New to all this

[FrankyNoodle]

Hi everyone, this is my first post and I am also really new to the world of food allergies so please excuse my ignorance 

my wife has recently been told she has some food allergies, they are Egg, Milk and Yeast. I have been doing a bit of reading online and also been trying to find somewhere that has recipes or cookbooks for sale. I have found a lot of stuff for eggs and milk but yeast seems to be the really tricky one.

Can anyone point me in the direction of any sites, cookbooks or blogs or anything that might help me find out what she will be able to eat. Its crazy i had no idea how much stuff yeast is in!!!

She has an appointment with a dietitian this week, but I was just thinking any thing I could find out would help us up until then and more than likely afterwards as well.

Any help or suggestions anyone could give us would be greatly appreciated.


Thanks in advance

[twinturbo]

What was happening when she ate the foods? What kind of mainstream doctor diagnosed the allergies? What drove her to seek a diagnosis?

Dietitians can't tell you much when you have true food allergies. Even if your wife isn't truly allergic or these are digestive intolerances instead of allergies, following vegan baking recipes without yeast would help. And if she does have Ige-mediated alleric reactions she may be able to tolerate small amounts of high heat treated milk and eggs. It's the type of thing a board certified allergist/immunologist with current, significant knowledge and experience with food allergies and anaphylaxis could help with. She may need to carry emergency epinephrine if she's not.

[PurpleCat]

   Hello and welcome!  You've found a great site for help.  I know very nothing about yeast, but I've done baking without eggs for my DD and I'm lactose intolerant so I do some baking without milk when I want to eat it.

I started with the cookbook Bakin' Without Eggs.  I experimented with different egg substitutes depending on what the egg had to do in the recipe.  Flax gel, applesauce, tofu, and soda (for cakes) became my favorites.  Learning to add extra baking powder was a must.

Things like meatballs or meatloaf worked with tomato paste or flax gel.

I do suggest spending un-rushed time in different grocery stores just seeing what is available in your area.  Foods without eggs and milk are out there.  Yeast....I don't know.  There are lots of soy, coconut and nut options for milk and cheese substitutes.

[FrankyNoodle]

thanks Twinturbo,

well at first they thought it was IBS,  then they thought it was lactose intolerance, but then she got referred to a private company for a blood based allergy test where they just test everything. it came back with milk, egg white, egg yolk and yeast.

she doesn't get anaphylaxis or need emergency epinephrine anything like that... if she eats something that doesn't agree with her, her stomach will noticeably bloat, she gets stomach pains and often she gets an upset stomach.

[FrankyNoodle]

thanks PurpleCat,

yeah we are going to go out and do a lot of research this weekend. I'll have a look for your book. The yeast seems to be the tricky one its in everything.

Meatballs and meat loaf are a good idea though i'll do a bit of research.

Sorry to bombard you guys with random questions, its just we have only just found out and its a scary realization when you are like "oh my god, what is she gonna be able to eat"

its going to make eating at restaurants interesting 

[twinturbo]

IgE is a different condition than digestive--which does not involve the immune system. That's not an allergy.

http://foodallergysupport.olicentral.com/index.php?PHPSESSID=1827e5e8bcdcce40565c5455cfe0b826&action=page;sa=What_is_FoodAllergy

http://drrobertwood.com/beware-false-positives.shtml

[FrankyNoodle]

thanks Twin turbo, had a quick scan, and that all sounds very interesting... I'll show it to my wife tonight and we can have a proper read of it.

seems like this whole thing can be a bit of a mine field?!


Thanks again

[CMdeux]

It really is, FrankyN.   The reason why it's worth teasing apart what you're dealing with is that if it's an intolerance that results in IBS-like symptoms, you could decide to risk some things once in a while-- just judging risk/benefit, I mean.

If this is IgE-based, you really don't want to be doing that without knowing that you are taking a life-threatening kind of risk, not just one of possible discomfort for a day or two.

It's also a good idea to figure out what kind of sensitivity you are trying to manage.  If it's very very low, you will have to live in a much more restrictive manner.  If it's high (or-- in general-- if it's an intolerance), you may well be able to rely upon the information that others give you in restaurants, on labels, and from friends/family in order to determine safety.  You won't need to ask others to change what they do for your safety.  Those things are HUGE differences-- and make a great deal of difference in terms of quality of life.

Only live as restrictively as you must.  That's my motto.    

[twinturbo]

Living with food allergies for real is bad. Living like you have food allergies but don't really is also bad. But the worst would be to have a misdiagnoses of food allergies when the true culprit remains undiagnosed and untreated. I have no idea what your wife has but you have every right to an informed decision and diagnosis.

[lakeswimr]

It sounds like your wife has IBS or Celiac like symptoms and then had a blood test and was told she actually has food allergies, right?  Testing can't diagnose a food allergy.  Testing that allergists use has a very high false positive rate and a positive result on a test doesn't mean a person is allergic.  Testing has to be used in combo with symptoms and a good allergist to diagnose a person.  The symptoms you described do not sound like a food allergy. 

And it could be you had alternative testing since yeast is a red flag.  That's not something I have heard allergists ever include in testing.  And if your wife had alternative testing that is pretty much worthless.

I recommend she see a very good GI doctor who knows Celiac and that she get tested for Celiac.  I would not pull foods from my diet based on alternative testing and I could not pull foods from my diet based on IgE testing if I wasn't having symptoms of an IgE allergy (which it does not sound like your wife is having.)