Guest Post From NFLP Intern Brianna: My Experiences Navigating Food Allergies
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Hi Friends! Happy Tuesday!
Coming to you again this week is Brianna!
As I mentioned in my introduction post, I suffer from allergies to dairy, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, and seafood. This week I wanted to share what my experience has been with these allergies.
So, as you all can imagine or might know, living with food allergies can be particularly challenging, especially when you have multiple of them. They can severely limit your food choices, but with a little bit of creativity and planning, it is possible to maintain a healthy and satisfying diet.
To begin, it was very important for me to understand the extent of my specific allergies, and the types of food that contain the allergens. For example, dairy is typically found in milk, cheese, yogurt, and butter, while eggs are commonly found in baked goods, mayonnaise, and other processed foods. For me, I typically try to stay away from anything that looks white and/or creamy, and if it’s a baked good. I immediately say no to those items with a 99% chance that I’m allergic to it. As for the tree nuts and peanuts, they are often found in snacks, trail mixes, and some Asian dishes (such as Thai food), while seafood is found in sushi, fish dishes, fried rice, and stews.
Once I was able to train myself to identify what types of food to immediately avoid versus what I could try my luck in, I was able to focus on what I actually can eat. When I was younger, there wasn’t as much awareness about food allergies or dietary restrictions, in general. But it was okay for me because I was young, and I had my mom watching out for what I ate at all times. Thankfully, as I grew up and became more independent, many alternatives for foods became available. For example, instead of cow’s milk, you can use almond, coconut, soy, or oat milk. For baked goods, there are ingredient substitutes like applesauce, mashed bananas, or flaxseed meal. For protein, I am always able to have chicken, beef, pork, tofu, etc.
Here is one potential day of meals that I may have throughout the week with my allergies:
Breakfast: avocado toast with arugula, salt/pepper, and olive oil, or topped with bacon and salt/pepper
Lunch: grilled chicken breast with roasted sweet potato wedges, and a small garden salad with mixed greens, cucumbers, carrots, tomatoes, topped with balsamic vinaigrette
Dinner: beef stir-fry with broccoli, carrots, bell peppers, served over brown or white rice
Snack: carrot sticks with dairy-free dressing such as a french dressing, or a balsamic dressing, paired with a mango smoothie made with coconut water and coconut milk
All of these meals are pretty easy and manageable when I’m in the comfort of my own kitchen and am in control of what is made and how it's made. However, when dining out or traveling, that’s a whole different story. It is very important to communicate your food allergies clearly to servers and chefs. Even for me, I find it frustrating/annoying/even isolating to always make my order a hassle and have to ask so many different questions in addition to the dish I want to have. But I’ve learned that it’s worth it to simply be outspoken with my allergies because I’ve come home with one too many allergic reactions…
Another way I have tried to avoid having to special order my food is to use resources like Google. I’ve looked up the restaurants I’m going to ahead of time to either make sure there's at least something I can have, or something I can customize into being allergy-friendly for me. Sometimes I’ll just look for restaurants that are completely vegan, so I don’t have to worry about anything (except the nuts part, but that’s usually an easy change).
All in all, living with multiple food allergies can be challenging, but it doesn’t have to mean sacrificing taste or nutrition. It may take some experimentation to find which substitutes work best for you, but with time and practice, it can become second nature! And, thankfully, 22 years later, I am still able to enjoy a healthy and satisfying diet.
That’s it for now! If anyone has any restaurant or food recommendations for me, I’d love to hear about them… share in the comments! Thank you for letting me share my story!
Brianna :)