Update - Mom

This week marks the 3 month anniversary of the biggest scare of my life - the thought of losing my Mom. She nearly died in Feb due to a something called Angiodema (swelling of face, throat, tongue).

Since then she has been on a very special diet. and I'm very very happy to report that till date (that is within these 3 months) she hasn't had any relapse. There have been no other facial swelling and this indeed is a big big improvement.

She is allergic to aspirin and penicillin so her special diet is mainly to avoid foods and products which may contain salicylates. When I did a research on this (thank God for Google!!!) I found that there are lots and lots of things to AVOID which we were not aware of. I guess this goes to show that we do need a food nutritionist in the hospitals in Fiji.

Below is just a sample of things to avoid.

Its an extract from a food allergy related site:

Foods that contain salicylates:

• Fruits such as apples, avocados, blueberries, dates, kiwi fruit, peaches, raspberries, figs, grapes, plums, strawberries, cherries, grapefruit and prunes
• Vegetables such as alfalfa, cauliflower, mushrooms, radishes, broad beans, eggplant, spinach, zucchini, broccoli and peppers
• Herbs, spices and condiments such as dry spices and powders, tomato pastes and sauces, vinegar and soy sauce
• Beverages such as instant coffee, wine, orange juice, apple cider, regular and herbal tea, beer, rum and sherry
• Nuts such as pine nuts, peanuts, pistachios and almonds
• Some candies, such as peppermints, licorice and mint-flavored gum and breath mints

Products that may contain aspirin or a salicylate compound:

• Fragrances and perfumes
• Shampoos and conditioners
• Herbal remedies
• Cosmetics such as lipsticks. Lotions and skin cleansers
• Mouthwash and mint-flavored toothpaste
• Shaving cream
• Sunscreens or tanning lotions
• Muscle pain creams
• Sodium bicarbonate with aspirin (Alka Seltzer)

Ingredients to look for:

• Aspirin
• Acetylsalicylic acid
• Artificial food coloring and flavoring
• Benzoates
• Beta-hydroxy acid
• Magnesium salicylate
• Menthol
• Mint
• Salicylate
• Salicylic acid
• Peppermint
• Phenylethyl salicylate
• Sodium salicylate
• Spearmint

So you can see that there is quite a lot of things to avoid.... and how hard it can be for someone who suffers for Arthritis and Rheumatism. A lot of the pain killers and creams contain these ingredients.

But all these precautionary measures have paid off (touch wood) coz Mom is feeling 100% better now and we have all learnt to live without products which contain Salicylate related ingredients!!!