I just got WHEAT AND MILK FOOD ALLERGIES what do i eat now?

Question

I just recently found out i have wheat and milk food allergies... my lips swell up and hurt, and itch, and get really red... and my left eye swelled up, and my throat was closing in and swallowing became extremely difficult, also i felt faint the next day almost like i'm going to black out or faint... so i made a log of what i ate and.... and found out that's what my whole diet consisted of.... aside of fruit and veggies and meat..... and now i don't know what to eat.... can i eat white bread instead of whole grain with my wheat allergy? what about pastry and cake? i really don't know what to look out for... so please if someone know's about this please post some information...
thanks

Answer 1

Wheat and dairy are common food allergies.

Here is a good resource for wheat/gluten free info:

http://www.celiac.com/st_main.html

And dairy free:

http://www.godairyfree.org/


You might have a gluten intolerance and if that is the case you will need to steer clear of everything that contains gluten, the grains wheat, rye, barley, oats, and the products made from/with these grains:

http://www.celiac.com/st_main.html?p_catid=12&sid=91hH9H1VeA4E1OI-48106395276.85

White bread is not an option, it contains wheat flour. Health food stores have gluten free bread options, as well as other baked items like cookies, crackers, chips, and mixes that you can use to make cakes, pastries, and etc. You can also order products on-line.

As far as dairy goes, you might be casein intolerant, which is the protein in dairy products, it is in everything dairy including butter. You will have to look for products that are both gluten free and dairy free.

I like these websites because of the advanced search option, you can select the products according to what allergen/allergens you want them to be free of:

http://www.allergygrocery.com/search.php

http://www.glutensolutions.com/store.asp

Also, if you cook, there are many allergy cookbooks out there and recipe sites on-line that allow you to make your favorite foods with substitutions.

Answer 2

Oh boy. Unfortunately there are so many people who are told they have to stay away from wheat due to a wheat allergy or because of celiac disease (not an allergy, but an immune system response). Then they are given almost NO information. Don't eat wheat is not an explanation. Your doctors should be ashamed at themselves for sending you out in the world with this and not explaining things to you. (Sorry for the rant.)

A lot of people start out exactly where you are. Most people don't read labels and aren't aware of what food is made of. There's a lot of stuff to learn, but you'll feel so much better after you get all the wheat out of your diet.

If you go to www.glutenfreeforum.com you'll learn everything you ever wanted to know about avoiding wheat. There are over 11 Thousand people registered there. There are people there with wheat allergies, as well as people with celiac disease and other forms of gluten intolerance. The common thing is that we all have to avoid wheat.

White bread, pasta, pastry, cake, cookies, pie crust, donuts, etc. are all made from wheat. White flour is made from wheat. It's just more processed than whole wheat flour. There are a lot of people who work in bakeries who don't know that (I had two in my family) so it's a common misconception.

The good news is that there's a whole niche market of companies that make foods especially for people who have to avoid wheat. You will be able to find replacements for just about everything.

Nancy

Answer 3

If your lactose intollerant there is Lactaid Milk, cheese and even ice cream and things like that. Also there are the Lactaid pills. If your allergy to anything milk related, check ALL labels.

There are so many hidden ingredients that are milk related in foods these days, the most common being Whey. It's also in various foods, even certain hot dog's believe it or not. And some pasta sauces.

For that you can opt for Rice Milk, it comes in different flavors including plain and works rather well in recipes that call for milk. If you do a few different searches for dairy free recipes or wheat free recipes and things of that sort, it will give you a better idea of what you might be able to eat and what to substitute.

Answer 4

You cannot have any regularly or commercially prepared bread, pasta, cake, crackers pastry, cookies, etc. You must read *ALL* labels. Anything that mentions wheat, spelt, flour, semolina, kamut, etc. you cannot have. White bread is worse than the whole grain. I'm not sure of the area that you live in, so I can't direct you to particular stores. If you like pasta, there is only one brand worth eating. It's called Tinkyada. It's rice pasta. They make jumbo shells, linguine, reg shells, rotini, penne, elbows, lasagna etc. The texture is perfect. Bread is more difficult. My favorite brand is Deland's. It's from a bakery in Florida, they have it at all of my local health food stores, but I'm not sure if it has dairy in it. When looking for bread, you'll probably need to shop at a health food store. I prefer millet (another grain) bread over rice bread, but both are good. Any gluten-free bread needs to be toasted or grilled to be worthwhile. Rice crackers are also delicious. As far as cookies, cakes, pastries etc, you'll need to make your own. rice flour works best. Ener-g brand makes an "egg replacer" that works great. And I prefer almond milk as a milk substitute in baking. I haven't had wheat in 2 years. No allergy here, just by choice. Good luck!

Answer 5

While I congratulate you on your food log, have you been tested for food allergies? Are you certain its both milk and wheat?

Your reactions seem rather severe, so you are going to want to seek medical attention and have benadryl handy as well as an Epi-pen.

For wheat, you're going to want to avoid anything with unknown sourced starch, flour, etc. Luckily wheat and milk are both required to be labeled on foods with a warning if it contains it, but this is rather new and I'm not sure how accurate it is. You'll do better looking for Gluten-free foods as they won't contain wheat and you'll just have to look for milk.

Items that say Parve are milk-free, but you'll have to look on the label for wheat.

Stay away from breads, pastas, cakes, cookies, crackers, etc. unless they're specifically gluten-free. Once you get the hang of wheat-free, you can start reading labels more thoroughly and venture into oatmeal breads etc. But you'll have to be careful as a lot of them also have wheat in it.

With milk allergy, you're going to have to give up cheese. All cheese as 99% of cheeses even rice or soy cheeses contain casien a milk protien. You'll need to read labels and avoid: whey, milk, lactose (milk sugar but often contains residual milk protiens), lactates, buttermilk, cream, etc. (Lactaid milk is for lactose intolerance, not milk allergy. It contains milk just like regular milk, so it would still cause you problems with a milk allergy).

Your diet is going to have to change a lot with both of these allergies, but there is info out there.

Also, with the wheat allergy, (throat closing is a sign of allergy not Celiac btw) you're going to want to get checked for Celiac just to make sure you don't have both. Celiac causes some rather nasty problems if its not diagnosed and simple blood tests can help rule it out.

Good Luck

Answer 6

Drink lactose free milk, or try soy milk. I switched to soy milk a few years ago and I buy the vanilla flavored kind. Of course, no wheat products. Read labels.

Go to an allergist to get your skin tested and also get more information. You could have some other forms of allergies. You could have a gluten allergy.

Answer 7

Veggies, fruit, meat and Lactaid Milk. Find something with white flour and no wheat.

Answer 8

Celiac Disease is actually becoming quite an issue lately. Two of my neighbor's grown daughters (both over 50) have recently been diagnosed. They consulted their local health-food stores, because they seemed to be more knowledgable than their grocers. They have to be careful, and have changed their diets dramatically, but both feel better all around, and even lost considerable weight. They feel terrific now.

Answer 9

Do not panic!! There are specialty stores and products for people with these types of issues. You should get with a Nutritionist and have them set a consultation for you. Between the Doctor and the Nutritionist you should be able to come up with a well balanced, safe and appealing menu.

Answer 10

You really need to get this information from your doctor. Make an appointment and discuss this with them.