Food allergies....

Oh Danita! That is just teeeeeeeeeeerible! I'll waaaaa right with you. Is this a sudden development?
Seriously I could use some of your allergies. Maybe then I'll lose some weight. I had a food allergy test, and they stuck needles in my back and arms. I have no allergies;...I just get hives if I don't eat.

Danita, you poor thing. What a dilemna! Could you drop mscoach (Gregory Anne Cox) a line and she what she thinks? She is a member of the NABBW like you are, and she is a nutrionist. Maybe she could suggest something?

Am abit puzzled, Danita. Before the food allergy test did you experience certain symptoms that now clarify certain things after the blood test? Looks like a wide range of foods..which makes me curious what your reaction would be if you ie. consumed too many grapes, etc.

For certain, I could never become alcoholic or gain weight from drinking alchol. After all these years, I cannot drink more than 1/2 glass of wine (or even less) without turning pink/red and feeling affected already. It's a real challenge when we go into wine country, even more complicated when we're cycling from winery to winery. More than once, I've worried about getting home safely on bike at night after a lovely restaurant meal with wine.

Where did you get this done, Danita? Food allergies aren't usually diagnosed with blood tests but with skin tests or an elimination diet.

I decided to do the blood test because I want to get healthy.

here is a link I found which I think gives a good description of the blood test/food allergies.

http://www.cfs-recovery.org/allergy.htm

I was diagnosed 10 years ago with "irritable bowls" (was not tested at that time for allergies)...recently...I've had pain in my elbows, dry, itchy eyes, tired a lot of the time, abdominal issues, etc., etc., etc.

I could have additional tests to confirm my results - but what I'm going to do is eliminate the foods that came back as positive and see how I feel.

I'm actually excited about this endeavor.

After 25 years of fighting weight issues - I want to learn to feed my body right. Regardless of how challenging it is.

Gims,

I would imagine that if they can test for food allergies via blood work - then they could do regular allergies as well. It would be worth checking into!

Hannelore - thanks for lamenting with me! :0) I AM hoping that eleminating these things from my life will h elp with weight loss.

J.J - will do

Orchard - It depends on what I eat - the reaction I have. None of my reactions are deadly.

Yonuh - did it through a Dr. and a medical lab.

Danita
join the club.
You will manage fine and once established in a regigm start to feel better.
One thing...if you abstain then make an error the symptoms hit hard,
Mountain ash

Danita, if you see this,please email me. I need Arbonne. Thank you. I'm not sure I have your current email address.

I have a friend who has food allergies and she shops at Trader Joe's. She can't live without them. Do you want me to see what the great items are that she buys?

Danita, I'm thinking you need to get ahold of some of your favorite spices to jazz up your food. They make such a difference.

And by the way, last time I saw you, it didn't look like you needed to lose weight!

Are you going to Vegas?

Danita, thanks for the link, on my behalf, as well as my grans... I forwarded the link to my daughter who has three younguns with allergies, one has severe reactions to nuts.

Danita
I had a blood test for allergies about 7 years ago and share a few of your allergies -- yeast and cane sugar. Add eggs to my list, so that eliminates almost all baked goods.

My husband is allergic to cows' milk.

Actually, it's been fine. Get sourdough bread -- it's made without yeast, but with a starter -- you have to read the labels. There's also some brands of fajitas made without yeast.

What amazes me is how many products include sugar -- soup, sauces and even chicken bullion!!!! There are many products made with beet sugar and other sweeteners, including the Endangered Species brand of chocolate, by the way, but sometimes you don't know if it's cane or not, so I just avoid it.

We found a rice butter (better than soy butter), and there's also something called Earth Balance which is like butter. There's a good brand of goat yogurt and lots of great goat and sheep cheeses. I use Pecorino Romano instead of parmesan. It helps if you have health food stores, or Whole Foods, or Trader Joes in your area, but you can find certain things in the chain grocery stores.

Blood tests are much more accurate than skin allergy tests for food allergies. And after a while, you can test out a food to see if you still have a bad reaction. Sometimes you can add foods back. The most important thing I learned was that you shouldn't eat the same thing day after day after day (which might me hwo allergies sart), but wait 2-3 days before repeating.