Do you have questions about allergies?
Ask here! Ask your questions and I will do my best to find answers.
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When I first discovered that I was allergic to wheat, it was a terrible blow. It seemed like there was nothing I could eat.
As I got used to it, and discovered more and more new foods I could eat, life got easier. Still, it seemed that the days where gone when I could go into a supermarket, and walk out with a convenient lunch I could eat right away.
Then I discovered hummus. I discovered that I can go into most supermarkets, and find rice crackers and a tub of hummus. This can be eaten right away, under almost any circumstances (for example en route, in the car), it keeps well, and is super-convenient.
The recipe for hummus is very simple, so often I make it myself. I just made some last night for a camping trip I will be leaving on as soon as I finish writing this. The ingredients keep well, so you can have them on-hand all the time, and then just make it up when you need it.
It is quick to make, and makes an ideal lunch for a day-hike or for the second lunch on a canoe trip.
I just posted my recipe for hummus:
I hope you find it useful!
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Hummus is a really handy food. It is an almost perfect replacement for peanut butter. I think that it is more balanced and more nutritious, and healthier too.
The main disadvantage is that it does not keep quite as well. You can usually keep it unrefrigerated for a day or so.
Hummus is great spread on rice-cakes, wheat-free bread, in rice-wraps, or on anything you can spread it.
*Optional ingredients.
This simple recipe can be made by hand or in a food processor. The directions are for making it by hand. If you decide to use a food processor, use the directions below as a guide for the order in which you add the ingredients to the food processor. Turn the food processor on when the directions say mash.
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Here is Karen’s story about how she discovered that she was allergic to wheat:
When I was allergic to wheat my family doctor was on extended leave, the replacement doctor kept telling us I had mono. After several negative blood mono tests, he was still sure I had mono.
I slept for twelve hours at night, as a child the teachers let me sleep in class, at my desk. I complained that they made me walk outside at recess, some days the walk outside was too tiring. Being awakened to eat, and stomach pains to sore to eat, I was sick.
My family doctor came back and I was diagnosed with food allergies. After a few days off wheat and many other foods, I became normal again. I out grew most of my allergies only to have a child who is highly reactive to milk, and one with a minor intolerance.
By Karen Blue
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Are you looking for yeast-free lunch ideas? They are all in the main courses section.
All of the recipes on this site are yeast-free, milk-free, wheat-free and gluten-free.
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Quinoa Tabouleh
This Middle-Eastern dish is usually made with wheat. This is a great shame if you are allergic to wheat!
Deprive yourself no longer! Here is a wheat-free, gluten-free version of Tabouleh made with quinoa!
1 Cup quinoa grain
1 +1/2 tsp. Sea salt
1 ¾ cups water.
2 cups finely chopped parsley
1 cup green onions, finely diced (including the green part)
1 small carrot, finely diced (about 1 cup)
½ red pepper, chopped
½ green pepper, chopped
½ fresh mint leaves, finely chopped
½ to ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
¼ cup lemon juice
2 garlic cloves, crushed or chopped
Put the quinoa, salt and water into a pot and bring to a boil on medium heat. Simmer on low heat for 20-25 min. This grain will foam when fully covered, so leave the lid slightly ajar. Keep an eye on it to avoid it drying
out. Cool.
Mix vegetables with quinoa, add dressing. Stir well. This may be kept in the refrigerator for a day or more to improve flavour.
Serve on a platter with lettuce leaves and garnish with black Kalamata olives and thin slices of lemon.
The beauty of this dish, besides its great taste, is that you can substitute the vegetables to suit your individual taste.
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Quinoa is a nutritious grain-like food, and an excellent addition to the gluten-free diet.
Unlike a true grain, quinoa is not from the grass family. Quinoa is a chenopod, and is more closely related to beets, spinach and tumbleweeds.
Quinoa is most often eaten as a whole cooked seed, flakes, or quinoa flour used in gluten-free baking.
Quinoa greens are also eatable and nutritious, but are generally not commercially available.
Quinoa originated in the Andes, where it has been a staple for over 6,000 years. It grows well at altitudes up to 4,000 meters, and will grow at low altitudes as well.
Quinoa is generally well tolerated. A negative reaction to quinoa is the rare, so try quinoa with confidence!
There are exceptions. Read the comments below to see examples of problems people have had with quinoa.
Many if not most of these problems are probably caused by improper preparation of the quinoa. See cooking quinoa to learn the right way to make quinoa and avoid these problems. If you haven’t been preparing your quinoa correctly, then you may develop a sensitivity to it. Try cutting it out of your diet for a few weeks or months, then bring it back in, but be sure to wash it properly.
Keep in mind that people with a reaction to quinoa are likely to find this site and leave a comment, so if you have not tried quinoa before, do not let the tiny likelihood of a reaction put you off from trying it.
If you do have a reaction, then pay attention to it, and remove quinoa from your diet.
Amaranth is a good alternative if you can not tolerate quinoa.
Sandy points out that “…[quinoa] is high in phenylalanine (amino acid), and this is taken from a recent NYT article about sweeteners–turns out that amino acid is also in aspartame. ‘. . . about 1 in 25,000 in the United States — have a genetic condition that prevents them from metabolizing one of the amino acids, phenylalanine, and those people are warned away from aspartame.’”
The above may explain the large number of people leaving comments on this article about how they cannot eat quinoa.
Liz has left a comment suggesting that liquid bentonite clay detox supplement ( about four tablespoons) and Zyrtec (one, the other or both) may help alleviate symptoms. If you decide to try this, please leave a comment and share if this helped you or not.
Another interesting theory was posted by Katherine Kohl. Read her post about Quinoa Sickness and Mycotoxin.
NOTE: If you leave a comment explaining that you have a reaction to quinoa, please indicate if the quinoa is organic or not. I’d really like to find out why so many people have a problem with it. There are already 178 comments on this post so keep this in mind when reading comments in the context of this comment.
Quinoa must be properly rinsed before cooking. This is very important. For complete details on why this is important, and how to cook quinoa, see cooking quinoa.
Quinoa is the only plant food with a complete complement of proteins, making the quality of protein similar to meat. Other plant sources of protein must be combined to get a full complement.
| Nutrient | Units | 1.00 X 1 cup ——- 185g |
|---|---|---|
| Proximates | ||
| Water |
g
|
132.48
|
| Energy |
kcal
|
222
|
| Energy |
kJ
|
931
|
| Protein |
g
|
8.14
|
| Total lipid (fat) |
g
|
3.55
|
| Ash |
g
|
1.41
|
| Carbohydrate, by difference |
g
|
39.41
|
| Fibre, total dietary |
g
|
5.2
|
| Starch |
g
|
32.62
|
| Minerals | ||
| Calcium, Ca |
mg
|
31
|
| Iron, Fe |
mg
|
2.76
|
| Magnesium, Mg |
mg
|
118
|
| Phosphorus, P |
mg
|
281
|
| Potassium, K |
mg
|
318
|
| Sodium, Na |
mg
|
13
|
| Zinc, Zn |
mg
|
2.02
|
| Copper, Cu |
mg
|
0.355
|
| Manganese, Mn |
mg
|
1.167
|
| Selenium, Se |
mcg
|
5.2
|
| Vitamins | ||
| Vitamin C, total ascorbic acid |
mg
|
0.0
|
| Thiamin |
mg
|
0.198
|
| Riboflavin |
mg
|
0.204
|
| Niacin |
mg
|
0.762
|
| Vitamin B-6 |
mg
|
0.228
|
| Folate, total |
mcg
|
78
|
| Folic acid |
mcg
|
0
|
| Folate, food |
mcg
|
78
|
| Folate, DFE |
mcg_DFE
|
78
|
| Vitamin B-12 |
mcg
|
0.00
|
| Vitamin A, RAE |
mcg_RAE
|
0
|
| Retinol |
mcg
|
0
|
| Vitamin A, IU |
IU
|
9
|
| Vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol) |
mg
|
1.17
|
| Tocopherol, beta |
mg
|
0.06
|
| Tocopherol, gamma |
mg
|
2.20
|
| Tocopherol, delta |
mg
|
0.20
|
| Lipids | ||
| Cholesterol |
mg
|
0
|
| Amino acids | ||
| Tryptophan |
g
|
0.096
|
| Threonine |
g
|
0.242
|
| Isoleucine |
g
|
0.290
|
| Leucine |
g
|
0.483
|
| Lysine |
g
|
0.442
|
| Methionine |
g
|
0.178
|
| Cystine |
g
|
0.117
|
| Phenylalanine |
g
|
0.342
|
| Tyrosine |
g
|
0.154
|
| Valine |
g
|
0.342
|
| Arginine |
g
|
0.629
|
| Histidine |
g
|
0.235
|
| Alanine |
g
|
0.339
|
| Aspartic acid |
g
|
0.653
|
| Glutamic acid |
g
|
1.073
|
| Glycine |
g
|
0.400
|
| Proline |
g
|
0.444
|
| Serine |
g
|
0.326
|
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There is now a section on this allergy website that describes some of the most common allergy-causing molds. Although they are not described in great detail, there are links to other websites that describe them more.
Molds are important. Mold damage occurs both to people and their things. This website does not deal with mold damage to the things exactly, but in a way it does. When things, especially buildings, encounter mold damage, there is lots of mold growing, resulting in allergy-causing spores, and mycotoxins, a major indoor air quality problem.
Anyhow, I am getting ahead of myself. The nastiest molds in the allergy department include:
One or two of the articles have rather interesting and beautiful illustrations, but most are plain for now. I might get around to fixing that at some point ….
Anyhow, I hope you like what I have produced so far. Leave a comment or send a message with your feedback.
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Alternaria is a genus of molds. They grow easily indoors, causing indoor air quality problems. They can trigger hay fever, which can lead to asthma.
There are at least 44 known species, although there may be hundreds more yet to be classified.
Alternaria can cause a great number of health problems, including allergies, growth in mucous membranes (e.g. eyes, respiratory tract etc.).
Many species produce toxins.
People often develop allergies to molds of this genus.
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Aspergillus is a genus of molds which particularly enjoy sugar. Many species grow easily on starchy foods such as bread. Some are noted for growing in areas with few nutrients, such as damp walls. These species are a major component of mildew.
Some species are used in food production, for example they are involved in making sake.
Other species are pathogenic, causing serious diseases in people. Some species produce mycotoxins.
People often develop allergies to molds of this genus.
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