Hi - I’m looking for meal/snack suggestions from anyone who might be avoiding these as well.
I had my blood tested for sensitivities to different foods, and my doc has suggested I avoid:
eggs (yolks and whites)
wheat (wheat, gliadin and gluten)
rye
spelt
and some weird outliers: bananas, cranberries, asparagus
I’m vegetarian by choice (no meat, but I do eat dairy, though the doc suggested cutting that as well). I was upping my egg intake to get more protein, but apparently I have a strong reaction to eggs.
Supposed to eliminate all for 5-21 days, and then begin re-introducing one at a time to gauge symptoms.
I’m a little intimidated by tackling the first phase of this and was hoping for some yummy suggestions - anything that helps you live gluten and/or egg-free?
Rice tortillas with Hummus and turkey or firm tempeh rolled up inside!
Just say no to 99% of Gluten Free Breads, they weigh 50 pounds and taste like sawdust. Although Gluteno makes a killer raisin bread.
Rice Pasta. Skip the bullshit brands and cheap store brands and funky grains. Go straight to the Tinkiata Brand brown rice spagetti of linguini. Follow the “quick cooking” directions.
Rice cakes with almond butter spread.
Apple slices with almond butter
Carrot sticks and Hummus.
It’s hard at first but after a while it gets really easy. Be prepared though, it ain’t cheap.
I have a lot of the same food allergies as you: egg, wheat/gluten/rye/spelt, cranberry… and also dairy for me.
Read labels and educate yourself on what ingredients can contain wheat. You will probably accidentally eat a few ‘bad’ things. I did too. Someone mentioned tabbouleh… that was the one that I ate by accident for a while. It’s made with bulgur wheat. So don’t eat that.
I agree with karma on the Tinkyada rice pasta. it’s great. I also eat a lot of Mexican because they cook with a lot of corn and corn meal. Not sure where you live, but Austin has a lot of resources for celiacs and gluten-intolerant folks.
I stopped trying to find substitutes for everything that I normally ate. It was depressing. I just started eating differently, and then it got easier. You will probably have to do some cooking yourself.
Rice Chex cereal is gluten free. It’s the only mainstream cereal I can think of. Oatmeal is generally considered not to be gluten-free unless the package states otherwise. There are issues with oats and cross-contamination. A few expensive brands test and certify their oats.
There are a couple brands of cornbread that I like. I also use the bread mix called Chebe to make things. It has an egg-free recipe variation. The ‘Pamela’s’ brand of mixes are awesome. i use their brownie mix and pancake mix. The pancake mix works great anytime you need ‘flour.’
But in general, we eat very simple stuff: meat, rice/risotto, and vegetables. Nothing crazy. It’s all allergy-free because we make it.
and there are several other threads on the topic. There are a few things easy to change to (non wheat pasta are pretty good actually), others that are hard to change to (the bread alternatives I’ve tried didn’t fly with my Frenchness).
what test did you get and where did you get it? My wife is currently on a gluten/milk free diet with low vinegar/salycilates, but we’ve only done trial and error.
i went to a naturopath and she ordered a ‘standard food panel: IgG’ - tests for 96 different foods, delayed onset. i believe you can also test for igE - immediate onset, but most people already know those reactions (like extreme reactions to nuts, shellfish, etc.).
i think the only real advantage to this over trial and error is speed - you can get a start on what to eliminate and then do trial and error to fine-tune. i’m no expert, but it sounds like these are still gray areas even with the blood testing - there are different combos, etc. that you may need to figure out on your own.
i think most insurance will not cover a naturopath, so if another doc would recommend, it could be covered, i think that’s worked for some folks.
depending on her symptoms, your wife may consider having her thyroid checked if she hasn’t already.
It is gluten free, has probiotic cultures that are good for your digestive and immune systems. Also has 11 gram of protein in 8 oz. I drink the plain which takes a little getting used to but i love it.
I eat gluten free and love to eat tacos and enchiladas, make sure they’re corn tortillas and not flour. Most are corn. Also The Outback has a killer gluten free brownie sundae, if you need something sweet. It’s called the Thunder Down Under.
really? what is IgG? the documentation they sent home include this note:
“Allergic reactions mediated via IgG antibodies occur sometimes hours or even days after exposure.”
-and-
“The difference between food allergy and food sensitivity/intolerance: While the food allergy test is a valuable diagnostic tool for identifying foods to which a person has a true allergy, it cannot test all the ways people could react negatively to foods. Not all food reactions are immune mediated with the IgG and IgE antibodies…” hmm…now that I’m reading this, I’m not sure it makes sense.
To be fair to the doc, I’m using the term allergies a bit generically - she’s just as likely to say sensitivity or intolerance.
Also, more clarification on the test results - the only thing i tested moderate to high on was eggs. Some of the others are low-moderate, so not huge reactions, but they were notably higher than the other foods tested.
With more detail, still think it’s a bunch of hooey? That’s a little depressing - thought I was onto something. And it wasn’t cheap.
Food allergies can be tested by either blood (IgE) or skin scratch testing. Only some food intolerances can evaluated ie lactose intolerant. For the most part (limited exceptions) IgG testing to foods is not worth the waste of blood. Most food intolerances are if it makes you sick, dont eat it.
