If your child has a food allergy, you know how tough it can be to avoid exposure. Always bringing separate snacks. Reading a food label 5 times in a row to make sure you didn’t miss anything. Wondering if you can trust a restaurant, even if it’s been ok in the past.
A couple years ago, I heard about a place in California that treats food allergies in a unique, effective way. I listened with rapt attention as a woman raved about how much they helped her son. Today, I got the chance to find out even more. The nonprofit Southern California Food Allergy Institute is the real deal, and it’s life-changing.
I recently spoke to a Dallas-area mom and daughter (Annabel and Ellery) currently enrolled in the program. I want to share a little of our conversation because it’s sure to resonate with you.
Ellery, age 19, was diagnosed with a severe peanut allergy after a life-threatening exposure to peanut butter toast at 13 months old.
Annabel: For the first several months I lay awake at night thinking of all the things I needed to do to keep my girl safe. Anxiety and fear kicked in. We had a major cleanout of foods in our house that she could not have. I spent countless hours calling manufacturers to figure what foods were ok.
Ellery: It seemed like I was always the first kid wherever I went who had a severe food allergy and requested significant accommodations at places like school. I would always, and I mean always, bring my own food wherever I went (birthdays, field trips, friend’s houses, soccer games).
Sound familiar? Managing Ellery’s allergy through avoidance was difficult and stressful. OIT (oral immunotherapy) wasn’t going to cut it either. After countless doctor visits, Ellery assumed her peanut allergy would be with her forever…
Until Annabel learned about TIP™ and the Southern California Food Allergy Institute.
TIP™ stands for Tolerance Induction Program (TIP™), and it’s the cornerstone of the work done at the SoCal Food Allergy Institute.
Built on over a decade of diagnostic data collected, TIP™ is a specialized treatment program designed to help children achieve true Food Freedom — the ability to eat whatever they want, whenever they want, in unlimited quantities, without fear of reaction.
Each child’s data directly drives their treatment — down to the milligram of food protein for each dose throughout the program. Every child in TIP™ receives an entirely personalized form of therapy based on their own unique immune system. As Annabel told me, “They have billions of data points that they use to create each person’s program so it is safe for them. This builds a lot of confidence.”
Food allergy treatment exists, and we want more people to know it.
I ended my conversation with Annabel and Ellery by asking if there’s anything else they’d like families to know about the SoCal Food Allergy Institute.
Annabel: The community of parents in the program is amazing and always willing to answer questions and support each other. We are passionate about sharing the program with others just as some kind strangers did with us. I see stories of children reaching food freedom every week. It is just amazing. I do not want one child to have to live with food allergies a day longer than need be. Ellery has lived with it for so long, and I have seen the heartache it causes and the lonely and isolating road it is, and we do not want that for any other child. They can be free too.
Ellery: The program can be a lot of work and sacrifice, but it is so worth it!! To be able to go through high school or even middle school without a food allergy would have made my life a million times easier. I encourage anyone who is thinking about joining the program to just get on the waitlist. You can research while waiting. I am so excited to reach food freedom, and I really want anyone who has the possibility of doing the same to be able to.
Regardless of the risk factors or severity of food allergies, your child may have, the Southern California Food Allergy Institute welcomes your case.
Take a look at their website to learn more about brilliant founder Dr. Inderpal Randhawa, the Tolerance Induction Program, and the great work done at the SoCal Food Allergy Institute. Because they are located in California, you’ll want to check out the Treatment Zones to find out how the program will work for you logistically. Stay up to date with information by signing up for the newsletter.
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P.S. How is Ellery doing today?
Ellery is still in the program, making progress every day. As of June 30 “she can go to an ice-cream shop safely, or go out to breakfast or go to a bakery. She will be able to eat things that are made on a line or facility with peanuts. We do not have to call manufacturers anymore. We are beside ourselves in excitement for this day. It is a huge milestone along the way to total food freedom. For lunch [on June 30] we are going to Legacy Food Hall as a family, and she can try some of everyone’s food. Then we will go get ice-cream. We are going to have fun and do all the things she has never been able to do.”
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