Can you go to a restaurant and eat when you or your child has food allergies?

Yes you can! Of course it depends on how you feel about it, and of course HOW allergic you or your child is. I must admit that in the almost 9 years that our son has had food allergies, it’s not a lot of times we’ve eaten at a restaurant. Well, we’ve been to Mc Donald’s quite a few times But other than that, it’s been somewhat taboo-breaking for us. Afterwards, though, we’ve felt the same every time: “Well, it CAN be done!”

And yes, it can actually be done. We have just returned from a really good experience with a restaurant visit. We contacted the restaurant in advance and inquired about what they had on the children’s menu. We chose what we know our son likes, and inquired further into the cooking and preparation. We went through everything from ingredients to the cooking. Some of the things they could prepare to our specifications, other things we agreed to bring on our own.

When we got to the restaurant, we brought a cool bag with the food we had to bring on our own. During the meal the food was served for us just like a regular meal. Our son had a terrific experience, great food he could tolerate, and we as parents felt comfortable and could enjoy ourselves.

After such an experience, I say to myself: “we should do this a little more often.” I’m not sure if we get it done more often, but I would like to invite you to also do it sometimes. There are so many restrictions in daily life. Therefore, it is sometimes liberating to feel that you actually can do more than you think is possible in your everyday life.

Enjoy!

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My 6 year old son has been hospitalized twice since birth because of the severe reaction he has to milk products. Both times we couldnt understand how he got so sick, because everyone knows not to give him milk products. (Thinking back over the past 6 yrs i dont recall an allergy test being done.)
I have recently noticed that he seems to get extreme bloating, diarrhea, and (last nite, vomiting) after eating wheat products, and i am thinking that maybe it is a gluten allergy not a milk allergy(or maybe both). I wonder if the two allergies are similar and if they are often mistaken for one another. If anyone knows anything about this topic, i’d love some insight. My baby is miserable, its killing me!

He could be INTOLERANT of gluten. This means he is unable to DIGEST the gluten—similar to what someone with LACTOSE INTOLERANCE has—they are not ALLERGIC to milk, they just can’t DIGEST IT.
He COULD be allergic to WHEAT ALSO, or INSTEAD of INTOLERANT of gluten.
I myself, have food allergies (beef, oats, and some preservatives to name a few). I ALSO have GLUTEN INTOLERANCE…I get BLOATED—EXTREMELY, cramping, lose stools, but, haven’t vomited from that. Not to say one couldn’t….but, haven’t heard of that.

Food allergies are funny—I had the skin testing done a while ago, and they caught SOME of my allergies, but, the control didn’t even register properly. (but, then again, I WAS on allergy medicine, and they told me to only NOT TAKE IT THAT DAY, and alot of them take more than 12 hours to completely clear out of the system). Since then, I have developed the beef and oat food allergy. I also have asthma, so even though the test did or didn’t say I was allergic to something, I judged by how my asthma did on how I was going to deal with certain situations….if I KNEW that cut grass bothers me, I make sure to try to avoid it when I can, OR take my medicine BEFORE HAND.
Unfortunately, gluten intolerance/allergies aren’t so easy. Neither is MILK allergies. Milk is HIDDEN in SO MANY products….and, sometimes, not clearly labeled. Sometimes, for the milk, you HAVE to look for LACTOSE as well as milk (someone told me once that perhaps WHEY as well…although, not sure on that–I think that would be more if they were allergic to ALL dairy, like cheese).

There isn’t any magic pill for Gluten intolerance or allergy—avoidance is the only thing that usually works (although some health food stores may sell herbal or other pills for this….don’t know how they are). I stick to rice, potatoes, and corn….and mix it up a bit….tortilla chips or rice cakes, the McCain SMILES are gluten free last I checked (but, ALWAYS read the package EVERY TIME as they DO CHANGE ingrediants and processing methods).

Good luck to you….see if your doc can refer you to a nutritionist or someone you can talk to to better learn about this and how to work around this for preparing meals safely and easily.

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I know I don’t have an allergy to them, but I do feel bad a lot, I”m trying to go through the foods I eat daily. (on doctor’s advice) and I’ve heard of sensitivities.

What are the signs of wheat/gluten sensitivity?

First, get all of that out of your system. Don’t eat any wheat/gluten items for at least a week or maybe two. Then eat something wth wheat or gluten in it. Write down how you feel. Start keeping the record on day 1, when you first make the decision to do this. Write down what you eat at each meal, and write down how you feel several times a day. Keep track faithfully.
After you add either a wheat or gluten food, then don’t eat either again for another week or more. Then add the other one to your diet. Again, record everything you eat and how you feel.
After a while, you should see if what you ate affects how you feel.
This is the way one doctor (Dr. Feingold) used to find out what food allergies children had. He treated children who were though to have behavior problems, and most often it turned out to be reactions to food additives!
I knew several families who had children who behaved terribly both at home and in school, and once they got on the Feingold Program, you’d have thought Supernanny had taken over! The children became very well-behaved and all the families were happy!
Anyway, I figure using his method will help you discover what your allergies are, if any.

Do you suspect a wheat/gluten intolerance or do you suspect Celiac Disease? For more information on Celiac Disease visit http://www.celiac.com. What exactly are your symptoms? Some of the symptoms related to Celiac and gluten intolerance are: nausea, constipation or diarrhea, headaches, malnutrition, malabsorption, chronic fatigue, stomach cramps or pains, excessive gas and/or burping, depression and other mental disorders, brain fog, anemia, etc… The list goes on and on. If you suspect Celiac Disease it is diagnosed through a simple series of blood tests and often an endoscopic biopsy. Diagnosis really isn’t a big deal. If you test negative for Celiac, you may want to consider being tested for gluten intolerance by Enterolab (www.enterolab.com). They’re a private lab headed by a very well respected doctor in the Celiac community. They can diagnose Celiac/gluten intolerance through a stool sample. It’s about $375 for the full panel, this includes testing for several other food sensitivities. Generally insurance will not cover this testing, but it’s worth it. It’s considered to be far more accurate and sensitive than traditional Celiac testing.
Your other option is to do an elimination diet. Eliminate everything from your diet that could be a possible sensitivity including especially the top 8 allergens. Stay on this diet for three weeks. Then, begin to add one food back in each week. OR you could do the opposite and just remove wheat/gluten from your diet and see if your health improves. Don’t forget about simple things like cosmetics, soap, old toaster contaminated with crumbs, shampoo, lip gloss, old wooden utensils, etc. Gluten hides EVERYWHERE.
Rest assured that if gluten really is your problem, there is lots of support out there and you can still lead a relatively normal life with no gluten. I don’t even notice my Celiac Disease anymore after 3 years. I do all of my own baking and have come up with some fabulous recipes. Definitely visit http://www.celiac.com and http://www.glutenfreeforum.com for more information. They’re extremely helpful on the forum and can answer any additional questions you might have.

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Well, Ethan made it to a year we can be proud of that. He made a year of hardly ever being sick and never needing to make extra trips to the doctor. Even the doctor has commented on how healthy Ethan is and how he never sees us. Until yesterday. At 9 in the morning, I was carting everyone off to an emergency trip to the pediatrician after Ethan ate peanut butter.

At 7 in the morning, I decided (trust me, the guilt is unbelivable) to give Ethan a piece of toast with no more than a thin layer of peanut butter on it. He took the first bite and ate it. The second bite was chewed and spit out and the third bite wasn’t a hit at all. By this point, I noticed what seemed like a rash on his chin. Then he started to sneeze and scratch his eyes. I started to panic a little and watch his breathing. I pretty much sat on the phone waiting to call 911 if necessary. I took the peanut butter away and tried to get him to drink some milk. I took him out of his highchair and called an emergency nurse line. They said he would probably be fine but that I should call his doctor. Right after got off the phone, Ethan vomited. I put Ethan in the bath and noticed some small spots on his chest and behind his ear. Then he had two large bowel movements in the tub.

After cleaning him up, he looked much better but after speaking to someone at the doctor’s office we were off for our visit. Once there, Ethan was completely fine but I had taken pictures to show the doctor what he had looked like and the diagnosis was given. Ethan has an allergy to peanuts. In addition, I told the doctor about Ethan always throwing up four times whgen he eats bananas (we thought this was funny and that he had a huge dislike of bananas). The doctor thinks he’s allergic to those as well and says that he’s probably also allergic to latex since a banana allergy and a latex allergy often go hand-in-hand. Ethan had a blood test to see if he has any other food allergies. We should find out what that test says in the next few days.

For now, Ethan is great. He’s not eating peanut butter and we have removed all penaut products or items made on a peanut line from the house. He now has an epi-pen so any body who watches him has to learn how to use it but hopefully we’ll never need to use it.

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Here is some information on egg allergies and corn allergies. These allergic reactions can be quite sneaky – some people don’t even get stomach or intestinal disturbances at all. Quite often, egg allergies are the cause of otherwise undiagnosed headaches or migranes, chronic sore throats, and other sympotms that can be easily overlooked as a food allergy. I hope this helps!

Egg Allergies: “Egg”-cellent Alternatives

Egg allergies can be hard to manage, especially when you want to enjoy baked goods.
There are many egg substitutes that can be used with great results, but for those with other food allergies, store-bought substitutes may contain additional allergens like corn.
A great homemade egg substitute may be made with ground flax seed. For one egg, combine 1 tablespoon of ground flaxseed with 3 tablespoons of hot water. Whisk and let sit for about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally, until thick. Use as you would the egg in your recipe. You can double this for two eggs, triple for three, etc., and you will be getting your omega fatty acids and fiber to boot! I recommend everyone try this even if you don’t have egg allergies, as it is tasty and healthy.
There are also commercial egg substitutes that can be used for omelettes. Check to make sure you can have all of the ingredients, and see which brands you like best.

Corn Allergies – Difficult to Go Against the “Grain”

Studies have shown that nearly 75% of the items in our grocery stores contain some kind of corn. For those of us with corn allergies, this can cause serious problems: even if processed items do not list corn as an ingredient, they may have come into contact with corn at some point in their manufacture. Even this small amount may make you sick.
There are many ways to avoid corn, and preparing your own foods is the best way. Instead of using corn flour or starch, you can use other flours and starches with excellent results. Try using garfava flour (a flour mix made of fava beans and garbanzo, or chickpeas) instead of corn flour, and tapioca or arrowroot starch instead of cornstarch.

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Allergy to chocolate or cocoa is very rare. A survey shows that only 1 out of 500 who believe they have chocolate allergy, in fact tested positive to the chocolate.

The most frequent complaints are headache / migraine after ingestion of chocolate. These reactions are probably more intolerance or sensitivity than food allergies.

Chocolate is known to cause headaches, obesity, heartburn and irritability and depression. Most probably these reactions are due to other ingredients of chocolate such as milk, soybean, lecithin, gluten and nuts.

There are 380 known additives in chocolate. They can have pleasant and unpleasant effects.

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Answer:

Since you have a known food allergy, your daughter is pre disposed to food allergies as well. It is not, however, necessarily towards wheat. It is most common to be allergic to one cereal only, most often wheat. But you can also be allergic to rye and in very rare cases to oats, corn, millet, rice or buckwheat.

Often it is also a link between not being able to tolerate wheat and not to be able to withstand grass pollen. This is called cross allergy. Allergies are somewhat difficult to deal with.

In principle, you should not place a child on a special diet and under food restrictions, unless it has been dertermineded that there is something the child can not tolerate. Children need to have so many different kinds of food as possible.

It is very difficult to do without wheat in daily life, which you probably know from yourself. There is wheat in many products, not just in bread baked with wheat flour, but also in, for example pasta, etc.

However, I can very well understand your question and I think that you might want to contact an allergist or your own doctor, to hear what they think will be the most … (read on after the ad)

To learn more about Wheat allergy Click Here!

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Thompson, Tricia – The Gluten-Free Nutrition Guide

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• occur when you eat the food you can not tolerate,
• disappear or decrease when you stop eating the food, and
• come back when you eat the food again.

Hypersensitivity to food are divided into food allergies and non-allergic food hypersensitivity.

Food allergies

Food allergies occur, when specific proteins (allergens) in food affects the body’s immune system. The body may respond by forming allergy antibodyIgE. The antibody is directed at the food you are allergic to. In rare cases, IgE is not formed, but the allergy is triggered in a different way. Coeliac disease an example on this – although coeliac disease normally is not considered as an allergic disease.

When you eat the food you can not tolerate, there is an allergic reaction with symptoms from the eyes, nose, lungs, skin, stomach and intestinal canal or heart-cardio vascular system. Most common two or more symptoms are seen.

It is different how much of the allergen, is required to produce symptoms, but in some cases even very small quantities can trigger severe symptoms.

The allergy antibody is measured by an allergy test – either a blood sample or a test on the skin, known as a priktest. Other tests, such as lappetest on the skin, are used in rare cases to investigate for other allergic mechanisms.

The allergy test is not enough to make the final diagnosis. 

Non-allergic food hypersensitivity

In non-allergic food hypersensitivity there is no allergic reaction from the body. The response can not be measured by an allergy test.

Most often, the symptoms of the non-allergic food hypersensitivity is lighter and comes later than with food allergy, and often you must eat more of the food (the allergen) before experiencing symptoms. You can not however, from the symptoms alone distinguish between food allergy and non-allergic food hypersensitivity.

Hypersensitivity to food additives is usually a non-allergic food hypersensitivity like sensitivity to milk (xyz). Some of the diseases, which falls under the non-allergic food hypersensitivity, was formerly called intolerance. 

The diagnosis

A blood sample or a skin prick test can only be used to support a presumption of allergy, but is never enough to make the diagnosis of food hypersensitivity. This diagnosis can only be made final by comparing the medical history and test with a period of diet and a provocation. During the diet, you should not eat the suspected food. In the subsequent provocation, you must eat them again.

In both food and non-allergic food hypersensitivity symptoms will disappear or be reduced when dieting and return when provoked. 

Contact allergy and food

Contact allergy may occur when chemicals comes in contact with the skin. The contact allergy appears as eczema on the skin. Nickel allergy is an example of contact allergy.

If you have a contact allergy,  such as nickel allergy, you might experience in rare cases, that the skin symptoms will flare up if you eat food that contains nickel in sufficient quantities.

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Allergies are often the cause of hypersensitivity as eczema, asthma and hay fever in children.

There are several reasons for the development of allergies.
Today, some of the causes to allergies are already know, while others hopefully will be resolved by continuing research.

But the children are here right now, and it requires that we act with the knowledge we have today.

On these pages, you can read about what you can do, what is effective and what is no good.

As becoming parents or newly parents, it is important for you to know if your future child / the newborn, is of particular risk of developing allergies. If the child is in particular the risk of developing allergies, this risk is reinforced, if the child simultaneously is exposed to many allergens. The prevention of allergy is therefore, to limit the exposure of allergens.

It is therefore important to speak with your doctor to find out whether your child has particular risk of developing allergies.

What is achieved by allergy prevention?
Research shows that prevention is of great importance.

Food allergy, child eczema, Asthmatic bronchitis and asthma usually starts at pre school age.
If you prevent allergies with your child, you reduce your child’s risk of developing food allergies, child eczema, Asthmatic bronchitis and asthma up to school age.

Read more about how to prevent allergies in your child.

How to prevent allergies?

If your child is in particular risk of developing allergies, you can by following the instructions below, reduce the risk for your child to develop allergies.

Several studies show that in children with a particular risk of developing allergies you may reduce, but not eliminate, the risk of developing food allergies (especially milk allergy) and child eczema in the first year of life if the child only is fed with breast milk or high hydrolysate infant formula in the first 4 months. There are no studies demonstrating a preventive effect on the development of allergy, by breast-feeding after 4 months of age. Studies also show that only a single grant of general infant formula may increase the risk of developing allergies within the first year of life.

You can not prevent allergies to dust mites or animals by breastfeeding. Instead you should look at bed and linnen and indoor climate.

Prevention of allergies in children at particular risk

• Avoid the child being exposed to tobacco smoke.
• There is no evidence of the effect of a dieting pregnant or nursing mother.
• In order to prevent / delay the food allergies, child eczema and asthma the child should be breast fed the first 4 months. If this is not possible or sufficient, the child must have high hydrolysate infant formula in the first 4 months. After 4 months an ordinary infant formula can be used.
• Regular food can be introduced at the earlist, when the child is 4 months if the child’s development and readiness speaks for doing so. Many children thrive on breast milk / formula up to 6 months of age. When introducing regular food, there is no evidence of impact of omitting certain foods (such as milk, eggs, fish, citrus fruits, etc.)
• In order to prevent coeliac disease gluten containing food should be avoided up to 6 months of age. Use instead maize, rice and millet.
• In order to prevent dust mites allergy the child should have a new mattress and clean, washable duvet and pillows.
• In order to prevent fur allergy, fur animals should be avoided in the child’s daily environment in the first year of life.
• Make sure to have a good indoor climate.

Prevention of allergies in children without particular risk

• Avoid the child being exposed to tobacco smoke.
• The child should be breat fed the first 6 months and prefereably longer. If the mother can not breast feed, ordinary infant formula should be used.
• Regular food can be introduced at the earlist when the child is 4 months if the child’s development and readiness speaks for doing so. Many children thrive on breast milk / formula up to 6 months of age.
• In order to prevent coeliac disease foods containing gluten shoul be avoided up to 6 months of age. Use instead maize, rice and millet.
• Make sure to have a good indoor climate.

If you want to reduce the amount of the indoor allergenes which the child can be exposed, fur animals can be avoided in the child’s daily environment in the first year of life, and the child can get a new mattress and a clean, washable duvet and pillows. However, there is no evidence that it prevents allergies in children, who has no particular risk of developing allergies.

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What is food allergy?

Food allergy is an allergic reaction, that is a hypersensitivity reaction to something in the food, which we can not tolerate.
Food allergy should not be confused with food intolerance, which is something quite different. In both cases you get symptoms when you eat a certain food in a normal or small quantity, so it can be easily confused.

Food allergy is very rare. Many refrain from eating things that they mistakenly believe they are hypersensitive to without being properly examined.
If you believe that you or your children suffer from food allergy, it is therefore very important to have the right diagnosis made, including a systematic review of diet and the symptoms. This is done best at one’s own doctor or a specialist in allergic diseases.

Why do you get food allergies?

In order to develop food allergies your immune systems must overreact to foreign proteins in the surroundings. The response must be carried out with specific IgE antibody. It is called a Type 1 allergy. Antibodies are the body’s antidote to foreign substances.

When exposed to proteins in foods, your body may develop specific IgE in such large quantities that it triggers an allergic reaction the next time you eat that particular type of food.

As a general rule you can not have an allergic reaction the first time you eat a new type of food. But this is only a qualified truth. Sometimes an allergic reaction is not due to a genuine food allergy, but to the fact that you already are allergic, for example to birch pollen. This phenomenon is called cross allergy.

Examples of food allergens

In principle, you can react allergic to all foods, but the most common allergens are:

• Seafood
• Milk
• Fish
• Soybeans
• Wheat
• Egg
• Nuts
• Fresh fruit
• Vegetables
• Peanuts

Cross reaction allergens

• Birch cross reacts with hazelnut and other nuts, apple, pear, cherry, walnut, almond, plum, kiwi, potato peel, tomato and carrot.
• Grass cross reacts with beans, lentils and green peas and peanuts.

How does food allergy feel?

The allergic reactions are very diverse and can start immediately after eating the food or may start several hours later. Typical symptoms are:

• Swollen lips, face and / or throat
• Tingling in the oral cavity and on the lips
• Vomiting, stomach cramps, diarrhea
• Headache
• Fatigue, irritability
• Hay fever
• Asthma
• Skin eruption, deterioration of child eczema, (atopic dermatitis), or hives
• Very rarely anaphylactic shock, which is a circulatory collapse that requires emergency treatment with epinephrine.

The symptoms may one time be mild, the next time be life-threatening because of Asphyxia or anaphylactic shock.
It is therefore important not to expose yourself for provocations, only because you “will not be a burden”.
If you feel starting shortness of breath, you must immediately under medical treatment. Call 911 if necessary.

What you can do to prevent food allergies?

• Pay attention to the things you are allergic to, and on whether any cross-reactions arise.
• Get advice of a specialist in allergic diseases (an allergist).
• Please note the symptoms and contact your doctor at the slightest doubt.

How does the doctor diagnosed food allergies?

The examination largely depends on how annoying the symptoms are.
Often it is possible to find another causes of the symptoms, such as the inability to digest certain foods (among other coeliac disease and laktose intolerans), non-immunological reactions (eg. histamine in shellfish) and minor food-poisoning. This is seen in about two percent of the population. It may also be a irritated colon or a chronic inflammation of the intestinal tract (ulcerosa colitis and Crohn’s disease) which can give similar symptoms.

If the symptoms are pronounced, and the suspected food allergy is justified, a proper clarification of what caused the disease will usually take place in a specialist in allergic diseases.

Allergy tests with, for example skin prick test or RAST (blood test) can be good to rule out allergies, but unfortunately, they often show reactions, which has no practical significance.

It is important that the allergy tests are made and examined by experts.

The allergist will often take you through the following program:

• Two weeks on a normal balanced diet, with a carefully diary on the diet and the possible reactions.
• If you during those two weeks observe relevant reactions, you should probably go ahead with a two-week period without the suspected food, where you keep a diary as before.
• If the symptoms improve significantly, is the next step a food provocation. To begin with an “open” provocation in which both you and the examiner knows what you are eating. If symptoms appear, you will then be exposed to a number of double-blind placebo-controlled food provocation (DBPCFC), where neither the examiner or you knows what kind of food you are eating

In order to be diagnosed with food allergies, you should in most cases, go through the program outlined above.

Possible deterioration

• Mucous membranes in the mouth and throat may swell so that breathing is troubled.
• Asthma attacks and / or anaphylactic shock may be triggered.
• It is getting increasingly difficult to get a proper nutritionally balanced diet.

Prospects for the future

Food allergy is a rare disease that primarily affects young children. Around three percent of young children are affected. Most grow from their allergy before the age of three years. Only about one percent of the adult population suffer from food allergies. Most of these can live a normal life with some limitations in their diet.

How are food allergies treated?

If, after a thorough investigation a food allergy diagnosis has been made, the main treatment is of course to stop eating the foods in question. The desease can not be cured medically, but it may possible to alleviate the symptoms by different measures. Typically antihistamines are used to alleviate the itching. But it is doubtful whether the anti-histaminerne have a preventive effect.

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