Amaranth

[Sarah Alli]

I tried a new recipe for chocolate chip cookies about a week ago (Open Original Shared Link quite good, by the way). I had never had amaranth before but I noticed that I felt kind of sick after I ate them. There's a stomach virus going around, though, and I work in a hospital where I'm exposed to every crud and crap that passes through the community. I figured it was gastroenteritis.

I made the cookies again this evening and lo-and-behold, I'm sick again. Amaranth is the only thing in the recipe that I've never had. It just seems weird because when I tried to look into it, I can't find anyone else reporting a problem with it, it seems pretty non-inflammatory. The amaranth can't be contaminated, it's Bob's Red Mill certified gluten-free etc and my kitchen has been 100% gluten free since I moved in almost a year ago. It's definitely not gluten making me sick though it feels the same- stomach pain, nausea, and my hands are all swollen back up from hive-like rashes (that had gone away when my dermatologist decided to get militant and gave me high dose topical steroids and tacrolimus).

So, now I'm in a bind. The cookies I made are actually for a fundraiser for our farmer's market on Saturday. I feel weird about giving away and selling something that makes me sick but I think it's just me because my fiance has eaten at least a dozen of them (they do taste good) and feels fine. I'm sure there's nothing wrong with the cookies, but I am concerned that if I can't tolerate amaranth, it might make other people sick too and then they'll think I've glutened them.

Has anyone else here had an odd reaction to amaranth? Should I just scratch the cookies off the menu? Or am I being neurotic and making too much out of what might be just an unrepentant case of norovirus?

[T.H.]

You could simply have an allergy to amaranth - not outside the realm of possibility, you know? It happens. Or it could be that one of your other ingredients happens to have a contaminated batch, even if it's usually okay.

Or is there one ingredient that you are using MORE of than you usually do? If you happen to have an intolerance, the quantity change could have an affect.

You might want to see if you can make these cookies again with another type of flour, like quinoa, and see if you can eat THEM without issue. Just to double check that it's the amaranth and not contamination from the other ingredients, you know?

[mushroom]

I get that reaction to amaranth, quinoa, and millet, so don't feel alone. I do tolerate sorghum and buckwheat flours, I think because they are not grains.

[Sarah Alli]

You could simply have an allergy to amaranth - not outside the realm of possibility, you know? It happens. Or it could be that one of your other ingredients happens to have a contaminated batch, even if it's usually okay.

Or is there one ingredient that you are using MORE of than you usually do? If you happen to have an intolerance, the quantity change could have an affect.

You might want to see if you can make these cookies again with another type of flour, like quinoa, and see if you can eat THEM without issue. Just to double check that it's the amaranth and not contamination from the other ingredients, you know?

I am definitely going to try altering the recipe next time. I also might just be eating too many, since when I eat chocolate chips I also drink milk... and I'm mildly lactose intolerant.

However this morning I got my period so I am thinking that it might be that, and was gastroenteritis last time. My abdominal pain from my gluten intolerance is typically pretty low in my belly so it kind of fits.

If anything, this is a wonderful example of how difficult it is to pinpoint this stuff. I wish we had better testing methods for this stuff. I work in a laboratory and I love that I am seeing doctors order the celiac panels more and more but it's not enough.