Food Allergies and the Lesson I have Learned

I have suffered from food, airborne allergies and asthma my whole life. I have adapted to many different ways of eating to work with my allergies but even the best intentions can be incorrect. With our lives being as active as they are, we have been increasingly more Paleo after slowly transitioning out of a two year Vegan “diet” (I do want to clarify, I don’t believe in “diets” in the traditional since. I believe in lifestyle changes and following what works best for you or your beliefs.) During this journey we have adapted to eating chicken, turkey and fish but have remained fairly dairy free due to lactose issues for both of us.

Most recently, we have integrated eggs into our diet, and this is where the issues arose that finally kicked my butt into a new way of eating. Food allergies or intolerances can manifest in many different ways, for me personally, it can be the swelling of my tongue/insides of my mouth, asthma attack, rash or hives, swelling of hands/fingers, stomach cramping, vomiting and or diarrhea. Sometimes I get ALL of those effects, sometimes I get a speckling of them and sometimes I get extremely uncomfortable. It’s a gamble, one that I do not enjoy taking every day.

Monday morning I woke up, all Paleo ready to take on the day with a breakfast of two scrambled organic cage free eggs! Knowing that I have been allergic to eggs in my youth, I wanted to eat them solo to see how they would effect me… see the above list. Two eggs took me down and I mean DOWN. I started feeling uncomfortable at 15 minutes but nothing serious, 30 minutes was getting to the “Uhmnnn I don’t think this going to go well” stage, 45 minutes well … I don’t need to be too terribly descriptive here but lets just say I spent significant time in the bathroom. At 1 hour the rash showed up. At a hour and 15 minutes I was on the couch with a trash can by my head scarfing anti acids and drinking water, running a low grade fever and being all around pathetic.

It is safe to say, there isn’t a damn egg left in my house or even the resemblance of it. Back to vegan egg substitutes for my baking (http://www.ener-g.com/gluten-free/egg-substitute.html). This reaction was so severe that I was fearful of eating and decided it was time to really clean up my way of eating and I mean CLEAN it up. Here is the quick run down of my food allergies and or intolerances, that I know of:

1. Eggs

2. Coconut

3. Pineapple

4. Artificial Sweeteners and High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS)

5. Gluten / Wheat Intolerance

6. Peanuts / Peanut Butter

7. Cashews

8. Soy / Edamame & Bean Intolerance

9. Carrots

Translation, I can’t eat anything that is processed, in a box, or has a label. Unfortunately, I am unable to consume some vegetables, fruits and most nuts. My body is doing me favor by telling me not to eat the swill the food industry pushes on us but sadly it took away pineapple and some other healthy items. *Insert Pity Party Here

On to this clean eating journey I am taking! I have stripped my “diet” down to meats, vegetables, fruits, almonds and almond milk (for smoothies) and extra virgin olive oil. I have a lovely chicken salad on the menu for lunch today with home made vinaigrette which I am pretty excited about, I have been lazy and haven’t been the Chef I should be for awhile. Opposed to thinking of this as a “why me?” scenario I have decided to make this a blessing. Perception is important in any aspect of your life. When you are confronted with an ailment, intolerance or inconvenience, it is always your decision on how to accept it.

What are the positives of this? Here is how I see it, I have been given the opportunity to eat as purely as humanly possible and to remove myself from the sugary, fattening, GMO infested products that lace our grocery, connivence store and hardware store shelves. Although I have been increasingly conscious of these products in the last 10 years, I still purchase them from time to time.

I will continue to purchase organic/ grass fed/ antibiotic free meats, as many organic and/or locally grown fruits and vegetables as I can but most importantly, I will FUEL my body and not FEED my body. I believe this is lesson I was intended to learn.

#healthfoodindustryallergiesmeatsveggiesfruithealthycleaneating