Food Allergy and Hypersensitivity
By Pamela Lee, from March 1998 Newsletter
Food allergies are troublesome, but one can still enjoy food, eat well, and healthily in spite of them. I know; I suffer from food allergies. My "allergic" problems did not start with food. It began with a workplace exposure that left me chemically sensitive. But, as is apparently often the case, other allergies followed. I admit that I miss being able to eat the all the foods I used to be able to consume (symptom free). But, I eat well nonetheless, and continue to enjoy cooking.

If you suspect that you may be allergic to food, but haven' t figured out which, there are a number of approaches to finding out if you are allergic. There are elimination diets, food journals, skin tests (more accurate for inhalant allergies), a blood test called a RAST (radio-allergo-sorbent) test, and a FICA test. There are a lot of good books that explain these methods and tests, so I'm not going take up a lot of space explaining on them.

In brief, the problem in diagnosing food allergies is that not all food intolerances are mediated by the immune system's mast cells (IgE, IgG, etc.). Adverse reactions to a food (or food additive) may be definite and extreme, but are technically considered "hypersensitivity", "an intolerance", or "idiosyncrasy" if immunoglobulins are not involved. Even anaphylaxis is considered "idiosyncratic" if immunoblobulins are not involved.

To make detection even more difficult, food intolerance can be masked if you are eating the problem food every day. (This is where the elimination diet, then controlled reintroduction is useful.) I've often read that if you strongly suspect that you are allergic to something you are eating, the foods that you crave most are the likely culprits. The vast majority of food allergies are nagging symptoms produced by foods that are eaten every day - milk, wheat, eggs, soy, corn, citrus fruits and yeast. Adverse reactions can be immediate or delayed. Food intolerance can affect a range of body systems, including the gastrointestinal, genitourinary (e.g. bedwetting), mental/emotional, musculoskeletal, respiratory, skin, and the immune systems.

If you are allergic or hypersensitive to particular foods, you may have to rethink what you eat and how you cook. You may need to spend more
time preparing food, since quick snacks are difficult to find, especially when you are away from home. I'm allergic to wheat, dairy, and sesame, and I don't tolerate beans; on the days when I need to avoid these foods, I have to plan ahead and pack food when I leave the house. If you need to avoid wheat (and spelt and kamut), baking becomes a challenge, though it can be done. I find savory foods the easiest to adapt to my particular allergies. One needs to educate oneself, and read labels carefully.

Many processed and prepared food products may contain the very food you are trying to avoid. For instance, "whey", "lactose", and "caseinate" are all dairy products found in a host of foods - including seasoned potato and corn chips. Corn lurks in aspirin, beer, powdered sugar, and salad dressing to name just a few products. People who are especially corn sensitive may even have to avoid paper cups and milk cartons, which may be coated with cornstarch. A book that lists food families can be helpful, especially if you are going to undertake a rotation diet. The food family list that I've found most useful is an 8 page booklet that I bought when I ordered a back issue (#6) of the Mastering Food Allergies Newsletter. You can write Mast Enterprises, Inc. 2615 N. 4th St. #616, Coeur d'Alene, ID 83814 for a list of newsletter back issues. This newsletter is no longer being published, but back issues are still available. The woman who published the newsletter was cured! (I'm currently under the same treatment regimen, with fingers crossed in hope.)

Tips and Recipes

Two Wheat-Free, Corn-Free Baking Powders:

First recipe: 3/4 cup cream of tartar + 9 T. bicarbonate of soda + 6 T. potato starch flour.
Sift three times, mixing well each time. Store in an airtight jar.

Second recipe: 1/3 cup baking soda or potassium bicarbonate + 2/3 cup cream of tartar + 2/3 cup arrowroot. Mix well and store in an airtight container. 1 teaspoon of regular baking powder = 1 1/2 t. of arrowroot baking powder.

A cornstarch substitute: substitute 2 1/2 teaspoons of arrowroot for each 1 tablespoon of cornstarch. Do not use arrowroot in a recipe that has to be rewarmed. It loses its thickening capacity. Instead, use tapioca, potato, chickpea, buckwheat, or brown rice flours as a substitute for cornstarch.

For breading foods without wheat: use buckwheat flour, puffed amaranth, arrowroot, tapioca starch flour, or oat flour. Avoid using potato, chickpea, or rice flours; they don't work well as breading.

Egg substitute: This mixture will bind patties, meat loaves, cookies and cakes as well as eggs do. But it will not leaven like eggs for souffles or sponge cakes. This makes about 1/4 cup, enough to substitute for one egg. You can double or triple it.

1/3 cup water
1 T. whole flaxseed

Place the water and flaxseed in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat so mixture bubbles slowly. Cook for 5 minutes, or until mixture is the consistency of a raw egg white. Do not use too high a heat or mixture will become thick and gummy. You needn't bother straining out the flaxseeds. They don't have much flavor and won't detract from whatever you're making.

Good Morning Kasha
Serves 2

1 cup raw kasha (buckwheat groats)
2 cups water
1 cup rice milk (Rice Dream)
1/2 cup unsweetened flaked coconut (optional)
1/4 cup raisins
1/3 cup unsalted walnuts
3 T. pure maple syrup
2 t. pure vanilla extract
1/2 t. cinnamon

Rinse the kasha and remove any impurities. In a medium-size saucepan bring the water and rice milk to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and add the remaining ingredients. Cook uncovered over
medium heat for 15 minutes or until all the liquid is absorbed. Serve hot or cold with rice milk or juice.

Wheat-Free Waffles
Yield: Five 8-inch waffles
(Note: the substitutions, in parenthesis, are mine.)

1 1/2 cups cooked short-grain brown rice
4-5 T. butter (or oil)
1/4 cup honey
3/4 cup milk (or rice or soy milk)
2 eggs, separated
1 1/2 cups brown-rice flour
2 t. wheat-free, corn-free baking powder
3/4 t. cinnamon
1/4 t. nutmeg

In a 4-quart saucepan, heat rice, 3 tablespoons butter (or oil), honey, and milk together until butter melts. With a wire whisk, beat the egg yolks until frothy and add to rice mixture. Remove from heat.

In a small bowl, mix flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg and add to the rice mixture. Let stand while beating egg whites until stiff. Fold in egg whites. Melt a small amount of the remaining butter (or oil) on a heated waffle iron.

Spread 2/3 cup of batter on waffle iron. (Batter will be thick.) Cook waffles approximately 10 minutes. Use a small amount of butter (or oil) to coat iron before making each waffle. Keep waffles warm and serve with maple syrup.

Note: Because these waffles take a little longer to cook than conventional wheat waffles you may want to put them in a warm oven as they come off the iron, keeping them hot until all the waffles are done.

Pizza…the very thought of it evokes pangs of hunger from anyone who catches it thrown into conversation. That coveted combination of carbohydrates, cheese, and your favorite toppings makes everyone happy, and has infinite variations. One of the oldest known answers to the question "What's for dinner", pizza began as the day's leftover bread dough topped with more leftovers and heated to perfection. A baker for the royal court in eighteenth-century Naples, Italy, is credited by some sources as the first to `invent' pizza, but this simple meal is now infinitely reinvented.

If the day has gone awry and we just need some comfort food, we can have it made to order and brought to our doorstep without even leaving the couch. The ready-made idea is great for stressful days, yet nothing is more heavenly than homemade pizza. It was a Friday night tradition in our house that required a little more effort for my mom than just picking up the phone, yet the rave reviews we doled out must have been worth it. Every Friday night pizza was better than the last, and far exceeded our hungry imaginations and any fast-food or frozen variety.

Pizza is the ultimate food craving, and most people dash all of their healthy intentions for those slices of heaven. Yet by making it yourself, you can easily make it healthier and in tune with your cravings (and whatever's in your refrigerator or cupboard!)

It's not hard to take the basic idea of pizza and fly with it: you can make chocolate pizza for dessert, pita, or tortilla pizza for lunch, Thai, or Mexican pizzas for dinner. Be creative! I have seen some recipes that use brown rice (1 ½ cups) mixed with an egg and mozzarella cheese (2oz.) for the crust, yet I still prefer a good flour-based crust. (To try a rice crust, mix all ingredients and press into an oiled 12-inch pan, bake first at 400 for 4 min., add toppings and cook 8-10 min.) You can use whole wheat flour, but using half white flour makes it stick together better.

My favorite crust recipe is as follows: Mix 1 cup warm water, 1 Tbsp. yeast, 1 Tbsp. honey, 1 tsp. Salt, and 1 Tbsp. oil and let stand for 5 minutes. Mix in a cup of white and a cup of whole wheat flour, knead with another ½ cup white flour for five minutes, let rise in a covered bowl for 10-20 minutes, and press into pizza pan. Top with anything and cook for 20-30 minutes at 350. You can vary the size of the pan if you prefer thick crust to thin crust. I like to add surprises to the crust mix such as garlic, minced fresh basil, or grains. One of the best topping combinations, in my opinion, are minced fresh garlic, fresh basil, a little olive oil, spices, feta and parmesan cheeses, and some fresh or sundried tomatoes. Suggestion for vegans and anyone wanting to eat less dairy: Substitute tofu cheese or soy cheese instead of dairy cheese products…OR enjoy your pizza creation "cheese- less" by just adding extra spices to boost flavor! Add minced raw garlic and fresh herbs! Experiment and have fun with our celebrated (albeit adopted) national food, and give new meaning to the "pizza party!" Bon Appetite!

Mexican Pizza

Prepare crust (see above)

Mix 1 can tomato paste with a cup of your favorite salsa and spread on crust

Top with olives, peppers, onions, black beans, monterey jack and cheddar cheeses, bake at 350 20-30 min. Garnish with fresh cilantro, sour cream, and guacamole. Bueno!

Spicy Thai Pizza

Prepare crust (the brown rice crust, above, would be perfect)

Combine and set aside:

¾ Cup crunchy peanut butter
1/2 Cup hot water
¼ Cup minced fresh cilantro
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
2 Tbsp. dark sesame oil—divided
¼ tsp. ground red pepper

Stir-fry on med-high heat until tender-crisp:

1 Tbsp. sesame oil:
2 Cups broccoli
1 medium red onion
2 large carrots, julienned

Spread peanut sauce over crust and top with vegetable mixture. Sprinkle with 1 cup mozzarella or tofurella, or your favorite cheese. Bake at 400 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Let stand 5 mins. before serving.

Breakfast Pizza

Pizza for breakfast is especially yummy!

Try using a bagel, English muffin, toast, or pita bread topped with ricotta or cream cheese, fresh fruit, and a drizzle of honey and heat in your broiler or toaster oven until hot. Or, butter two slices of toast, top with apples and Parmesan or Brie cheese, broil till bubbly…the best!

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