Totally Frustrated

[Burns22]

Does anyone else have a TON of other allergies, in addition to gluten? My skin test was positive for gluten, corn, peanuts, cashews, cinnamon, white grapes, and strawberries (soy is a possibility). Plus, I'm already vegan. Where does one start? It's maddening to me when I have a reaction, wondering if I am uncovering yet another new and exciting allergy, or if I've unwittingly eaten something that was contaminated. Any feedback would be appreciated!!!

[wowzer]

I know many have other allergies on here on top of the gluten intolerance. I haven't went as far as to get tested, but I am debating doing the blood test. I take Singulair, so can't do the scratch test.

[mamaw]

count me in on the zillion other allergies besides gluten intolerant....

[codetalker]

Count me in as well. In addition to gluten, I now have intolerances to soy, beans/peas, corn, eggs, dairy, nuts, chicken, potatoes, olives, cinnamon, safflower and canola oil. It's not, where do you start? It's, where and when does it stop? Taken together, gluten, soy and corn eliminate almost all processed food.

I prefer a vegan diet but that is impossible now. Meat and fish are my best choices for protein.

It was interesting to see you list cinnamon. I just found out about that one and your post was the only one I've ever seen that mentioned it.

I just did try to reintroduce cashews. Olive oil does not seem to bother me and I found a new brand of cashews that roasts the cashews in olive oil. I struck out on that one.

If you have found any less common foods that you can tolerate, please list them. I think a lot of people here are looking for alternatives. I've started eating a lot of parsnips and okra, neither of which had been part of my diet previously. For some reason, I can eat sweet potatoes but not regular potatoes (white, red, etc.). Wouldn't you know, the local grocery stopped selling them and is selling yams now (to which I also react). You just can't win.

[Burns22]

I don't know what I'd do without hemp protein powder. I get the plain variety because flavored ones have cinnamon (allergic to). I don't want to jinx it, but I don't seem to have any adverse reaction to hemp powder, plus it makes me feel like I might still be able to maintain my vegan diet despite all these allergies. Thanks for all the great feedback.

[hathor]

People generally overestimate the need for protein and underestimate the amount and quality of protein in plant products. I'm vegan with multiple food sensitivities, but I don't find it necessary to use a supplement for protein or add in animal products. (Well I did eat fish on a river cruise last summer; that was a question of getting enough calories. The ship's kitchen staff was not at all accommodating to giving me enough nongluten plant foods to stave off starvation.)

Here is some information about protein -- what we need, where we can get it from, and what happens if we get too much. Getting too little is virtually impossible absent starvation or some strange all fruit or all junk food diet.

Open Original Shared Link

Here is the blog of someone whose food sensitivities & restrictions should make us reluctant to complain. Open Original Shared Link

Yet, he manages. He hangs out on the McDougall discussion board if you want to talk to him.

I find it easier to concentrate on what I can eat, rather than what I can't. There are lots of starches out there, lots of fruits & veggies, lots of legumes, nuts & seeds, lots of seasonings. Sometimes it seems better to make up my own recipes.

One thing you might like is the book "Food Allergy Survival Guide." All the recipes there are vegan and avoid all common allergens. If you want a wealth of vegan, gluten free recipes, check out this Yahoo group's files: Open Original Shared Link

I guess if you get desperate enough, you go to an elimination diet. First, though, I would try eliminating the most common problems and see if your symptoms clear up.

Open Original Shared Link

You also might look up one of those charts that show cross-reactivity likelihood. You know, if you are allergic to this, you could well react to these other things too.

Soy seems to be a common third problem, after gluten and casein, on this board. So, if nothing else, you might try eliminating it and see what happens. I did and my menopause symptoms improved somewhat and my face cleared up. But then I've talked to people who had their intestinal problems clear up after taking out soy.

I don't have the answer to the problem of knowing what is setting off symptoms. It is hard to keep everything constant, plus there is always the possibility of CC. I'm trying to sort out yeast now. What makes it difficult is that the yeast-free lists disagree with one another, most of them mix this up with mold allergies or anti-Candida diets which are different things, and I'm not even sure what, if anything, my yeast reaction IS. Plus I'm menopausal and a lot of what I'm experiencing could be THAT. Sigh. Oh well, we will get through all this.

BTW For bread, I like the mixes from Breads from Anna.

[Flor]

My understanding is that the food allergy testing can produce many more positive results than a person actually has an allergic reaction to when that food is ingested. Anyone know more about this?

I also gather that food "allergies" are those that cause histamine reactions and produce things like rashes and respiratory problems. People who are having gut-related symptoms (diarrhea, bloating, gas, pain, etc) and experiencing intolerances to foods, but not necessarily allergic reactions.

I've been reading about leaky gut generally -- and whether the gut is damaged by eating gluten while celiac or antibiotic damage or viral damage or stress or other auto-immune or whatever, a leaky gut can let through a whole host of large molecules that are damaging to the gut and other organs and tissues. These foods include gluten, casein, soy, yeast-friendly foods (aspergilliis-contaminated or sugary or fermented, etc), nightshade vegetables (tomato, potato, eggplant, peppers), and high oxalate foods (see Open Original Shared Link. There are probably others, but I think it's often the leaky gut that makes all these foods problematic.

If you go gluten free and don't experience total recovery, it may be because your gut is having trouble healing because lots of other damaging molecules are being ingested into an already damaged gut.

For some of us, it's taken a very restricted diet for a time to allow the gut to heal, not that we have to live forever with multiple food allergies.

I experienced huge improvement going gluten free, but it was short-lived. I have also had to cut out soy, dairy, beef, pork, yeast/refined sugar foods, and nightshades and high oxalate foods. When I went gluten free a couple of years ago, I inadvertently increased my consumption of a lot of these other problematic foods and I think it delayed my gut healing.

Anyway, that's my two cents on all this.