allergies
my own personal struggle with food allergies has come and gone throughout my life. i thought i’d share my experience for anyone else who is curious or unsure about food intolerances. also, since they have become more common recently, there are most likely people like me out there who don’t even know about their allergies because they haven’t been diagnosed yet. while i wish i could just eat normally and ignore my symptoms, i choose to live without the three known allergens because i’m not a fan of sharp pains after every meal! maybe this will inspire someone to get checked out.
1983
according to my very own mother, i was allergic to cow’s milk and soy as a baby, and was fed goat’s milk instead (must be why i like the stuff so much). i had eczema on and off throughout my childhood, mostly on my inner forearms, which is a telltale sign of a food allergy. however, i continued to eat and drink dairy products as normal. they are hard to avoid in england, believe me.
1999
my stomach was killing me on a trip to england and france with my mom and i barely ate a thing. on our return, i went to see the doctor, and was diagnosed with h. pylori and put on all kinds of anti-ulcer drugs like prilosec. this helped for the time-being, but i still knew something was wrong. i continued to wonder why chinese food always made me ill. several doctors kept telling me i had a normal stomach bug (all the time) which clearly wasn’t the issue.
2004
i moved to san diego in 2003, transferred universities, and was having major stomach issues. my diet was terrible (mostly bread and cheese) and i was adjusting to a solitary life in a strange city. i started going to acupuncture in ’04 and was immediately introduced to the concept of food allergies. jutta, my acupuncturist, recommended i go on a very restrictive diet and informally told me i was allergic to gluten and dairy (since they were the two things i was eating all the time). i felt a little better, mostly because i lost a ton of weight on this diet, but that was because i was eating eggs and soy every day, and still getting sick. finally, after the diet was over (about a month), jutta gave me a saliva test for allergies and the results came back with intolerances to dairy, eggs, and soy. she believed i may also have a gluten intolerance, but since i wasn’t eating any it didn’t register on the test. i know this to be true because i genuinely feel better on a low-gluten diet. and that’s that. i saw jutta once a month for acupuncture just to keep me sane more than anything else!
2009
now i’m living in london and the new environment has noticeably changed my body’s reaction to foods. i’m slowly starting to adjust and “re-center” myself, especially now that i’m cooking more and learning how to live even more comfortably and healthily with my allergies.
out of the three, the most difficult one to deal with is soy. by FAR. soy is in everything these days because it is so cheap to source and process. i would gladly go 100% vegan if i could eat soy — ok maybe 90%, i like fish and goat’s milk too much. but going out to dinner at any asian or vegetarian restaurants can be a real pain with this allergy. it’s almost impossible getting something prepared without soy sauce.
that being said, if you have been diagnosed with a soy allergy or intolerance, i hope some of my recipes will help you to see that there are ways around any dietary restriction. all it takes is a bit of creativity, inspiration, and willpower!
Comments»
Molly,
Your blog looks so very interesting, professional, and engaging. Good for you!! Good luck in ending your job and moving along to the next adventure in your life…. Good thoughts and love to you, Linda
I totally understand where you’re coming from!
I have an intolerance to salicylates which means most things that are unprocessed and plant based are completely out of limits to me or I’ll get intense tummy upsets.
I’m so glad you’re able to work through this! It has inspired me to think a little more about what I eat rather than just putting up with the pain.