Food Allergy Testing

For several years, my husband was very, very ill - apnea, rheumatoid arthritis, chronic sinusitis. Four years ago, on the recommendation of our family doctor he went in for allergy testing and found out he was sensitive to many things. As soon as he completely removed all of those things from his diet it was like a miracle. His snoring and apnea (a LONG term issue) was GONE within a week, within a couple of months his arthritis was gone, and rarely does he ever get a sinus infection now and when he does, they are minor.

SO, I saw this all with such awe that I went in and had myself tested. At the time I was concerned that I had fibromyalgia. I was told I had allergies to potatoes (ingesting them, even cooked), eggs (duh, knew that already), pork, fish and shellfish (I had no idea, and I loved pork). So yeah, I don't have the fibromyaligia stuff anymore.

My egg allergy started gradually - first raw cookie dough made my mouth itchy, then anything with egg white made me itch, followed by the yolk, followed by full-on anaphylaxis from any consumption - it started about 6 or 7 years ago. The whole thing developed over a period of about 2 years.

At our 9-year-old son's last checkup the doctor was concerned with excessive amounts of blood in his urine. We went through many tests and ultrasounds to try and determine what was going on. We finally took him in to a Pediatric Allergist/Immunologist and had him tested. Yes, he has allergies. A lot of them. A lot of very severe reactions despite the fact that he never developed mouth itchiness or breathing problems from eating them.

Our son cannot eat:

-Peas, Peanuts, and Legumes
-Rice, Wheat, Corn, Soy, Oats, Barley, or Rye
-Shrimp (one of his favorite foods) or crab
-Watermelon, mustard, hops, sesame, or pork

Peanuts
Tree Nuts
Soy
Corn
Milk
Wheat
Eggs
Pork
Strawberries
Potatoes
Oats
Shellfish
Sesame

If you have health problems that may be caused by food allergies, speak with your doctor about seeing an Allergist/Immunologist. The testing is simple and (relatively) painless. You cannot take any anti-histamines or anti-inflammatory medications (prescription or over the counter) for 24 hours prior to the appointment.

You'll be asked to remove your shirt and your back will be cleaned. The testing kit consists of multiple allergy triggers, the positive control of pure histamine, and a negative control of glycerine. The nurse or techinician will use a small curette to "scratch" a bit of each substance on to a different area of your back. It feels a bit like getting lightly scratched with a sharp fingernail. The process of applying the testing substances does not draw blood, it just scratches it into your skin. The exact placement of each scratch is recorded and after 20 minutes the results are observed. Some of these spots will itch like crazy!

Typically, you will be skin tested for 58 possible allergens plus the two controls - a total of 60 scratches.

The following are commonly tested for:
Peanut, Pea, Soybean, Almond, Brazilnut, Cahew, Filbert, pecan, Pistachio, Walnut, Bass, catfish, Cod, Flounder, Halibut, mackerel, Perch, Salmon, trout, Tuna, Crab, Lobster, Shrimp, Clam, Oyster, Scallops, Cow's milk, Eggs, Wheat, Corn, Barley, Oats, Rye, Rice, cinnamon, Hops, Mustard, Orange, pineapple, Green pepper, Apple, Avocado, Banana, Cantaloupe, Celery, potato, Tomato, Watermelon, Peach, strawberry, Beef, Pork, Chicken, Turkey, Cacao Bean, Cottonseed, Sesame, and Baker's Yeast.

The results are determined by how much of a reaction (like a hive, they look for flare and wheal) each substance causes on your skin compared to the two controls.

After the skin test is complete, blood is drawn to be sent for further testing and verification at a lab. "Large" reactions on the skin test indicates that you are allergic to that particular food. A zero reaction indicates that you are not. The blood test confirms or rules out those substances that are not clear from the skin test results.

As hard as it may be to accept, if the tests indicate that you are allergic to something then you need to COMPLETELY eliminate it from your diet. This means that you also need to start diligently reading labels and paying attention to what you are eating to make sure nothing "accidentally" sneaks in.

As an example, with my egg allergy, I cannot have any of the obvious like omelettes or hard boiled eggs, but also no mayonaisse, most "creamy" salad dressings, any breads which are made with or brushed with eggs, some candies, most ice creams, and so on. I need to be very, very careful.

Here's my personal take. It's based on what I've studied and on my own experiences, but it's just an opinion.

1. Early introduction - reasearch does support this and certainly children are exposed to a heck of a lot more types of foods now compared to even 50 years ago. BUT - it doesn't apply to everyone. Peanuts, yes, milk, yes. But in order for those to develop, the child needs to have a genetic predisposition to allergies in the first place and if they are exposed before their immune system can process it fully, they can develop an allergy. These types of allergies are "usually" the ones which kids grow out of.

2. Testing. Yes. Because we're testing more now, of course more will come to light. People could be very ill and never know it was because they were allergic to something unless they were tested. Anaphylactic reactions would be the exception, though. I didn't need any tests to figure out that I was allergic to eggs or potatoes.

3. Genetics combined with immigration and travel. People are having children with partners who probably have genetic stock from vastly different areas now. Our genes are getting mixed up more now, so years ago an allergy may have been common in one geographic area, and releatively rare in another, but now kids are born with the genetics from many different and formally isolated communities. Plus, before Columbus, no one would have known if they were allergic to tomatoes or not (as an example).

4. A general rule of thumb (not set in stone, though) is that the "life threatening" allergies usually show up earlier in life and may or may not be outgrown, while the so-called "mild" ones show up later in life and never go away.

5. The kicker to all of this is that I have come to believe that many of our immune problems today are a result of undiagnosed food allergies and sensitivities. Not all of them, of course, but things like depression, fibromyalgia, certain types of arthritis, chronic fatigue syndrome, mcs, add/adhd, and so on. My reasoning is that these "may" be linked to immune issues (some research has suggested it), and may also be inflammatory responses. Allergies play a huge role in both of those. BUT - if you don't get tested (both skin and blood), then you don't know. The only way to find out is to go through the tests, then eliminate all of those things from your diet, then see if your health improves.

6. Processed foods and availability of new foods. We actually consume a much larger variety of foodstuffs than we realize - with processed foods, even corn chips contain ingredients from many different food families other than corn. With new foods, our global economy has given us so much more variety than ANY generation before us. Ever.

7. The Hygiene Hypothesis - we live in a very clean and sterile environment here in the western world - our foods are washed, and cooked in clean pots with clean water by clean hands. We bathe a lot, we have antibiotics, anti-fungals, and anti-viral medicines available. Even in our regular medicine cabinets - Bactine, hand sanitizers, anti-bacterial soaps, anti-viral Kleenex, bleach, HEPA filters on our vaccum cleaners, heavy-duty laundry detergent, and band-aids with the antibiotic built right in. Don't get me wrong, this is all GOOD to have. The downside is, we tend to overdo it. Our environment is SO clean, that our immune system isn't getting the regular "boosts" that it needs to regulate itself. My old pediatrician was from India and was surprised to see so many allergies here as well. Apparently, they're pretty rare over there. Kids are exposed to more germs on a daily basis, so they develop pretty well-tuned immune systems for the "minor" things. Our babies are kept so clean and sanitized that we may be delaying their normal immune development.

Read More About the Hygiene Hypothesis Here



Caveats:

Doesn't apply to Celliac Sprue. Celliac is an allergy, but it is genetic, present at birth, never goes away, and comes from a slightly different immune process.

Doesn't apply to PKU either - that's kind of a whole different thing.



I never knew I was allergic to pork. It never even occured to me, but both skin and blood tests triggered a huge reaction, so I don't eat it anymore. I was afraid that I had fibromyalgia for a long time and all of my pain went away as soon as I eliminated everything. Now, I don't know if the pork caused that or not. I wasn't eating eggs already, but it could have been the potatoes. Who knows? But, I do feel better now, and giving up these things certainly hasn't done me any harm. As far as I know, no one else in my genetic family has ever been diagnosed with food allergies, except my son.

When you first get your diagnosis it can be overwhelming and you may be tempted to replace your familiar foods entirely with new, exotic, and weird stuff (meaning sometimes yucky). DON'T. Instead, look at your favorite foods and recipes and see how you can adapt them to suit your needs.

For Pizza (one of our faves!) - Find an easy-to-make allergen free dough mix or frozen crust, most mixes are really easy to make - just add water, knead, and push down onto a baking sheet.

For "red" sauce, if you cannot eat tomatoes try canned pumpkin (NOT pumpkin pie filling, just plain pumpkin) heated up with some Italian spices, garlic, and pesto. It tastes really good, is INSANELY nutritious, and it actually tastes really similar to tomato sauce!

For "white" or plain pizza sauce just use a little olive oil and pesto (most grocers now sell plain, pureed basil in a tube in the produce department), oregano, sea salt, and black pepper.

Toppings can be anything that you aren't allergic to - we like artichokes, black olives, feta cheese, and chicken.

The same pumpkin sauce can be used on pasta. Tinkiyada makes the BEST rice pasta. I can't tell the difference eating it. Tinkiyada rotini makes really good pasta salad too.

Shop At AviGlatt.com

Many Kosher grocers carry foods which you may be able to eat.

Pamela's Products makes an incredible chocolate chip cookie mix.

Tinkiyada makes the BEST rice pasta - it tastes just like regular pasta and doesn't get "gummy"

Egg Replacer powder is a mom's best friend

Amaranth Bread crumbs work really well on chicken

Chebe Mixes are awesome yummy

Kini Kwik bread and bun mix is fast and easy for hamburger buns or dinner rolls

Quinoa tortillas - buy some quinoa flour and a cheap tortilla press at WalMart and you can make your own torillas and chips

Watch sour cream - some brands have corn starch in them

Buy only real juice, not juice drinks, which usually have corn syrup in them

Breyer's All Natural ice cream has no corn syrup or eggs (the Black Cherry is delicious)

Use rice flour instead of corn starch for thickening suaces and gravies (unless you can't have rice)

Buy plain horseradish (not creamy or sauce, which have eggs)

Look for sodas without corn syrup (like Jones Soda)

Fruity Pebbles has no corn or wheat or soy

Be careful with canned fruit, some of the "syrup" it's in is corn syrup

Make your own popsicles - puree fruit in your blender and freeze

Oddly enough, the Hidden Valley Ranch dry mixes for dressing and dip is OK for us to eat (not the bottled kind, which has a lot of allergens). We mix it with plain sour cream or buttermilk.

For dairy allergies - try Rice Dream products (we love the ice cream) or "Ice Cream Sandwiches" called Tofutti Cuties (made with soy) - soooo yummy!

For Gluten-Free snack crackers - try "Mary's Gone Crackers" brand. I'm addicted to the Black Pepper flavor. They're great with cheese plus you can crush them to use as a breading on chicken or pork chops.

Oh, one more thing. Fava Bean flour does NOT make very tasty shortbread cookies. Just trust me on this one.

INVEST IN

Rice cooker (start with an inexpensive microwave type)
Tortilla press (a plain metal one is under ten dollars)
Popsicle mold
Ice Cream Maker
A good cookbook describing different flours
A crock pot - it is insanely easy to make your own soups.

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