I’ve recently had a few people tell me that they are allergic to everything, so I thought I would write a post to address what that means and the best way to approach these super-allergies. People who are allergic to everything often have outward signs of their allergy: eczema, asthma, hives, itching, headaches, sinus infections, they feel stuffed up, can’t breath, feel tired and overwhelmed.
Allergic to everything is no fun and there is a not-so-easy way out of this mess and it comes in the form of a diet called an allergy elimination diet.
What Does Diet Have to do with Allergies?
The first question that pops into most people’s head when I tell them to try a diet for their allergies is: what does a diet have to do with allergies? After all, they may be allergic to something in your environment. Environmental allergies happens to a lot of people in spring when there are dramatic increases in pollen, but it can also occur in winter when we are spending more time inside and there is less fresh air in the house. But there are good reasons why, even if you have environmental allergies that you would want to try the allergy elimination diet:
The key to understanding using diet to control your allergies are these points:
- The first is that there is very little you can do to change the outside world. Yes, you can stay inside when the pollen counts are high, but what if your problem is the mold in the house? Food allergies are something you can change easily: simply avoid the food and you solve the problem. By reducing your food allergies, you are reducing the overall “allergic load” on your body, so that when you do encounter environmental allergies, they are less likely to impact you.
- The second reason why using diet works to reduce allergies has to do with your immune system. Most people are unaware that over 80 percent of the immune system is located surrounding the digestive system. This makes sense because, when you eat foods, you are bringing the outside world into your body and your body has to determine whether this “outside world” or food is safe or not. When you are constantly eating foods that you are allergic to, you cause your immune system to become hyper-aware – leading to a more allergic you.
Food Allergies and Food Intolerance
Before we move on to the diet, I should spend a moment explaining food allergies and food intolerances:
- Food Allergies: A food allergy generally means that your immune system is attacking the food you are eating as if it were a foreign invader. The body produces immunoglobulins (Ig for short) that attach to the protein in the food and then you immune system creates inflammation to try and rid itself of the foreign “invasion”. It is fairly easy to discover food allergies as there are a wide variety of skin and blood tests that can measure your body’s immune response (or the amount of Igs in your body).
- Food Intolerance: Food intolerance is different. The classic food intolerance is lactose intolerance, where your body lacks the ability to digest the sugar in lactose. There are many other intolerances that are the result of different parts of the immune system being activated (other than the Igs), sensitivities to certain foods, inability to digest other foods, or a toxic reaction.
The most common food allergies and intolerances are: eggs, grains (especially gluten grains), soy, nuts, shell fish and seafood.
Allergy Elimination Diet
The best way to uncover your allergies is to do an allergy elimination diet. You will find different types of these diets all over, but this is the one I recommend:
For two weeks, remove the following foods:
- Food Additives: Including monosodium glutamate (MSG), artificial preservatives,sweeteners, flavors and all food colorings.
- Grains: Avoid all gluten-based grains, including: wheat, spelt, barley, kamut, rye, oats or triticale. Avoid pasta, flour, breads, cereals, cookies and other foods made with gluten grains. You should also exclude corn, along with high fructose corn syrup, corn oil, vegetable oils, corn chips and popcorn.
- Alcohol: Avoid beer, wine and other alcohols. If you are really strict, you want to avoid mouth wash with alcohol and cough medicine containing alcohol.
- Citrus Fruits: Including, tangerines, oranges, grapefruits, limes, lemon and any other citrus fruits.
- Shellfish: These include, crab, lobster, clams, mussels and other shellfish.
- Nuts: All nuts, including peanuts, pecans, walnuts, cashews, pistachios and other nuts.
- Diary: All sources of dairy, including butter, cheese, milk, cottage cheese, whey protein, yogurt, sour cream and other dairy foods.
- Soy: Soy is in a lot of processed foods, so you have to watch our for this, including tempeh, edamame, soy nuts, textured soy protein, tofu.
- Eggs: Yolks and the whites.
- Sweeteners: honey, fructose, dextrose, maple syrup, white sugar, maltose.
Foods that may be allowed include:
- Grains: You can choose any of these grains: rice, quinoa, millet, amaranth, foods such as rice cakes or crackers made from these grains are okay.
- Fruits and Vegetables: All vegetables and fruits are okay except the citrus fruits and strawberries. Salad greens are generally great, as are broccoli, cabbage, carrots and other vegetables.
- Beans: All beans are okay except soy beans.
- Protein: Meat is generally okay.
If you find you react to a food that is generally considered safe (I’ve seen this with potatoes), then add that to your avoid list. The foods you crave, unfortunately are often the foods you are allergic to, so be prepared to have some serious cravings. The foods you crave are also the ones you should reintroduce first. I generally recommend that you stay away from all allergic-like foods for two weeks and then start testing. You test by trying just one food at a time (per day), you should also consider eating a lot of it to make sure of the reaction. Wait a day or two and then try the next food.
There is hope if you are allergic to everything. Following an allergy elimination diet is hard, but it is the best way to find foods that don’t agree with you.
READ PART TWO OF THIS ARTICLE: Allergic to Everything, Part Two
Dr Scott
I had my daughter RAST tested and she was positive for peanuts, tree nuts and sesame. I recently had her tested for the gi tests and came up positive for soy and egg (negative for dairy and wheat). With regard to Soy – does she have to avoid all beans/legumes?
Hi Jo,
Most likely she just has to stay away from soy. There is a small chance of an overlap, but there usually isn’t one.
I have been suffering with eczema from my eyelids to my toes for the past 9 months. I have eliminated wheat(gluten) dairy and acidic foods, tomotoes, fruit, however I still do eat egg whites, soy, shelfish. I have moticed that my eczema has improved but it still does flaire up. I have never had any of these sensitivitei’s why would it happen out of the blue. My son also has eczema and doesnt have wheat, dairy or eggs but still has flaire ups why??? I am also recently caffiene sensitive and siffer from summer allergies etc,what is going on with my body???
Mia,
I wish I had a good answer to why this is happening to you. Eczema is very closely related to food allergies and some times it is hard to find the exact ones. Try the allergy elimination diet and look into the theory of Leaky Gut (I’ll write a post on it soon), but it explains why allergies sometimes get worse.
Dr Scott
I’ve been suffering now for just over a year and I think stress aggravated my problem. After eating pizza on two separate occasions I had horrible effects the day after. Depression and severe tiredness. Feeling really poorly!! Eating a sandwich would also make me feel bad. Symptoms such a a loss of breath in a kind of nerves way would pray upon me a couple of hours after eating it. However this symptom was never as bad as the pizza! I went to the Doctors and had a coeliac test but it came back negative. the Doctor told that everything was functioning the way it should be. Of course i knew that this was not the case. I asked her, then why am i getting these horrible symptoms and she sent me off with IBS and said that some foods can aggravate IBS and that i should avoid them. The Doctor failed to tell me that a person needs to be on the diet that causes these effects for the blood test to work and of course I naturally stopped having bread and any thing with wheat in it. I’m basically living like a Coeliac would because of the fear of going through depression and lethargy. Sometime I forget to read the label and I again feel poorly and weak. After a year I’ve finally come to the conclusion that it is Gluten! Do you think that this sounds right and do you think I should have another test? My stomach really does not react well when i have eaten something that i shouldn’t have. It feels sore and it make a horrible gurgling noise. The feeling of depression and tiredness comes after the rotten feeling stomach. I think I’m becoming more and more sensitive to other things. Bombay mix with gram flour and rye breads. things that i thought i could eat and no sign of Gluten on packaging. I have also reacted to rice flour noodles and became very bloated in the stomach afterwards. What is going on? I’ve lost loads of weight for obvious reasons and i never seem to put any weight on. I’m not dangerously under weight though so that good! Oh! and I do get red itchy rashes on my face sometimes. I also react with bad alcohol. My cheeks come out in a red spotty dry itchy rash! I feel that there is a fundamental problem with my intestines.
Thank you for listening!
Sorry to hear about your troubles. Discovering what you are allergic to can be a long and hard journey. I do suggest that you follow the allergy elimination diet and then slowly introduce one new food at a time. You may have to go through this a few times to discover what is going on. It is very common for food allergies to produce depression and lethargy – so I think you are on to something there.
It also sounds like you are reacting to simple sugars. When you feel bloated after a meal that is due to bacteria that are eating the simple sugars. I would suggest a sugar-free and grain-free diet (see my 30 Sugar Free Days Program for help). You can also try taking digestive enzymes as they help to breakdown the sugars; a good probiotic may also help.
I just read about a person is allergic to everything. Will I am one of those people. I have an allergy test done about three days ago and found that I am allergic to three type of Mold, grass, dust and much more. How am I going to avoid those foods when the holidays are coming up quietly. Please send me and link to find out more about my allergies that I’ve have.
I am not sure what to look for. Since I am allergic to the two dander, then that means I can’t go to ta petting zoo. Right? So what should I do the mean time. Should I wait until after the holidays to avoid the foods?
Thank you for your time.
Anita,
These questions are probably best answered by the doctor who did the test, they can help you decide if you should avoid the things you are allergic to. There is no way to avoid grass, dust and mold (they are everywhere), but your food allergies can be avoided.
I was recently told that I am allergic to almost every plant-based food or environmental element. My ‘safe’ food list is simply just un-processed animal products. What a joke, heh? I have been dealing with digestion and sinus/ear problems for several years now and have tried eliminating varying main components (e.g. soy, lactose, gluten, nuts, shell fish or eggs etc) eventually formal rounds of allergy testing has explained why my informal elimination attempts were pointless – it is impossible to have any reasonable elimination with so many foods that are bad for me. Will my allergic response get worse over time? I just can’t avoid all of this and maintain any semblance of healthy nutrition. I don’t know what to do and my doctor is trying to refer me to the Mayo clinic because she’s run out of options.
John,
I’m guessing you read part two of this post and have probably already tried those things. You should be careful about how they tested you because if you were tested on your skin, it is not the same as being tested in your gut (different parts of your immune system).
You might want to look into something called the Hygiene Hypothesis, that suggest we are too clean and that causes our bodies to overreact. I’m planning on writing a post on it, but won’t get to it for a while. For now, check out these articles: Hygiene Hypothesis and this rather extreme method: Can hookworms protect against allergies?
[...] diet. The gluten-free was my doctor’s idea, but I had to wait until the blood testing. The elimination diet was something Hubby’s student did and I was it online so after 2 weeks I will gradually add [...]
Me again, I have gotten some help with my allergies through a hollistic doctor who did muscle allergy testing and elimination of the allergie, which is 99% effective. So for all of you sufferers on here, please look in to it. I am allergic to pretty much everything and could have died since my weight got down to 80 lbs, i was wasting away and no one was helping me. The lady i see has made it so i can eat again, i am still afraid to try the things she has eliminated though, so i know how all of you feel. Allergies are horrible, and I feel for all of you on here and pray you all will find answers b/c i know how much itsucks and how lost you truly can be. Find a hollistic doctor NOW, and make it top priority in your life, you need your health!!
I am now facing stomach problems, diarrhea after every meal, usually come n about 5 min into eating….it really sucks but i would rather have cramps and diarrhea than my throat closing…
Praying for you all
Dr. Scott,
idid the allergic test and i find that iam allerjic to vitamin A ,iron,minerals & metals,salt, corn,grains,yeast,animal fat,vegetable oils,acid digestion,alkaline dig/enz,hormone, phenolics …so please i need help with that because these allerjic it makes me have red spot and Swelling under my foot also i have that in my hand ,my lips …so i need to know what should i do and how i can control these allerjics thnx alot
James,
The best way to work through allergies is to avoid as many as is possible. The allergy elimination diet is a good way to go.
i came across this website in hopes of finding answers! i was diagnosed with over 30 different foods last year (finally) after numerous of invasive medical test/procedures. i actually cried when i was read the list of foods that was showing up as positive on my rast test…yeast,wheat,bran,milk,bananas,eggs (white and yolk), rice,rye,banana, corn, pecans,ginger,chicken,tomatoe,potatoe,tuna,trout,pinto beans,lemon,all melons,barley,oats…the list goes on! the specialist just told me to “just avoid” the foods and you should be ok and the nathuropath i saw is treating me for leaky gut syndrome (LGS) and i’m taking dozens a pills a day to help heal my God-awful stomach the ND gave me like pancreatic enzymes and GI repair nutients by vital nutrients and a bunch others. i’m at my witts end and have turned into someone that is having a fear to eat because i don’t know what to eat. anything that i do eat (even a carrot) still makes me sick because my gut is so messed up. all the symptoms i usually get with food allergies is all intestinal and sometimes i get hives on my face but those i can live with. the upper gi’s show my stomach being very red and inflamed and was told it could take years to heal and was treated with H-plyori (sp?). i can’t work as i’ve lost too many jobs because of feeling sick too much, i can barely take of my family when its bad too. it feels like i have the stomach flu daily (sometimes multiple times a day). on good days,i can “cope” with the pain if its not too bad off and actually leave my home. this has caused me to become majorly depressed and even thought of what would it be like if i were to just “off” myself but dont worry, death scares me. i’ve read that LGS and food allergies go hand-in-hand and one can cause the other and also that there is no cure for food allergies; however you might be able to out grow them. i am wanting to know if there are any kind of auto-immune disorders or maybe some kind of gland that is malfunction that i can test and see if this is causing me to get all these food allegies? like i said, i was tested last year and have been experiencing intestinal symptoms my entire life (over 25 years-i’m over 30 now). i need help!
Lisa, I’m so sorry that you are suffering so much.
I’m not sure that I can help you over the internet, but let me give you some ideas. Let me first tell you that it shouldn’t take years to make inflammation go away. You are one of the unfortunate people who are allergic to a lot of foods. RAST testing can be a bit unreliable, because the part of your immune system that deals with the skin is different from the immune system inside of your gut.
I would suggest that you work with your naturopath and go on a allergy elimination diet. If the are any foods that you cannot eat on the diet then eliminate them too. You and your doctor may even consider fasting as a way to start the diet. Then you add new foods in one at a time and see if you react.
Best of luck.
Can anyone give more list of diet foods?.,”
I think that there are no such ways on allergic to everything..i believe that we all have allergies in a different way. Others are allergic on mint, others on dust,..why we have allergies? The cause of allergy seems to be an entangled web of 3 factors – genetic predisposition, environmental triggers and locally found protein allergens. If you found allergies happen to you find a Naturopathic doctors they can help you with this situation.
I was beginning to think that I’m not human, like there is nothing that I can put into my stomach, greens and vegies are totally ok, some fruits forget it..I puke them right back.
I am glad that i have read this piece today, I thought for a while that I should eliminate wheat from my diet. At one point, I would think it’s this, then I would think it’s also that, I was so confused, I was upset at everything that was happening to me, I was ashamed to go to peoples homes and be asked to try this and try that, only because I always had to say I can’t have this, I am intolerant to that…I felt really uncomfortable.
I will try to do as I read here and see if it makes a difference…so far all of the foods that are mentioned above that one should stay away from for a while, are the foods that I have always has a problem with…as from seasonal allergy…I get eczema in the spring..always.
I get crusty rashes from clothing that has wrinkle-resistant treatment, synthetic dyes, and synthetic fabrics. It’s a NIGHTMARE! People assume that I was born with crusty skin, so people are foolish! I gradually became allergic to many of these things, and it’s difficult to find clothes!
I should probably also mention that I become really hyperactive after I eat certain red foods, then I become really tired.
When I drink or eat dairy products, I get this constant sniffing habit in my nose like something is in there even though I don’t have to blow and I go to bed at night with my nose clogged up.
Does this mean something is really wrong?
The symptoms you are exhibiting after drinking milk sound like allergic reactions. I would say start with the big allergens: milk, wheat, corn, nuts, soy and (in your case) tomatoes and stay away form them for two weeks. Then try each one by themselves to see if you are allergic.
Dr. Scott,
Can’t we go back to the days when they ate bread and water, killed natural game and survived?
Oh brother! I am allergic to tomato and always have been. Symptoms just get worse over the years. I’m aware of the nightshade family. I also find that I’m allergic to red lipstick, red blush, red peppers, strawberries (I think berries in general) and just reds it seems like. Apples are okay though. I don’t know if it’s something being injected into them or what. I can’t figure out exactly what I’m allergic to. When we do the elimination diet, waiting 2 days before adding something else, how do we know we are really eliminating properly in the long run? Sometimes, I don’t have symptoms until a day later or 2 days later. I’m really starting to suffer and with tomatoes especially, I’m addicted to tomato products. I can’t get enough and feel like I can’t stop eating. I crave it so bad to the point where I’ll eat a whole jar of salsa by myself or open up a can of ravioli and spaghetti os, eating it cold to get that tomato. I’m not overweight. I’m 5’9″ 125lbs. So, I don’t know what’s going on but I’m extremely frustrated.
The doctors wont listen to me….think i am crazy. I have never had any rashes/hives but that is not ALWAYS present….and i usually get a ‘wave’ of warmth/heat go through my body, my throat usually gets a tickle/itch and then it starts to feel like its closing…but it has never been proven if it IS closing or not. I always have a rapid heart beat also…in your personal opinion, would you say this sounded like anaphylaxis or not??
All doctors i have seen, including as allergist basically end up telling me there is nothing more that they can do. I lied to get an epi-pen at a walk-in clinic b/c the other doc wouldn’t perscribe it without a provenm allergy. Having the pen doesn’t even help either b/c i dont even know if what i am experiencing is anaphylaxis and it says you need to inject the pen at first sign of symptoms, but i would have no clue when that would be for me??
I am basically at a wall…i just dont know what to do next..
Keri,
As difficult as it is for your doctors to determine what is going on with you, it is even more difficult for me to know through the internet. Your symptoms seem like allergic reactions, but could also be low blood sugar, panic attacks and a host of other conditions.
Let me give you a few suggestions:
1. You probably are not allergic to as many foods as you think you are.
2. If you are scared to eat something, why not eat it right before you visit the doctor.
3. You might want to find someone to sit with you or somewhere you feel safe where you can try to expand the foods you are eating.
4. Stay away from the common allergen foods such as wheat, nuts, dairy, shellfish and others.
5. Stay in control of your food, cook or make everything you eat.
Like I said before, you brain is designed to help you discover what is good for you and what is not, just make sure that the tail is not wagging the dog and that you are still getting enough of the nutrients you need in order to be healthy.
p.s. i am in canada, so that site cant be used by me, any ideas on the canadian site?
Here you go: http://www.cand.ca/index.php?L=0
All of my conventional method testing has come back negative….so i cant find anyone that will listen to me, even some of my family thinks im crazy. If all my bloodwork came back negative, should i take that to mean i most likely do NOT have anaphylaxis?? I want to know if i should be as worried as i am about it? And are there a lot of people that are anaphylactically allergic to more than one thing??
The problem is, i dont know if this is anaphylaxis or not…so i dont know where to go from here..need some direction badly!!
Check this site for symptoms of anaphylaxis: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/anaphylaxis/DS00009/DSECTION=symptoms and see how your symptoms fit. There are many symptoms of allergic reactions, but anaphylaxis can be life threatening. It may be best to visit your doctor to get a clear idea of your symptoms and if they are dangerous.
So are you suggesting that some of my reactions are effectively ‘in my head?’ I am just so worried about having an anaphylactic reaction that my whole life revolves completely around trying to prevent an attack, at whatever cost. My reactions are horrible and can sometimes last up to 4-6 hours. I have had an attack last 8 hours before, on and off. What do you suggest i do then? Eat whatever? I want to eat sooooo badly and will go buy foods that i want to try but i can never muster up enough courage to just put it in my mouth. With work and kids, it is impossible for me to eat through the day, i cant risk having an attack at work or when cating for the kids, i normally eat once per day when kids are in bed. I am going downhill and FAST….i want someone to tell me what to do. If i was your daughter, what would you tell ,me?
Keri,
No, I’m not suggesting that it is all in your head. An anaphylactic reaction is far from being in your head. I can only talk in generalities on my blog, you need someone who you can visit and who can look over your case closer than I can. There are Naturopathic doctors almost everywhere and you can find one by going to this site: http://www.naturopathic.org/ .
Dr scott
What in the world am i supposed to do?? At this point i am eating lettuce and cauliflower, ALL other foods are making me react and my reactions are pretty severe, throat swelling, heart racing, cant breathe, etc…I have an epi-pen just in case but i find that this doesn’t help me at all. I am SCARED STIFF of ‘trying’ things, i feel like i dont even want to live sometimes. I am weighing in at 85lbs right now and am soooo unhealthy. I have a job and family to care for….I just cant keep going on like this. It has been like this for 2 1/2 years now and up until last month, i had been ‘ok’ because i was eating beef, but b/c i had eaten it soooo many times, it too started to bother me, same with chicken, which i ate everyday sometimes 2 times for a few months. And i was eating pears for the last month, but now they are no good also. It just seeems like everything i put into my mouth is making me react and when faced with the decision to react or not to react, i usually choose to NOT react, which means i dont eat at all. I am sooo lost, even the foods on the ‘least allergenic’ list are bothering me. I am seeing a doc but am not thinking they will find anything…already had skin test turn up negative…now i am paying out my butt for the blood testing, which with most likely be negative also. I am sick of feeling like i am crazy, i need help and i need it now!!
Keri, you condition is not that uncommon, I wrote another post that should help you: http://olsonnd.com/allergic-to-everything-part-two/