This post is a response to a few comments I’ve had recently about being allergic to everything. To read the original article, click here: I’m allergic to everything.
What to do if you can’t eat anything
There is a food trap that some people fall in to where the number of foods that they feel that they can eat slowly dwindles down to almost nothing.
I’m going to suggest to you that this problem doesn’t make you crazy, but it is largely your brain’s fault (or maybe it is better described as your genes fault).
This problem is probably best explained by the book Omnivore’s Dilemma.
Omnivores have a problem that no other type of eater has: deciding what to eat. A cow, for example, never wonders what it is going to put in its’ mouth, the grass it is walking on is always the answer. Likewise, you don’t see lions or sharks contemplating their dinner choices; if it is running or swimming away then it is on the menu.
We omnivores, though, have to test foods to see if they are okay for us. The key to understand why this might be a problem is to understand that omnivores attach how they feel after they eat something with whether the food is good for them or not. This is a handy tool to have: You eat some berries you think are okay to eat and later you get a stomach ache; next time you see that berry, you stay away from it.
The problem is that this omnivore-avoidance-system isn’t very accurate. Studies have shown that people are poor predictors of what might be good or bad for them. Part of the problem also lies in the complexity of the food we eat; many of the meals we eat are a mixture of many different foods. To add to the difficulty deciding what to eat is that we might be feeling bad for other reasons and just think it is the food we are eating.
So, when you are spiraling out of control and unable to find anything to eat, consider that many things you think are not good for you, may be okay.
What to do next?
Let’s say that you have thought about the above and tried to add in more foods, but still find that there are foods that you still cannot eat. Here is a plan for taking your diet to the next level.
- Testing: Many people want to turn to testing to find out what foods they are allergic to. My experience is that testing generally doesn’t help. Testing done on the skin is silly as the part of the immune system responsible for protecting the skin is different from the immune system in your gut. Blood testing gets you a bit closer, but will only show foods that you are allergic to and not those you have intolerances to (read the Food Allergy vs Food Intolerances part of the previous article). The best testing is removal and reintroducing of foods.
- Brain/Gut: Your brain is closely tied to your digestive system. Scientists are now calling this the Gut/Brain axis: as you think, so your gut feels. If you are stressed out or anxious, your gut will respond. Many people with digestive problems find that they go away when they are on vacation (and they usually eat worse than they normally do). Consider taking supplements for anxiety such as Kava Kava, GABA, theanine, or others.
- Digestive Enzymes: Some of your problems may be due to not having enough digestive enzymes. Get a very high quality digestive enzyme and see if that helps.
- Rebalance Bacteria: The bacteria in your gut may also be part of the problem. Try using a product called Zyflamend that is used for inflammation, but I have found works wonders on the gut. You can also go on an anti-yeast or anti-parasite program; make sure you take enough of the herbs for it to be successful. I recommend these products:
Some combination of the above will work for you. It is a difficult path to return to normalish eating, but one well worth the journey.
Hi. My problem is that, as years go by, I seem to be allergic to or intolerant of almost anything that can roughly be described as food.
In fact, I think the only thing that doesns’t make me sick is applesauce. If I eat the wrong thing the first time I try to sleep I get the most bizarre nightmares. For some stupid reason, I thought I’d try one of the most delicious foods ever created–thin-crust
spinach pizza. After a few slices I fell asleep and was terrorized the whole night with ridiculous nightmares about trying to find places to throw-up without seeming crazy and pathetic to friends and strangers. I can handle the migraine headaches, stomach aches and nausea that cheese precipitates, but the vomiting dreams and really disgusting.
Anyone else experience weird dreams after eating foods which make them sick?
Thanks
I’ve always been highly allergic and sensitive since childhood. I have so many food allergies right now like wheat,soy,pork,pecans,walnuts,shellfish,chocolate, the list goes on and on. Food colorings like red #40, yellow #5. Msg (monosodium glutamate), citric acid,sulfites and so on. It is really hard for me to eat out in restaurants. Which makes it impossible to travel anywhere unless I get a motel or hotel with a kitchenette where I can prepare my own meals. I basically can eat vegetables (except peas), and fruits (except bananas and pineapple and coconut), salads with olive oil, meats (except pork), rice cakes, and potatoes. But the allergies don’t stop there. I’m highly environmentally allergic, allergic to all pets except parakeets. I can hardly take medications, it makes it hard for doctors to treat me or do tests. I had a bad reaction to a topical anesthetic once, and a severe reaction to benzoyl peroxide, penicillin, and a bunch of others that I had reactions to. I basically have to live a totally different life than other people, but I’m hoping one day my immune system will get better.
Dr. Scott,
I am a 22 year old female who had no allergies until about the last year. I had my first allergic reaction when I ate a chicken club wrap. My lips started to swell,burn, itch, and I got what appeared to be blisters inside my mouth which were very big. I thought it was strange since I’ve eaten this same wrap a lot of times, and never got any reaction. I stopped eating the wrap, and about 15 minutes later, the reaction was gone. I figured it was a new sauce maybe.
A little while later, I ate a cesar salad, and got the same reaction. So I figured it was the creamy dressing or sauce. I stopped eating anything which creamy dressings,and my reactions stopped.
But now I am getting these types of symptoms EVERY time I eat. My lips swell up, redness, irritation, sometimes itch, and blisters. I also get hives on my neck, fingers, and sometimes everywhere. I’ve been having these types of symptoms for a little over a week now every time I eat.
Ive been taking a medication called Benadryl for temporary relief. It sometimes helps my hives and slows the swelling after about an hour. The Benadryl label says it helps sneezing, runny nose, hives, itchy water eyes and skin itch.
I’m not sure what to do, and now I’m finding that I am afraid to eat, because when I do, I get these side effects which are no longer easy to hide or deal with
Kim,
I’m going to suggest that you consult an allergist, or at least your general practitioner. Allergies can be very dangerous and even life threatening at times and it seems that you are very reactive to something you are eating and you need to have tools (medications) if they get out of hand.
Having said that, there are a lot of people in your same boat. People think it is odd when they have been eating the same foods that suddenly they are allergic, but it is actually the repeated exposure that causes the symptoms. For example, people who are really allergic to bee stings don’t get that way until the second or third bee sting.
I would suggest following the allergy elimination diet (see above) and remove all common allergens. This will work for most people. There is still a chance you might be allergic to something other than those common allergens and that is when you start experimenting with other foods or getting some sort of allergy test.
Best of luck,
Scott
Dr. Scott, I am allergic to all the common allergens, and am vegetarian. recently discovered coconut and chickpea allergy too, and have proved positive for allergy to potato and nightshades. SO being vegetarian, WHAT do I eat???? I can’t eat beans except lentils. Brocolli is one of my favorite foods and I cannot eat it except for a few bites. I like to eat raw, but it is worse if I eat raw brocolli. I can eat a few bites cooked. I can’t eat any fruits excpet grapefruit. I LOVE food. I LOVE dessert. WHAT can I eat?? I am getting to the point of being lost???
The only thing I can eat I have figured out without any problem is organic rice and all kinds of onions. I love onions thankfully, but they are not filling!!
i was using soy milk, then switched to almond, then loved coconut because thought I wasn’t allergic. Now what?? I have tried hemp milk but dont like the taste.
Brandi,
It sounds like you have tried to stay away from all the common allergens, so continue that. I’m guessing that you are worried about getting enough protein and nutrients from your comments and I can tell you that if you are eating enough vegetables to be full, then you are probably getting enough protein. Vegetarians worry because their diet is so different from what everyone around them is eating, but remember that cows, elephants and even gorillas live on a plant (leaves and grass) based diet.
Scott
I am in my 40′s now, and am quite amazed I made it this far in life. Many doctors felt I would never make it to age 30. Growing up, I knew I was allergic to dairy. It wasn’t as bad as it is now, but in my late teens if I had it, it would definitely give me a stomach ache. Seafood would make me extremely ill, literally ripping through my intestines. I am literally allergic to everything. Doctors have put me in the top 5 percent most allergic people you will ever meet. My food allergies consist of basically not being able to eat ANY animal proteins.
I can not eat any dairy, meats, seafood, nuts, certain oils, salt, the list goes on. However, I can eat limitless amounts of fruits, vegetables, and beans (which is where i get my protein from). When i stick to my diet, my body feels stronger and healthier than I’ve ever felt, even in my 20′s. I’ve come to learn that my body, is amazing. More so than most. I’m in my mid forties, and I still have the strength and stamina that I did, even more so, than I did in my twenties. While friends of mine are getting weaker, I seem to be getting stronger. My bones are a little more achy, yes. As i am getting older. But I feel amazingly fit.
This problem with diet that I’ve had has put me in quite a unique category. I’ve been tested over and over and over in my life. At one point I went to see so many doctors in a ten year span, I was being to feel like a lab rat. And every doctor I’ve seen ends up scratching their head in total amazement regarding how my body is built.
I do have these dramatic allergies which can result in reactions ranging from almost having a heart attack from eating the wrong thing to skin rashes, bleeding gums from eating the wrong food, headaches, horrendous stomach problems, dizziness, fatigue, lack of focus/memory, on and on an on. But, when I stick to my diet and just eat fruits, vegetables, soy yogurt, beans, etc. I feel perfectly fine. Almost never getting sick.
The other part of my body which is quit fascinating, even to my wife who is also amazed at this, is I heal almost instantaneously. Meaning, I accidentally stepped on a glass which broken under my foot. By the time I made it to the bathroom and washed it off with water and took the glass out, my foot was already beginning to heal around the glass. So basically within minutes, I was picking glass out of my foot which was attached to my skin.
Sometimes I feel like I’m an alien, because my body seems to work unlike anyone else’s body I’ve ever met. I only met 1 other person, a woman in a deli, who was like me. I was ordering food and being very specific with how I needed the food prepared, that she heard my description and we started talking. Same exact makeup as mine. She also felt like she was from another world.
The other thing I notice with my body, is I HAVE to take a One-A-Day vitamin. It seems like my body needs those nutrients which I’m not getting by meats I’m assuming. Without taking that One-A-Day vitamin, I’m tired, and can barely make it through the day.
I don’t know what it all means, but the kicker to this is I had an experience when I was younger that I’ve never been able to let go of to this day. It happened when I was very young, a child. Let’s just put it this way, it was unearthly. I’ve always wondered if that had to do with how I am in some way. It’s an experience that is still so vivid in my mind, it still feels as if it happened yesterday. I can’t remember what I ate for breakfast on the first Tuesday of last month, but i remember this experience over 30+ years earlier, like it happened two mins ago.
For those that have the same allergies as I do, my suggestion would be to stay away from all dairy, nuts, and basically all anything with animal proteins. Yes it’s difficult to do, but I promise you. Do that, and you’ll feel better than you’ve ever felt in your entire life! THAT, I promise you. Don’t do that, try and push the limit of what you can eat, and you could honestly be risking your health in such a way that could potentially have severe affects on your overall health.
I am only sharing this story because I want to connect with those few of us out there that have this affliction. You can’t cure it. I’ve tried. There’s nothing to cure, it’s how you’re built. My body does not want or need any dairy, animal proteins, nuts, etc. It’s not that there’s anything wrong with me, it just doesn’t want it or need it. And when I respect that by not eating what I shouldn’t, I feel healthier than I’ve ever felt.
I wish you well.
-Nameless
Dr. Scott…
Six years ago, I became allergic to wheat, rye, barley, shellfish, fish, eggs, tree nuts, peanuts and pineapple. I have had autoimmune issues for the past 15 years…initially being diagnosed with RA and then Lupus. Last year, the immune system went in freak mode and the docs spents MONTHS trying to figure out why I suddenly had optic neuritis. Turns out a new feature for the Lupus. I started vomiting a lot then about 30 minutes to an hour after eating and my stomach (not adbomen…but the stomach) hurt horribly. The GI doc did tests and biopsies and nothing. He couldn’t tell me what was wrong. He said it was probably all the meds I was on.
On Valentine’s day this year, I awoke having an anaphylactic reaction. I was tested and it appears that I am allergic to nearly everything. The elimination diet proved that the skin tests were accurate. I can safely eat…turkey, pork, apples, pears, potatoes, corn, oats(processed in a gluten free facility), celery, onions, leeks, garlic, turnips and rice. We have not tested lettuce/greens, broccoli or cauliflower…nor game meats. I am allergic to everything else.
I am scared to eat.
I take imuran and methotrexate and prednisone…AND I still have recently had two anaphylactic reactions. I also have Hashimoto’s and take thyroid medications. Can you please offer me some advice? My docs are telling me at the rate I am developing new allergies and with so few foods left to me to eat that it is only a matter of time before I become allergic to them as well.
Delana,
Sorry to hear about all that you have gone through. It would be improper of me to give you suggestions on your condition over the internet. Let me suggest that you find a Naturopathic doctor near you and work with them. Use the search feature on the American Association of Naturopathic Physician’s website.
Dr. Scott,
This was very interesting to read. I recently have had to cut just about everything out of my diet. It seems like everything I eat makes me feel ill… nausea, diarrhea, migraines… etc. Not only that, but bread seems to trigger eczema on my eye lids. However, I haven’t eaten wheat, any type of meat, or grains in two weeks, and I feel fantastic. I have energy and the eczema that was so painful on my eyes is gone. Thank you for this interesting read and helpful advice.
Stephanie
Sounds like you are doing great Stephanie! Keep up the great work.