The number of people affected by food allergies continues to rise. One of the primary hidden contributing factors to allergies is the food you eat. Poor quality foods that contain food additives, genetic modification, hormones, and herbicides may be contributing to the rise in people with food allergies. Genetic engineering, for instance, can increase existing allergens, or produce new, unknown allergens. Genetically modified soy is particularly bad and is found in the majority of processed foods. Fortunately, there are some good food allergy alternatives.
Eight popular foods are responsible for more than 90 percent of food allergies. Once you have a good allergy, is there anything you can do to rid yourself of the allergy? Some doctors feel that if the gut microbiome is healthy, there is less of a chance of allergies. They believe if you rebuild your gut, you can slowly reintroduce foods to see if there are any adverse reaction. Others feel that the only true treatment for a food allergy is to avoid the allergen altogether. I have worked with a chiropractor who has been trained in related modalities to effectively reverse minor food allergies. The major allergens covered in this post, most likely can not be reversed using alternative treatments
The most common food allergens are wheat, dairy, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, corn, soy, and fish/shellfish. Below are some food allergy alternatives for the broadest categories which can be used as ideas for foods not explicitly covered.
Wheat
Wheat is one of the most common food allergen. Wheat can be difficult to avoid because wheat is found in many foods, including ketchup, soy sauce and beer. Cooked rice at a restaurant can contain wheat because it is often used to keep the rice from sticking. There are even non-food items that contain wheat, such as some cosmetics and bath products.
A wheat allergy is sometimes confused with celiac disease. But these are different conditions. Those who have a wheat allergy experience a reaction that’s caused by antibodies. People with celiac disease react to gluten, which is a protein in wheat, and it causes an abnormal immune system reaction.
So what are your food allergy alternatives for wheat? In terms of bread, some people find that sprouted grain products are OK for them. This is because enzymes are released during the sprouting of the grains. The enzymes break down the proteins and carbohydrates in the grains, making the bread low glycemic and easier to digest. Alternatively, some people who can’t tolerate modern wheat can tolerate the ancient Einkorn wheat grain.
If you can’t have any wheat, there are commercial wheat and gluten free products. But these may not be organic and are often poor quality. You may want to substitute foods made from other grains such as quinoa, corn, and rice. Wheat-free and gluten-free flours include coconut flour, almond flour, spelt flour, oat flour and rice flour.If you are gluten intolerant, the Gluten Free Society has a ton of resources, including recipes.
Dairy
There are a number of commercially produced cow’s milk alternatives made from coconut, rice, potato, oats, almonds, hazelnuts, cashews, hemp, flax, sunflower and macadamia nuts. These alternatives are not actually milk but extracts derived from plant sources, such as nuts, seeds and grains. Just as cow’s milk is fortified with nutrients like vitamin D and vitamin A, so are many of these milk alternatives. Some milk alternatives have a similar nutritional profile to that of cow’s milk, but others lack in certain areas. You may want to consider a good multi-vitamin to ensure you are getting all the nutrients you need. LabDoor tests and scores supplements in many categories, including multi-vitamins.
There are also dairy food allergy alternatives for sour cream, ice cream butter, yogurt, and cheese. Some people who are allergic to dairy are fine with goat or sheep milk. You can easily find yogurt and cheeses made from goat or sheep milk. A good butter subsitutes are coconut oil or avocado. Vegan cheeses are available commercially or you can make your own out of cashews. It is generally best to avoid soy based dairy alternatives because of the estrogen mimicking properties of soy.
Shellfish and Fish
Fish and shellfish are a good source of protein and omega-3 fatty acids. Protein is used in every single cell of the body and is critical for building muscle mass, helping balance hormones naturally and supporting neurological function. If you’re allergic to fish, you can get your daily dose of protein from eggs, raw dairy (like yogurt and kefir), grass-fed meat and organic poultry. If you follow a vegetarian or vegan diet, you can add plant-based foods that are high in protein like peas, lentils, and black beans.
Although wild-caught fish is an excellent way to consume omega-3 fatty acids, there are a number of other foods that can give you similar health benefits. Walnuts are an excellent source of these healthy fats, as are flaxseeds and chia seeds. Chia seeds, for example, are composed of protein, fats, carbohydrates, high dietary fiber, vitamins and minerals. They contain a high amount of antioxidants and support the heart and digestive system.
Eggs
Eggs are often used as a binding or leavening agent in recipes, but there are some alternatives that can work just as well. The following egg substitutes are recommended by the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network as great food allergy alternatives for eggs:
- For binding
- 2 tablespoons of fruit puree (such as mashed bananas and apple sauce)
- 1 tablespoon of ground flaxseeds with 3 tablespoons of water
- For leavening and binding
- 1.5 tablespoons of water, 1.5 tablespoons of oil and 1 teaspoon of baking powder
- 1 teaspoon of baking powder, 1 tablespoon of water and 1 tablespoon of vinegar
- 1 packet of gelatin and 2 tablespoons of warm water (mix when ready to use)
- 1 teaspoon of yeast dissolved in 1/4 cup of water
There are also commercial egg substitutes from companies like Bob’s Red Mill, Namaste’ Foods, and Ener-G Foods on the market.
Nuts
Nuts are a great snack because they’re high in omega-3 fatty acids and help control inflammation, boost brain function and improve cardiovascular health. The best food allergy alternatives for tree nuts are other foods that are high in 0mega-3. This way you get the just about the same nutritional benefits. This includes things like flaxseeds, chia seeds, pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds
If you are only allergic to peanuts, then you can substitute any other nut and the nut butters that come from them. Almonds and almond butter are easy to find alternatives. As is Sun Butter which is made from sunflower seeds.
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