Allergy-Proof Your Life. Michelle Schoffro Cook

muscle cells; this is valuable if your allergies are linked to migraines or headaches. And like most whole grains, it lessens the risk for heart disease. Quinoa also contains the building blocks for superoxide dismutase—an important antioxidant that helps protect the energy centers of your cells from free-radical damage. This enzyme also helps reduce the risk of free-radical damage linked to allergies. As if that weren’t enough reasons to love this tiny seed, quinoa lessens the risk for heart disease and helps with heart arrhythmias.

      Wild Rice

      Not a true grain, wild rice is actually a type of aquatic grass seed that is native to the United States and Canada. It tends to be a bit pricier than other grains, but its high protein content and nutty flavor make wild rice worth every penny. It’s an excellent choice for people with celiac disease or those who have gluten or wheat sensitivities. At eighty-three calories per half cup of cooked rice, it also has a lower caloric content than many grains. And wild rice is high in fiber. Add it to soups, stews, salads, and pilaf. It’s important to note that wild rice is black. There are many blends of white and wild rice, which primarily consist of refined white rice. Be sure to use only real wild rice, not the blends.

      COOKING GUIDE FOR WHOLE GRAINS

      The following water amounts and cooking times are based on one cup of grain. As for all whole grains, add water and grain in a pot and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce to low heat to simmer for the amount of cooking time specified.

       Barley (pearled): three cups water, fifteen minutes cooking time

       Brown rice: two cups water, forty-five minutes cooking time

       Buckwheat: one-and-a-half cups water, twenty minutes cooking time

       Oats (quick cooking): two to three cups water, twelve to twenty minutes cooking time

       Oats (rolled): two to three cups water, forty to fifty minutes cooking time

       Quinoa: two cups water, fifteen minutes cooking time

       Wild rice: three cups water, fifty to sixty minutes cooking time

       Kamut and spelt can be cooked as whole grains but are most commonly used as whole-grain flour in breads and other baked goods.

      FATS: THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY

      Most packaged, processed, prepared, or fast foods actually contain unhealthy fats from margarine, lard or shortening, or rancid oils or from the processes in which they are prepared, such as frying or cooking at excessively high temperatures. These harmful fats contribute to inflammation in the body.

      The typical diet, if it contains any healthy essential fatty acids, usually includes fats from meat and poultry or from nuts and seeds. Most diets are high in essential fatty acids known as omega-6s. Omega-6 fatty acids are found in the highest concentrations in corn, sunflower, and safflower oils, as well as in the meat of animals that eat a diet high in these fats. Although these fats are healthy in a ratio of one-to-one or even two-to-one of omega-6s to omega-3s (another essential fatty acid that the body must get from food), most people eat a twenty-to-one ratio. This excess worsens and even causes inflammation in the body. Eating too many omega-6 fatty acids in contrast to omega-3 fatty acids will produce substances in the body that will trigger or worsen existing inflammation. Yet that is exactly what the SAD contains: too many omega-6s and not enough omega-3 fatty acids.

      Consuming oils like corn oil, safflower oil, sunflower oil, or “vegetable oil,” which is usually a combination of corn, canola, and/or safflower oil, along with eating the meat of animals fed these fats in their diets, can worsen inflammation in the body, aggravate allergies, and negate the beneficial effects of healthy oils. Although many people know that fish (not the battered and fried variety) can be a healthier food choice thanks to its omega-3 fatty acid content, few people realize that if you eat a salad in which the dressing is made with one of the above-mentioned oils along with a piece of fatty fish, the oil in the salad will undo the benefits of eating the fish. Another example is tuna fish or sardines made into tuna salad or served on a sandwich alongside mayonnaise. The mayonnaise and the oils in the bread will counter any positive effects of eating the fish and aggravate low-grade inflammation in the body that leads to a wide range of possible health problems, including allergies and asthma.