I have good news and bad news
Good news: I finally found out whats been causing me so much discomfort
Good news: I finally found out whats been causing me so much discomfort
Bad news: I have to give up food I really like
Flashback to the 80s: my mother found out I was allergic to dairy products. So I grew up avoiding milk, cheese, and yogurt as a kid. As I grew older, I occasionally indulged in milk and other dairy products but very small portions.
Flash-forward to 2011, I started experiencing episodes of severe itching and hives, I knew it had to do with something I was eating. I just couldn't pinpoint what it was exactly. Logic in my head assumed that the very little dairy I was consuming was causing the discomfort. So I completely stopped dairy but the episodes of itching didn't stop.
I took a food intolerance test (Impupro300) where they took some blood tests, sent them to Germany and told me to wait a few weeks before getting the results. I finally get the results and found out what my body was unhappy with. It turns out that my body does not tolerate soy, vanilla, pineapples, cashews and lobster. The imuPro300 test included a detailed analysis of my body's reaction to those 5 types of food. Results showed that my soy allergy and vanilla allergy were very high, they have a grading system out of 5 (1 being the lowest, 5 the highest). Soy and vanilla were graded 4, while pineapples, cashews and lobster were graded 2
The doctors recommended I cut soy and vanilla from my diet completely while the other three that were graded 2, could be consumed on a very moderate basis. Now, giving up lobster is a piece of cake (I think I've only had it like twice in my life) but CASHEWS and PINEAPPLE are like my two favorite things to snack on. VANILLA means that I will have to eliminate all types of sweets from my diet (I'm kinda liking this because it will help me stay slim), but the biggest challenge will be cutting off soy, first of all, I absolutely love Chinese food (which is 100% soy-based), I think they use soy in every recipe. Second of all, Soy is a major part of processed food products and is used in all packaged and bottled goods. Everything from the gum I'm used to, my favorite bag of chips, nandos sauce *crying*, cereals, salad dressings, etc etc.... In other words, I'm screwed.
Although its not a life-threatening allergy it's SO uncomfortable. You feel like your skin is on fire.
Flashback to the 80s: my mother found out I was allergic to dairy products. So I grew up avoiding milk, cheese, and yogurt as a kid. As I grew older, I occasionally indulged in milk and other dairy products but very small portions.
Flash-forward to 2011, I started experiencing episodes of severe itching and hives, I knew it had to do with something I was eating. I just couldn't pinpoint what it was exactly. Logic in my head assumed that the very little dairy I was consuming was causing the discomfort. So I completely stopped dairy but the episodes of itching didn't stop.
I took a food intolerance test (Impupro300) where they took some blood tests, sent them to Germany and told me to wait a few weeks before getting the results. I finally get the results and found out what my body was unhappy with. It turns out that my body does not tolerate soy, vanilla, pineapples, cashews and lobster. The imuPro300 test included a detailed analysis of my body's reaction to those 5 types of food. Results showed that my soy allergy and vanilla allergy were very high, they have a grading system out of 5 (1 being the lowest, 5 the highest). Soy and vanilla were graded 4, while pineapples, cashews and lobster were graded 2
The doctors recommended I cut soy and vanilla from my diet completely while the other three that were graded 2, could be consumed on a very moderate basis. Now, giving up lobster is a piece of cake (I think I've only had it like twice in my life) but CASHEWS and PINEAPPLE are like my two favorite things to snack on. VANILLA means that I will have to eliminate all types of sweets from my diet (I'm kinda liking this because it will help me stay slim), but the biggest challenge will be cutting off soy, first of all, I absolutely love Chinese food (which is 100% soy-based), I think they use soy in every recipe. Second of all, Soy is a major part of processed food products and is used in all packaged and bottled goods. Everything from the gum I'm used to, my favorite bag of chips, nandos sauce *crying*, cereals, salad dressings, etc etc.... In other words, I'm screwed.
Although its not a life-threatening allergy it's SO uncomfortable. You feel like your skin is on fire.
I keep saying Alhamdululilah, at least I know now whats
causing the allergic reaction and its just a matter of major dietary changes and
reading the food ingredients labels on all products before I eat them.
I've been reading up on Soy and apparently soy is listed by the FDA as a major food allergen and one of the most common allergies worldwide. Strange, I
don't know anyone allergic to soy. Do you?
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7 comments:
lol only you could have that
Never heard of it either
Well the positive side is that you will avoid kidney stones
If one eats a lot of soy, they might be easily developed
I remember when I wanted to fight cholesterol without medications I started planning a life with soy, but then I read about possible stones and went back to simvastatin
Or you could eat normally and tolerate the itching :P.
I just figured out this year that I'm allergic to dairy (extreme itching and hives) and wheat! The wheat made my legs and to a lesser degree, my body, swell up!! The doctors here were of minimal help. Apparently allergies are not a significant part of their curriculum I suppose! Blood tests done haven't shown anything!! =( Possibly because of the allergy meds I've taken.. Crazy!
Feeling sooo much better after totally cutting out dairy and wheat from my diet. Have been reading a LOT of articles about food and additives and so on, and am still revising my diet bit by bit. A long work in progress!
Article about the ills of wheat:
http://www.naturalnews.com/034040_grains_weight_gain.html
Was nice to see someone describing exactly what I've been through myself!
@Balqis: haha I guess that's the only upside to this, yallah alhamdulilah, it could have been worse. I just have to live with it.
@PH: I wouldn't have gone through the trouble of taking a food intolerance test if I could tolerate the itching! It's not your normal rash or mosquito bite itch, it’s on a whole different level :(
@Nemina Angel: I can totally relate! When I got my results I was so relieved because I felt in control. Before I took the intolerance test, I was going crazy, I just couldn't understand what was causing it even though I was monitoring my food in take and diet.
itching and the hives :( so uncomfortable but I havent experienced any swelling altho my digestive system does flips when the itching is at its peak.
How are you managing your no-wheat-diet?
Rice, rice and more rice!! lolz
Missing 'M7omsa, my favorite, but actually it's great to be 'free' of pasta all the time! Hahaha.. Instead of 'Mbakbka, spaghetti or macaroni I now make 6abikhas and 6ajeens with, yes, rice!
I have also started making my own bread, using Spelt flour, which is amazingly good! (Not sure if it's because I'm not swelling up like a balloon or because it simply actually IS amazing, lolz, however my husband agrees it's the best bread ever!! "Ma sha Allah"-stamp on it, hehehe..) =P
A little about Spelt:
spelt flour Notes: Spelt flour contains gluten, but it's tolerated by many people with gluten allergies. If making bread with spelt flour, don't knead it for as long as you would a wheat bread--its gluten isn't as durable as that in wheat. Freeze any spelt flour that you're not planning to use right away. Substitutes: kamut flour (like spelt flour, kamut flour is tolerated by most people with wheat allergies and is good for making bread and pasta)
There's so much information out there I'm shocked Health professionals don't know any of it!!!
I'm planning on trying out Quinoa too just not quite sure exactly as what yet! lolz
Hey Lee
sorry for what happen to you specially that you wont eat cahsews and pineapple again .
I saw alot of patients with allergy some come with itching others with diarrhea
A friend of mine has fruits intolerance and since years didn't eat fruits.
well for me I have a wierd l intolerance for the egg and tuna since my childhood, Once when I was kid I vomited alot after a tuna sandwich, since that day I don't eat anything with Tuna or Egg
It was weird for my family in the begining but then they get used to it, untill now I can't eat them I have that feeling that I will get sick because of them..
@Nemina Angel I don't know if you heard about ceoliac Disease a disorder of the small intestine that occurs in genetically predisposed people of all ages .
It is caused by a reaction to gliadin,(gluten protein) found in wheat, Upon exposure to gliadin the immune system crossreacts with the small bowel tissue causing an inflammatory reaction.
The only known effective treatment is a lifelong gluten free diet
Hope you'll feel better soon lee and every allergic one
fe amanAllah
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