Why we’re starting a YouTube Channel: Food Allergy Impacts how People Live

We’re starting a Mum With a Bun YouTube channel.

Because we are not meant to do life alone. #AllergyAwareness

I set a boundary with my family and community because it’s my job to respect my daughter’s allergy lifestyle and it’s also my job to protect her. And I am so happy I did.

We’ve heard everything from, “it’s all in your head - stop being so afraid of allergens” to “she’s at the age where you should give her all her allergens. Just give her everything. Just say “AMEN” and then feed her the allergen!”

These statements came from well meaning places, but they’re incredibly invalidating and infuriating when someone who has neither researched food allergies nor watched your child go through an anaphylactic reaction comes at you with comments like this and proceeds to tell you that you are parenting our allergy child incorrectly.

It is so important that I intentionally move away from the “be nice” cultural expectation that has been drilled into me - each time I make myself and my voice shrink, my daughter and I suffer for it. I am finally speaking up and holding my, “no” — and I’m feeling good about it.

It took a lot of trial & error, allergy specialist appointments & phone calls, and years of personal research to get to where I am now, and I’m still learning how to be an allergy mum… one who protects her child and meets her own needs.

I used to share “nutrition tips” and “allergy life” educational reels daily on my Instagram hoping I could provide guidance, hope, and encouragement to other families like ours. After a month of prayer, I was convicted to start our YouTube channel that focuses on our lived experiences as a family of 3 to provide tips and suggestions that I wish I had when I started this “Allergy Mum Journey”

How we do what most people don’t have to think twice about (i.e. run errands, travel, etc.) is done in a “special” and calculated fashion to keep emma safe, but most people don’t know it.

The hope is that our YouTube channel sheds light not just on what caretakers of children with allergies can do to navigate their drastically changed lives once they find out about their child’s allergies (classified as a disability),

but also what “normal” people, who do not live with debilitating and deteriorating conditions, can do to help.

It is an honor and privilege to beat my drum - to inform others that we all have a collective responsibility to make sure people with allergies, disabilities, or life altering differences are purposefully included and thoughtfully accounted for. We’re here to carry each others’ burdens and there is joy, strength, and transformation that results when a community comes together to better understand and embrace one another in light of our differences.

My experience with people with disabilities is quite limited so while I am no expert on this topic by any stretch of the imagination,

I am a mother of an almost 3 year old toddler with life threatening food allergies diagnosed at her 8 month mark; not a day goes by where I don’t think about how I can love her better in light of her health condition and avoid mistakes that could be lethal to her. I’ve come to the realization that I cannot do this alone… but God told me we were never meant to do any of this alone.

Thyroid Dysfunction: Hypothyroidism & Holistic Recommendations

Thyroid Dysfunction is quite common especially amongst new mums. It affects about 25% of mothers with 48% of those affected having hypothyroidism (insufficient thyroid hormone). People are having more thyroid problems than ever before so it’s no wonder why most of us have heard of or know someone with Grave’s Disease or Hashimoto’s. 

I have friends and family who struggle with thyroid issues and what is important to know is that the thyroid is a vital hormone gland - some even argue that it is “the master hormone gland” because it runs the show and drives metabolic balance. “It plays a major role in the metabolism, growth and development of the human body.” (1) It’s important to take care of it and it’s absolutely OK to request a test for your thyroid!

Testing:

Normal thyroid testing is not sufficient for flagging potential issues so always request a “full thyroid panel” from your practitioner as testing the TSH level alone can show to be within “normal ranges” even though there is an underlying dysfunction. Since we do not want an underlying dysfunction to go undetected, request from a doctor who can read the following lab values: Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH), Total T3, Total T4, Free T3, Free T4, Reverse T3, Thyroid Peroxidase Antibodies (TPOab), and Thyroglobulin Antibodies (TgAb).
Remember, your thyroid is not your TSH. 

When it comes to long term planning for your thyroid health and for addressing the root cause, I like to come into the picture with encouragement to start with stress reduction, lifestyle changes, and a nutrition focus - these are key for normal thyroid function. 

Here is a non-exhaustive food focus list because nutrient deficiencies (from both a micro and macro nutrient lens) do impact your thyroid health journey and filling in those gaps can address the root cause. 

Selenium (possibly the most common deficiency found in patients with hypothyroidism)

Selenium is critical for the production of thyroid hormone and it turns on the enzyme that allows the conversion of storage T4 into active T3 which is a known TSH issue for those with hypothyroidism - it’s also an antioxidant that serves to neutralize/clean up the toxic/waste product that comes from the hormone conversion process. 

The problem: many of us have a selenium deficiency due to our soils being depleted

Foods rich in Selenium that I recommend: brazil nuts, quality meat, wild caught fish. 

Iodine rich foods

Seaweed, pasture-raised eggs (yolks included), grass fed beef liver, pasture-raised chicken

Zinc rich foods

Oysters, grass fed beef, pasture-raised poultry

Iron rich foods - iron is required for thyroid hormone production.

Grass fed beef liver, organ meats (easy to source from your local farmer’s market butcher), or supplement with Grass fed desiccated organ meats if organ meat is not something you are open to eating yet. Please note that iron from “heme iron” sources (non-plant based) is what your body can optimally absorb. Consuming iron via real whole foods like organ meats is optimal as iron needs copper to be absorbed; copper is readily available in whole foods like liver or spleen - it’s as if God knew what He was doing when providing us with food! (:

B-complex - Grass fed Liver or supplements like Grass Fed Beef Thyroid

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we love this modified version of Mary Shenouda’s “Bangin’ Liver Recipe”

1/3 cup cooking oil/fat (we use bacon fat or avocado oil)
1 lb ForageHawaii (when in HI) / BuyRanchDirect (when in CA) chicken liver, chopped
6 garlic cloves, crushed and minced
1 tbsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
1/4 tsp ginger powder
1/4 tsp cloves powder
1/4 tsp cardamon powder
Juice of one lime, or Tabasco if we’re out of lime
1 tsp Crucial Four salt

Tyrosine-containing foods
These foods combine tyrosine and iodine to make the thyroid hormone: pasture-raised poultry, avocados, sprouted pumpkin seeds

TCM recommended foods
Cooked garlic, ginger, onions. Fermented foods.

Avoid eating the following foods raw as it impacts the assimilation of iodine, which we discussed is a key nutrient for thyroid health:

Cassava, soy, peanuts, pine nuts, millet, and goitrogenic foods like cruciferous vegetables - “foods that have been identified as goitrogenic include cruciferous vegetables such as bok choy, broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, canola, cauliflower, Chinese cabbage, choy sum, collard greens, horseradish, kai-lan, kale, kohlrabi, mizuna, mustard greens, radishes, rapeseed, rapini, rutabagas, and turnips. The Rosaceae family of fruits, which includes almonds, apricots, cherries, peaches, pears, plums, raspberries, and strawberries, is also goitrogenic. Other examples are bamboo shoots, millet, soy, spinach, sweet potato, tapioca, and yuca (cassava or manioc).” (2)

Beyond a food focus, I recommend: 

1. Managing stress – Stress impairs thyroid function (3, 4). 

   1. Balancing your blood sugar levels and avoiding foods high in sugar, refined grains, etc. as these foods cause stress at the cellular level. (5) 

   2. Getting sufficient sleep especially during the hours of 10pm-3am. 

   3. Get out into nature and ground. (i.e. walk barefoot on grass or at the beach)

2. Healing the gut – Gut bacteria assist in converting T4 to T3 (6). Swap industrial seed oils (I.e. vegetable, canola, grapeseed, sunflower seed, etc.) for healthier cooking oils like coconut oil, avocado oil, and olive oil (for no heat).

3. Optimizing vitamin D – Vitamin D deficiency is associated with autoimmune diseases. Get out into the sun! The liver runs on the sun and detoxifies the body assisting the endocrine system. Vitamin D is a hormone that regulates the immune system. 

4. Decrease your exposure to toxins – thousands of chemicals, heavy metals, plastics that we deal with daily contribute to autoimmune disease.

5. Know your purpose – according to TCM, your purpose is connected to your pituitary, which is directly correlated to your thyroid. Also processing your struggles/grief/emotions is highly recommended. Learn how to feel and learn how to move through that data! (7)

I hope something in this post clicks with you and if you are looking for more guidance with implementing these holistic changes in your diet/lifestyle, feel free to reach out to me at jane@mumwithabun.com to schedule a consultation.

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*NOTE: I do not diagnose or cure clients. I do recommend having thyroid levels tested and getting bloodwork done with a practitioner who diagnoses thyroid dysfunction.

Sources

1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK279388/

2. Kresser, Chris. “Goitrogenic Foods and Thyroid Health.” Kresser Institute for Functional and Evolutionary Medicine. April 19, 2018 https://kresserinstitute.com/goitrogenic-foods-and-thyroid-health/

3. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3527687/

4. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8180680/ 

5. Inchauspé, Jessie. Glucose Revolution. New York, Simon & Schuster, 2022.

6. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0024320589901793

7. Organic Olivia. Ryan, Marc “Hashimoto’s Healer”. “Why Autoimmunity is on the Rise” What’s the Juice. Spotify. September 2022.

Emmalee’s Birth Story

this took place in Austin, TX during the first week of the pandemic lock down

March 2020

at 3am 
I was reclining into bed when suddenly I felt a gush of water escape me. before I knew it, I was sitting in a puddle. shocked, I asked my husband who was fast asleep “WHY is there water all over the bed?!”  he jumped out of bed, gave me a towel, and re-made our bed with sheets he had prepared for this very moment. we both knew what was happening. 

I sat on the floor with the towel underneath me and googled “how do you know if your water broke” just to confirm. I dried off and D helped me get back into bed, dimmed the lights, and told me to get some rest - I would need to save my energy for what was soon to come, but I couldn’t sleep. there was so much to do… of all the “what to do in labor” things I read, I remembered 3:

1. track your contractions (D was on it)

2. REST (please do this, mum-to-be’s!)

3. do something easy that’ll pass the time (i.e. bake a cake from a box)

I wanted to make granola.

D stopped trying to persuade me to sleep and helped me get downstairs to the kitchen. as I made granola, contractions came and went. they got stronger and closer together. at one point, I was getting only 1 minute of freedom from pain between contractions. needless to say, D has to rescue the granola when the oven timer went off.

at 6:10am
I entered what they call “active labor” phase.. leaning on D, I looked at the oven clock and closed my eyes. every contraction was worse than the last and whatever coping mechanism I used for the last one was useless by the time the next one hit. I told myself to be strong because this was just the beginning.

D called April, my midwife, and she told us she’d get ready and head over soon. I buried my face into D’s shoulder barely able to stand and shoved a fistful of granola into my mouth. I would need the fuel. D helped me up the stairs and got me into bed. eyes closed, I heard him saying “breathe into the pain.” I told myself, “I can do anything—ANYTHING… for 10 seconds. 1, 2, 3,…” I felt sick. D grabbed a big bowl we’d reserved as the throw-up bowl and out came a very acidic chewed up version of my granola.

I laid on my side feeling cold and haphazardly wrapped myself in a blanket. I'd barely fall asleep only to be woken up by the next intense contraction. someone handed me a warm heat pack to soothe my cramps and I dozed off again. when the next wave started, I kicked away the blankets, tossed/turned, and moaned.

I heard a soothing voice. my midwife had arrived. I thought she would teach me a trick or pull something magical out of her bag to lessen the pain. there was no such thing.. there were no painkillers. all I had were essential oils, D by my side and a straw that he held to my lips to hydrate me with cold coconut water... but ultimately when I closed my eyes I felt like I was going through a long winding confusing labyrinth by myself. I got up and went into "the cave" a.k.a. the dark bathroom and sat there in the cool.. alone. it felt like a fitting spot for what I was going through. after what felt like a few minutes (apparently I was in there for an hour) I hobbled back to bed.

I asked if I could get in the tub. April said I was not ready yet so I closed my eyes and felt my body begin to push. shocked, April asked me if that was a push. I told her "YES! it felt good and... natural!" she and D immediately got the tub ready.

D turned to me and asked me if I wanted music. "Housefires, please" I whispered.

at 9:35am
I labored in the tub. it was easier to fall asleep between contractions in the warm water but it did not take away the pain. April placed cold towels on me and asked me not to push until my cervix was more open. mid-contraction, I yelled, "WHAT'S A CERVIX!" - she gave me a great response but I don't remember what it was. I gripped D's arm and told him, "tell me I can do this."

"You can do this, babe." he said into my ear. when April gave me the green light, I pushed my hardest forgetting to breathe. D said I balled up and turned blue... like a blueberry. I remember pushing harddd. I did not want to go to the hospital. I wanted my daughter to come out already... April monitored Emmalee's heart rate. "It's so steady. she's doing great. you're doing great."

I was in a LOT of pain and cried out to Jesus. I didn't get a response, but I did get an image... I got to see my nephew. his playful smile... and then another wave hit. "Jesus... help me..." I whimpered. I counted to 10 but the contraction was still going strong AF. I counted another 10, held my breath, tossed and turned in the water and begged God to take away the pain.

I surrendered.

as I sunk into the water, I felt D's arms catch me and prevent me from being submerged.

a bit past 10am
I wasn't making progress in the water. my midwife supported my arms and helped me out of the tub and led me back to the room. she told me I was going to sit in some sort of chair and push. the wooden chair looked like a rustic squatty potty. D was my back support. I clung to the rim of the chair and pushed HARD. I moaned and asked when she would come. would she EVER come?! April smiled. she looked at me and said, "would you like to feel her head?" I was shocked - I didn't know I was so close to the finish line. I felt and saw the top of her cute tiny head. it felt weird! she was here... kinda! I pushed hard 2 more times and she came barreling out. April caught her as Daniel continued to keep me upright.

"10:51am" said the midwife.
only then did I realize music was playing - The Wick - the lyrics "my heart is the wick, your love is the flame, and I want to burn for your name" was sung over us as little Emmalee was handed to me. she had the sweetest little cry... she was telling me how hard the journey was for her... I was still in shock and everything was incredibly crystal clear as I held her tiny warm vernix covered body close to my chest. she looked up at me, gripped my arm hard, and latched immediately. she is so strong. we are so strong because our strength comes from the Lord.

I wanted to have a home birth, I knew my body could do it. I didn't expect to birth my daughter week 1 of the pandemic lockdown, but we did it. I got to birth Emmalee without fear and I'd choose this same home birth path again if I got to rewind time. Birthing without fear - it's a thing I hope every mom gets to experience.