Food Allergies…I Has Em, Big Time
I’ve suspected that I have a sensitivity to grains for a while now and my last doctor revealed an allergy to casein. So I’ve been shying away from wheat and most grains for a while now and I started to see improvements in my health but I just couldn’t bring myself to give up dairy. You might say I’ve been in denial about the dairy allergy because I simply love cheeses, heavy cream, and Greek yogurt. Cutting out diary while following a low-carb way to eating also limits your options and I felt as though I could stick to the plan and stay away from poisonous things like grains and sugar as long as I could have my dairy.
Recently things have changed…
I’ve started seeing a new doctor for maintenance of my hypothyroidism, my old doctor moved his practice and lost his front office person in the process. The new gal…well, she’s less then helpful and awfully bitchy. My new doctor and her staff are amazing. Extremely friendly, helpful, and knowledgeable. I see a nature-path for my issues and I love this new practice because they are professional. They don’t try to hug you when you come and go. No joke, my old doctor was a hugger and a bit of a whack job.
My new doc ordered a slew of tests including a complete food allergy profile and saliva test to check my hormones…I’ve been suffering PMS psychosis that’s driving me nuts.
The results have been a real bummer. I have food allergies, and not just one or two. Here’s the list:
Dairy
- Casein
- Cheddar cheese
- Cottage cheese
- Mozzarella cheese
- Milk
- Goat milk
- Whey
- Yogurt
Meats
- Egg yolks
- Egg whites
Fruits
- Cranberry
Grains/Legumes/Nuts
- Barley
- Kidney beans
- Wheat gliadin
- Wheat gluten
- Pecan
- Rye
- Sesame seed
- Spelt
- Whole wheat
Vegetables
- Asparagus
So, in conclusion…I have to rework my diet and figure out what is safe. Paleo it is, I guess I was really only meant to eat meats, fruits, and veggies anyway.
It also turns out that the hypothyroidism I’ve come to deal with, is actually a case of Hashimoto’s, an auto-immune disease and the PMS psychosis is due to a pretty severe case of estrogen dominance.
Looks like I’m going to be crazy for a bit to get this handled, but I’m glad I changed doctors and got the scoop on what’s really going on with my bod.
Anyone have any egg free, dairy free, grain free, sugar free, low-carb recipes that taste phenomenal?
Wow, I’m sorry to hear about your allergies, and yet, how lucky for you to have the knowledge to be able to fix it! What tests did they run? They sound incredibly thorough! Thanks.
Thanks, the test was a blood panel, and it was pretty detailed.
also, what if your dairy were RAW? Then could you have it?
No, unfortunately the allergy is to the actual protein so raw would not make a difference.
Having tested positive for over 25 food allergies with one doctor and no allergies with another doctor, I consider this field has some junk science involved. The big reason I was tested is that I have eosinophilic esophagitis which is considered to be from food allergies. I now have it in remission, but believe me it is something you do not want. I know my limit on foods now and what I can have and what I can’t.
The doctors told me to do a rotation diet, it is better for you and it will help you to know what you are having reactions with and what you need to watch. Some people stay on it, the least you eat a food supposedly the less it will affect you so it helps your body to heal. I have read a lot of books on allergies from all kind of specialists’ points of view.
Research as much as you can and see a nutritionist who can help you. They also have more access to information on foods than doctors.
Are you able to source A2 dairy products in the US? Over here in Australia, it’s becoming very popular for people with allergies, A2 is a much older and better tolerated protein. A1 protein is what is in standard milk today, as the A1 cows produce more milk.
I dunno Sherrie, I’ll have to check into it…didn’t realize there were A1 and A2 dairy products. Thanks!
allergy testing is completely bunk! i’m sorry to say it, but it’s the least consistent, most scam-like ‘medical testing’ out there. you may be intolerant of many, many things. and that sucks. but the only way to tell is to maintain a clean diet, and experiment with adding in things a little bit at a time. do not rely on allergy testing.
I trust this test. It was a blood panel, testing for antibodies in the blood as it comes into contact with certain foods.
From what I’ve noticed, symptoms after eating certain foods. I think it’s pretty dead on actually.
Unsweetened Almond milk is very good, and it also comes in chocolate! You aren’t allergic to ALL cheeses, so there’s comfort in that! Too bad about the eggs though. I know there are egg substitutes out there if you need to use eggs in something. Wheat and grains are easy to stay away from. It will be interesting to see how your body reacts when you are not easting any of these things.
Thanks Linda, almond and coconut milk are staples of mine already so that was easy. Unfortunately since I’m allergic to the dairy protein, that knocks out all cheese.
Here’s to total avoidance for six months, hopefully I can add it back in at least once in a while!
There are recipes for making cheeses out of coconut milk on the internet! I just can’t remember where… Maybe they’ll be similar to the cheese you used to be able to eat..
Ooooh, brilliant!
You can look for the article “Devil in Milk”, I believe it was by Dr. Cowan at a Weston Price conference. He talks about the differences between the A1 and A2 milk. It’s the A1 milk that is causing problems. Best of luck!
I too have Hashimotos- since this is kind of new info to you if you want any help knowing what’s helped me I’d be happy to share- just email me. I too don’t feel good with grains. Also I avoid kelp/seaweed products/iodine like the plague- it makes Hashimoto’s much worse and I’ve experienced it several times. There’s a time and place for it but not until you find a way to calm the immune system down. I take a medication that most docs don’t prescribe but that has helped me tremendously and basically gave me my life back- that in conjunction with certain changes have made me feel a lot better. I too am still refusing to give up dairy- but if you have the strength to do it- more power to you!
aaww… that’s a whole lotta allergies! Hope you could overcome it because I know it can be really painful not to be able to eat your favorite food.
Although I don’t have allergies, my sister has so I also have to be very careful about the food I cook..
Food allergies suck!
I recently discovered that I’m allergic to soy. It gives me terrible, excruciating, miserable migraines. Since soy is found in almost all processed foods, I’m limited to dairy, fruits, veggies, and meat.
Then I found out I’m allergic to active yeast. It also gives me migraines. No more freshly-baked bread for me! Yeast remains active for 24 hours after being baked. Bummer. I suppose it could be worse though. I could be allergic to dairy. I’m so sorry you have to deal with that. What a tough allergy. I love me some eggs!
Best of luck to you.
Yikes! I used to get migraines (among other things) from my food allergies too. I’m glad you’ve figured out the cause, migraines are horrible.
Thanks for the support Sheri and good luck with avoiding your allergens!
Be careful about the egg replacers, many are made of egg whites! I have an egg alergy to the whites; does limit you….good luck to you……
Thanks for the heads up Linda!
I also have Hashi’s–also take compounded Amour–please be careful with the soy products!! Not good for people with thyroid disorders….LOTS of great information on Mary Shomens (sp?) thyroid site thru about.com. A lifesaver for me–literally….
Yeah, I try and avoid soy as much as possible. I take NatureThroid, and it’s done wonders. I really like the Stop The Thyroid Madness book and website, very informative for both thyroid and adrenal conditions.
Hi, I have major food issues too. elanaspantry. com has a recipe for chocolate pie that’s amazing – it has nuts and eggs in the crust, but I adapted it slightly ( I can’t have nuts) by making the crust out of shredded coconut and a few dates with a pinch of nutmeg all blended up and pushed into a pie dish. It tastes great. You can take the sugar out of the chocolate pudding filling (which is made with coconut milk instead of cream) by replacing with dates, or some other fruit blended up. I used to make it all the time with a few tablespoons of coconut palm sugar, but I also like it with dates.
I also recommend you try googling raw vegan wrap recipes or pizza recipes – I’ve stumbled across some awesome ones (I use the oven on the lowest setting, so it’s not raw, but I’m not raw vegan so I don’t think it matters). They’re grain free, and use lots of vegetables, seeds, etc.
Great ideas! I’ve been looking at vegan cheesecake recipes recently made with cashews. I’ll have to give these a try and will definitely post anything that works out well.
Thanks for visiting and thanks for the heads up on the vegan recipes, I will be testing!