My Food Identity: Input vs. Output

Dane Weitmann, mechanical design engineer, 6SensorLabs

One of my favorite t-shirts has a picture of a grizzly bear on it with the phrase "survival of the fittest". This phrase has been a motto of mine for probably 15 years. However, as I grow older, and hopefully wiser, it takes on different meanings. Fit to lead, fit to innovate, fit to run a marathon or be a parent. All of these require full body fitness, mental and physical, and depend on how you treat yourself.

As an engineer, I am used to looking at products as systems. I see our bodies in the same way. Your brain, your muscles, all your organs, work together. If the rest of your body is not healthy, why would you assume your brain is healthy? I know that I think clearer and perform my job better when I am physically feeling healthier and stronger.

I am also used to looking at a system in terms of inputs and outputs. A problem goes into your brain, you evaluate the problem and output a solution. You put work into lifting weights or going for a run, and you output stronger muscles or more endurance. Another very important input is what you consume; food, drink or anything you put into your body. I am lucky enough to be able to tolerate all types of food, and have spent enough time in Mexico and China to know what it feels like to consume something that my body does not handle well. I can't imagine having to avoid certain foods or have the potential to feel that sick, or worse, on a regular basis.

There are many products to help you monitor your health, track your calories, improve focus or help you relax when your brain needs a break. I have used, and been part of developing, many of these products. Frankly, this is why I became an engineer: to design health and fitness products that I would want to use.

Something that does not exist yet is a product that allows us to test our food for things that will impact our health. This is what makes me excited to be working on Nima. Whether it is gluten, peanut or any variety of food that impacts your health, the potential for what Nima can become is incredible.

We are developing a unique product that will allow people to be healthier, happier and be their fittest. I truly believe this is a product we will look back on in 10 years and wonder how we lived without it.

-Dane Weitmann, mechanical design engineer, 6SensorLabs

"This Column is Gluten-Free": A Response

I used to be someone who never had to worry about food. I could eat anything and didn’t give mealtime a second thought. It’s easy to judge people when you are not plagued by food allergies or sensitivities, like Roger Cohen does in The New York Times. If you are not aware of how food can affect people or what cross contamination is, it seems over the top to watch someone interrogate wait staff about food preparation.

Eight years ago, I started to develop very sharp intestinal pain. I put up with always feeling terrible for three years until I was finally diagnosed with wheat, dairy, egg and soy allergies along with a gluten sensitivity.

Mr. Cohen states that there is a rise in imagined food allergies and intolerances, but it’s not imagined. Food allergies are on the rise among children. Today, food allergies are 50 percent more common among children than 15 years ago.

He also mentioned an increase in celiac disease and generational difference in views towards food. We’ve spoken to thousands of gluten-free consumers who were diagnosed with celiac disease and talk about ailments that their parents or grandparents suffered from all their lives, likely sensitive or intolerant to gluten but never properly diagnosed. Maybe we’re getting better at diagnosing celiac disease rather than imagining it.

The connection between food and mood was the last thing on my mind before my diagnosis, and afterward, mealtime was suddenly laced with hidden threats. I had to retrain myself how to eat.

People with food allergies and sensitivities are playing Russian roulette every time they sit down to a meal. Mealtime is more about anxiety than joy. Let’s take gluten just as an example. Our own study at 6SensorLabs showed that gluten-free consumers are getting sick from unintended gluten contamination one out of every three times they eat outside of the home.

Just 1/200th of a teaspoon of gluten can trigger an autoimmune response for someone who has celiac disease – that’s a microscopic level of gluten. Gluten is poison for an estimated 3 million Americans, causing not just short-term illness but resulting in long-term health repercussions. For others with sensitivities or intolerances, gluten causes discomfort, pain, digestive issues and more.

Mr. Cohen celebrates a restaurant in Italy that says that they don’t serve gluten-free food. I also applaud any restaurant for being up front about what they can and can’t accommodate – knowing what is in our food is the best way to avoid being sick later. The more transparent restaurants are about their menu and ingredients, the safer and healthier we can be when choosing which foods we eat and which restaurants we frequent. While I applaud the restaurant’s transparency, I would, however, encourage them to better understand food restrictions and intolerances to strengthen their brand and customer loyalty. While Mr. Cohen points to narcissism as the motivation that drives dietary preferences and requirements, I see an enlightened population that’s trying to stay happy and healthy through diet, some by necessity and some by choice. People are becoming much more aware of how food affects them and taking proactive measures to better control their diet, and therefore their health.

So, Mr. Cohen can eat pasta “the way la Mamma has always made it,” but the millions of gluten-free folks and I will be over at one of the nearly 4,000 gluten-free restaurants in Italy that better understand the risks we face when dining out.

My Food Identity: Chicken Soup for the Soul

Kerri Bierman, people operations, 6SensorLabs

For as long as I can remember, my mom has been the Jewish Martha Stewart, and my passion for cooking and eating delicious, fresh food comes from her. Every meal was special, every opportunity to entertain was a chance to pull out the binder of recipes collected over decades. We always had the most delicious school lunches - the envy of all of our friends at the lunch table. Our sandwiches were gourmet quality: when friends were eating PB&J and bologna sandwiches, we were eating roasted chicken with sun-dried tomato pesto and artichokes! I’ve definitely taken after her and take pride in preparing a delicious, healthy meal for guests. I learned to cook and entertain from her, and I love the challenge of experimenting with a new recipe and spending a Sunday afternoon digging through my cookbook collection. I consider myself a foodie and love to try every new restaurant that opens.

A large part of my food identity comes from my family identity. I grew up keeping Kosher “lite.” No pork, no mixing of milk and meat. We eat shellfish, which is traditionally not allowed, but my grandma’s love of shellfish was passed down to us. My parents were born and raised in South Africa, children of Eastern European Jews. I am a first-generation American. We grew up eating traditional South African foods like biltong (South African beef jerky) and boerewors and pap (sausage and polenta), and Jewish foods like babka (an Eastern European coffee cake). Sunday brunch meant a spread of bagels and lox, whitefish spread and noodle kugel - foods that may be foreign to a lot of people. For our family, holidays and celebrations revolved around the dining table. Every Friday night, special care and thought was put into what would be served for Shabbat (Sabbath) dinner. We’d come home from school on a Friday afternoon to the smell of freshly baked challah bread and often a fresh pot of chicken soup on the stove. I have brought these traditions into my own home and love experimenting with baking challah and entertaining.

Over the years, I’ve become more aware of how food affects my body and which foods I should eat (or avoid) to feel better. I’m lucky that I only have one food allergy - eggplant - which is easy to avoid. My husband is allergic to shellfish, so we keep both pork and shellfish out of our home to make sure that we can both stay as happy and healthy as possible when cooking at home.

I love that our team at 6SensorLabs shares a passion for food and works so hard to ensure that everyone can dine out safely!

My Food Identity: Whatever Feels Natural

Jingqing Zhang, lead scientist

I grew up in a family where my dad would cook dinner every evening. Each day, my dad would stop at a local market to pick up fresh vegetables and meat on his way home from work, which was a typical practice for Chinese families, at least back then. This tradition of daily shopping has instilled me with a passion for fresh, pure and healthy foods, and through this tradition, I gained a deep appreciation for the natural, and sometimes subtle, flavor of foods, without the need for excess salt, sugar or other seasonings. My mother could actually tell the difference between a free-range chicken and farm-raised chicken, but I never gained this seemingly supernatural ability.

Home dining was such a tradition that, if you were having dinner with friends, you would invite them to your house for a home-cooked meal rather than going out to a restaurant. Cooking and eating at home showed the best hospitality, and there is a strong sense of comfort in a home-cooked meal. While I do prefer to eat at home, I also enjoy dining out, especially with friends, which makes the occasion enjoyable and memorable and gives me an opportunity to try new types of foods or cooking styles.

Overall, I try to be conscious of what I eat, believing that having a balanced diet is the key to staying healthy and energetic. These days, there are many fad diets that go in and out of style – such as low-carb diets – and I don’t really follow them. To me, all of the key dietary constituents are good and useful, as long as they’re consumed in the right proportions. I generally eat lots of vegetables and fruits, but I also don’t constrain my meat, carbohydrate or fish intake, and my occasional indulgences include french fries, a glass of wine or a cup of sweetened bubble tea, whatever feels natural. However, I do try to stay away from processed foods, simply because I don’t really know what is in them.

I was initially drawn to 6SensorLabs out of a personal need, as my husband was diagnosed with celiac disease a few years ago. I pretty much only eat gluten free both at home or at work, as it's generally healthier anyway. In order to avoid cross-contamination, there is no food at home that contains gluten. When we go out, my husband and I usually share meals, so I always order gluten-free meals. However, if there are side dishes that come with the meal that have gluten, such as regular bread, I would eat my portion as well as his. :)

We frequently have found it difficult to navigate the gluten-free diet both at home and when traveling or eating out socially. I met Shireen while we were both at MIT, and after speaking with her and many other people with celiac disease or gluten-intolerance in my circle of friends, I quickly realized that this problem was shared with many others. This common issue really motivated me to join 6SensorLabs to develop a test that can really help millions of others! Beyond the celiac and gluten intolerance community, I’m looking forward to the opportunity to help people by developing sensors for other dietary allergens.

--Jingqing Zhang, lead scientist, 6SensorLabs

My Food Identity: Mostly Vegetarian with a Touch of Sugar

Steve Portela, lead product development engineer

Growing up in a Portuguese household, every occasion from a weeknight dinner to holidays are centered around good company and food. This tradition is sadly losing its resonance with my generation (the first American-born generation) as we become busier and busier and less willing to commit an entire day for one meal’s preparation.

Over my life, as I have unfortunately moved further and further away from mom’s cooking, I have developed my own food identity. This identity is focused around how the food tastes, how healthy it is and how quickly I can prepare it. As someone who feels best when he is active, I manage my eating habits around how food makes me feel, not only physically, but also mentally.

I am fortunate enough at the moment to not have any food allergies, but I have had a bout with cancer that has no doubt shaped the way I treat my body today. My lifestyle and experiences have led me to a food identity that I am always tweaking but will classify as mostly vegetarian with a touch of sugar. That means that the majority of what I eat is fruits, vegetables, legumes and nuts. I have, however, had a sweet tooth my entire life and don’t fight it, but instead just limit how often I satiate it. I am “mostly” vegetarian because I would be disowned from my family if I completely gave up meat, but more seriously because I feel more energetic and alert when I don’t eat it.

Another main focus of my food identity is sourcing my food locally and organically grown. After reading books like “Omnivore’s Dilemma” and watching documentaries like “Food Inc.” and “Forks over Knives,” I realized how much about our food industry I don’t know. Because of the abundance of information available to us, I do my best to stay caught up with the latest research and incorporate that into my decision making.

I am able to make dietary decisions based on wants, while other folks out there eat what they do because their lives depend on it. This identity is what I use as motivation every day at 6SensorLabs as I help increase food transparency not only for myself but also for those in dire need of it.

--Steve Portela, lead product development engineer, 6SensorLabs

What is your food identity?

In my family, like so many others, food is the center of every holiday or event, and cooking food for your family is a way to show love. Recipes are passed down from generation to generation, and for me, meals are tied to traditions and memories.

A huge part of our lives center around food and meal time, and we at 6SensorLabs believe food and identity are intertwined. But what if you don't know what's in your food? If you are what you eat, and you don't know what you're eating, do you know who you are?

I myself identify as paleo - I eat a diet free of grains, lactose, refined sugar, corn and soy to help manage symptoms of Crohn's disease. It took me many years, lots of experimenting and more than a few sick days for me to figure out the triggers for my flares. A paleo diet is one tool that helps me manage some of those triggers. Being paleo to me means having more control over a disease for which there is no current cure. It means that I can go outside and explore or run a half marathon or just hang out with family and friends without pain and discomfort. So knowing what's in my food makes a huge difference in my quality of life.

I know all too well how it feels to go to a conference or dinner party and worry about what they're serving and if I'll be able to find food I can eat. I, like so many of you, bring emergency snacks with me when I travel or go to events. After awhile, I was exhausted from researching restaurant menus and reciting my list of foods I avoid that I hated drawing attention to my needs and eventually defaulted to a plain hamburger patty for my meal.

Food sensitivities and allergies shouldn't be a limitation to a life well-lived. Knowing what's in your food is key to making healthier decisions and enjoying life. Food transparency has the potential for giving back health, social freedom and happy memories around food.

We need greater food transparency so that every person can own their food identity, free of anxiety and full of togetherness, happiness and good health.

I am grain-free, lactose-free, sugar-free, corn-free and soy-free. What's your food identity?

--Heather Sliwinski, PR lead, 6SensorLabs

What People Tell Us About Their Food Allergies

We talk to people every week who follow gluten free and allergen free diets. Ultimately we want to understand why and how they got to that point – and how they manage on a daily basis. The vast majority manages diet out of necessity. They have reactions to allergens in what they eat that range widely in their expression, but all of which have a deleterious effect on their health.

We do everything from formally arranged interviews to impromptu conversations at expos, airports, restaurants, business meetings, or any time the words “gluten free” “food sensitivity” or anything related are uttered. Trust me, there’s nothing like talking about someone’s digestive issues at 6am, before you’ve had your first caffeine of the day.

One of the most important things when conducting this type of product research is developing a deep understanding of the end user. While Scott and Shireen are great prototypical users, we need to make certain we don’t only reflect their experiences, and instead, the wide variety of things that can happen for different people. I’ve compiled some of the highlights from our conversations over the past six months, primarily focused on Celiac Disease, gluten intolerance, and other gluten reactions. Some people have additional allergens they must watch, but those comments are not captured here.

Please note that none of this information has been reviewed by a medical professional and constitutes a portion of product-related research we are conducting in relationship to our first product, Nima. If you have food allergies, or suspect that you do, please contact your physician or other medical professional.

Food allergies, intolerances, and immuno-responses don’t tend to discriminate. We talk to parents of kids under the age of 5, people over 50, men, women, people in urban, suburban, and rural areas, people of varying religious and spiritual practices, and of all ethnic and racial backgrounds.

Most, but not all, have a long path to diagnosis. Since there are 300+ symptoms associated with Celiac and gluten intolerance, it can be incredibly tricky to figure out what is causing the outcome. We heard about some fairly early diagnosis in kids who have diabetes who are being tested annually for Celiac, or those who may have siblings with Celiac. For others, the path may take as long as 10 years. Some go through a variety of traditional Western doctors, while others have turned to holistic practitioners and naturopaths. It may surprise you, but many thought this was just supposed how they were supposed to feel – way below optimal. People have to be persistent to find out what it is that makes them sick.

A short list of symptoms described to us: fatigue, stunted growth, failure to thrive, stomach aches, diarrhea, headaches, sinus issues, depression, yellow eyes, bloating, skin issues/outbreaks, suicidality, miscarriages, headaches, cramps, nausea, constipation, and poor results at school. Clearly all things people would do anything to avoid. Some amount of the folks we have spoken to are asymptomatic – meaning while they’re doing damage to their body, they don’t overtly feel anything, almost more damaging.

How long before the short term symptoms show up after consuming even minute quantities of gluten? One woman jokingly told us that the 2 minutes Nima takes would save her 26 minutes, but we hear anything from 5 minutes to an hour before initial symptoms, while some may not feel results for two weeks. All this to say, many people miss work or important family events due to being exposed.

Not one person wants to go back to eating the allergen that triggers them. All of them are so grateful to have found out what it was that made them ill. The great feeling they have and the absence of symptoms means that they are enjoying life to a greater degree.

The foods that strike terror into hearts vary by allergen, but for gluten, people are worried about fried foods, sauces, soups, dressings, or anything claiming to be gluten-free that might not be. They worry about cross-contamination. Events such as work dinners, potlucks, or even being invited to someone’s home can be really scary. Meal times outside the home generate anxiety, from the moment someone steps in the door, to the questions asked of the server or host, to the time the food is on the plate, to the time elapsed until no symptoms show up after eating. This means people are tense during that entire dining experience, from start to finish. And after that.

How do most people cope with this? Most cook at home, carefully controlling their environment, as they are afraid, nay terrified, to eat out. Others have a small set of restaurants and dishes they trust. While they aren’t interested in resuming eating a particular allergen, they do feel limited in their ability to explore.

These are the stories that motivate our team. We want people to go back to trying new places and new foods – feeling free to fully socially engage without anxiety.

Navigating Gluten Land Mines at the Business Lunch

This is a guest post by a fan of our product we'll call Nimatic. She lives on the East Coast and has Celiac.

It was once said never to order a salad on a business lunch. It is awkward to eat. Try telling that to someone who can't eat gluten! A work lunch is usually a nice change of scenery unless you are afraid of (allergic to) gluten. There is the team building lunch, the celebratory lunch, the client lunch, the conference lunch, lunch with your boss or the lunch to close a deal. While most of your colleagues look forward to an expensed meal or are focusing their energies on winning new business... you are doing a quick search to see if you can find information on gluten free options. You're reading the menu online glancing to see what items would cause the least back and forth with the waitstaff.

You enter the restaurant and are escorted to the table, you strategically look to see which seat (if it is appropriate) will be easiest to speak with the staff without talking over the other patrons. The last thing you want is the meeting to turn to your dietary restrictions to derail the conversations or make the person who selected the restaurant feel bad for not considering dietary restrictions.

Gluten free business lunch survival is unique to all of us. Here are some tips that have worked for me:

• Do your research. If you aren't comfortable requesting a "safe" restaurant look for reviews on Yelp or Find Me Gluten Free
• Call in advance if you have any questions to cut down on the Q&A during the business lunch
• Even when you think something is safe, tell the server you're allergic to gluten and it is not a choice... you don't want to suffer the consequences when you're back at the office.

How do you navigate the business lunch?

Shireen's Thoughts on Using Technology for Healthy Food for Everyone

Food+Tech Connect has been organizing industry leaders at the intersection of food and technology to answer a key prompt:

“How might we use technology, new business models and design to guarantee healthy, safe and sufficient food for everyone?”

They asked CEO Shireen Yates to write a response to this question. You can read the full response over at the Food+Tech Connect blog.

A few weeks ago we wrote about the concept of food identity here at 6SensorLabs. Shireen expands on that idea by saying:

"The first step to healthy food is determining what is good for YOU. The second step is gaining access to those foods."

The ways she sees technology helping to address this are three-fold: understanding and advocating your food identity, transparency, and access.

The whole series of responses is fascinating - ranging from using insects to feed the world to Democratizing the Farm to Table Movement to more covering different perspectives. All good food for thought.

So Many Food-Related Questions

This week a couple of our team members and some friends made a little video illustrating the innumerable questions people have when they go out to eat. There's many more in the video, but here's just a few of the ones we know are pertinent to people concerned about what's in their food.

Enjoy our many questions!

Let's Talk about Food Identity

When my husband Jeff moved to San Francisco five years ago and became a part of our family full-time, there was no small anxiety on my part. I’m a vegetarian, as are my two daughters. How would we take to having this person living in our house who insisted on cooking meat? One kid was grateful to know we’d have a grill, as she assumed he’d be cooking all meat outside, including bacon. Bacon is not something that you want to cook over an open flame (safety first!) and she’s had to adjust to the smell of it on the occasional morning.

We’ve laughed at what my husband called our “exclusionary diets” while we chided him for mercilessly consuming dead animals. Time has passed and we find Jeff is eating more broccoli, we are closing in on Maximum Kale according to the teenagers (not possible, in my mind), and we are spending Sunday mornings at the Farmer’s Market. Since Jeff does the majority of cooking he has learned a lot of recipes I’ve cultivated, annotated, and created over the years. I realized Jeff’s presence precipitates the merger of two food cultures. We have two identities and ways of thinking about food and our interactions with it.

For me, a dinner without a salad feels incomplete. For him, a meal devoid of animal protein feels unfulfilling. The differences run on with some strong positive intersections. We are both Southerners, so iced tea is a staple. Shared meals and having people over is important to both of us. We’ve been in the ongoing process of creating a shared family food identity.

Why is this important to us at 6SensorLabs?

When I first met Shireen, our CEO, I told her that I immediately understood the problem 6SensorLabs is trying to solve. It’s hard to trust your food if you have any concerns. As a vegetarian, I’m constantly going into restaurants and asking questions, calling ahead to see if they can accommodate my needs, or scanning menus online. I worry that I’ll be able to eat confidently and safely. As you think about living with allergies, it’s almost impossible to imagine what it would be like not able to eat something that appears commonly on menus like wheat, dairy, or soy, much less any allergen. The pressure to find something to eat and the worry associated with wondering if your food is safe is huge. It’s also something permanent.

People carry their allergies with them everywhere they go. In fact, it defines much of who you are. It often feels limiting, about what you can’t do vs. what you can. It’s “I’ve got a gluten allergy, so I can’t eat bread” not “I’ve got a gluten allergy, here's what I can eat.” There are so many people with a wide variety of allergies that eating feels very limited for them, and some where the side effects include hospital visits, so the severity is something to include in our understanding of how these allergies intersect with everyday life. This informs who we are -- it’s something you carry with you everywhere you go.

There’s more to our lives than what we can’t do - there’s also our beliefs about things. Things we like and things we don’t when it comes to food.

So let’s talk about our food identities. They are more all-encompassing. More true to who we are. More about the wholeness of who we are as people. You likely have strong feelings about where your food should be sourced. You may have severe allergies that force you to eliminate whole categories from your diet. You may have personal rules, from quirky tastes to serious disciplines about how much of one food type you can eat. You may think it’s okay to eat at your desk at work, or refuse to eat anywhere but at a table with family. All of these are okay. All of these are about you.

The basis for your food identity is formed here, your relationship and conception of food. We’re not the first to talk about this - food identity is something that’s been well-researched in academia - and is well documented in all cultural explorations. Our food identities are often expressions of cultural identity alongside our personal ones. Each person has their own carved out in the places they go, they way they consume, and how they feel about it.

You’ll see that almost everyone at 6SensorLabs has put together a quick description of their own food identities -- and some of us will post more detailed versions on our personal blogs.

We’d love you to tell us: what’s your food identity? What allergies do you have? What food do you love? What do you dislike? How do you feel about food? How do you share food with other people? Where do you like to buy food? Are there certain cuisine styles you prefer? Are there ones you avoid? Who do you like to eat with? When do you like to eat? All of these form one’s food identity. Let’s celebrate these!