So, everyone loves chocolate, right? If only it loved all of us back! Chocolate, unfortunately, tops my list of common foods that may very well be causing a food intolerance reaction. Read on to hear what else could be doing you more harm than good…
if chocolate is a problem, small quantities may still be ok… or try my delicious carob cake!
1. Chocolate (and amines)
I know, I know, this one is a killer, right? How can you deprive your kids of chocolate!? Well, it depends how severe the reaction is. If the anger and tantrums are coming thick and fast after a chocolate bar, it might be time to ease off a bit and limit chocolate to small amounts and not every day.
I used to eat copious amounts as a kid – almost like an addiction. I could knock over a whole Sarah Lee chocolate cake in an afternoon, given half the chance. I also had issues with concentration, hyperactivity and aggression, common signs of intolerance. (Don’t get me started on the dairy in it, and my lifelong blocked nose…). I know sugar is often to blame, and it definitely doesn’t help the emotional rollercoaster, but if your kids (or you) are showing signs of anger or sadness, then it’s more likely the amines.
Watch out also for reactions to bacon, ham, chicken skin, prawns, canned tuna, nuts and seeds. And everything in moderation – a little bit may be fine.
2. Salicylates in everyday fruit and veg
Red delicious apples are a great alternative to stone fruits
How delicious is fruit? I’m thinking of peaches, watermelon, grapes, strawberries, sultanas, kiwi fruit… and the list goes on! If your little munchkins crave them like lollies, and then go a little loopy doing circle work around the house (mine can literally circle the kitchen bench… repeatedly!), then maybe it’s an intolerance to salicylates. That’s the naturally occurring chemical in fruits and vegetables that deters insects from eating them… so no wonder it doesn’t agree with some sensitive little bodies. Thankfully, the riper the fruit is, the less salicylates it contains. (But the reverse is true for amines, so a banana or avocado, which contain amines, are higher in chemicals as they ripen.)
If you suspect salicylates, spend a couple of weeks eating pears, golden or red delicious apples and bananas and watch for an improvement. If you’re still reacting, check out the veggies that could be a problem too.
3. Sauces and gravies
Hmmm, another thing I craved and indulged in as a child… BBQ sauce! (Yeah, I’ll admit, there is a sugar theme here too… but I digress.) Sauces and gravies, like everything tasty, are full of food chemicals, and in this case it’s glutamates. MSG is a glutamate, so if you’ve reacted to Chinese take away in the past, or crave it, chances are you’ve got a glutamates intolerance. Steer clear of all sauces that you haven’t made yourself – the more processed and the longer they’ve been cooked, the more food chemicals.
See if you react to too much vegemite, baked beans, tomato sauce, soy sauce, mustard or fermented foods.
Homemade pear jam can be a tasty sauce substitute
4. Cow’s dairy
I’ve seen a lot of people with an intolerance to dairy, with symptoms ranging from diarrhoea to nasal congestion, itchy eyes and throat. It’s difficult to diagnose because most people eat dairy every day so symptoms are just always there. Also, it’s important to have plenty of calcium for healthy bones and teeth, so if you can’t have any dairy, you’ll need to eat lots of green leafy vegetables, tahini, almonds and canned salmon with crushed bones. This isn’t easy if you’re intolerant to salicylates and amines.
The alternative is to try other sources of dairy, such as goat, sheep and buffalo, and calcium-enriched soy or rice milk. Soft goat’s cheeses and Meredith Dairy sheep’s yoghurt are both low in amines and absolutely delicious. Buffalo mozzarella and other sheep and goat’s cheeses are available from delis and fruit shops – you just need to hunt around your local area and try out what’s available. The reason these non-cow alternatives are often well tolerated is the smaller size of the protein particles and because they haven’t been processed and changed over decades.
5. Wheat and gluten
This is a tricky issue. Some people are sensitive to wheat, but can tolerate other gluten foods, such as rye or barley. Some people with coeliac disease have a severe allergy to all gluten-containing foods and need to avoid them for life. Other people have a sensitivity to all gluten, but don’t have coeliac disease.
The reason for all this is the hybridisation of wheat that occurred in the 1980’s, changing it to a super grain that has a higher yield for farmers. Unfortunately, this super grain contains altered starch and protein (gluten) molecules which make it hard to digest, affecting our gut and immune systems. Wheat has been linked to obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease and numerous auto-immune conditions, which are rapidly growing in prevalence in Western countries.
So for anyone with a sensitive tummy, or kids with behavioural reactions to wheat, or even anyone just looking to improve their health and prevent disease, staying off wheat is a really good idea. Whether you avoid all gluten is up to you, and how severe your intolerances are. Usually if your gut is sensitive and you’re reacting to lots of foods, avoiding all gluten foods is the safest.
6. Artificial colours, flavours and preservatives
When my son was a toddler (before I knew about nutrition and intolerances), I gave him dried fruit every day, and believed it was healthy. I should have known better… sulphites are in almost all dried fruit (preservatives used so the fruit keeps its colour) and if I paid attention, they had always given me asthma. There is a lot of research around this one, so if you have asthma, hay fever or eczema, or any intolerance, avoid these #200s like the plague.
All the #100s are colours and like preservatives, research backs up the link to health concerns, such as poor concentration, hyperactivity and irritability. Some are worse than others, but if you or your kids are sensitive to any foods, smells or chemicals, then just avoid them all!
MSG is disguised as a flavour enhancer these days, which is actually quite evil, I think. Watch out for #620-635, as well as hydrolysed or textured vegetable protein. All could cause nausea, vomiting, headaches and a foggy brain in sensitive people.
So what do I do now?
If you think you’ve noticed a reaction to any of these common foods, try eliminating them for a couple of weeks and see if symptoms subside. Then add them back in, one at a time, and wait to see if you get a reaction. It can be quite confusing and difficult and is really best done under the guidance of an informed nutritionist, who understands food intolerance. Come and see me in clinic for a personalised appointment (make sure you request Kate Gray) or sign up for my newsletter on the right to get more helpful tips and tricks for managing your own or your kids’ food intolerances.
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