Once diagnosed with a food allergy, you might be asked to eliminate the allergic food or foods from your diet if you have had a severe reaction in the past. If your allergy is milder in nature, your allergist may want you to reduce your exposure to the allergic food to decrease symptoms. However, eliminating or reducing intake of foods or food groups does not guarantee optimal nutrition. It’s crucial to replace the food allergen with other foods of a similar nutrient content.
When distinguishing among the most common food allergies, we can look to the top eight food allergens in the United States. These include dairy, wheat, egg, soy, fish, shellfish, peanuts and tree nuts, which account for 90% of food allergy reactions among people in the U.S. Though over 160 foods are known to have caused an allergic reaction in individuals, the top eight allergens are the most common.
When looking for foods to replace those that you’re eliminating or reducing in your diet, first look for foods that are naturally allergy-free for most allergy sufferers.
Naturally allergy-friendly foods for most people include:
- Meat
- Poultry
- Legumes excluding peanuts
- Seeds
- Grains excluding wheat
- Fruits
- Vegetables
Though your diet restriction may seem daunting, the naturally allergy-free foods listed above can provide you with a very diverse diet that is full of nutrient rich options.
The severity and quantity of your food allergies will also make a difference. For someone with multiple allergies outside of the most common top eight, safe food choices can be difficult to achieve. For example, if you have multiple food allergies to food containing protein such as beef and legumes, your protein intake may decline if these were a stable in your diet before you learned they were allergens. If you don’t find other good sources of protein, your diet may suffer. The main sources of protein are found in animal products, beans/legumes, seeds, and nuts. Finding what your calorie and protein needs are each day can help to ensure you are eating the right amount of a specific food group to meet nutritional needs.
Variety is Key
The key to healthy eating with food allergies is to eat a VARIETY of these foods. Since no one food contains all of the required elements needed for overall health, variety is essential. Variety in the diet is important for everyone’s diet, not just those with foods allergies. When we focus our diet on eating the same foods over and over, it’s likely we are missing some vital health promoting benefits found in a diverse diet.
How do you know if you are fulfilling your dietary requirements while avoiding your food allergens? Clues that you’re not getting adequate nutrition include weight loss in adults or children, and no weight gain or growth in height among children. Even if you are getting adequate calories, there is still a chance your new diet is deficient in certain nutrients such as calcium or iron. It isn’t as easy to know if you have low intake of a certain vitamin or minerals. Specific symptoms can be clues to deficiencies in vitamins and minerals, but symptoms you may be experiencing can have multiple causes.
Use Tools to Help Guide You
Websites like MyPlate.gov or apps such as MyNetDiary.com allow you to track your daily food intake. Once your food choices (along with portion sizes) are entered, you can see your calorie, fat, and protein intake along with the amount of vitamins and minerals you are consuming each day. One caution: Not all programs will include allergy-free food brands, which can complicate matters.
It’s vital to replace those missing nutrients to ensure complete nutrition for you and your family. Fulfilling dietary requirements once a food allergy has been diagnosed can be complex, especially if you are avoiding numerous foods. If you have multiple allergies, including those that are less common, and are finding it hard to achieve variety and adequate nutrition, consider meeting with a registered dietitian to create a plan that works for you and ensures you achieve overall nutrition. Complete nutrition may not always come easy, but it is possible with a bit of determination, diligence, and help from the tools and experts that are more available now than ever before.
Treat the Cause
Interested in learning how personalized allergy drop immunotherapy can be used to treat the cause of your allergies? Find a provider near you who has received training and currently reports following the La Crosse Method Protocol for allergy drop immunotherapy.
by Emily Melby, RDN, Allergy Associates of La Crosse
FAQs
Butter: Milk-free margarine and soy butter are common substitutes. For best results when baking with margarine, look for one with low-water content. Margarine sticks usually have less water than tub margarine. Yogurt: Soy, coconut, almond, cashew, and pea-based yogurts are good alternatives to milk-based versions.
What are substitutes for common food allergens? ›
Butter: Milk-free margarine and soy butter are common substitutes. For best results when baking with margarine, look for one with low-water content. Margarine sticks usually have less water than tub margarine. Yogurt: Soy, coconut, almond, cashew, and pea-based yogurts are good alternatives to milk-based versions.
What is nutrition intervention for food allergies? ›
Suggestions for starting an allergen-free diet
Keep food simple, using whole foods like fresh meat, fruits, vegetables, beans and grains. Cook from scratch as often as possible. Stay away from processed foods, especially ones with long and confusing ingredient labels.
What is a diet modification in food allergies? ›
Simple (modified) diet.
This basic elimination diet involves avoiding just one food or, sometimes, the two most common food allergy triggers: wheat (including gluten items) and dairy. Instead, eat gluten-free foods and brown rice, millet, buckwheat, or quinoa.
What is the elimination diet for food allergies? ›
In an elimination diet, a food or group of foods is removed from a persons diet for a set period of time. This helps to determine whether specific foods or ingredients in foods contribute to symptoms.
What can I eat if I am allergic to everything? ›
Naturally allergy-friendly foods for most people include:
- Meat.
- Poultry.
- Legumes excluding peanuts.
- Seeds.
- Grains excluding wheat.
- Fruits.
- Vegetables.
A problem often confused with food allergy is food intolerance, which is also an abnormal response to a food product, but differs from an allergy. A common example is an intolerance to lactose, a sugar found in many milk products that can cause an uncomfortable buildup of gas in the gastrointestinal tract.
What are the dietary advice for food allergies? ›
Dietary advice for people with allergies and/or intolerances
Avoid foods that contain nuts/eggs/fish/lactose (or whatever the allergen is) or traces of the allergen - for example oils, breakfast cereals, biscuits, confectionary etc. Do not allow the person with the allergy/intolerance to share their food with others.
Can food allergies cause vitamin deficiencies? ›
Most food-allergic children are at an increased risk of nutritional deficiencies especially when they have allergies to commonly used allergens such as milk, soy, eggs, and wheat. Below is a table that highlights the important nutrients often found in these top allergens.
What are some nutritional interventions? ›
*Note that you may use more than one intervention if you believe that is the best course of action!
- Food and/or Nutrient Delivery. ...
- Nutrition Education. ...
- Nutrition Counseling. ...
- Coordination of Nutrition Care.
If symptoms are severe, that means administering epinephrine. There is no way to flush food allergens out of your system. Rather, you need to avoid ingesting the food that triggers your allergy. And if severe symptoms occur, you need to treat the symptoms, with epinephrine.
Is there a diet that helps with allergies? ›
“Adopting good eating habits can definitely have a positive impact on how seasonal allergies affect you for this reason. Everyone, regardless of their current level of health, should strive to eat a variety of simple, unprocessed foods like fruits, veggies, whole grains and healthy fats, while minimizing added salt.”
What is a super food for allergies? ›
Apples. An apple a day may actually help keep allergies away because apples are high in quercetin. Quercetin is found in other foods such as berries, capers, grapes, cabbage, cauliflower, onions (especially red onions), shallots, tea and tomatoes.
What is the top 8 allergy elimination diet? ›
In this elimination diet plan, we map out a week of easy meals and snacks with delicious flavors. What didn't we include? We left out the top eight foods most commonly associated with food intolerances, food sensitivities and food allergies—milk, eggs, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soy, fish and shellfish.
Is there a permanent solution for food allergies? ›
While allergies to milk, egg, wheat and soy are commonly outgrown in childhood, allergies to peanut, tree nuts, fish and shellfish often persist in adulthood. Unfortunately, there are no treatments that can cure or provide protection from food-allergic reactions.
How do you reverse food allergies naturally? ›
Bioflavonoids: These plant-based chemicals in citrus fruits and blackcurrants may act as natural antihistamines. Supplements: Flaxseed oil, zinc, and vitamins A, C, and E may improve allergy symptoms. Acupuncture: Acupuncture treatments may help some people relieve their symptoms.
What food products are not a common allergen? ›
Here are eight of the less common food allergies.
- Red meat. Being allergic to meats like beef, pork, and lamb is rare and can be difficult to identify. ...
- Sesame seeds. Like allergies to nuts, people who are allergic to sesame seeds can experience severe reactions. ...
- Avocados. ...
- Marshmallows. ...
- Corn. ...
- Mango. ...
- Dried fruit. ...
- Hot dogs.
Substitute the mustard with shallot, jalapeno or serrano pepper, or a pinch of cayenne.
What are the two different ways that food allergens are listed? ›
The allergen's food source must be declared at least once on the food label in one of two ways. The name of the food source of a major food allergen must appear: In parentheses following the name of the ingredient. Immediately after or next to the list of ingredients in a “contains” statement.
