One of my friends just found out she's allergic to a long list of foods (please read details inside) How can I help her to cope?

If by cope you mean emotionally and perhaps spiritually, then I can share the gist of a story I am working on about someone who has had problems with compulsive overeating. This person was able to get and stay on a healthy diet, but then after a surgery was basically forced to eat foods and ingredients that are typically grouped with binge and trigger foods and also barred from eating typically healthy foods. For this person, the solution was a spiritual and twelve-step path, which is not for everyone obviously.

Still, I have personal experience with other chronic conditions that didn’t necessarily change in nature but definitely changed (for the better) relative to their enormity in ruining my life. The catalyst for this could be summed up as prayer, but what it was was a genuine asking of the universe (or whatever) for relief. I did it every night before I went to bed, and it cracked open a door that led to a number of changes.

I don’t mean to come across as some kind of evangelical. I just have seen enough to know that physical and emotional exhaustion gets relieved and hardships like these are significantly easier to handle when we tap in to our spiritual nature and actually seat ourselves and operate from that place.

I have a dear friend who is allergic to nature in general. She copes by coming up with increasingly creative foods she can eat, and throwing massive dinner parties featuring those foods (and a few others she has to wear gloves to prepare).

I do not have many food restrictions, but I have to watch myself closely due to my mental illness. I have to be ever vigilant checking for relapse into illness from my current stability. I cope by using a few important things.

The single most important is meditation. I don’t meditate long, but I do it daily. I don’t worry about being “empty” as the stereotype dictates. I simply use guided visualization and go to My Happy Place, where the weather is perfect and I can do certain things like drink from a fountain, cross a stone bridge, and sit on the beach. This type of meditation is the most important thing I do for myself.

I also exercise. I powerwalk 2 miles every day.

I take medicine. I never miss a dose.

I keep stress at a minimum.

Some of these few things may relate to your friend’s situation, and some may not. Perhaps the unwritten point is my attitude. I live in acceptance. My daily routines are simply what I do. I never bemoan my life. It is what it is. I am quite happy with my life. I hope your friend can find acceptance, too.

I would encourage her to find a good pro-biotic she can tolerate (some might not be consistent with her diet). I like God Belly brand. A good pro-biotic will help get her biome back in shape.

Also, consider fermented foods- kim chee, tempeh, injera, kefir. They help the digestion and the biome.

@zenvelo I was also thinking about the pro-biotic angle. I’m surprised that her GI doctor didn’t suggest one when he gave her the antibiotics in the first place. It looks like she’s not allergic to dairy, so that, especially yogurt is a good idea. I’ll make sure she comes up with a list of things to ask the allergist. Also the fermented foods.

How funny that I just came home from the store with kimchi. I can gorge on that stuff

I don’t know if they even discussed cruciferous vegetables yet, of which she generally eats lots, you know cabbage, Brussels sprouts and such.

I was thinking that when they get “The List” sorted out, I would like to go over to her house and spend a few days cooking and putting together complete meals with her that she can freeze, so she can just pull them out and heat them up. At least she won’t have to worry about what she’s eating. Unfortunately, she also does all the cooking for her hubby and her two kids. Well, the 15 month old is still nursing and eating some solid foods. Her hubby is not a vegetarian, so she’s used to making multiple meals.

I think the worst part for her, is having to give up so many things. She loves to eat tasty delicious food, and she’s one of the best cooks and bakers I’ve ever met. She makes me look like a maker of mud pies in a sandbox.The other part that is upsetting, is having to constantly explain to people why she can’t eat this or that, or why she can’t go to this food related event, or eat at that restaurant. Even as a vegetarian (which is easy compared to this situation) can be wearisome.

She is not religious or spiritual. Praying would not help. Meditation might, though.

Thanks, everybody. Keep it coming : )

Isn’t a “biome” like, all the plants that live in a specific climate?

^^ I think it is referring to the healthy bacteria in your specific climate in this case.

I assumed he meant “gut flora”.

I know a person with Crohn’s disease. He definitely hates having an extremely restricted diet. But not anywhere near as much as he hated being in pain all the time, and not knowing why. He’d have given pretty much anything to fix that – and all he had to do was change his diet. It’s not that bad a trade-off when you think about it.

that’s what I meant.

So the gastroenterologist did everything wrong, and that caused her to develop massive allergies over the past 6 months, according to her allergist.

Hasn’t she been under the care of an allergist the whole time, if she’s been hospitalized several times with anaphylactic shock?

I have to question a doctor who happens to specialize in the cure for what ails you. However, the avoidance list you’ve given so far isn’t that bad. Please post everything she’s prohibited from eating after the allergist’s newest report?

I don’t see how a suitable probiotic could hurt. The antibiotic might have decimated the good digestive bacteria.

She was tested for food allergies and green beans, bananas, and tomatoes came up positive? Is that right? She swelled up from those foods? Oy, I eat a lot of all three. I’m an omnivore, it’s not like meat replaces eating a vegetable or fruit for most people. If I were allergic to those things named, I wouldn’t eat more chicken or fish.

I really feel for her. I’ve been reading up for a diet for shingles and meats and cheese are good supposedly. Except, for my heart it’s bad.

Soy is really hard to avoid; it’s in so many things.

There are plenty of other green veggies in lieu of green beans and other fruits besides bananas. What sucks is it sounds like she will have to deprive herself of fruits and veggies it assume she likes.

Peanut allergy can cause a sensitivity to soy, green and lima beans, @JLeslie.
Presumably also skew the results of an allergy test?

I’ve been doing my homework on this question.

If her digestive system is as fragile as you describe, she might not be able to handle an over the counter probiotic. It’s too much for a really fragile digestive system. Some people have to dump out the capsule and mix it with water, or as is the case with my daughter, start out with probiotics designed for an infant, and gradually build up to an adult dose with the more “advanced” strains.

Probiotics need to survive long enough to get into the intestines, so it helps to take them on an empty stomach at least a half hour before eating.

@JLeslie my daughter lives in Japan, where most foods seem to have soy in them. One of her big allergens is soy, yet she’s figured out how to thrive on her restrictive diet. Bottom line, she eats sushi only with the ginger, and without the soy sauce. She cooks a lot at home, and buys whole foods (foods that haven’t already been prepared for cooking, or processed (raw meats, fresh veggies, fresh fruits, etc)

When she goes out to eat, she asks lots of questions, or gets something safe, such as foods she knows are safe (sushi, etc).

As many allergies as she has, look up AIP autoimmune protocol diet. Then, Slowly incorporate foods back in after healing for approx. 2–3 months. of the diet. Research the health properties (minimum dose and work your way up) of local natural un-cleansed honey and bee pollen. People with gastrointestinal diseases have missing bacteria In their gut. I have ulcerative colitis, I’ve researched all this. I did fecal matter transplant enemas from a healthy donor. It pulled me out of my flare up and I’ve never felt better. You also need to find your ‘hallelujah’. Whatever it may be. Yoga, laughing, gardening. Mine is dancing to my favorite music alone. You are what you think and eat. Bacteria in your gut controls mood. Because of the neurotransmitters in your gut, which work with food and a healthy balance of bacteria, it’s a balanced ecosystem which leads to the neurotransmitters of the brain. Start researching. Seek and Ye shall find!

@snowberry Did you mean to write me? My sister went soy free for a long time, she also is vegan, so I know it can be done, but there is soy in a lot of things that people don’t realize.

@ibstubro I think if it causes a reaction on the test, then it causes a reaction. I just wanted to make sure this person saw a doctor, not some other sort of “allergist” and that she was actually given allergy testing, and it wasn’t just something suggested to her. You know what I mean? Like some sort of natural type, holistic, blah blah. Not that those people can’t sometimes be helpful, I just wanted to know what tests.

@Kardamom As I think about this more, since this is a new/recent problem, I think it’s likely she needs antibiotics. She can try the probiotics, but the right antibiotic might be better.

@ibstubro So, you got me googling and I’m starting to question the whole allergy thing more. I found this and under cross reactivity it mentions other foods in the legume family, but the likelihood of actually having an allergic reaction to one of them if you have a peanut allergy is extremely low.

What I learned from seeing many different specialists for the same illness, is each one is sure it’s something in their specialty. They see things through their lens.

I would strongly, strongly encourage her to see a functional medicine doctor. Her care is being silo-ed (typical in traditional medicine). The benefits to functional medicine are (1) your care is by an MD, (2) they look at you holistically instead of systemically, (3) they consider your history and environment (like mold, your mattress, etc) and (4) they use laboratory values to determine the course of your treatment.

I have seen a functional medicine doctor once, so far. She met with me for an hour and ordered many, many tests. I’ll see her again once the test results are all in.

She’s also looking for intolerances in addition to true allergies.

AIP (mentioned above) is a great plan. I don’t know how I could sustain being vegetarian with all of those restrictions. I eat more meat since finding out that I have multiple food intolerances.

I don’t see 2–3 months on AIP diet as realistic for a vegetarian, @Umcoiledpeak

I faced the same dilemma when I was diagnosed with IBS. The diet was much the same, with the stipulation that the veggies had to be cooked to death. I live with the disease.

@JLeslie, @Cupcake and I seem to be in the same camp – a broader approach seems to be in order.

@ibstubro Have you tried antibiotics for your IBS?

I just live with it, @JLeslie. It’s not debilitating in any way.
I tried probiotics and, yes, I believe I tried antibiotics.

My father, who’s physic I inherited, was alway very sensitive to antibiotics. The smallest dose and his digestion was all out of whack.

There are antibiotics that definitely can make things worse, but there are antibiotics that can be curative.

@ibstubro I can’t work out whether your father is psychic or a physician?
Edit that: I didn’t read properly. I get it now :)