I'm allergic to 13 different foods. Eating has become a very stressful situation for me simply because I never know if I'll accidentally eat something I'm allergic to. The process of creating an allergy free meal for myself is time consuming and fraught with self-doubt. Am I doing this right? What if my ingredients aren't allergen-free?
How can I make eating less stressful? I wish there were a way to take a nutritionally complete pill of some kind.... lol
Any suggestions would be appreciated!
Houston:
My allergies are all tree nuts, bananas, all melons, beef, celery, chocolate, lentils, pork, tomato, egg, Baker's yeast, pineapple, and coffee.
Eating a tiny bit of one won't kill me, but eating a lot of one (a whole banana) or eating something with a bunch of my allergies (chocolate cake for instance) will send me to the hospital. I see no reason for stress.
Learn how to cook. See your grandmother, aunt, mother, or trusted neighbor.....pick the one that always has really good smells coming from their house - and isn't wider than a semi truck. Cooking is very simple....and fun once you throw away the cookbooks. After you learn the basics you will find no more need for them.
If you buy raw ingredients - you have no chance of error.....simply do not cook things you are allergic to. Just don't buy those 13 items.
When you cook, always make enough for leftovers. This comes in handy for the next days lunch at work. You might also consider freezing enough leftovers to cover nights that you don't feel like cooking - thus when tired or stressed from work, all you have to do is use the microwave.
BTW - what are these 13 items?
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all tree nuts: nuts are not a required item in the diet.
bananas, pineapple: eat kiwi's,, oranges, apples, lemons, grapes, pomegranates, blueberries, blackberries and any of the other million fruits. If you are cooking by cookbook, and the recipe calls for banana's or pineapples - throw in that amount of a DIFFERENT fruit....
all melons: ok - they are good on a hot summers day, but watermelon, canteloupe and honeydew's aren't critical items. eat a fruit or a salad instead on those hot days.
beef & pork: eat shellfish, river/fresh water fish, shrimp, chicken, squirrel, deer, elk, or any other type of meat. This still leaves a lot of good meat out there - and a wide variety. Down here in Texas we have a bit of appetite for alligator now and then....not bad either. Next time you are thinking of having a bbq - how about considering a crawfish boil....you most certainly can have everything on the standard menu for one - and we really, really love it here.
celery, tomato: when making your soups use potatoes, carrots, califlauer, broccoli, squash, and different veggies instead. If you liked fresh sliced tomatoes on a summer day, learn to like chilled sliced cucumbers, or other chilled fresh veggies instead.
Egg: all eggs? eggwhites? yolks? duck eggs? How about egg substitutes? Since egg actually falls into a meat - you can easily live without them....but they are are handy for baking, and nice at breakfast. Yea, this one not fun....so - you will just have to cook one more side at breakfast that suits you when making one of those "big breakfasts" for a Saturday morning.
Baker's yeast: Many types of yeast exist....what about bread with no yeast such as the unleavened breads or sour dough breads? Does all commercial yeasts affect you or just certain brands? What about homemade specialty breads such as sweet potato, or squash breads we all so love to get from our mothers at holiday time?
chocolate: ok - have a different type of candy other than a chocolate bar, if ice cream is your thing - learn to like a few other flavors
lentils: well - skip this bean.....it isn't the easiest to cook with anyways. that leaves red, kidney, pinto, northern and probably a few hundred varieties to choose from.
coffee: try chicory. the american settlers used this quite often instead of coffee....and many people still do. make it exactly the same way......it isn't bad - i have had it many times over the years.
spices: cook with herbs instead
dyes: don't dye your food. it isn't necessary.
I am NOT trying to minimize your allergies.....what I am trying to do is get you to see them as something differently than you do now. These allergies are easy to get around..... I am quite sure you didn't like being told of some of the items - but all are easy to get around. What you don't do is let an inconvenience become a source of constant stress. It isn't worth it.
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My husband is an insulin dependant diabetic. He has to take 4 shots of day of 2 different types of insulin. I know a LOT about dealing with specialty diets..... What I do is simply take this in stride, accept a few dietary changes, and move on. If I didn't do this - my life would be a stressful wreck. Well I can tell you I have three allergies, the biggies - wheat, dairy and soy. Mine is an autoimmune problem so I won't go into shock or anything,but I feel your pain. It is stressful. I guess the good thing is that more and more companies are becoming sensitive to allergies and creating things we can eat without fear, there are new labelling laws that help us make choices, and now often when I go out to eat the waiter doesn't look at me like I have three heads and is willing to ask the chef questions for me. I guess it's best to eat as many whole foods are possible, forget processed stuff, and rely on spices for taste. I don't know what you are allergic to, but good luck, and it does get easier to deal with in your head. It's a big huge hurdle to jump though. I couldn't imagine being allergic to anything. About the only way is to prepare everything from scratch, which is a pain in the butt. There are nutritional supplements you can take, but make sure the inert ingredients aren't something you're allergic to.
well you could try divvies, they make cookies, cupcakes, candy and other stuff that has no dairy, eggs, peanuts, and tree nuts. they're pretty good too. heres the site:
www.divvies.com Eat Organic foods I understand what you are going through. Our four year old has similar allergies. When we go to birthday parties, restaurants or anywhere outside of home I have to cook food for him. I have to be creative so that he does not feel out of place.
This is hard.
I had to give up my job so that I can fix special food for him. Friends and family members have started to understand allergies but some of them still don't understand the severity.
I generally recommend trying foods from different cultures apart from regular American food - Indian, Chinese, Thai, Italian, Mexican. However, since cooking your food is not a regular option, I would recommend that you look up for some ready made foods from Whole Foods, Trader Joes or online which have clear labels regarding allergens. 13 allergies is a big number so this too is not going to be easy.
Once you get to know how to cook variety and create a log of various dishes that you can eat regularly, you will not find anything unusual about the "new normal".
Good luck.
http://www.AllergyGeneral.com/forum I know what you are going through. Four years ago, I developed a rash that seemed to be everywhere--my back, chest, arms, etc. My dermatologist suggested that I may have a food allergy and put me on an extreme diet. No dairy, no caffeine, no peanuts, no chocolate, no oranges or orange juice. I had to stay away from artificial coloring and fried food as much as I could. It seemed ridiculous.
I feared eating out because I didn't know what was in a restaurant's food and I hated asking all of the time what was in the food.
The only way to deal was to create my own meals. It was time-consuming and stressful, but I learned to deal with it for the sake of my skin and health. I had to read the ingredients for every food I bought at the grocery store. If it didn't have an ingredients label, I didn't buy it. I had to substitute for many things. Since I couldn't drink regular milk, I switched to rice milk and soy milk. I substituted dairy-free margarine for butter. I mainly drank water. And I would eat sorbet instead of ice cream. I started eating regular oatmeal, and I consumed more fruits and vegetables. In retrospect, the restrictive diet made me eat healthier since I could not eat junk food.
It sounds like you are treating your situation right. Creating your own meals can be frustrating, but it's the safest thing you can do. Just be sure to double check all of the ingredients. If you're not sure about an ingredient, don't take a chance. Don't use it. Maybe you can substitute it for something else. |
