Food Allergies and diet
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Just read back through this and noticed that the allergies were diagnosed using a skin test. Skin prick tests produce false positives between 50 - 60% of the time. I was told as a child that I was allergic to pork and strawberries and never was even slightly sensitive to either. It might be worth getting a second opinion rather than completely overhauling your life based on information that may not be valid.
Also, if you have liver damage and the doctor is saying stop drinking, for Pete’s sake stop drinking!10 -
kshama2001 wrote: »I raised two children on my own. My priorities were my health, my children, and everything else. Clean but not tidy. Organized but with scheduled “down time”. Your described lifestyle is very stressful and if you have liver, kidney, and allergy problems, your body has said “enough”. Ignore its signals at your peril.
Changing how you live and eat is not all deprivation. Frankly I don’t know how you get enough protein if all you tolerate as far as I can tell, is bacon, chicken, and hamburger. And you are sick of chicken. Eating a more balanced diet has got to help you start feeling better.I raised two children on my own. My priorities were my health, my children, and everything else. Clean but not tidy. Organized but with scheduled “down time”. Your described lifestyle is very stressful and if you have liver, kidney, and allergy problems, your body has said “enough”. Ignore its signals at your peril.
Changing how you live and eat is not all deprivation. Frankly I don’t know how you get enough protein if all you tolerate as far as I can tell, is bacon, chicken, and hamburger. And you are sick of chicken. Eating a more balanced diet has got to help you start feeling better.
Well when you are allergic to everything it is hard to eat a balanced diet. I am so over salads. I stopped eating dressing years ago because of reactions, which wasn’t terrible with added flavor like egg, chicken salad, tuna salad...chick fil a salads.
Again, you will have so many more options for foods if you are willing to cook for yourself. You'd easily be able to make dressings that don't give you reactions and there are thousands of ways to prepare chicken so you don't get bored with it.
Is this your complete list of "can'ts"?
"egg, white potatoes, coconut, palm oil, turkey, lamb, pork, strawberries, fish or nuts"
After strawberry season, I may challenge myself to go without them for a week to prove how easy it is when one is doing the cooking.
Honestly I can go without all of those for a week - it's not especially difficult. Save for the nuts, I have gone without all of those for the past week (not purposefully), and that's despite it being strawberry season. I know, how dare I not eat strawberries all the time when they're in season, I should really get on that
Mind you, I don't eat pork, I almost exclusively eat eggs in baked goods which I haven't had much of lately, I rarely cook with lamb (I'd rather spend my dollars on other things - though I do quite like it), and not eating out constantly or buying a lot of packaged foods means avoiding palm oil is very. easy.7 -
Well and now my fiancé has given up cooking anything because it’s so hard to find things I can eat.
I never thought I would be stuck with eating grits for dinner. But when the choices are that or salad...
I ordered a cheesesteak for lunch, because I just could not do the lettuce, shredded carrots, mushrooms and spoon of black beans... of course I got a reaction. By theory it should have been fine.
Well then it sounds like you're out of luck until you get a modicum of creativity. Every single thing I've cooked this week fits within your limitations and most of what I've cooked would not be difficult for someone learning how to cook. It's too bad that you have no desire to cook though and it sounds like hour fiancé is on equal footing.4 -
kshama2001 wrote: »I raised two children on my own. My priorities were my health, my children, and everything else. Clean but not tidy. Organized but with scheduled “down time”. Your described lifestyle is very stressful and if you have liver, kidney, and allergy problems, your body has said “enough”. Ignore its signals at your peril.
Changing how you live and eat is not all deprivation. Frankly I don’t know how you get enough protein if all you tolerate as far as I can tell, is bacon, chicken, and hamburger. And you are sick of chicken. Eating a more balanced diet has got to help you start feeling better.I raised two children on my own. My priorities were my health, my children, and everything else. Clean but not tidy. Organized but with scheduled “down time”. Your described lifestyle is very stressful and if you have liver, kidney, and allergy problems, your body has said “enough”. Ignore its signals at your peril.
Changing how you live and eat is not all deprivation. Frankly I don’t know how you get enough protein if all you tolerate as far as I can tell, is bacon, chicken, and hamburger. And you are sick of chicken. Eating a more balanced diet has got to help you start feeling better.
Well when you are allergic to everything it is hard to eat a balanced diet. I am so over salads. I stopped eating dressing years ago because of reactions, which wasn’t terrible with added flavor like egg, chicken salad, tuna salad...chick fil a salads.
Again, you will have so many more options for foods if you are willing to cook for yourself. You'd easily be able to make dressings that don't give you reactions and there are thousands of ways to prepare chicken so you don't get bored with it.
Is this your complete list of "can'ts"?
"egg, white potatoes, coconut, palm oil, turkey, lamb, pork, strawberries, fish or nuts"
After strawberry season, I may challenge myself to go without them for a week to prove how easy it is when one is doing the cooking.
Honestly I can go without all of those for a week - it's not especially difficult. Save for the nuts, I have gone without all of those for the past week (not purposefully), and that's despite it being strawberry season. I know, how dare I not eat strawberries all the time when they're in season, I should really get on that
Mind you, I don't eat pork, I almost exclusively eat eggs in baked goods which I haven't had much of lately, I rarely cook with lamb (I'd rather spend my dollars on other things - though I do quite like it), and not eating out constantly or buying a lot of packaged foods means avoiding palm oil is very. easy.
Yup. I think I *have* gone without most of those for weeks.
Strawberries: Well, I only eat the ones I grow. And it's a small patch. So I only get them for about two weeks out of the 52 in the year.
Nuts: Super calorie dense. Not worth my time. I eat them, but only sometimes. I might have some walnuts at home right now? Maybe?
Turkey: I hate deli meat, and only roast it at home once or twice a year. If even that.
Coconut: Ew. Nope. Don't like it.
Palm oil: I use vegetable, olive, and sesame the bulk of the time. Eating out might be a little harder if I had to ensure that places weren't using palm, but I only eat out twice a week or so, so...
Eggs and white potatoes would be hard, but that's largely because I'm a lower-carb celiac, so eggs and potatoes are my staples. But if I couldn't do white potatoes, sweet would certainly be fine.
Pork and lamb are sometimes proteins -- not for any nutritional reason, but more for the fact that I don't think of pork as a main protein, and lamb is expensive. But bacon = life. But I could do turkey bacon I suppose if I had to.1 -
Last night I had carne asada with black beans and Spanish rice - super easy and allergy friendly. Plus it was delicious. You are making this so much harder than it needs to be by only focusing on what you can’t have instead of looking at what you safely can.
If you don’t like steak find different ways to prepare it that you might. If you’re bored with chicken get creative with that too. Cooking doesn’t have to be hard, complicated, or time consuming to create results you enjoy.5 -
Last night I had carne asada with black beans and Spanish rice - super easy and allergy friendly. Plus it was delicious. You are making this so much harder than it needs to be by only focusing on what you can’t have instead of looking at what you safely can.
If you don’t like steak find different ways to prepare it that you might. If you’re bored with chicken get creative with that too. Cooking doesn’t have to be hard, complicated, or time consuming to create results you enjoy.
Premade carne asada sauce is available in some stores, but here's my favorite from scratch marinade recipe: https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/186691/lisas-favorite-carne-asada-marinade/
I half the sauce, use 2 # of chuck stew beef, add a can of beans, cook it in the crock pot on Low for 6 or so hours, and serve over rice.
I have marinated ahead of time like the recipe says, and also not marinated, and it doesn't seem to make a difference, probably due to cooking it the crock pot. If I were grilling, then I would use a different cut of beef and indeed marinate.
I work from home now so start it at lunch, but if I didn't, I would either:
1. Marinate it the night before and the day of have my OH grill it while I cook the rice and open a can of beans
2. Cook a huge batch on the weekend in the crock pot and freeze some of it2 -
Last night I had carne asada with black beans and Spanish rice - super easy and allergy friendly. Plus it was delicious. You are making this so much harder than it needs to be by only focusing on what you can’t have instead of looking at what you safely can.
If you don’t like steak find different ways to prepare it that you might. If you’re bored with chicken get creative with that too. Cooking doesn’t have to be hard, complicated, or time consuming to create results you enjoy.
Also, there are many different cuts of beef. I really like skirt steak but my OH does not. Also, I love Thai beef salad (which is coconut-free) and he does not.
I don't care for sirloin, but like sirloin tips.
A great chef once told me that the secret to being a good cook is being willing to experiment and try new things.5 -
rheddmobile wrote: »Just read back through this and noticed that the allergies were diagnosed using a skin test. Skin prick tests produce false positives between 50 - 60% of the time. I was told as a child that I was allergic to pork and strawberries and never was even slightly sensitive to either. It might be worth getting a second opinion rather than completely overhauling your life based on information that may not be valid.
Also, if you have liver damage and the doctor is saying stop drinking, for Pete’s sake stop drinking!
I was really sick 20 years ago after working in a building with toxic mold. I felt like I reacted to everything environmental. I can't remember what type of allergy tests I had done, but they were done in an MD's office. I remember testing allergic to molds and dust, and reacting on the tests to a bunch of foods that I commonly ate. This may have been skin prick tests and intolerances rather than allergies.
I made an enormous amount of drastic changes to my life, including quitting drinking, and "cleaned up" my diet, but did not bother eliminating those foods from the tests. And it turned out that I didn't need to.
Re the "bucket" theory that was mentioned a few pages back - I was likely reacting to everything because my bucket was overfull, and for me, once I made changes that emptied out the bucket some, I was able to live a much more normal life. (Albeit not completely normal, but normal enough.)
So it may indeed behoove the OP to get a second opinion using a different type of test.6 -
When I talked about a balanced diet I was chiefly wondering out loud where you get your variety in proteins. Because if bored with chicken, then, variety. You’ve brushed by any suggestions to try tofu. Or ham outside Thanksgiving.
As you have brushed off with my suggestion to try pasta (eggless of course).
Variety does not equal salad. Veggies also come cooked. Like Spaghetti squash, or anything in the frozen veggie aisle.
Then there’s the fruits.
I have tried tofu, ham, actual steak, alligator, venison... I just don’t like it.
Don’t care for spaghetti squash either. Nor sweet potato fries. I have always been picky. This is making it way harder.
I can’t cook. Nor do I have a desire to do it. I know that seems crazy to everyone, but that’s how it is. I have packed a lunch of a salad every day this week from home. Monday I heated up black beans and turned them into petrified rabbit turds. Every day since I have thrown my salad away, and ordered something that I wanted to eat.9 -
When I talked about a balanced diet I was chiefly wondering out loud where you get your variety in proteins. Because if bored with chicken, then, variety. You’ve brushed by any suggestions to try tofu. Or ham outside Thanksgiving.
As you have brushed off with my suggestion to try pasta (eggless of course).
Variety does not equal salad. Veggies also come cooked. Like Spaghetti squash, or anything in the frozen veggie aisle.
Then there’s the fruits.
I have tried tofu, ham, actual steak, alligator, venison... I just don’t like it.
Don’t care for spaghetti squash either. Nor sweet potato fries. I have always been picky. This is making it way harder.
I can’t cook. Nor do I have a desire to do it. I know that seems crazy to everyone, but that’s how it is. I have packed a lunch of a salad every day this week from home. Monday I heated up black beans and turned them into petrified rabbit turds. Every day since I have thrown my salad away, and ordered something that I wanted to eat.
OK, bottom line is, you'll have to continue on doing what you're doing. There just isn't any alternative or magical solution that will give you a more varied diet without incorporating more varied food. If the suggestions made in this thread aren't viable for you (and of course that's certainly a personal choice) then you're stuck with what you're already comfortable with.9 -
kshama2001 wrote: »
Is this your complete list of "can'ts"?
"egg, white potatoes, coconut, palm oil, turkey, lamb, pork, strawberries, fish or nuts"
Though I think earlier on they could eat pork so who knows.
Honestly, this does not seem that hard to deal with. Chicken, beef, lentils, beans, and tofu all are possible. As are most veggies and fruits and grains. I had to cut out a LOT more then this (look at the IC diet) or I would be in debilitating pain and causing damage to my body. I am also allergic to soy which is crazy hard to avoid when it comes to prepared foods or takeout, so I get that. I really do.
Now for some tough advice. OP, you need to just deal with it. You can not be unwilling to accept the help and advice you have gotten here. You seem unwilling to make the changes you need to make for your own health and well being. Fine, that is your decision, but realize you are just making it harder on yourself and your family by doing so. You need to learn how to cook and you need to get over some of the pickiness. There are a HUGE number of foods you can eat, but you seem to not want to even try if it takes some work.
I will never learn to cook. I will need to find foods I can eat in restaurants or carry out. That is being realistic.19 -
When I talked about a balanced diet I was chiefly wondering out loud where you get your variety in proteins. Because if bored with chicken, then, variety. You’ve brushed by any suggestions to try tofu. Or ham outside Thanksgiving.
As you have brushed off with my suggestion to try pasta (eggless of course).
Variety does not equal salad. Veggies also come cooked. Like Spaghetti squash, or anything in the frozen veggie aisle.
Then there’s the fruits.
I have tried tofu, ham, actual steak, alligator, venison... I just don’t like it.
Don’t care for spaghetti squash either. Nor sweet potato fries. I have always been picky. This is making it way harder.
I can’t cook. Nor do I have a desire to do it. I know that seems crazy to everyone, but that’s how it is. I have packed a lunch of a salad every day this week from home. Monday I heated up black beans and turned them into petrified rabbit turds. Every day since I have thrown my salad away, and ordered something that I wanted to eat.
You asked for suggestions for what you can eat but have consistently had an excuse for why every single suggestion won't work for you. There really is nothing more any of us can do to help you figure out how to change your diet.12 -
kshama2001 wrote: »
Is this your complete list of "can'ts"?
"egg, white potatoes, coconut, palm oil, turkey, lamb, pork, strawberries, fish or nuts"
Though I think earlier on they could eat pork so who knows.
Honestly, this does not seem that hard to deal with. Chicken, beef, lentils, beans, and tofu all are possible. As are most veggies and fruits and grains. I had to cut out a LOT more then this (look at the IC diet) or I would be in debilitating pain and causing damage to my body. I am also allergic to soy which is crazy hard to avoid when it comes to prepared foods or takeout, so I get that. I really do.
Now for some tough advice. OP, you need to just deal with it. You can not be unwilling to accept the help and advice you have gotten here. You seem unwilling to make the changes you need to make for your own health and well being. Fine, that is your decision, but realize you are just making it harder on yourself and your family by doing so. You need to learn how to cook and you need to get over some of the pickiness. There are a HUGE number of foods you can eat, but you seem to not want to even try if it takes some work.
I will never learn to cook. I will need to find foods I can eat in restaurants or carry out. That is being realistic.
OK, there's your solution.8 -
kshama2001 wrote: »
Is this your complete list of "can'ts"?
"egg, white potatoes, coconut, palm oil, turkey, lamb, pork, strawberries, fish or nuts"
Though I think earlier on they could eat pork so who knows.
Honestly, this does not seem that hard to deal with. Chicken, beef, lentils, beans, and tofu all are possible. As are most veggies and fruits and grains. I had to cut out a LOT more then this (look at the IC diet) or I would be in debilitating pain and causing damage to my body. I am also allergic to soy which is crazy hard to avoid when it comes to prepared foods or takeout, so I get that. I really do.
Now for some tough advice. OP, you need to just deal with it. You can not be unwilling to accept the help and advice you have gotten here. You seem unwilling to make the changes you need to make for your own health and well being. Fine, that is your decision, but realize you are just making it harder on yourself and your family by doing so. You need to learn how to cook and you need to get over some of the pickiness. There are a HUGE number of foods you can eat, but you seem to not want to even try if it takes some work.
I will never learn to cook. I will need to find foods I can eat in restaurants or carry out. That is being realistic.
Can you sum up why you will never learn to cook ? I don't mean to shame you but in my experience the quality is higher and the cost is cheaper when food is made at home. For all of us with allergies and intolerances, its a world safer too.
Of course its totally your choice however the food intolerances restrict you but you are limiting yourself way more with this approach.
Just not entirely sure why you are here unless its to vent about how unfair it all is - which is ok because it is
Wishing you all the best OP.5 -
kshama2001 wrote: »
Is this your complete list of "can'ts"?
"egg, white potatoes, coconut, palm oil, turkey, lamb, pork, strawberries, fish or nuts"
Though I think earlier on they could eat pork so who knows.
Honestly, this does not seem that hard to deal with. Chicken, beef, lentils, beans, and tofu all are possible. As are most veggies and fruits and grains. I had to cut out a LOT more then this (look at the IC diet) or I would be in debilitating pain and causing damage to my body. I am also allergic to soy which is crazy hard to avoid when it comes to prepared foods or takeout, so I get that. I really do.
Now for some tough advice. OP, you need to just deal with it. You can not be unwilling to accept the help and advice you have gotten here. You seem unwilling to make the changes you need to make for your own health and well being. Fine, that is your decision, but realize you are just making it harder on yourself and your family by doing so. You need to learn how to cook and you need to get over some of the pickiness. There are a HUGE number of foods you can eat, but you seem to not want to even try if it takes some work.
I will never learn to cook. I will need to find foods I can eat in restaurants or carry out. That is being realistic.
It’s not realistic at all. With wheat and shellfish allergies I have to plan my meals out carefully. I review the menus before hand and make alternate choices in the event I get there and my first choice isn’t available. It is honestly more time consuming than preparing something at home most days.
You are an adult. You are choosing not to cook and you are choosing to be inflexible when alternatives are offered. If you were being realistic you’d recognize that what needs to change is your attitude and approach to the situation.19 -
Dietitians are the best person to ask about these things. I have food allergies and when I got diagnosed, a dietitian is the one who told me what to eat and not to eat. The doctor didn't know a thing beyond telling me what I was allergic to.3
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I don't think what's in bold sounds crazy to many of us. What it sounds is foolhardy and like a really easy way to make your life miserable, shoot yourself in the foot, and set your children up for having no concept of cooking (which is quite for them). You're doing quite a lot of complaining about what you can't have and you have a lot of power to change that. That you don't want to is on you.When I talked about a balanced diet I was chiefly wondering out loud where you get your variety in proteins. Because if bored with chicken, then, variety. You’ve brushed by any suggestions to try tofu. Or ham outside Thanksgiving.
As you have brushed off with my suggestion to try pasta (eggless of course).
Variety does not equal salad. Veggies also come cooked. Like Spaghetti squash, or anything in the frozen veggie aisle.
Then there’s the fruits.
I have tried tofu, ham, actual steak, alligator, venison... I just don’t like it.
Don’t care for spaghetti squash either. Nor sweet potato fries. I have always been picky. This is making it way harder.
I can’t cook. Nor do I have a desire to do it. I know that seems crazy to everyone, but that’s how it is. I have packed a lunch of a salad every day this week from home. Monday I heated up black beans and turned them into petrified rabbit turds. Every day since I have thrown my salad away, and ordered something that I wanted to eat.9 -
kshama2001 wrote: »
Is this your complete list of "can'ts"?
"egg, white potatoes, coconut, palm oil, turkey, lamb, pork, strawberries, fish or nuts"
Though I think earlier on they could eat pork so who knows.
Honestly, this does not seem that hard to deal with. Chicken, beef, lentils, beans, and tofu all are possible. As are most veggies and fruits and grains. I had to cut out a LOT more then this (look at the IC diet) or I would be in debilitating pain and causing damage to my body. I am also allergic to soy which is crazy hard to avoid when it comes to prepared foods or takeout, so I get that. I really do.
Now for some tough advice. OP, you need to just deal with it. You can not be unwilling to accept the help and advice you have gotten here. You seem unwilling to make the changes you need to make for your own health and well being. Fine, that is your decision, but realize you are just making it harder on yourself and your family by doing so. You need to learn how to cook and you need to get over some of the pickiness. There are a HUGE number of foods you can eat, but you seem to not want to even try if it takes some work.
I will never learn to cook. I will need to find foods I can eat in restaurants or carry out. That is being realistic.
In adulthood we sometimes have to do things we don't want to do. That is what it is. That you would rather suffer through allergy attacks than learn how to make a few simple dishes does seem absolutely incomprehensible to me. Perhaps you should seek out counseling to see if you can identify what the root cause of this issue is. I don't mean that as an attack, but if you are this set against cooking, which even I, a barely functional human in many ways, have learned how to do, something is definitely up.11 -
How can you be fussy and bored at the same time? Eating a limited menu is boring.
Enough with the salad already. Salad does not equal healthy. I am pretty sure your solid favourites can be put together at home allergen free. It will be boring but at least it will safe.2 -
kshama2001 wrote: »
Is this your complete list of "can'ts"?
"egg, white potatoes, coconut, palm oil, turkey, lamb, pork, strawberries, fish or nuts"
Though I think earlier on they could eat pork so who knows.
Honestly, this does not seem that hard to deal with. Chicken, beef, lentils, beans, and tofu all are possible. As are most veggies and fruits and grains. I had to cut out a LOT more then this (look at the IC diet) or I would be in debilitating pain and causing damage to my body. I am also allergic to soy which is crazy hard to avoid when it comes to prepared foods or takeout, so I get that. I really do.
Now for some tough advice. OP, you need to just deal with it. You can not be unwilling to accept the help and advice you have gotten here. You seem unwilling to make the changes you need to make for your own health and well being. Fine, that is your decision, but realize you are just making it harder on yourself and your family by doing so. You need to learn how to cook and you need to get over some of the pickiness. There are a HUGE number of foods you can eat, but you seem to not want to even try if it takes some work.
I will never learn to cook. I will need to find foods I can eat in restaurants or carry out. That is being realistic.
Okay, you mentioned a fiancé who cooks, can you work with that? It sounded as though the fiancé was getting fed up, but maybe a little kindness from you could fix that. It’s possible for only one half of a couple to do the cooking.
How do your kids eat, if you can’t even reheat foods without destroying them? And why on earth would you reheat black beans into a dried up mess? This is not hard. You can read, you appear to be of normal intelligence, in order to be quite this hapless you have to be sabotaging yourself on purpose to prove to yourself that you can’t cook. Cooking is nothing but reading and following instructions.
If you have multiple, unusual, serious allergies you will never find foods you can eat in restaurants or carry out without constant risk of a reaction, unless you are wealthy enough to employ your own chef. That’s being realistic.8
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