Elimination Diets for Food Allergies

Source: justinknol

I've been having sporadic allergic reactions for the last few months. Every once in a while I'd eat something that would upset my body...and I'd itch for hours. It wasn't "all over itching" but rather "spotty itching" where I'd itch in one spot for a second and then another spot another second - AUGH! Then the next morning, I'd wake up with a light case of red, itchy dots and dry skin on the back, lower half of my shins. Weird, huh? Most people get hives on their chest or arms or all over...no, I have to get them on the back lower half of my shins!

So, after months of this sporadic insanity, I decided late last week to do an elimination diet. I ate pure protein last weekend (meat, chicken, eggs) and on Monday, began to add food back into my diet, starting with the "lower allergenic" ones so I'd have some variety in my diet.

By Weds, I had figured out I could eat protein, peanuts, nuts, watermelon, honeydew, carrots, celery, cucumbers, pears, and a few other minor things. I still had to test apples, cantaloupes, and nightshades (tomatoes / potatoes / peppers), all of which I've eaten a lot of in the last few months.

First were apples - I ate 3 apples over a 24 hour period with no adverse reaction, so they were safe. Yeah! Can't live without my "apple w/ peanut butter" treat. ;-)

Then came cantaloupes. These melons are a treat for us - I only buy them when they're on sale...but they've been on sale a lot this summer. First clue!   So, for dinner last night, we had steak, cut-up carrots and celery with ranch salad dressing for dipping, and cantaloupe. Not even an hour later, I started itching all over, my throat was sore, and it felt like a sumo wrestler was sitting on my chest. Ah-ha!

All the symptoms passed in another hour (I only ate a little). So, after I put the kids to bed at 8, I decided to really test it. I mean, I did eat a whole meal with it - the itching could have been caused by something else. So, I had another serving of cantaloupe - and all the symptoms came barreling back.

So, I guess I'm allergic to cantaloupe. Damn! I like cantaloupe!

I'm still going to test nightshades this weekend, just to make sure I don't have a second food issue. Should be fun fun fun! ;-)