Eating with Allergies: Why calories don't work
clh15MFP
Posts: 3 Member
Hello. I have been allergic to certain acids, which are some contained in food since my 20's. I'm not allergic to 'food', but to underlying acids. For example, I am allergic to citric acid, which is used in shampoos, fizzy waters, etc. I'm a long-time label reader. My dietician recommended this cite, and I am coming here everyday, however I never meet the calorie count. I have swollen feet and ankles for about a year, but after 2 weeks back on my allergy diet, all swelling gone. Looking forward to hearing from others.
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Replies
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What is it that you are trying to use this site for? To help keep track of the foods that trigger your allergies? Are you trying to lose weight, gain weight, or maintain your weight?
I'm not sure why you say in your thread title that "calories don't work". They don't work for what?10 -
Thank you for your questions. When one has extreme allergies, they affect body swelling, which causes pain, which reduces activity, and weight gain results. If I east one piece of tomato (citric acid) I can gain 5 pounds. I had medical testing done to figure this out, and the result was: calories don't count. It is what I eat. I think everyone who is wanting to lose weight should have medical allergy testing done. I use this site, recommended by my dietician, mainly for the food diary, which I have never used before. It is making a difference: I celebrate 20 pounds disappeared today. Have you been tested?1
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Most food "allergies" are psychosomatic. And, no one ever gained 5 pounds from eating a tomato. You might have temporarily retained a few pounds of water.6
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wilson10102018 wrote: »Most food "allergies" are psychosomatic.
I dont agree with that at all.
Food allergies can cause various real physical symptoms from relatively mild ones like hives, migraines, diahhroea - to anaphylaxis.
However I dont see how that means 'calories dont work' or that anyone struggling to lose weight should be tested for allergies.
if you have an allergy to anything or any other medical reason to avoid anything - then of course do so.
If you have medical symptoms that neccesitate allergy testing - sure, do it.
But for most people - no, not required. One doesnt get randomly tested for things for no reason.
In other news, I havent been tested for lactose intolerance, coeliac disease, or gout either ( random trio of conditions affected by food)
and calories in calories out applies to everyone - allergies, medical conditions, or not.
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Thank you for your questions. When one has extreme allergies, they affect body swelling, which causes pain, which reduces activity, and weight gain results. If I east one piece of tomato (citric acid) I can gain 5 pounds. I had medical testing done to figure this out, and the result was: calories don't count. It is what I eat. I think everyone who is wanting to lose weight should have medical allergy testing done. I use this site, recommended by my dietician, mainly for the food diary, which I have never used before. It is making a difference: I celebrate 20 pounds disappeared today. Have you been tested?
A calorie deficit works for losing fat.
Swelling due to allergies is not fat gain, it's fluid. So, yes, you are correct that calories don't matter when it comes to controlling your allergic reactions. If you want to limit your inflammatory fluid gain, then, yes, by all means you should identify and avoid the foods that cause this reaction. But, if you want to lose fat, calories are the only way.
I would assume that a very, very small percentage of the population is overweight due to food allergies. Unless someone is having obvious swelling or other reactions, there's no reason for random allergy testing.26 -
Hives are not mild - been there done that!7
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I did say relatively mild - hives are mild relative to anaphylaxis
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Thank you for your questions. When one has extreme allergies, they affect body swelling, which causes pain, which reduces activity, and weight gain results. If I east one piece of tomato (citric acid) I can gain 5 pounds. I had medical testing done to figure this out, and the result was: calories don't count. It is what I eat. I think everyone who is wanting to lose weight should have medical allergy testing done. I use this site, recommended by my dietician, mainly for the food diary, which I have never used before. It is making a difference: I celebrate 20 pounds disappeared today. Have you been tested?
You aren't gaining five pounds of FAT when you eat a tomato. That is, your body isn't storing energy to use later. You're experiencing swelling, which is water weight gain.
What you're seeing is that your allergies complicate tracking your weight trends, since you are prone to extreme water weight fluctuations. You aren't alone in this. There are people who experiencing swelling for various reasons. This doesn't mean that calories don't count for you, it just means you're among the not small group of people who will just have some additional challenges calculating their progress.20 -
I hope you can find some insight here with the food logging which will help you manage the swelling - it sounds very uncomfortable.
Citric acid doesn't produce an immune response >> https://www.aaaai.org/ask-the-expert/citric-acid-citrus-allergy and so it wouldn't show up in a skin prick test that most allergy testing uses, so allergy testing wouldn't be useful even for people who have citric acid intolerance. (Sorry I had to look it up, my kids have serious food allergies so this was interesting to me!) Citric acid must be in so many things as you know as a label reader, it's also used as a preservative! I'd recommend looking for allergy groups on facebook and see if you can find other people with it and see how they manage it.
Also I don' t think allergies would frequently be a barrier to losing weight, though it might make it more tricky to find foods across all the food groups though. What janejellyroll has said is spot on.
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Wilson, I gave you a hug but there are babies and children born with food allergies. Deadly food allergies.
Our mileage will always vary.2 -
Diatonic12 wrote: »Wilson, I gave you a hug but there are babies and children born with food allergies. Deadly food allergies.
Our mileage will always vary.
Thanks so much. I agree with you completely. In fact, the reason for my comment was that my allergist told me that there is a very, very small number of people who are "mildly" allergic to anything. You are or you aren't for the most part. Most everyone's bee sting and poison ivy looks about the same. People with peanut allergies risk death and don't get "hives" or a stuffy nose. They fall down on the ground and the life squad takes them away. But, people attribute all manner of irritations and dislikes to "allergies." I'm allergic to alcohol. When I drink it I get stupid and have a headache the next day.1 -
wilson10102018 wrote: »
...my allergist told me that there is a very, very small number of people who are "mildly" allergic to anything. You are or you aren't for the most part. Most everyone's bee sting and poison ivy looks about the same. People with peanut allergies risk death and don't get "hives" or a stuffy nose. They fall down on the ground and the life squad takes them away..Diatonic12 wrote: »Wilson, I gave you a hug but there are babies and children born with food allergies. Deadly food allergies.
Our mileage will always vary.
I ignored your first post, but I can assure you that people with peanut allergies can both risk death and get hives. (They can also have anaphylaxis and not die. And they can also throw up violently and roll around on teh floor in agony too) My two kids carry epipens so I feel like I can comment here.8 -
wilson10102018 wrote: »
...my allergist told me that there is a very, very small number of people who are "mildly" allergic to anything. You are or you aren't for the most part. Most everyone's bee sting and poison ivy looks about the same. People with peanut allergies risk death and don't get "hives" or a stuffy nose. They fall down on the ground and the life squad takes them away..Diatonic12 wrote: »Wilson, I gave you a hug but there are babies and children born with food allergies. Deadly food allergies.
Our mileage will always vary.
I ignored your first post, but I can assure you that people with peanut allergies can both risk death and get hives. (They can also have anaphylaxis and not die. And they can also throw up violently and roll around on teh floor in agony too) My two kids carry epipens so I feel like I can comment here.
You support my point exactly. Peanut allergy is serious, obvious and dangerous. There may be persons with mild symptoms. I have never heard of them but as I said above, they may exist, just a very small number. And, I am sorry for your burden. You are well qualified to speak to this.1 -
People have relatively mild symptoms, like hives to many foods.
Peanuts are not a common cause of hives but other things like tomatoes and oranges are.
Dismissing peoples allergic reactions because they are not anaphylactic seems an absurd stance to me.7 -
paperpudding wrote: »People have relatively mild symptoms, like hives to many foods.
Peanuts are not a common cause of hives but other things like tomatoes and oranges are.
Dismissing peoples allergic reactions because they are not anaphylactic seems an absurd stance to me.
My mom will get hives on her hands when they come into contact with shrimp (no details on what happens if she eats them because she doesn't eat them, but I imagine it wouldn't be good).
Allergies can be real, even if they aren't life-threatening. This is the kind of mindset that has people sneaking ingredients into people's food because they're determined to prove that allergies aren't "real" or are just a mental thing.6 -
^^I'm allergic to chicory root, ate some fiber one bars (loaded with chicory root) ended up with hives down one entire side of my body and face. Took weeks and weeks for them to go away. Buyer beware, they're putting chicory root in everything these days as a source of fiber. Born with allergies to penicillin, sulfa drugs, corn syrup. The hospital was giving me corn syrup in my bottle for colic and I almost croaked before I made it out of there.5
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wilson10102018 wrote: »Most food "allergies" are psychosomatic.
My epi pen begs to differ.14 -
silverpl2525 wrote: »wilson10102018 wrote: »Most food "allergies" are psychosomatic.
My epi pen begs to differ.
Do you know what the word "most" means?0 -
wilson10102018 wrote: »silverpl2525 wrote: »wilson10102018 wrote: »Most food "allergies" are psychosomatic.
My epi pen begs to differ.
Do you know what the word "most" means?
I think you might want to clarify. If you meant "most people who claim to have allergies are filthy liars who do it for the attention" you shouldn't have said "most allergies are psychosomatic." And I still wouldn't support your "most" in this case, even though I know quite a few attention hounds who claim allergies when it suits them.5 -
I know what the word most means - and I think the claim that most food allergies are pychosomatic is absurd and ridiculous.11
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wilson10102018 wrote: »silverpl2525 wrote: »wilson10102018 wrote: »Most food "allergies" are psychosomatic.
My epi pen begs to differ.
Do you know what the word "most" means?
I think I get where you're coming from. I think you're talking more about the people who grab an at-home food allergy test and it comes back that their "sensitive" to all these random things. Had a coworker who did it and claimed she was allergic to all sorts of things. She literally attributed part of her weight loss to cutting lettuce out of her diet because the test showed she was "sensitive" to it.
There is a huge difference between the above and a true food allergy that causes life-threatening symptoms.3 -
wilson10102018 wrote: »silverpl2525 wrote: »wilson10102018 wrote: »Most food "allergies" are psychosomatic.
My epi pen begs to differ.
Do you know what the word "most" means?
When someone makes a claim that the majority of people who claim to experience a medical condition are actually suffering from an emotional disturbance, it only makes sense that people who suffer real and literal physical consequences from that condition are going to speak up. This is a natural consequence of your position on allergies (or, as you dub them, "allergies").
You can continue to repeat "Well, I didn't mean YOU" but at some point you'll have to face the fact that you're telling a big chunk of people that you don't believe their lived experience or their doctor's diagnosis.7 -
I have reactions to many foods which aren't psychosomatic. While they aren't life threatening they are certainly uncomfortable. Since one is to soy and soy is in almost everything I'll often react and then have to back track and figure out what caused it.
Some people go a little overboard but then again some really do have life threatening reactions. Luckily mine are just itchiness, stomach discomfort and rashes. Not the end of the world but because of reactions I tend to enjoy a healthier diet to avoid these.....other times I just accept I'll be itchy or nauseous and throw caution to the wind2 -
wilson10102018 wrote: »Diatonic12 wrote: »Wilson, I gave you a hug but there are babies and children born with food allergies. Deadly food allergies.
Our mileage will always vary.
Thanks so much. I agree with you completely. In fact, the reason for my comment was that my allergist told me that there is a very, very small number of people who are "mildly" allergic to anything. You are or you aren't for the most part. Most everyone's bee sting and poison ivy looks about the same. People with peanut allergies risk death and don't get "hives" or a stuffy nose. They fall down on the ground and the life squad takes them away. But, people attribute all manner of irritations and dislikes to "allergies." I'm allergic to alcohol. When I drink it I get stupid and have a headache the next day.
No not everyone’s bee stings look the same. I do not go into anaphylactic shock from them, but the area swells significantly and a rash spreads out from the sting. It takes over a week to subside.
I would never belittle someone else’s allergies and it’s insulting that you feel the need to do so.
OP, as others have said, food allergies don’t make you gain fat. You could gain some water weight that will subside as the allergic reaction subsided. CICO is still going to be how you lose weight; you just have to be more cautious and read labels carefully.3 -
janejellyroll wrote: »Allergies can be real, even if they aren't life-threatening. This is the kind of mindset that has people sneaking ingredients into people's food because they're determined to prove that allergies aren't "real" or are just a mental thing.
This actually happens. My daughters FIL snuck shrimp into a dish to prove to her she wasn’t allergic. Needless to say, she either won’t eat there anymore or brings her own meals. SMH.
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I don't understand this thread. I really don't.
Allergies are real. If I eat things that I'm very allergic to, I will die. I've had enough (real) tests done, and nearly died enough times, to have an army of specialists who will tell you it's not all in my head. If it was, I'm not entirely sure how I would go into anaphylaxis from consuming an allergen that wasn't actually visible on my plate... I try my best to avoid poisoning myself, so the only times I've had severe reactions have been when people have lied or misled me about the content of what I'm eating.
If you have allergies, weight loss can be challenging. Why? Because allergies restrict what you can eat. There are some really nice low-calorie or low-fat foods that I can't eat because they will either kill me, or make me ill.
However, if anything, allergies make me lighter, because I am so ill when recovering I don't exactly have an appetite... not that I'd recommend shovelling allergens down your throat and stabbing yourself with an epi-pen for weight loss...
There are some foods I am only mildly allergic to (i.e. they won't send me into anaphylactic shock) and they might lead to extreme stomach cramping and bloating - but again, that doesn't make me heavier.
I have allergies, and I am overweight, not because I have allergies, but because I like food and I ate too much of it. It's really that simple...4 -
4% actual 30 % believe.
Today, an estimated 4 percent of American adults — or around 10 million — are believed to have food allergies. The percentage is higher for children, 5 percent or more, although many kids will outgrow allergies to milk, egg, wheat, and soy. The other four biggies — peanuts, tree nuts, fish, and shellfish — are more likely to endure. Catering just to the gluten-free subset (technically, celiac and gluten sensitivity aren’t allergies) represents an estimated $23 billion-a-year market.
In his presentation to restaurateurs, Antico argues that appealing to the allergy crowd can pay off in dollars and cents. The market, he says, is much bigger than just people with diagnosed allergies. He cites a Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology study that found a whopping 30 percent of Americans believe they have a food allergy.
https://www.bostonglobe.com/magazine/2015/10/14/why-food-allergy-fakers-need-stop/PB6uN8NF3eLWFjXnKF5A9K/story.html0 -
And on that magazine article, you are making the sweeping statement that most food allergies are psychosomatic?????
Okaaaaay.
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wilson10102018 wrote: »Diatonic12 wrote: »Wilson, I gave you a hug but there are babies and children born with food allergies. Deadly food allergies.
Our mileage will always vary.
Thanks so much. I agree with you completely. In fact, the reason for my comment was that my allergist [\b]told me that there is a very, very small number of people who are "mildly" allergic to anything. You are or you aren't for the most part. Most everyone's bee sting and poison ivy looks about the same. People with peanut allergies risk death and don't get "hives" or a stuffy nose. They fall down on the ground and the life squad takes them away. But, people attribute all manner of irritations and dislikes to "allergies." I'm allergic to alcohol. When I drink it I get stupid and have a headache the next day.
The fact that you have an allergist confuses me, if allergies are mostly a figment of people’s imagination? 🤷♀️
I’m lucky enough not to be allergic to any food stuff, but I certainly know people who genuinely are anaphylactic to any number of things.
I agree with you that the ‘gluten-free’ bandwagon used to irritate me although now I see that it must have its advantages for all the truly gluten intolerant and coeliac suffers as the number of gluten free products has at least quadrupled in size over recent years.
Likewise ‘lactose intolerant’ although, advances in non-dairy would have come as a result of the undeniable shift to more plant-based eating.
So no harm done if people want to restrict something due to ‘imagined’ allergies in my opinion - if the market forces persuade the food industry to innovate faster and better all those true allergy sufferers will only benefit.0
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