***Disclaimer: All information contained in this group is
intended to help you navigate the difficulties of elimination diets, under the
advisement of your care provider. This group does not purport to give you
medical advice or direction. Do not take the advice given in this group as that
given in a professional medical capacity.
When you have to give up a certain food item (e.g. dairy,
soy, gluten, corn, eggs, nuts), you wonder how it is going to affect your
approach to grocery shopping. If you are not in the habit of scanning labels
and researching ingredients, now is the time to start. Going on an elimination
diet can be difficult and intimidating at first. But, in time, you will realize
that you can still eat well and be healthy, with a little more preparation.
Start Simply
At the beginning, you may be mourning the loss of the food
item you have to give up. And, that is more than OK. Give yourself the time to grieve
for the food changes you have to make. But then, get down to business. Invest
time into researching the common problems associated with the allergy or
intolerance you are trying to manage. We have files on the most common
allergens and diet eliminations. Once you know what you need to avoid, start
with what you have. The less you focus on what you cannot eat, the less
deprived you will feel. Almost everyone can eat most meats and produce. Depending
on your eliminations, you can likely have at least some grains, including rice,
millet and quinoa. Barring a nut allergy, you can freely enjoy nuts. Plus,
chances are really good that you can still have your coffee, tea or wine.
Navigating the Store
When you look at the average grocery store, you will notice
that they are largely laid-out in a similar fashion. Produce, dairy, deli, the
meat counter and the bakery generally run around the perimeter of the store.
For the most part (and of course there are exceptions), the most natural foods
you can get are on the perimeter. In the center, in the aisles, you find
processed, packaged and frozen foods. Once you know where the stuff you need to
buy is located, you can start work on your shopping list.
Creating a Shopping List
Hopefully, by now you have checked our other files for your
specific allergy or intolerance and you know what to look for. You might feel
intimidated about how you are going to find anything to eat. After all, several
people have already told you that “everything has dairy/soy/eggs/gluten/corn/nuts”
in it. In fact, this is not entirely true. It is true that a lot of packaged
foods have ingredients you would not expect. But, this is not the end of the
universe. Consider elimination to be your opportunity to seriously cut back on
the amount of processed and packaged foods you bring into your home.
There are two approaches to grocery shopping while
eliminating, and you will probably do both to some degree. The first is to keep
it simple, and start making foods from scratch that you know do not contain the
ingredients you are trying to avoid. Don’t worry! If you do not have a lot of
experience cooking or baking, just start slowly. The Internet is full of easy
recipes to help you get started. When you plan your shopping list, start with
what you know. Plan to fill up your cart with the basics, including fresh fruit
and vegetables, meat, safe grains and nuts if you can tolerate them. Think
about healthy oils you can use for baking and frying. Don’t forget herbs and
spices to season your cooked food. If you choose to buy canned or frozen goods
to supplement your list, be sure to check the ingredients before you buy.
The second approach is to buy some packaged foods that you
know are free from the item(s) you are eliminating. This takes a little more
research in the shop, as you will need to carefully examine the ingredient
lists. At the bottom of this file, you will find ingredients to avoid based on
your particular elimination. Some products will be advertised as “dairy-free”
or “gluten-free” or whatever. You still have to read the ingredient list to be
sure. Even with all this care and research, you may still occasionally fall
victim to “hidden” sources of that allergen. If you do your best to inform
yourself and avoid the ingredient, this will be a minimal occurrence.
Replacements
Since manufacturers realized there is a big market out there
for people who want or need to avoid eating a particular food, tons of products
have flooded the market that claim to be “gluten-free,” “paleo,” etc. Take
these packages with care and a grain of salt. Just because a product is
“organic” or free of whatever you are trying to avoid, does not mean it is
automatically healthy. For example, many people eschew cow’s milk because it is
processed and, in some cases, contains antibiotics and hormones. If you are
trying to go dairy-free, you might be excited by the hordes of alternative
milks you can choose from instead of cow’s milk. But, before you start buying,
take a look at the process. You cannot milk almonds or rice. These products are
heavily processed and have a lot of cheap fillers to make them taste better and
increase the manufacturers’ profit margins. So, they are dairy-free, but not
particularly healthy. You may find that making these things yourself is not
just cheaper, but healthier and tastier. The same goes for those gluten-free
Oreos. Buy them as a snack if you will, but don’t interpret a lack of certain
ingredients as your license to binge.
Striving for a healthier diet is a big part of elimination.
If you start slow, you can make it easy to adjust. Before you know it, you will
be telling others that it was not that hard.
Allergen Checklists:
Dairy:
Butter
Animal Milk (typically cow or goat)
Butter
Cheese
Casein
Whey
Sodium Caseinate
Lactose
Soy:
Edamame
Miso
Natto
Shoyu
Soy (soy albumin, soy cheese, soy fiber, soy
flour, soy grits, soy ice cream, soy milk, soy nuts, soy sprouts, soy yogurt)
Soya
Soybean (curd, granules)
Soy lecithin
Soybean oil
Soy protein (concentrate, hydrolyzed,
isolate)
Soy sauce
Tamari
Tempeh
Textured Vegetable Protein (TVP)
Tofu
Gluten:
Wheat
Barley
Rye
http://www.glutenfreegluten.com/wp-content/downloads/Hidden_Gluten_Sources.pdf
Egg:
http://www.kidswithfoodallergies.org/docs/Egg_Allergy_Avoidance_List.pdf
Corn:
http://www.cornallergens.com/list/corn-allergen-list.php
