Allergy Awareness

Sainsburys first sulphite-free wine

For the full article read here - http://www.decanter.com/news/182677.html 

Food "superallergies": The First Italian Study Proves That They Can Be Cured With The Incriminated Allergen

Read the full article here - http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/99970.php 

Overcoming Allergic Reactions To Soy

Read the full article at http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/99764.php

What Is An Allergy?

Simply put, an allergy is when your body over reacts to what should be a harmless substance.

Your body will trigger an immune response to something that shouldn't cause any problems, a bit like when your body creates antibodies to fight off a cold or an infection.

Your body can react in different ways depending on your allergy. You can get itchy eyes, sneezing and a runny nose, as in hayfever. Or you can get welts on your skin similar to nettle rash. Allergic reactions can include asthma, eczema, headaches, lethargy, depression, sore throat, swelling, blistering, abdominal cramping, abdominal bloating, vomiting, diarrhea and potentially fatal anaphylatic shock.

Different people can react to different things. When somebody reacts to many things they are said to have multiple allergies.

I have multiple allergies

Why Do I Love Food That Doesn't Like Me?

There is a theory bouncing around that when you eat something that your body doesn't like, it produces certain chemicals to help it cope with the invasion. One of these chemicals is adrenalin. This will give you a short term feel-good factor which makes you feel, well, feel good! Sub-conciously you realise this and whenever you are feeling a bit low you will automatically reach for that something to make you feel good.

Unfortunately when you stop eating these feel-good foods you feel really, really down and low. The good news is that once your body has got used to not having them around you feel much much better.

The hard part is the one to two weeks that it takes for your body to work those cravings out.

Hidden Wheat Products

One of my allergies is wheat and although it is easy enough to avoid prepared foods that contain "wheat this" or "that wheat" there are some things which are just not as obvious. Although I am sure that this list is not complete these are some of the most commonly found ingredients that can be used in preprepared food in the UK which contain wheat.

• Beer
• Binder/Binding
• Bread, Rye
• Cereal
• Cereal Binders
• Cereal Protein
• Couscous
• Curry Powder
• Dextrins
• Edible Starch
• Farina
• Filler
• Flour
• Food Starch
• Fu
• Gum Base
• Kamut
• Lager
• Liquorice
• Miso
• Modified Food Starch
• Modified Starch
• Monosodium Glutamate MSG
• Mustard
• Mustard Flour
• Noodles
• Pasta
• Quorn
• Rusk
• Semolina
• Soy Sauce
• Special Edible Starch
• Spelt
• Starch
• Suet
• Thickener
• Thickening
• Vegetable Proteins

Wheat flour is also commonly used as an anti-caking agent. This is prevalent in Salt & Vinegar Crisp flavouring although I was okay with Salt & Vinegar Kettle Chips until I had to avoid Citric Acid too (Citric Acid can be derived from wheat starch or from citrus fruit)

The following are derivatives of wheat starch -

• maltodextrin
• glucose syrup
• dextrose
• sorbitol
• mannitol
• maltitol
• xylitol
• caramel colour
• citric acid

Dairy, Wheat, Egg Free Butterscotch Pie Filling

Many moons ago I worked at the Milk Marketing Board. They had a wonderous canteen and one of my favourite things on the menu was the Butterscotch Tart. Well, my friend and I, being Tart by nature, flirted a bit with the chef that was bringing out the latest batch of Heaven on a plate. He was so sweet (like the tarts! LOL) and wrote out the recipe for us both. The filling was just divine but contained butter, milk and wheat flour. I adapted it (way hay!) and tested it (woo hoo!) and it works (praise be!). So, here it is...

Ingredients

Method

1. Melt the fat in a saucepan
2. Add the milk and sugar and heat gently until dissolved
   
3. Sieve the flour, and then, sieve it again into the sugar mixture, whisking continuously
4. Slowly bring to the boil and remove from the heat
   
5. Pour into a baked pastry case and leave to set
   

Okay, sometimes I can't be bothered to wait for it to set in a pastry case. It's really yummy served up warm in a bowl with a range of safe things to dunk. Yay for butterscotch fondue - bring it on!!! LOL

Citric Acid Allergy

This is an interesting one. From the information I have been able to gather Citric Acid is commonly used as an acidity regulator. It can be produced either naturally from citrus fruit or it can be a derivative of wheat starch.

At the moment I have not been able to find any tinned tomatoes in the supermarket that do not contain Citric Acid. Most soft drinks also contain Citric Acid. In fact most products in the supermarket seem to contain Citric Acid.

Personally, Citric Acid (and citrus fruit) triggers my asthma, so I avoid it. The only tinned tomato product to date that I have found that does not use Citric Acid is a catering sized tin of "pizza base topping" which is made from 100% tomatoes (nothing else - woo hoo!)

As I react to both Citrus fruit and wheat I do not know which derivative I react to. What I do know is that Citric Acid is also known as Acidity Regulator E330.

To confuse matters further the health guide on Mutual Benefit Marketing has this to say

On my previous blog there were some interesting comments about this post left by some of the readers. I have taken the liberty of copying them here.

Simple Sesame Crunch Recipe

This delicious recipe is a cross between peanut brittle and sesame snaps. I either make it purely with sesame seeds or half sesame seeds & half coconut. Either way it's really tasty.

Ingredients

Method

1. Put sugar and margarine in a pan and place over a low heat. Stir until the marg & sugar is mixed together. It should look a bit like this
   
2.  In a dry frying pan, toast the sesame seeds until light golden brown. Add the coconut and keep stirring until the coconut starts to turn golden too. Remove from the heat.
   
3. The sugar mix will start to melt and then clump up forming brown sugar lumps. Eventually it will melt into a smooth lumpless liquid.
   
4. Tip the Sesame Seeds & coconut into the melted sugar and stir it in quickly. Then tip it out onto Waxed Paper, flatten it with the back of the spoon or a fish slice.
   
5. When it has cooled enough to handle, snap the sesame snacks into bite sized pieces.

Allergens In Anti-Histamines

Since I've been trying to cut out everything I'm allergic to, I figured that I ought to change my anti-histamines so that I move onto one that is safe.

Strangely I have not been able to find an over the counter anti-histamine in either tablet or liquid form that does not have some form of potential allergen in it.

All the tablets that I have looked at are lactose based. Of all the liquid anti-histamines I have looked at only one does not contain Citric Acid, instead the Piriton syrup contains methyl, ethyl and propyl hydrobenzoates (E214, E216 and E218) - known asthma triggers.

I would have thought that common sense would kick in somewhere in the pharmaceutical industry and that somebody would produced a hypo-allergenic anti-histamine!

Thankfully, my milk allergy is to the proteins in milk not the sugars. This means that I am okay with the tablets. I'll be stuffed if I have to use the liquid anti-histamines though!

Gluten, Wheat, Dairy & Egg Free, Vegan Chocolate Cupcake Recipe

I had a lovely gluten-free chocolate cake recipe passed onto me from a friend a few years ago, unfortunately it contains eggs, vinegar and rasperry jam. All of which I am currently avoiding. With a little adaptation I came up with this delicious cupcake recipe. As I use Vitalite margaine and AlproSoya Original soya milk it is also suitable for Vegans, substituting the Soya milk for a rice or nut milk would also make it suitable for a soya-free diet.

The cakes do not rise up in the middle which means they are suitable for icing, and, as you can see below, the cake is soft & moist inside without being dense.

I make them in muffin cases (much larger than fairy cakes) and this recipe yields 24 cakes. I have never tried freezing them, but they have the potential to last for a few days if stored in an airtight tin.

Ingredients

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180C (fan assisted)
2. Line muffin pan with paper cases.
3. Sift dry ingredients together (flours, sugar, cocoa, baking powder).
4. Add margarine and milk, then beat with electric mixer on low speed for 1 minute.
5. Mash the bananas. Add them to the mixture and beat on medium speed for 2 minutes.
6. Half fill the paper cases with mixture and bake for 25 minutes.

When they have cooled you can ice them if you want but they don't need it!

Oak Smoke Flavouring Contains Phthalic Anhydride.

I bought some relatively harmless sounding Smoked Salmon as a treat for myself not thinking there would be much in that I could react to. The ingredients list was fairly simple: Salmon (97%), Salt, Sugar, Oak Smoke. I've never reacted to any type of fish so I was pretty taken aback when I started to swell around my mouth and face, broke out in welts and started to get breathless.

From investigating around the web I discovered that when Oak Smoke is listed as an ingredient it is because it is an added flavouring. Tests have been completed on aqueous oak smoke and it has been found to contain (amongst other things) Phthalic Anhydride.

Phthalic Anhydride is known to irritate the skin, eyes and upper respiratory system, in fact it's pretty nasty stuff -

http://avogadro.chem.iastate.edu/MSDS/phthalic_anhydride.htm

From now on I'll be checking to make sure that if I am eating so-called smoked food it has actually been smoked and not just flavoured.

Gluten, Wheat, Dairy and Egg Free Deep Pan Pizza Recipe

When I first realised that I was going to have to avoid wheat and dairy again my first reaction was "No more pizza!" . Not prepared to face life evermore without pizza I started on my quest to make a decent deep pan pizza base. I was not prepared to have one of these 3mm thick biscuit bases either. I was a woman on a quest!

Eventually with a bit of research over various bread & pizza base recipes, I found a few that were pretty close. However they were still not right, and so I concoted this recipe. It is time consuming to prepare and the batter/dough is rather sticky but I reckon it is worth it. It's so yummy in fact that I barely notice the lack of cheese.

The batter/dough does need to be left in a warm place to rise. I preheat the oven to the lowest temperature (40c) whilst the yeast mixture is standing . Once the dough/batter is in my frying pan I place it in the oven (please check that your pan is suitable for oven use before doing this!)

Ingredients

Method

1. Dissolve the sugar in the warm water. Stir in the yeast and leave to stand for 15 minutes.
2. Throughly mix the rest of the dry ingredients (flours, gum & salt), add olive oil and yeast mixture.
3. Stir until you have a soft sticky doughy batter, similar to this
   
   
4. Place the mixture in a well oiled frying pan and spread out with a wet spatula. Leave it in a warm place to rise for 20 minutes. Use this time to prepare your toppings.
5. I opt for double concentrate tomato puree with oregano, basil and garlic as the paste, with sliced peppers, red onion, olives, sweetcorn and mushrooms for the topping.
   
6. When risen place the frying pan on the hob on a medium/high heat. Lightly pan fry the pizza base for 5 minutes, then flip it over and fry the other side for 5 minutes. Both sides should be golden. Preheat oven to 180c whilst doing this.
   
7. Lift the pizza base onto an oiled baking sheet and apply toppings. Bake in hot oven for 15 minutes. Eat As Soon As Possible!
   

Additives That Trigger Asthma

Benzoates and Sulphites are common triggers for asthma. They are widely used in the UK as preservatives in food. The following list is compiled from the Mutual Benefit Marketing Health Guide

• E210 Benzoic acid
• E211 Sodium benzoate
• E212 Potassium benzoate
• E213 Calcium benzoate
• E214 Ethyl para-hydroxybenzoate
• E215 Sodium ethyl para-hydroxybenzoate
• E216 Propyl para-hydroxybenzoate
• E217 Sodium propyl para-hydroxybenzoate
• E218 Methyl para-hydroxybenzoate
• E219 Sodium methyl p-hydroxybenzoate
• E220 Sulphur dioxide
• E221 Sodium sulphite
• E222 Sodium hydrogen sulphite
• E223 Sodium metabisulphite
• E224 Potassium metabisulphite
• E225 Potassium sulphite
• E226 Calcium sulphite
• E227 Calcium hydrogen sulphite
• E228 Potassium hydrogen sulphite
• E441 Gelatine
• E539 Sodium thiosulphate (converts to sulphite and has similar side-effects)

It may seem a little strange that Gelatine is on that list as it is usually listed as an ingredient rather than an additive. However if you are sensitive to sulphites then you should be wary of eating anything with Gelatine in it as it can contain E220 (Sulphur Dixoide)

Other additives which can trigger asthma or cause breathing difficulties include

Colourings

• E102 Tartrazine
• E104 Quinoline Yellow
• E107 Yellow
• E120 Cochineal (also carminic acid, ammonium carmine)
• E122 Azorubine, Carmoisine
• E124 Ponceau 4R, Cochineal Red A, Brilliant Scarlet 4R
• E128 Red 2G
• E129 Allura red AC
• E132 Indigotine, Indigo carmine
• E133 Brilliant blue FCF
• E142 Green S
• E151 Brilliant Black BN, Black PN
• E155 (Chocolate) Brown HT
• E160(b) Annatto, bixin, norbixin
• E180 Lithol Rubine BK, Pigment Rubine

Other Additives

• E413 Tragacanth
• E414 Acacia Gum, Gum Arabic
• E536 Potassium ferrocyanide
• E621Monosodium L-glutamate (MSG)
• E623 Calcium di-L-glutamate
• E626 Guanylic acid
• E627 Disodium guanylate
• E628 Dipotassium guanylate, 5'-
• E629 Calcium guanylate
• E630 Inosinic acid
• E631 Disodium inosinate
• E632 Dipotassium inosinate
• E633 Calcium inosinate
• E634 Calcium 5'-ribonucleotides
• E635 Disodium 5'-ribonucleotide, Sodium 5'-ribonucleotide
• E928 Benzoyl peroxide
• E930 Calcium peroxide

This is the list I manually extracted from hundreds of items. It is more than likely I have missed something, but at least it's a start!

Chinese Crumb Coat Chicken Nuggets

A couple of days after I made my Ginger Biscuits, I went to get a couple from the Ziploc bag I kept them in. Unfortunately they had all broken up and there was nothing in the bag except a load of biscuit pieces. Determined not to waste them, I decided to utilise them for a crumb coating.

Chinese Crumb Coating

Ingredients

Method

1. Crumble the biscuits up until finely powdered (I put them in a ziploc bag and then use a rolling pin to crush them)
2. Thoroughly mix in all the spices and sesame seeds.

Chinese Chicken Nuggets

I serve these up with brown rice noodles and a side salad. There are no quantities because I just use a bit of crumb coat and a bit of milk at a time and top up the bowls when I require more.

Ingredients

Method

1. Cut the chicken into pieces approximately 1cm thick by 2cm x 3cm.
2. Pour some soya milk into a bowl and some bread crumbs in another bowl.
3. Immerse each piece of chicken into the soya milk and then press both sides into the crumb mixture.
4. Leave the coated chicken pieces in a pile until you are ready to cook them.
5. Add more milk or crumbs to the bowls as you need them and save any left over crumbs in an airtight container for use another day.
6. Pour approximately 1cm of vegetable oil into a frying pan and heat it up.
7. Cook the nuggets by placing several pieces of chicken flat in the hot fat. Cook for a few minutes then turn over and cook the other side also. Cook the 'nuggets' until golden brown and the chicken is thoroughly cooked.

Ginger Biscuits

I once borrowed a recipe book from the library called "Allergy-Free Food" by Tanya Wright and had a go at making the Millet & Rice Savoury Biscuits in them. Texture wise they were light and crumbly and not too bad. Unfortunately there was a bit of a bitter aftertaste which I assume was from the millet. So I adapted the recipe slightly to include ground ginger and some sugar in the hope it would disguise the taste. It was better, and the biscuits went rather nicely with banana smoothies at breakfast time.

This is the adapted recipe, it makes approximately 35 biscuits.

Ingredients

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180c.
2. Combine the dry ingredients together.
3. Rub in margarine until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs, then add water.
4. Mix together until thoroughly combined and the mixture resembles a soft dough.
5. Roll out to 1/2 cm thick, cut into circles and place on greased baking tray.
6. Bake for 10 minutes and then place on wire rack to cool.

Gluten, Wheat, Egg & Dairy Free Spiced Biscuits

These biscuits have a dry and crumbly texture making them perfect to have with a cup of tea or a smoothie. They are quite spicy and not too sweet, more for grown-ups than for children. This recipe makes approximately 20 large biscuits.

Ingredients

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180C.
2. Combine all the dry ingredients into a bowl.
3. Rub in the margarine until crumbly.
4. Mix in the soya milk until you have a soft and ever so slightly sticky dough.
5. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface (I use rice flour) and kneed slightly.
6. Roll the dough out to half cm thick and cut out into large rounds.
7. Place on a greased tray and bake in hot oven for 15 minutes.
8. When cooked gently lift onto a cooling rack.

Chocolate Pouring Sauce / Chocolate Spread Recipe

This is another accidental recipe that occured when I was trying to invent a home made dairy free chocolate spread.

It is gorgeous hot straight out of the pan (would be good for chocolate fondue) and can be kept in a tub in the fridge and used on ice-cream, in fact it tastes very similar to the chocolate ice-cream syrup that you can buy.

It is simple to make and if you double up on the cornflour you get chocolate spread, although this thickens up when chilled and can be awkward to spread straight from the fridge.

The quantities are very versatile as everything is measured by volume. Just make sure you use the same size measure for each ingredient. As a guide I find that if I use 1 quantity = 1 tablespoon and double up on the cornflour I have enough chocolate spread for a few rounds of sandwiches. If I use 1 quantity = 1/4 cup (60ml) then I have enough chocolate sauce for a fondue or a tub of ice-cream syrup in the fridge.

The sauce works beautifully on Vanilla Swedish Glace and Raspberries.

Ingredients

Method

1. Combine all the dry ingredients in a saucepan until well blended.
2. Add enough Soya milk to form a smooth paste and then add in the rest of the soya milk.
3. Place over a low heat and bring to the boil, stirring (or whisking) continuously.
4. Once it has thickened remove from the heat.
5. Either use as it is or leave to cool.
6. If cooling the sauce keep stirring it from time to time, or place it in a food mixer left running on low speed.
7. If making spread pour it into a clean, dry, warm jam jar.

Why Are Special Dietary Needs Foods So Expensive?

Well, obviously because it's a limited market and the companies that produce the food need to make sure that their running costs are met and they don't have as high a turnover as regular brands. Just supposing though that the companies that produced these foods, manufacter and market them just the same as the larger food companies. Just suppose that Mrs Crimble was as well known and popular as Mr Kipling, surely the costs of these products would fall.

Until that happens though ( as if but it's a nice thought ) carefully check the food that is readily available in your regular supermarket. If you are wheat-free (as opposed to gluten free) you will still be ok with Ryvitas, Nairns Oatcakes and Kallo Rice Cakes. Vitalite is dairy and soya free, plus it's now suitable for Vegans, it's a fraction of the cost of the specialist margarines.

In fact everything that I use in my recipes, with the exception of Xantham Gum, I buy at my local Tesco Store.

I tend to avoid the 'health food' section at Tesco as the prices are up there with the Specialist Diet ranges, but check out the prices in the World Cuisine sections. You can pick up a 1.5kg bag of Natco Rice Flour for less money than the 1kg of Doves Farm Rice Flour. Tesco stock many other Natco items in their Indian cuisine section, including chana dal and dried chick peas. The Natco red split lentils are cheaper than the Tesco own brand and if you use a lot of them you can buy them in a bulk 2kg bag which works out even cheaper.

I was concerned about the effect my special diet was going to have on my families grocery budget, but thankfully a bit of careful research has paid off and we know a variety of regular brands which we can just buy straight off the shelf.

Can A Breastfed Baby Have Allergies?

Quite basically, yes, and they can have intolerances too.

Last time I was pregnant, my allergies/intolerances seemed to reduce in severity. Initially they got worse, then as the pregnancy progressed they improved and I didn't react anywhere near as violently as I had done previously - hence the drop in the blog submissions!

When my baby was 3-months old she had not stopped coughing, wheezing or having snuffly nose since she was born - so I started looking into the possibilty that she may have a dairy allergy. Not to my milk but to the few milk proteins that are passed on to her through my milk. I found out that other allergens which can be passed on through breastmilk are wheat, eggs, citrus and peanuts.

I rarely ate peanuts so it had to be something that I had in my diet every day. My egg allergy was disgnosed at 6 weeks old, so I went wheat, dairy and egg free again, in the hope that it would help clear up my snuffly baby.

An interesting article called "Milk: Does it Really Do a Body Good?" written by Dr Jay Gordon can be read at http://www.avoidingmilkprotein.com/milkdrJ.htm. It is quite informative and discusses the contents of milk, symptoms of intolerances/dairy and reactions of breastfed babies to changes in the diet of their mother.

I still watch what I am eating as once my hormones levelled out after giving birth my allergies/intolerances returned, but at a level which I am more able to tolerate. I like this because it means once a week I cheat and eat something 'naughty', the next day I don't feel great but for the most part it's bearable and I can continue with life quite normally, for me!

Welcome To Allergy Awareness

Nearly 39 years ago I was diagnosed with my first allergy. I was 6 weeks old. Despite the medical profession assuring me that I would grow out of my allergies I never had. It is true that a lot of children will not carry their allergies through to adulthood, and it is true that at certain times of my life my allergies have been less sensitive than at other times, but on the whole I still have my allergies and I still take medication for them.

Simply speaking I feel that the medical profession has not done all it could for me and has let me down considerably and consistently.

I have multiple allergies and it is practically impossible to avoid everything that I am allergic to. I try to do the best that I can and have done an extensive amount of research into exactly what causes my symptoms. It transpires that I react differently to different allergens and require different medication depending on the symptoms.

This blog is intended to document my studies in the hope that it will save a lot of leg work for anybody else researching allergies and intolerances.