A quick manicure at your local nail salon or spa can be a relaxing pick-me-up, but don’t get too lulled by the pampering. Many manicurists massage conditioning oil into your hands to moisturize your cuticles and nails. A common ingredient in cuticle softener? Sweet almond oil. According to South Carolina-based salon owner Rosanne Kinley, who’s [...]

“Mom, everyone is going. I really want to go,” my daughter pleaded with me one spring afternoon. The event? A one-week Girl Scout-sponsored day camp – or as I referred to it, “Girl Scout Nirvana.” For many kids, mine included, the prospect of summer camp is the very axis on which the Girl Scout year [...]

Allergen Where It Hides Alternate Names Tree Nuts baked goods, crackers cereals granola bars, trail mixes marzipan calisson (marzipan-type candy) Pad Thai satay sauce curry sauces chili and trout amandine gianduja and giandula (chocolate blended with hazelnuts) tree nut oils pralines salad dressings spreads: almond paste, nut butters, chocolate-nut spreads (Nutella) nougat (e.g. torrone) pesto [...]

My daughter Geneva is now 15, but back when she was a peanut-allergic kid in her prime trick-or-treat years, Halloween presented a tricky challenge. How were we to wrestle her hard-earned nutty goodies away without a pitched battle? Somehow, our heartfelt “it’s for your own good” speech was always lost on her, and tears would [...]

European scientists have discovered that despite popular belief, peanuts may not be the allergen that causes the most severe allergic reactions. In one important study, discussed at the the 2010 meeting of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, that dubious distinction fell to the cashew. The study, published in the European journal Allergy, [...]

When a family member has a tree nut allergy, reading is protection. Reading labels is a way of life when you or a member of your family has a tree nut allergy. Before eating anything in a package, be sure to read the label carefully. Look for hidden sources of nuts and alternate names for it. Also [...]

Tree nut allergies are one of the most common food allergies in children and are on the rise. A major study in the United States recently found that cases of tree nut allergy in children increased significantly in a decade, from 0.2 per cent in 1997 to 1.1 per cent in 1998. The same study [...]

Many Canadians suffering moderate to severe allergic reactions are not using epinephrine to treat the reaction, says Dr. Ann Clarke an allergist at McGill University Health Centre. Clarke and her colleagues surveyed close to 10,000 Canadians in the Surveying Canadians to Access the Prevalence of Common Food Allergies and Attitudes towards Food Labelling and Risk [...]

Oils generally come in two kinds: refined and unrefined. 1. Refined Oil: When a tree nut oil is refined, the chances of the proteins of that food being in the oil are low. While pure refined oils (various tree nuts and also peanut) exist, it is always safer to avoid nut oil completely since there [...]

Tree nut allergies are one of the most common and fast-growing types of food allergies in North America today. When someone with a tree nut allergy ingests their allergen, even a trace amount, that person is at risk of a severe allergic reaction, called anaphylaxis. An anaphylactic reaction includes more than one of the body’s [...]