. (you can just go for a short time or as long as you like)
Where: Samuel's Grande Manor
Street Address: 8750 Main Street in Williamsville
For more Information, contact Lisa Davin (lisa.davin@conagrafoods.com or 716-681-2901)

Let me know if you attend what your thoughts are.  I'll see you there!
Love,
Lisa