Food Allergy

Cut out wheat and dairy and see how it goes from there.

As a person with anaphylaxsis to certain foods. The first thing you need to do is decide to eliminate one thing. Then slowly reintroduce it into your diet. Second you need to keep a food journal. List everything that is eaten on a daily basis, note when he has a reaction. This helps you narrow the culprit down and helps you find what he is reacting to. Eliminating a lot of things at once just causes chaos. This is what my allergist had me do. Most importantly get checked as soon as possible.

Eggs, nuts, soy, wheat, fish, shellfish,and dairy, are all common food allergens so I would start with those. Also, keep some Benadryl handy just in case.

A lot of people do get bloating from Celiac. I did.

FYI it is highly recommended that you NOT go on a GF diet without confirming whether or not you have Celiac disease (via blood test, not expensive, you can ask for it). Celiac disease is different from non-Celiac gluten intolerance in that it is an autoimmune disorder and can cause a lot of secondary bad stuff to happen that you would definitely want to get treated for, some of which is invisible (like -- Celiacs need more frequent screening for colon cancer because we are at much higher risk).

When a Celiac goes on a GF diet, their body stops making the antibody that the Celiac test is looking for. So once you're on it, you can no longer find out if you need to be on it. As a result, he may feel like he probably does not have Celiac, or maybe he doesn't, so he might think he doesn't have to be strict unless he gets really sick. If it turned out that he did have Celiac, and he was doing that, it would be bad news, because he would not really be off gluten, so he'd still have a very high risk of complications (some of which are pretty serious) probably an equal risk of someone who took no trouble to avoid gluten. And if he went the other way, and was super strict about following a Celiac GF diet but turned out to be non-Celiac gluten intolerant, he would be pretty significantly turning his life upside-down for not very much of a reason.

I would really encourage him not to go on a GF diet without this test. I am a strict GF diet person and I get sick very easily, but a Celiac does not need to get sick-feeling to BE sick from food. As a result of this diet, I spend a lot more money on groceries every year to get my gluten free food (it's all pretty expensive -- ex.: ready made bread is usually $6-$8 a loaf, pasta $3, add an extra buck or two if you want a sauce in a GF version, etc. -- it all adds up fast) and I pretty much never ever eat at restaurants (many have GF menus, but even at some of the most reliable, and even in a HOSPITAL for pete's sake, I have been served the wrong dish and only escaped becoming very ill because I am incredibly paranoid about checking my food). While there are a lot more options than there were 10 years ago, it is an expensive and pretty lifestyle-changing diet, much more than something like going vegan for example.

Something like 75% of people are lactose intolerant to some degree. If it's that, that is comparatively easy to deal with, but a big bummer about stopping the endless flow of cheese and ice cream. Best of luck to you both! I think the ideal is if it is a food you totally hate anyway... I wish I had been allergic to shellfish instead because I can't even stand to look at them! :P

Re: some of your other concerns/questions:

- According to our pediatrician allergies are supposed to have some (but not totally) hereditary components. Having no relatives with allergies doesn't mean he doesn't have them. You can also have a low grade food allergy and not know it, so he might have family members who do have allergies who are undiagnosed. Having a lot of family members with allergies means a slightly higher risk. Eczema and asthma seem to be considered to be things that go along with those allergic genes. (I am Celiac, my husband is allergic to eggs, we just had a baby, so we ask about this obsessively.)

- A total elimination diet might be like, a lot of rice and boring vegetables. Probably you would be okay to keep eating meat. Skip seasonings other than salt and pepper. Skip oil, maybe? If it was me I'd go ahead and use olive oil or safflower oil but maybe that is wrong. The big 8 allergens are soy, milk, wheat, corn, fish, shellfish, peanuts, tree nuts, and eggs. These are hidden in a lot of places (soy is one of the hardest to figure out, because it's in so much stuff, but wheat and corn are pretty bad too.) But, you really need to do this under medical supervision. There is a thing that happens with some allergic people where you eat your allergen all the time and your body is reacting but it's sort of used to defending itself a little -- then you take it away and your body stops defending against it at all (your immune system being exhausted) and when you reintroduce you can have a much stronger reaction.

- Someone else said food log -- that's what I would suggest before doing elimination. You would be amazed at how fast you can find some really weird ingredient that is bothering you by using a food log. Cayenne pepper gives me migraines and a food log is how I figured out what was causing them. If he is sick ALL THE TIME then you might try eliminating just dairy next and seeing what is up, since regular old lactose intolerance is really common.

My son has egg/peanut allergies...so cooking and food prep is different now that it was for us beofre although we eat healthier. As far as your bf goes, he's old enough to make his own choices. If he want's to eat crap and feel like garbage, that's his choice. He needs to eat properly if he doesn't want to get sick.

If he doesn't already track his food in MFP, you should have him start. This way you can keep track of what he is eating and when and maybe figure out what the trigger foods might be. This plus an elimination diet might help.

I agree with currently tracking the food. When he does get seriously bloated, record it in the food notes...then look for a pattern.

DR. took sugar away from me at 3yrs old. I was able grow out of it around 14-15yrs old. It was either drop Sugars and this meant all of them. Dextose, all of the ose Family, Most Fruits too.... It was this or I'd be on Medication for being to hyper.. Called Ritalin...My Parents at the time said no on that. So they pulled all sugars from my life.... I'm glad... I was a great Athlete in School, Good enough for 2 full rides to Div 1 Colleges. Grades were above Avg. I never was sick not once. I never missed a day in school. from Kindergarten to my Senior year.

I was recently tested for food allergies and have 7. After eliminating those foods from my diet I feel much better and I'm confident that I'll begin to reach my weight loss goals with increased energy and a clear head. Best wishes everybody.

Congratulations. I feel like a new person too after eliminating those foods that were making me sick. All my best.

I have had "issues" for years and tried the elimination diet on my own. However, once I was tested for food allergies I had 23 out of 50, so I had to make big changes. I even had a lemon allergy, so my water with lemon was making me sick. Wheat, oats, chicken and pork are my main problems. I say get food allergy tests done and end the pain. I wish I would have done it years ago. I feel like a new person. So much more energy and I am finally able to lose this weight. Good luck!

If he has Celiac it is quite common to have multiple allergies so an elimination diet might be a challenge. I never got tested because it wasn't important for me to know at the time the reason I was having problems with gluten. I used to get very bad hives (amongst other things) and just presumed it was allergies because I have had a few known allergies since I was a child. The thing is, if you live in the US, if you are diagnosed with Celiac you can actually factor purchases of gluten free foods into your taxes. I personally steer clear from most pre-packaged stuff anyway, but it can be invaluable to get that discount because, as others said, it's much more expensive and adds up quickly. Corn is another major allergen that is in tons of everything. If you decide to try an elimination diet first bear in mind you will either have to make *everything* from scratch or you will have to do some preliminary reading to make sure you don't accidentally include ingredients from "hidden" sources. Also, allergies frequently come in families so if you find that he is allergic to, say, bananas, you also need to check how he reacts to avocados and latex. Good luck!