Need ideas for food allergy swaps

Cafe Society
1

Dear Old Mom (way over a “certain age”) has had tests that indicate that she is allergic to the following:

Beef, beet, broccoli, carrot, cauliflower, cherry, milk, oat, onion, orange, rye, safflower, soybean, pumpkin, shrimp, wheat, white potato, artichoke, benzoic acic, polysorbate 80, and spinach.

That doesn’t leave a hell of a lot to stock your freezer.

Bearing in mind that Mom and Dad are “meat and taters” kind of people - what recipes can you recommend with these restrictions?

I thought that something with soba (buckwheat) noodles could fit in somewhere, and Og knows, we could all stand to replace some of our beef input with fish, but I don’t know how to replace onions on the aromatics menu. And just what the hell kind of bread can she eat?

2

Where did she get these results? That’s an extraordinaryily large number of intolerances to suddenly happen. It wasn’t one of those people who have a stall in a health food shop or somesuch and just stick a couple of pins in your arm, was it?

3

What happens when she eats these foods? How severe are the allergies? It would be easy to avoid some of those foods, but going without potatoes and wheat is going to be trickier (I speak from experience). You can suggest flapjacks instead of cookies (they’re made with oats), and could try cornbread (substitute rice flour for the wheat flour).

4

Oats are on the list as well.

That’s why I’m concerned as well about the sheer number of things on this list and how a diagnosis was arrived at. I’m suspecting that these may actually be food “intolerances” of one degree of severity or another (if actually real) rather than proper food allergies.

I developed a food allergy last year, which involved a serious flushing of the skin that spread from my head downward along my body, and also involved an increasing severity of reaction with each exposure. So I’m wondering exactly what is involved with this spectrum of allergies and how one could even live long enough to have them all diagnosed for the first time (I assume) at one visit.

5

Food intolerances are real too. Just because they’re intolerances rather than allergies doesn’t mean they don’t matter.

But I am also very sceptical indeed that the OP’s Mum is actually intolerant to that many foodstuffs, but didn’t find out until just now.

6

What tests were conducted?
What are the symptoms when she eats these things?

Now, a few suggestions for substitutes:
Beef - aside from chicken, turkey, fish, pork, and the like one can also eat rabbit, lamb, goat, deer, buffalo, and ostrich

beet, artichoke - optional, don’t really have a substitute.

broccoli, cauliflower - how about cabbage? Brussel sprouts, asparagus?

carrot - parsnips

spinach - there are a LOT of greens. Try kale (but may be a problem for beet allergic), or bok choy for mild/sweet greens. There are also turnip greens, radish greens, collard greens, mustard greens… I grow a lot of greens in my garden and mix them together or often use them interchangeably.

cherry - optional, substitute other fruits.

milk - unnecessary for adult humans, but there is rice and almond milk out there. (Also soy milk, but apparently that’s a problem, too…?)

oat, rye, wheat - is she allergic or is she gluten intolerant? It’s a little unusual to be allergic to that triad but they are all a problem for the gluten intolerant or celiac crowd. Celiac-specific breads and the like are available, made with grains that don’t trigger than reaction. Whether allergic or intolerant such gluten-free foods might work out.

onion - just onion, or onion+garlic+leeks? It’s a little unusual to be allergic to just onions and not the whole triad.

orange - either substitute with other citrus (lemon, lime, etc.) or just avoid

safflower - got nothing here

soybean - avoid. Which is difficult to do in North America

pumpkin - substitute with other squash.

shrimp - don’t eat it. Is it just shrimp, or all shellfish?

white potato - white potato as opposed to…what? Sweet potato? Other varieties of potato? Important to know this. If it’s the whole potato crowd (including such things as blue potatoes) then sweet potatoes might be OK because sweet potatoes actually aren’t true potatoes. If it’s just white potatoes then some of the other varieties of true potatoes might be OK if you can find them, but cross reactions might be a problem.

Look like gluten-free bread might work, but you’ll have to read the labels.

However, as I mentioned above, there’s some slightly odd stuff going on here - no broccoli and no cauliflower, but what about the rest of that vegetable family? Again, what were these tests? Some tests are inclined to give false positives, meaning they’ll say you’re allergic when you might not actually be, so there need to be follow ups. Also, anyone with that many allergies or intolerances (and it’s possible to have both at the same time) should probably speak to a professional nutritionist about dietary changes.

7

Oh I know, but this doesn’t sound like an allergy even though that’s what it’s being called. That could be very important for treatment (if not for dietary recommendations).

8

Her M.D. Apparently, she has had persistent diarrhea lately.

9

I’m thinking along the same lines.

10

Seconded.

11

Good suggestions. I’ll see if I can take a closer look at the report and find inconsistencies.

But, it’s not likely that she would eat rabbit, lamb, goat, deer, or ostrich. Apparently she can get bison, though, and is willing to try it.

12

I suggested deer and ostrich because they’re both somewhat similar to beef (mmm… ostrich burgers!) but they’re also not available in all locations, being a little exotic, and typically more expensive.

It is possible she has an odd collection of allergies that were inducing chronic diarrhea, as food allergies aren’t always life-threatening and you can go a long time with steadily increasing gastrointestinal problems. In which case these didn’t suddenly appear, it’s just that the symptoms finally got to a point she went to the doctor about it and got diagnosed. However, it’s always a good idea to ask questions about these things.

13

I spent a while today at WebMD.com, and Mom’s diagnosis of multiple food allergies seems almost certainly bullshit*, which apparently not even her M.D. told her (or knew?). However, she may or may not have some food intolerances. So, she’s supposed to follow the plan for six weeks, then introduce the foods back one at a time to see if one or more is/are the problem. I guess I can live with that, although it really seems like multiple balls have been dropped somewhere in her health care. They have taken a huge part of her diet away on what seems like flimsy evidence.

I noted in my reading that excessive sugar is a possible cause of Irritable Bowel Syndrome. If there is one thing that pings my radar … Mom has a way too hyperactive sweet tooth, and I doubt that she would take any suggestions that she reduce sugar intake very well.

What’s a trying-to-be-helpful son to do?

*Apparently, true allergies to more than one or two foods are exceedingly rare. And the food allergy tests have a rather large return of false positives.

14

You sound very sensible. Your Mom’s MD sounds like a quack. You can’t diagnose wheat intolerance, for example, just by a blood test. It requires a biopsy.

It also sounds like an elimination diet would be almost impossible. OK, so, cut out all the possibles for a couple of weeks. Then reintroduce them one by one. With the number of possibles your Mom has, that’ll take months! And some of them - wheat and milk, especially - are really hard to cut out, because they’re hidden in so many foodstuffs. She’ll inevitably give up.

A trying-to-be-helpful son should probably suggest that she get a second opinion from a really good MD/dietician who’s not a quack. Sorry, but I can’t think of anything else to suggest.

15

Horses are magnificent animals.

You lost big time on the Grand National, didn’t you?

16

Ah, bugger. That was meant to go on another thread on another board. The way it loaded, I couldn’t tell where it had gone, and by the time the SDMB search feature let me find out, the edit window was closed.

Although, I could be saying: tell your Mum to eat horses and not bet.

17

“Exceedingly rare” but not impossible - I happen to have multiple true food allergies. I should also point out that the diagnosis was confirmed by more than one method and yes, the tests did initially come up with some false positives which were eliminated via food challenge tests.

Yes. And you also have to be careful about eliminating entire groups of something. For example, there is a tendency with some people (both medical and non-medical) to look at someone with, say, a cashew allergy and say they should avoid ALL tree nuts. Um… no, only if they’re allergic to all tree nuts. Or, in my case, I was once told that since I’m allergic to both garden peas and lentils that I should avoid ALL legumes. Um… no. No reason I can’t enjoy garbonzo beans or soy beans as I am not allergic to them (thank goodness).

You have to avoid what you are allergic or intolerant to, but only those foods and not their close cousins. It can be more work to make these fine determinations, but worth it in the long run because it allows a more varied diet.

Oh - another substitution: turnips can be swapped for potatoes in many recipes. The only hitch is that they don’t taste the same and some people just don’t like turnips.

18

I think this should win the non sequitur award of the year.

19

Holy crap that was inadvertently funny. Well, beef’s out… round up the horses.