Food Allergies

It's been a while, how's it going blog peeps? I want to talk to you guys about something I've been spending my last year learning all about: Food Allergies.

"You too??" you may be thinking. Seems everyone is talking about food allergies lately, gluten free, soy free, dairy free, no peanuts, eggs or yeast.... blah blah blah. By this time, your head is spinning and you can't think of a single thing you can actually eat. This is exactly where I stood about a year ago, I got home from my doctors visit and my mind was spinning. I literally couldn't think of a single meal I could make that wouldn't include something I was allergic too. My list was extensive: the gist of it was this, if it tastes creamy, rich or delicious it was off my menu. I stood in the kitchen and cried, my husband tried to console me, "But what will I eat?" I sobbed. He had no clue. "Salad?" He said, I cried harder. Fast forward a year and I've come a long way from that sad woman in the kitchen, I don't eat a ton of salad, but I do eat more vegetables. I want to write today about food allergies in hope that you may have a better understanding of what it is, and how you can offer your allergen sensitive friends good food.And if you're like me, recently diagnosed with a food allergy, I hope this post help you feel less alone and helps you see you really can still eat good food. 

What is a food allergy? "I'm lactose intolerant, that's allergic to milk right?" my husband asks. Well not quite, lactose intolerant is that your body has a hard time digesting and breaking down and metabolizing the milk product you eat. An allergy, is that your body doesn't even recognize your food as food, but as an antigen ( foreign substance) that needs attacked, so instead of your body spending energy digesting your food, it spends energy attacking your food. This produces and inflammatory response, flooding your body with histamine and causing systemic inflammation. Okay, that was a lot of words, whats is all mean? Continuing exposure to allergens over a long period of time will not only make you feel sick, it will also set you up for a LONG list of health issues including the biggies: high blood pressure, heart disease, cholesterol issues, fibromyalgia, lupus, cancer, diabetes, and Alzheimer's, to name a few. Chronic inflammation equals bad. Got it? Great. So what can you eat, if like me your allergic to a bunch of stuff, or maybe your thinking you may be allergic to something and you want to eliminate common allergens and do a little home testing to help diagnose potential issues. I would recommend eating a diet consisting of all sorts of fruits and veggies, lean proteins (chicken - but no eggs--, fish, grass fed beef, turkey), rice (try to limit it to one meal a day and about 1/2 cup a day) raw seeds and nuts (minus peanuts, if your cutting out allergens) So what could you eat?

Salad?? Well yes, you can eat salad but wouldn't you rather have some yummy stir fry?? Or how about a nice big beef (or better yet Bison) burger?? Topped with avocado, tomatoes, grilled onions, and served bun-less with a big side of grilled seasoned zucchini! Potatoes?? Sure! Roast them up with some olive oil and salt and pepper till crispy and delicious, eat 'em up with a great piece of steak, chicken or fish. 

For breakfast, juice your fruits and veggies or toss 'em in a magic bullet type blender and make some smoothies. 

I like a green monster:

1 kiwi

1 orange, peeled and segmented

1/2 cup spinach

1 banana

 blend it all together with some ice and serve in two tall glasses. 

The key to eating well with allergies is to stop thinking about all the things I can't have and start thinking about all the things I can eat, when I start to think positively about my food then the creativity starts to flow. 

If you know what you are allergic too (either by working with a doctor with an elimination test or by getting a allergy marker test done), then you can start to add back in more and more foods. The great thing about stores today, is that more and more are jumping on the allergen conscious band wagon. You can find gluten free mixes and products that are good quality and easier on the budget too. 

So, if you love someone with food allergies, give 'em a hug and feed them something great. And if you suffer from food allergies, begin to try to think positively about your food choices. Get creative and start experimenting in the kitchen! You may fail, once or twice, but sometime you WIN and those are the moments that make you think, "Okay, I can do this." Find some great resources, pinterest is one of my favorite resources, I often find a recipe there that I can easily swap this for that on and create something wonderful! Make friends with others in your allergen free boat, find blogs, message boards and get talking about your allergies. Lets help each other THRIVE with food allergies not just survive! 

Cheers and Health Friends!

Erin