Food Allergies

Food allergies on a shoe-string budget!

In today’s economy it is extremely hard to grocery shop so that you can put a healthy, home-cooked meal on the table every night.   Add in food allergies and the struggle is tenfold. 

Researchers estimate that over 15 million Americans have food allergies.   1 in 13 kids are effected.  Below are a few practical tips for managing food intolerance's and allergies on a shoe-string budget that can help you save money and stay on track for feeding your family healthy meals.

First, try not to focus on the foods you can’t have.  Doing this can be very disheartening.  Instead, make a list of all the nutritious and beneficial foods that you can eat.  Surf the internet to broaden your options.

But try not to go overboard.  Keep meals simple until you have a better understanding of your dietary restrictions.  It can be overwhelming to jump right into complicated recipes with foods or spices that you have never prepared before.  Plus, it can be very costly. 

Remember, simple equals less expensive!

For a simple meal choose a protein, a carb, and a green vegetable, such as fish with brown rice and a mixed green salad.   Use this formula for a few weeks to give yourself time to adjust to the new diet before you start getting too fancy. 

Food allergies usually means more time at the stove.  And yes, it is healthier to cook from scratch but with today’s fast paced schedules we don’t always have the time to devote to hours in the kitchen.

Another good tip is to pick one food that the whole family enjoys, such as pizza and spend your time making allergy free crust.  Or if it’s pancakes, find a good recipe that is safe for you to eat and mix up enough dry ingredients for a couple of batches.  There is no point wasting time making homemade yogurt if no one in your family likes yogurt to start with.  

When deciding on which substitute foods to purchase be picky.  There are several on the market but some taste no different than cardboard and are just empty calories.  For example, there are several non-dairy options for cheese.  But do you really want a processed product consisting mostly of wax?  A better option might be nutritional yeast flakes.  They are quite inexpensive, especially if you buy them in bulk and have a cheesy, nutty taste that most kids don’t mind.

Once you learn what works for you “taste-wise” find a quality store where you can purchase things like gluten free products and grain free flours at bulk rate.  Some of the health stores offer discounts if you buy in large quantities.  Do your research!

During growing season find out when the local farmers market is open.  There is nothing like local produce for taste and the cost is usually lower than what you would find in the organic section of the grocery store.  

Feeding a family with food allergies doesn’t have to break the bank.  Learn to be creative so that eating healthy, allergy-free foods on a shoe-string budget can keep everyone happy and their belly’s full. 

Food allergies are no joke and we want to keep our kids and our ourselves as healthy as possible.  To boost your immune systems visit allergena.com to find the product that is best suited for where you live. 

Is it wheat or yeast causing your food allergies?

Is it wheat or yeast causing your food allergies – a must read

Over the past several years more and more research is being conducted on the cause of food intolerance's.  What are they finding?  All the fingers should not be pointing to wheat.  Instead, we should be looking at yeast.

In 2003 a study was performed on over 300 people who showed minimal to severe food allergies. 

What did the study find? 

Cow’s milk was the #1 cause of food intolerance's and wheat was at the very bottom of the list.

80%   Cow’s milk and their products
27%   Oranges
21%   Cocoa
19%   All cheeses and yogurts
17%   Coffee
14%   Yeast
14%   Tea
12%   Aspartame
11%   Malt
10%   Monosodium glutamate
5%     Hydrolysed vegetable protein
3%     Goats and sheeps milk products
3%     Wheat

What were the people’s symptoms who were part of the study.

bloating, constipation, indigestion or diarrhea
behavioral problems
depression
skin conditions
fatigue
headaches
joint pain
nausea
panic
recurrent infections
sleeplessness

Studies have also shown that usually when a person is allergic to yeast, they are also allergic to cheese and yogurt.

But people like to self-diagnosis, especially with all the health trending articles.  So, when they eat bread, pizza, pasta, rolls and breakfast cereal and have a reaction they think wheat is the culprit. 

What they don’t think about is that all these foods contain yeast and might have be eaten with a piece of cheese or glass of milk. 

If a person is told to avoid wheat and in actuality has an intolerance to yeast they are not going to see much of an improvement in their health.  

 

The same is true for a person who is allergic to cow’s milk.  If a person gives up wheat but not milk they will not see any improvement in their health.  If a person gives up wheat and milk they might get better but it is not because of the lack of wheat in their diet.  It’s because they stopped drinking milk.

It seems the best alternative would be a milk and yeast free diet to start and then try no wheat if your symptoms are not showing any improvement.

For more ways to beat your allergies and boost your immune system visit Allergena.