As a child, I constantly had “colds”. I think allergy was mentioned a couple of times, but typically it was “the sniffles” or “a summer cold”. I never saw an allergy specialist. Honestly, I’m not sure we had those in rural Arkansas where I grew up. After college, I had a few co-workers that got allergy shots. I thought that they had life threatening allergies, like the peanut allergies not the sniffles and itchiness I experienced. I talked to some of these folks, though and found out that they were allergic to things like ragweed, and their descriptions of their symptoms sounded very familiar. So, I went and had myself tested.

As it turned out, I was allergic to most things that I was tested for, and once I started treatment, I felt so much better. I went with sublingual immunotherapy, or allergy drops, which are dosed under your tongue. I did that for a couple of years in Missouri. During that time, I realized that I couldn’t tolerate lamb (easy to avoid). I was also diagnosed with rosacea, and like lots of folks with rosacea, I can’t tolerate red wine, which is harder to avoid than you might think–it’s in lots of restaurant marinades. I have also noticed that eggs exacerbate my eczema.  I don’t tolerate preservatives, either.  Add these to a milk intolerance, and I felt somewhat deprived.

Today, I was tested for environmental allergies since we’ve now lived here in Colorado for a year, and I’ve been exposed to all four seasons of environmental allergens like weeds, trees, and grasses. I am allergic to 29 out of 54 allergens that were tested. The doc said that while I’m not the most allergic person he’s encountered, I’m definitely in the running for the most things I’m allergic to, though. Awesome. Anyway, the number of allergies wasn’t a big surprise; it’s similar to the results I had in Missouri. What was a surprise is that I am allergic to yeast. That didn’t sound too bad until I saw the list of foods I should avoid:

Yeasty foods

• Breads, rolls, cookies, pastries, pretzels, and other bready foods
• Vinegar, and foods which contain it, like mayonnaise, salad dressing, barbeque sauce, mustard, pickles, and pickled foods
• Wine, beer and spirits
• Fermented foods and beverages like sauerkraut and cider

Moldy foods

• All cheese (!!!)
• Dried, smoked or pickled meats
• Cured bacon
• Mushrooms, peanuts and pistachios
• Soy sauce, miso, tamari and tempeh
• Malt
• Pre-packaged herbs and teas
• Canned tomatoes

Sugary foods

• Processed sugar (granulated, confectioner’s, brown)
• Grapes, raisins, dates, prunes and figs; citrus fruits
• Fruit juices and dried fruits
• Soft drinks and drink mixes
• Honey and maple syrup
• High-fructose corn syrup
• Chocolate

Starchy foods

• Corn
• Potatoes

By now, your jaw is probably somewhere near your chest.  I know mine was.  Right now, I can feel myself going through the stages of grief.  I shed a few tears when I thought of one of my favorite summer time treats–a BLT.  Thinking through the foods I have eaten this week, I don’t think I’ve had a meal that didn’t contain at least one of these substances.  Today, I started my morning with an apple/orange/ginger juice and a bacon, egg, and cheese taco from Whole Foods.  The only thing from my breakfast that is ‘approved’ is ginger.  My lunch was slightly better–homemade beef vegetable soup.  Still, this contained at least three banned foods: corn, potatoes, and canned tomatoes.  Depending upon the definition of “pre-packaged herbs and teas”, there’s probably more.

On Monday, I’m scheduling an appointment with a nutritionist to help me understand what all of this means and how I can eat.  I am upset right now, but I want to give this a go.  I’ve always known that some foods made me feel ‘icky’.  It was just hard to pinpoint what was doing it.  Now I know why; it’s just about everything yummy.  Boo.

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