Eating Nuts to Prevent Nut Allergies? Nuts!!

I wanted to share with you an interesting study that came out very recently. It was published in the New England Journal of Medicine and it tested to see if exposing at-risk infants still in the womb to peanut protein would prevent children from further developing an allergy. The researchers found that it indeed did work for most participants. Babies who were very likely to later develop an allergy to peanuts, did not after being exposed to it very early!

Although I am not allergic to peanuts, I know many people who are and many future people who will be greatly impacted by the findings of this study. Everyone should be able to enjoy the deliciousness that is peanuts and peanut butter and all peanut products!!

You can read the official study here.

To see the article in TIME Magazine about it, click here.

TIME Magazine Cracks Open the Labeling Shell/Vegetarian Considerations Brought to you by Buzzfeed

Image from www.ferretharmony.net

In their January 13th issue, Anita Hamilton, writer for TIME Magazine, wrote a piece about what the labels on your egg carton really mean. "Omega-3?" Your hen has been fed algae, flaxseed, or fish oil. "Cage Free?" Your chicken was probably living in a giant house, suffocating on the feathers of it's neighbor. This article is a very important one because we innocently believe what the producer wants us to believe, and that is not how it should be. I urge you guys to read the full article here.

Another brilliant thing that I came across this week was a video made by Buzzfeed. It showed some of their staff, who considered themselves foodies, go to a farms and go through the whole chicken raising and "harvesting" (slaughtering) process. As I consider myself a foodie, I really enjoyed watching this because it really made me question whether killing an animal for my consumption is a just and humane thing to do. I have been considering going vegetarian for a while now, and I have been slowly eating less meat at home, ordering tofu instead at restaurants, and cooking new Asian dishes that use tofu. I recently made a recipe that included firm tofu, enoki mushrooms, and rice that my neighbor suggested I make and it tasted amazing! I wish I had some pictures for you, but I will definitely be making it again, so you wont need to wait long!

I have been having so many snow days recently (not complaining!) that I have had a lot more time to think about what I am eating and also experiment with more sophisticated dishes.  It has been really fun, I wish I usually got this much time for food!

That said, the snow in New York is getting to be a little much. What did Punxsutawney Phil say? Six more weeks 'til Spring? I guess I can wait. :)

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Gourmanda