Cooking With Allergies

One day, after my skin had started to flare up and become very itchy, I decided to make an appointment with my doctor for an allergy test.

Now, I’ve suffered from eczema since I was a little girl, but I finally decided to get to the bottom of it and try to avoid it or, perhaps, take control the situation.

I had around 40 allergens tested on my skin from a basic scratch test and I reacted to around 14 allergens, which caused an outburst of itchiness that made me fidget and teary. It doesn’t hurt but it does make you quite irritable.

Finally, the test showed that I am allergic to practically everything, the most significant being MSG, preservatives, gluten, sulphites and chemicals; basically all the stuff that makes food yummy.

It broke my heart. I decided that avoiding everything was pointless, since I grew up on these foods and the allergies aren’t life threatening. If I want to decrease my eczema and promote healthy skin for my body, I need to find out exactly what is causing the outbreak. It could be as simple as one ingredient or preservative.

I started to avoid gluten, MSG, preservatives, chemicals and sulphites to see if anything would change. Everything that I ate in my original diet changed and food became boring and dull. I haven’t been able to eat oats, pizza bases, cheese, pasta, strawberries, jelly and many other yummy foods that I usually fit into my flexible diet.

As of recent, I found that pumpkin could be the possible cause for my eczema, because when I touch it I become itchy and it triggers my eczema. After avoiding pumpkin for two days now, I haven’t had much of an itch.

It’s a long and painful process finding out what causes my eczema, but I’m on the right track now. It’s time consuming and I know that it will benefit me in the long run.

So, what exactly have I been eating in the last week and half?

Nothing exciting at all … basically, everyday I am eating the same thing.

• Breakfast: Frozen banana, WPI protein, and water in my NutriBullet.
• Pre-workout
• Post-workout: Jasmine rice, honey, WPI protein, chia seeds
• Lunch: Eggs, vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower
• Dinner: Skinless chicken breast, chicken stock, zucchini, green beans
• Snack: Dates, almonds

I suppose it’s lucky that I don’t have an allergy to nuts; otherwise my diet would be harder work, not to mention the seriousness of a nut allergy and the risk of dying from a reaction.

I’ve started to become a lot more creative with my foods now that I’m a flexible dieter, but it’s also a pain having to read the backs of labels and understand exactly what I am feeding my body.