“1 year ban on new fast food restaurants in Southern L.A.”

If passed, it would affect about half a million people living in an area that supporters say already has about 400 fast-food eateries and few grocery stores.

QUICK STATS:

·         Within the Southern LA area there are 400 fast food establishments and little grocery stores

·         30% of children in Southern LA are obese but ONLY 21% in the rest of LA

·         Diabetes in these areas in on the rise, with 11.1% of kids in Sothern LA suffering from diabetes, but ONLY 8.1% on the rest of the country

·         Many fast food restaurants lack fiber in their menu options, making people who consume meals feel hungry shortly after and put them at risk for CVD and DM.

WAYS TO SAVE AT THE GROCERY STORE:

·         Buy seasonally–options tend to be cheaper and just as nutritious

·         Prepackaged chips and snack foods can be as much as 4 times as much per oz than buying the bag. Make your own portions-Portion off in zip lock bags

1 oz of Bag of Goldfish vs. 1 oz of prepackaged goldfish costs 4 TIMES as much

·         Powdered milk is a great option, it’s cheaper and keeps longer

·         Cut back on Meats and cut back on both cost and calories. Be a vegetarian 2 nights a week incorporating other protein sources such as cheese, eggs, beans, peanut butter etc. This leads to less expensive menu options.

·         Oatmeal and other dry cereals tend to be more cost efficient options than cold cereals which can be much higher in both price and calories

·         Bagged apples/oranges provide you with fruit throughout the week, without the excess cost

·       Frozen Fruits and Vegetables are just as nutritious and cheaper! You can store them too!

MEAL IDEAS: FASTFOOD VS. HOMEMADE – SAVE ALL-AROUND!

Here are some healthy alternatives that are not only cheaper and less calories but also pack a fiber punch!

Breakfast

Fast Food Option: Sausage McMuffin with Egg with Hash Brown, Large Coffee w/ cream and sugar and a small OJ—

Nutrition Information: 650 calories and 30 g of fat

 Price $7.50 ((NY PRICE w/tax))

Versus

Homemade Breakfast Sandwhich

Ingredients

Thomas’ Light Multigrain English Muffin-$0.65

1 Egg-2.79/12-$0.21

1 slice Kraft Free American Cheese-$0.33

Canadian Bacon-$0.35

1 Orange-$0.50

Brewed Coffee-$0.25

Total Cost: $2.00

Total Nutrient Value: 248 calories, 8 grams of fiber, 7 grams of fat

SAVINGS: $5.50, 400 calories, 23 g of fat and 8 MORE g of fiber

Lunch/Dinner

Fast Food Option: Quarter Pounder w/ Cheese Meal (includes med. Fries, and med. Coke)—

Nutrition Information-1100 calories, 45 g of fat

Price $7.50 ((NY PRICE w/tax))

Versus

Homemade Cheeseburger

3 oz lean sirloin-$1.24

1 Whole wheat bun-$0.41

1 slice Kraft Free American Cheese-$0.33

1 Potato-$0.60

1 can of Diet Coke-$1.19

Cost: $3.77

Total Nutrient Value: 275 calories, 9 g of fat, 3 g of fiber

SAVINGS: $4.00, 825 calories, 36 g of fat PLUS 3 g of fiber

FAMILY MEAL

KID: Kid’s Meal: Hamburger, small fries, small coke- w/toy

Nutrition Information: 590 calories, 20g of fat

Price: about $4.00 ((NY PRICE w/tax))

MOM: Premium Bacon Ranch Salad with Crispy Chicken Ranch dressing and a large diet coke – Nutrition Information: 550 Calories, 35g fat

Price about $9.00 ((NY PRICE w/tax))

DAD: Big Mac, Large Fries w/ ketchup, Large Coke

Nutrition Information: 1390 calories, 54 g fat

Price about $8.00  ((NY PRICE w/tax))

FAMILY NIGHT OUT at McDonald’s totals $21

Versus

Chicken with Rice and Beans, Family Dinner Night

1 lb Chicken Cutlets-$4.99

2 cups brown rice, dry (4 cups cooked)-$1.35

3 cans of kidney beans-$3.57 (1.19×3)

2 cup cooked Broccoli-$1.99/bunch

Cost per Family-$12.00

Nutrient Information-370 calories, 7 g of fat, 9 g of fiber

Desert

Strawberries and Cream

1 cup Strawberries-3.49/package

Kool Whipe Lite, 2.49/tub

Cost per Family-$4.50

TOTAL COST PLUS DESERT IS $16.50

Nutrient Information: 60 calories, 1.5 g fat, 3 grams of fiber

TOTAL DINNER CALORIES: 430 calories, 8 g of fat, 12 g of fiber

SAVINGS: $3.50, 960 calories, 46 g of fat and PLUS 12 g fiber   

Tanya Zuckerbrot, MS, RD is a nutritionist and the creator of The F-Factor Diet™, an innovative nutritional program she has used for more than ten years to provide hundreds of her clients with all the tools they need to achieve easy weight loss and maintenance, improved health and well-being.  For more information log onto www.FFactorDiet.com.

Everyone knows they should eat fruits, vegetables, nuts/seeds and whole grains for good health. But do you know which are among the healthiest?  Below are among my favorite Super Foods and some suggestions for incorporating them into your diet! These foods aren’t only delicious, but eating them can add years to your life!

Quinoa
Why it’s healthy: It has enough protein to make it equivalent to eating beef or egg whites, it has no fat, and it’s lower in carbs than most other grains. Grains?  Yup, but technically it is a seed. This is not protein from meat but rather Quinoa, an ancient grain native to the Incas and also known as a nutritional powerhouse and complete protein because it contains all the essential amino acids. It’s delicate in flavor but high in fiber and also has ample amounts of magnesium, potassium, zinc, Vitamin E, riboflavin, copper, and more iron than true grains. Quinoa also contains lysine, an amino acid that is essential for tissue growth and repair and its good source of magnesium which helps prevent migraines by constricting blood vessels. 
How to eat them: Quinoa might look small but when cooked it more than quadruples in size. You can use it as a side dish instead of rice or make a salad out of it by chopping and adding onions, scallions, celery, peppers, carrots and chickpeas.

Bulgur
Why it’s healthy: If you haven’t heard about it before it’s often used in Mediterranean cuisine as a replacement for rice or couscous and has a yummy nutty flavor. It’s high in fiber and protein, and low in fat and calories. Its insoluble fiber content, just like whole wheat can help absorb water, promoting faster elimination of waste, which prevents the formation of an environment that promotes the development of carcinogens. Therefore it adds nutrients to fill you up without filling you out.
How to eat them: Like Quinoa, It makes as a great side dish to roasted chicken, turkey, or pork and you can even use it in your stuffing.

Flaxseed
Why it’s healthy:  This tiny nutty-flavored seeds from the flax plant are a notable source of omega-3 fatty acids and lignans, which may block hormone related cancers. They pack plenty of protein and fiber, one third of which is cholesterol lowering soluble fiber.

How to eat them: Sprinkle one to two tablespoons of ground flaxseed into your yogurt, cereal, salad, soup or cake batters.

Parsley
Why it’s healthy: Regarded as little more than a garnish, parsley actually packs a powerful nutrition punch. Just ¼ cup provides more than 300% of the Daily Value for Vitamin K and contains an excellent source of vitamins A and C. Parsley is also a top source of the antioxidant flavanoid apigenin, which, in addition to protecting the prostate, may also help support breast, colon, skin, and thyroid health. Parsleys abundance of phytonutrients—beta carotene, lutein, and zeaxanthin—can help safeguard your sight, and chewing on a sprig can help freshen your breath. 

How to eat them: You can enjoy parsley as a garnish to your salads, fish or chicken or you can even use it as a seasoning and cook your meals with it for added flavor and health benefits.

Acai
Why it’s healthy: Studies show that this little berry is one of the most nutritious and powerful foods in the world! Acai is the high energy berry of a special Amazon palm tree. Harvested in the rainforests of Brazil, acai tastes like a vibrant blend of berries and chocolate. Acai is packed with antioxidants, amino acids and essential fatty acids. Acai has monounsaturated fats, fiber, and phyosterols to help promote cardiovascular and digestive health.

How to eat them:  The juice and pulp of acai fruits are frequently used in various juice blends, smoothies, sodas, and other beverages. In northern Brazil, açaí is traditionally served in gourds called “cuias” with tapioca and sometimes sugar. Acai has become a fad in southern Brazil where it is consumed cold as açaí na tigela (“açaí in the bowl”), mostly mixed with granola – a fad where acai is considered as an energizer. Acai is also widely consumed in Brazil as an ice cream flavor or juice.

Ginger
Why it’s healthy:  Studies found that ginger reduces morning sickness and ginger tea is used many times to help ease an upset stomach or runny nose. Ginger could also help relieve arthritis and migraine headache. Researchers speculate that ginger works like aspirin, blocking the production of natural substances that cause inflammation and pain.
How to eat them: Since fresh ginger is strong, make the herb into a tea to dilute it. Add 1/2 -1 tsp freshly grated gingerroot (or ¼ tsp of the powdered version) to a cup of hot water. Let it steep for 10 minutes, strain the ginger, and drink.

Pistachios
Why it’s healthy: Pistachios actually have the biggest serving size of all nuts. Approximately 49 pistachios make up the one oz serving size and have 160 calories. Like all nuts, pistachios are relatively high in monounsaturated fats, which have been shown to lower blood cholesterol, possibly reducing the risk of coronary heart disease. What’s more, pistachios are low in saturated fat. “Scientific evidence suggests that eating 1.5 ounces per day of most nuts, including pistachios, as part of a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol may reduce the risk of heart disease.” – FDA. Pistachios also have no cholesterol making them an excellent heart-healthy snack! In addition, pistachios are an excellent source of dietary fiber. One ounce contains 3.1 grams of fiber–more than many recognized high fiber sources such as raisins, potatoes, wheat bread and celery.
Pistachios are a good source of vegetable protein and with only 5 grams of carbohydrates per ounce, pistachios are an excellent source of complex carbohydrate energy. Pistachios also contain significant amounts of important vitamins and minerals such as Vitamin B-6, Copper, Phosphorus, and Magnesium. How to eat them: The serving size for pistachios is one ounce, approximately 49 pistachios. This makes for a great afternoon snack since it’s full of fiber and protein. Another tasty idea is to make Pistachio Crusted Tilapia–where you crush pistachios and coat them over the tilapia. You can use egg whites or mustard to coat the tilapia and have the pistachios stick. Yummy!

Tanya Zuckerbrot, MS, RD is a nutritionist and the creator of The F-Factor Diet™, an innovative nutritional program she has used for more than ten years to provide hundreds of her clients with all the tools they need to achieve easy weight loss and maintenance, improved health and well-being.  For more information log onto www.FFactorDiet.com.

Cody Willard, the affable charismatic FOX News Business “Happy Hour” anchor, is a financial genius. So it came as no surprise to me when Cody pointed out, in the midst of a dramatic recovery from a bout of acute Neuro-Lyme Disease, that he’d been doing a lot of reading about the topic, particularly about the enormous costs in treating a disease that is both over- and underdiagnosed.

Willard is one of the “lucky” ones.  His right-sided facial droop (Bell’s Palsy) was preceeded a few weeks earlier by a hike in the woods with his dog, who had come out covered with ticks. And Willard himself, though he found no ticks on his body, developed a bright red oval rash on his leg, profound fatigue, and when he came to see me (referred by Frank Raphael and Maurice Tunick of Sirius Satellite Radio) he had a drooping mouth and difficulty closing his right eye. Lyme disease was clearly a plausible explanation for Willard’s problem.

Unfortunately, not all physicians respond the same way to this constellation of symptoms. Calling this Bell’s Palsy and ignoring the probability of Lyme or treating it quickly with oral antibiotics without performing a spinal tap is part of the undertreating and underdiagnosing of Lyme disease that Willard was referring too. Chronic Lyme can develop from a delay in diagnosis or inadequate use of antibiotics. In Willard’s case, a spinal tap revealed over a hundred white blood cells, an elevated protein, and a low glucose level, all characteristic of an acute infection. He was started on intravenous ceftriaxone right away, and by the time his Lyme titre came back overwhelmingly positive a few days later, he was already well on the road to recovery.

Watch him on “Happy Hour” this week, and you won’t even be able to detect a problem.

But not all cases of Lyme are this clearcut. The bright red rash with a lighter center (erythema migrans) occur in only two thirds of cases, and the rash can also be missed or misconstrued as due to an another insect or skin condition. Serological laboratory testing for Lyme disease is far from 100% accurate, and it is often negative in the early stages of the disease. The characteristic symptoms of headache, fatigue, and subsequent joint aches, are not specific for Lyme and are often mistaken for other problems. As Willard realized, the longer you wait for a diagnosis the more expensive both medically and financially. Chronic Lyme disease, which can include severe arthritis, heart problems, and marked cognitive difficulties, is very difficult to eradicate and expensive to treat. And fear of chronic Lyme in people who don’t really have it also creates a great health care expense.

Lyme disease, caused by the bacteria Borrelia burgdorferi, is spread to humans by the bite of infected blacklegged ticks (the most common culprit, a deer tick, generally has a tiny white spot on its back). The tick has to be in the skin for over 24 hours to cause infection, and the vast majority of ticks do not carry Lyme. Still, Lyme is on the increase, with almost 20,000 cases in 2006, a national average of 8.2 cases per 100,000. Lyme is especially prevalent in 10 states.

Resources:
CDC: Learn More About Lyme Disease
Clinical practice guidelines for Lyme disease from the Infectious Disease Society of America

Marc Siegel MD is an internist and associate professor of medicine at the NYU School of Medicine. He is a Fox News Medical Contributor and writes a health column for LA Times, where he examines TV and movies for medical accuracy. Dr. Siegel is the author of False Alarm: the Truth About the Epidemic of Fear (Wiley 2005) and Bird Flu: Everything You Need to Know About the Next Pandemic (Wiley 2006). Read more at www.doctorsiegel.com

Dear Dr. Yvonne,
After a weekend of pre-marriage counseling, my fiancé and I have been challenged by our church to practice abstinence until our wedding night. My fiancé is super sexy and we’ve had such an active sex life that I think the next two months are going to kill me. Any suggestions on how I can reduce my sex drive??
Neil

Dear Neil,
What you’re referring to are anaphrodiaics – substances that decrease sexual urges. To reduce your libido, people have been known to:

1. Read something really boring.
2. Excessively use coffee, tea, tobacco, alcohol, lime juice, vinegar or lemons, as all are known to lessen desire. (Note: I’m not recommending them and it wouldn’t be wise to use these in great quantities).

My recommendation: Don’t worry about decreasing your libido, but allow yourself to embrace this time of being super-charged for your wedding night. In dealing with your sexual craving, simply find more time for self-pleasuring.

Dr. Yvonne Kristín Fulbright is a sex educator, relationship expert, columnist and founder of Sexuality Source Inc. She is the author of several books including, “Touch Me There! A Hands-On Guide to Your Orgasmic Hot Spots.”

Because there is so much conflicting health information in the media, you may have your own stigmas associated with certain foods. Below are some myth busters to address some common misconceptions about nutrition.

MYTH: Fruit juices are high in carbs and low in fiber.
Juices do, in fact, have redeeming qualities for your health, and there are times when juice is uniquely beneficial. After a workout, for example, it helps replace fluids and blood sugar and provides nutrients. Juice also comes in handy when eating is simply not convenient – when you’re driving, say, or traveling, but still want something with nutritional value. Be sure to drink 100% juice, with no added sweeteners, or no sugar added. But be careful; the calories quickly add up!

MYTH: Ketosis is good for you.
This is definitely misleading. Ketosis is a sign that the blood is becoming too acidic. To combat this, the body takes calcium from the bones, which raises the risk of osteoporosis. In fact, the Nurses’ Health Study showed that women on higher-protein diets had a higher risk of bone fractures. Ketosis can also damage the kidneys, cause bad breath, and trigger irregular heart rhythms that can cause sudden death.

MYTH: Eggs are bad for you.
A study published in 1999 that followed 38,000 men and 80,000 women found that an egg a day had no impact on the risk of heart disease or stroke in healthy men and women. Eggs eaten in moderation, about 3 or 4 a week, are fine for most people. Health professionals advise people who already have high blood cholesterol to carefully watch their saturated fat intake and lose weight if they are overweight.

MYTH: Taking vitamins replaces the need for healthy foods.
So-called whole foods like veggies and whole grains contain fiber and a host of other important nutrients that can’t be adequately delivered through pills. In fact, scientists are still finding new “trace elements” in whole foods that may someday be labeled essential to health – but aren’t found in any pill. Many experts will tell you that taking vitamins doesn’t compensate for a healthy diet.

Dr. Bassett

Allergy season in many areas of the US has had a big impact on all of allergy sufferers, particularly on children.  As children often spend a larger amount of time outdoors during the summertime they may be more so affected by the onslaught of daytime seasonal pollens and mold spores.  

 If one parent has allergies there is at least a 25 to 33 percent chance of the child developing allergies and the risk goes up over 50 to 75 percent if both parents are allergic sufferers.  So family history is a key factor in whether or not your children will develop seasonal allergies, indoor allergies and/or asthma.

 Recent studies have looked at impaired sleep as a result of poor breathing due to congested nasal and sinus passages during the night.  This may have a direct impact on daytime behavior and performance in the classroom.  Fatigue and daytime drowsiness may also be a sign of sleep disturbances that occur due to poorly controlled allergies.

Some suggestions I typically discuss with the parents of children suffering from seasonal allergies are:

  * Change clothes after spending time in the park where pollens are plentiful

  * Washing hair and taking a bath later in the day after being outside on a “high pollen day

  * Pre-treat to prevent daily symptoms during peak seasonal pollen periods

  * Vacation at peak allergy times by a body of water such as a lake, river or by the beach, where pollen levels are typically lower

* Ask your pediatrician or allergist if your child should be on “anti-inflammatory” nasal sprays to reduce congestion from seasonal allergies that may assist in better quality sleep at night

Be proactive and develop a sensible allergy management program for your child to successfully combat seasonal allergy triggers!  Learn more at www.acaai.org and www.aaaai.org.

 Dr. Clifford W. Bassett is an assistant clinical professor of medicine at the Long Island College Hospital and on the faculty of NYU School of Medicine.  He is the current vice chair for public education committee of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology.  No information in this blog is intended to diagnose or treat any condition.

Carbohydrates (meaning “carbon plus water”) are the most efficient fuel for your body. They provide steady healthy energy. Along with fat and protein, carbohydrates are an essential nutrient. The two major forms of carbs are: simple sugars (simple carbohydrates), found in sugars such as fructose, glucose, and lactose, as well as in nutritious whole fruits; and starches (complex carbohydrates), found in foods such as starchy vegetables, grains, rice, and bread and cereals.

What makes carbs different from other essential nutrients (fat and protein) is that they are easily converted to energy by the body. Furthermore, the simplest carbohydrate, glucose, is essential fuel for the brain and muscles. When glucose is absorbed from the intestine into the bloodstream, blood-glucose levels increase, and your pancreas begins to secrete insulin to help get that sugar out of the blood and to the brain and muscles. The problem occurs when too much glucose over-whelms the metabolism. In other words, if you regularly eat great amounts of foods with refined starches and sugars—the bad carbs—the pancreas makes too much insulin and the blood sugar drops too far, which, in turn, makes you feel hungry. Furthermore, muscle cells will stop taking in the glucose, and so more of this sugar will be stored as fat, which will result in weight gain.

GOOD CARB FOODS: Complex carbohydrates are the good carbs. Among good carbs are high-fiber, low-sugar fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole oatmeal and all other whole grains, and all types of beans (a Latin staple!). Sweet potatoes, brown rice, grapefruit, fat-free milk (organic and in moderation, please), whole grain pasta (also in moderation), and apples, like other good carbs, cause a gradual rise in blood-sugar levels, which is optimal for sustained energy, mental clarity and focus, and a balanced mood. Also, eating good carbs will help curb your cravings for bad carbs, which in turn can help you avoid chemical imbalances in the brain that can cause depression.

NOTE: I always recommend buying organic products, because they’re free of potentially harmful ingredients.

The late Heath Ledger’s performance as the Joker in the newest Batman saga, “The Dark Knight,” helped push the movie into the record books, with a first-weekend take of more than $155 million.

Critics and audiences agree that Ledger brought life to the Joker as no one has before, making a comic book character seem real. That’s good news for Warner Brothers, the studio that made the movie.

That is good news for the movie industry, in general. And it is touted as good news for the Ledger family—whose grief might be tempered with understandable pride for an actor whose gifts will likely now be compared with another great artist who died tragically — James Dean.

 There is one problem, however, with all of the excitement. Ledger didn’t do nearly as good a job in his real-life role as a boyfriend and father, it turns out, as he did as an actor. His death has been ruled an accidental overdose of the anti-anxiety agents Valium and Xanax, the sleep aids Restoril and Unisom, and the painkillers OxyContin and hydrocodone (the active ingredient in Vicodin). This accident took place in the setting of Heath reportedly abusing these drugs—kind of like crashing into a wall while driving 100 miles an hour.

We don’t know why. We don’t know the demons that inhabited the conscious and unconscious parts of Ledger’s mind. But those demons require real courage and character to face and overcome. You can’t act your way around them.

Whatever painful dramas roiled Ledger’s psyche, he wasn’t willing or able to insulate his little daughter Matilda Rose from the grief now written into her life story. And there will be no audiences to applaud her performance in dealing with the loss of a parent, no Academy Award for how well she plays the role of brave girl and young woman, no $155 million in tickets to her wedding without a dad to walk her down the aisle.

In real life, you have to own your own suffering and come to terms with it in order to win the awards really worth winning — real self-possession and self-esteem and the certain knowledge that you have brought the best of yourself to those you love.

The entertainment industry understandably wants to turn Heath Ledger’s death into a kind of heroic poetry, a journey through a hall of mirrors in which an actor with demons plays a villain with demons and is lost forever in the maze. But that poetry misses one critical fact: In his role as a father, Heath Ledger walked off stage a long time ago, leaving a little girl to cry tears of grief that not even a Joker’s palette of makeup could turn into a smile.

A DVD of her dad’s full-screen image, maybe one with a colleague tearfully accepting the Oscar for him, might be something she can hold onto – but it won’t be the same. She won’t have a dad to hug and to hold.

Dr. Keith Ablow is a psychiatry correspondent for FOX News Channel and a New York Times bestselling author. His newest book, “Living the Truth: Transform Your Life through the Power of Insight and Honesty” has launched a new self-help movement. Check out Dr. Ablow’s website at livingthetruth.com.

When I was growing up, the only fish I would eat was Arthur Treacher’s fried fish n’ chips.  The thick coating of fried batter completely overpowered the fish—which is why I probably liked it so much. 

Here is a much healthier and tastier “grown up” version.  This recipe is higher in fiber due to the whole wheat flour and saves you 16 grams of fat!  Pair it with sweet potato chips for a true fish ‘n chips meal that even your kids will love.

• 1 pound fresh fish fillets, ½ inch thick (orange roughly, skinless cod, or catfish fillets)
• ¼ cup skim milk
• ½ cup whole wheat flour
• 1/3 cup seasoned bread crumbs
• ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/8 tsp pepper

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees
2. Rinse fish; pat dry with paper towels
3. Place milk in shallow dish. Place flour in another shallow dish.
4. In a third shallow dish, combine flour, bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese and pepper.
5. Dip each piece of fish in the milk, then in the bread crumb mixture.  Coat both sides and place on a baking sheet coated with nonstick spray.
6. Spray tops of fillets with non-stick spray and bake for 7 to 9 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork.

Serves 4

Nutritional Content
Per Serving:  213 Calories, 19 grams carbohydrates,   2 grams fiber,   27 grams protein,  3 grams total fat, 1 gram  sat. fat,  357mg sodium

Tanya Zuckerbrot, MS, RD is a nutritionist and the creator of The F-Factor Diet™, an innovative nutritional program she has used for more than ten years to provide hundreds of her clients with all the tools they need to achieve easy weight loss and maintenance, improved health and well-being.  For more information log onto www.FFactorDiet.com.

Summer allergies and oral allergy syndrome

If you are one of the thirty million people suffering from summertime seasonal allergies, it is important to know about pollen-food syndrome, also known as oral allergy syndrome (OAS), caused by allergens such as ragweed pollen. 

Each year, grass pollens and weeds cause seasonal suffering and ragweed begins to bloom around early August in many areas of the U.S.  In the warmer climates weed pollens may be seen during much of the year.

Itchiness of the mouth and throat immediately after eating fresh fruits or vegetables are common symptoms of OAS. Oral allergy syndrome results from a cross-reaction between allergy antibodies directed towards pollens with similar proteins that are found in foods in about one-third of seasonal allergy sufferers.  Individuals with ragweed allergies might experience these symptoms when consuming foods such as:

• Banana
• Cucumber
• Melon
• Zucchini
• Sunflower seeds
• Chamomile tea
• Echinacea

Grass pollen allergic individuals might experience symptoms when ingesting

• fig
• melons
• tomatoes
• oranges

Mugwort (weed pollen) allergic sufferers may suffer after eating:

• carrots
• celery
• coriander
• fennel
• parsley
• peppers

Generally, cooking or microwaving the food will eliminate a reaction, but not always.  Less commonly it is possible for the OAS to induce mouth and throat swelling if you are allergic to various foods. 

For additional information from the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology at http://www.aaaai.org/media/news_releases/2006/08/080206.stm.

Dr. Clifford W. Bassett is an assistant clinical professor of medicine at the Long Island College Hospital and on the faculty of NYU School of Medicine.  He is the current vice chair for public education committee of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology.  No information in this blog is intended to diagnose or treat any condition.