The “Top Ten” Allergens
Thursday, May 19th, 2011THE “TOP TEN” ALLERGENS
In each of the preceding seven chapters, we have discussed elimination of one specific food or one type of food. In practice, people often need to avoid more than one food, especially while they are trying to determine exactly which ones they are allergic to. If you need to avoid only one, two, or three foods, the previous chapters will give you enough information to do so without risking nutritional deficiencies. By consuming the “foods allowed” for each food restriction, it should not be a problem for you to ensure that you obtain adequate nutrition while on the exclusion diet. However, in some cases, more than two or three foods need to be avoided. This chapter will provide you with the information that will allow you to avoid the ten most allergenic foods and still not risk nutritional deficiency.
The Allergenic “Top Ten” Foods
Milk and milk products, egg, wheat, corn, soy, peanut, tree nuts, chocolate, fish, and shellfish are the most frequent causes of food allergy. The more foods a person needs to avoid, the greater is the risk for nutritional deficiency. When many foods are removed from the diet at the same time, it is important to find substitute foods that will replace the important nutrients that are restricted. Table 15-1 lists substitute foods to ensure adequate nutritional intake when a person is avoiding these ten most highly allergenic foods at the same time.
How Long Should I Stay on a Restricted Diet?
A very restricted diet should not be followed initially for longer than four weeks, after which time each food should be retested to confirm that it really needs to be avoided. If one or more of the specified foods do not cause symptoms when they are consumed after elimination, they can be included in the diet, which will then become more nutritionally complete and easier to manage.
Bach of the ten foods restricted on the diet in Table Diet free from milk, egg, wheat, corn, soy,peanut, tree nuts, fish, shellfish, and chocolate can be found in many products and has many derivatives. It would require extensive lists of foods and their products to cover all possible dietary sources. Reading of food labels is essential to detect the allergen as an ingredient in processed and prepared foods. Because so many foods are restricted on this diet, information is provided only for the foods allowed.
If enough of the foods allowed in the “top ten allergens” elimination diet in Table Diet free from milk, egg, wheat, corn, soy, peanut, tree nuts, fish, shellfish, and chocolate are consumed, and the diet is limited to four weeks, nutritional deficiency should not be a problem. Possibly the only supplements required are calcium and vitamin D. However, a person following this diet for longer than four weeks is strongly advised to check with a physician and a dietitian for guidance in choosing appropriate supplements.
Table Diet free from milk, egg, wheat, corn, soy, peanut, tree nuts, fish, shellfish, and chocolate
| Type of Food | Foods Allowed |
| Milk and
Milk Products |
• Milk and soy-free products such as
- Rice Dream (made from brown rice and safflower oil) - Darifree(made from potato starch) • In recipes, substitute - fruit or vegetable juice - homemade soup stock - water used to cook vegetables or potatoes • Instead of butter use -whey-free, soy-free, corn-free margarine (e.g., Canoleo) - pure jelly -jam - honey - herb-flavored olive oil • Dressings on vegetables and salad: - olive oil with herbs - homemade salad dressings made with allowed ingredients |
| Grains, Cereals,
and Bakery Products |
Grains and flours:
• Amaranth and amaranth flour • Barley and barley flour • Buckwheat and buckwheat flour • Chickpea or garbanzo bean flour (besan) • Millet and millet flour (bajri) • T’eff • Oats and oat flour • Potato starch and flour • Quinoa and quinoa flour • Rice and rice flour • Wild rice and wild rice flour • Rye and rye flour • Sago and sago flour • Tapioca; tapioca starch and flour • Cassava flour and starch Breads and baked goods: • Baked goods and specialty baking mixes containing allowed ingredients such as: - Ener-G rice, brown rice, or tapioca bread - Celimix rice or flaxmeal bread • Homemade baked goods made with allowed flours and grains Crackers and snacks: • Potato chips made with allowed oil, such as Nalley 100% Golden Light Chips • Pure rye crisp crackers • Rice cakes • Rice crackers Cereals: • Made from any of the allowed grains such as - Cream of Rice - Kenmei Rice Bran, - Puffed rice - Rice flakes - Oatmeal - Rolled oats - Oat bran - Rye flakes - Granola made with allowed ingredients only - Puffed amaranth - Puffed millet - Quinoa flakes Pasta: • Made from any allowed grains and free from wheat and other restricted ingredients, such as - Brown rice pasta - Wild rice pasta - Mung bean pasta - Green bean pasta - Buckwheat pasta (soba noodles) - Rice pasta - Rice noodles - Potato pasta - Quinoa pasta |
| Vegetables | • All plain fresh and frozen vegetables and their juices except
- Corn - Soybeans - Soybean sprouts - Mixed sprouts |
| Fruit | • All plain fresh and frozen fruits and their juices |
| Meat and
Poultry |
• All fresh or frozen pure meat or poultry Avoid any meat mixed with additional ingredients, such as processed meats, sausages, and all deli meats. |
| Fish and Shellfish | • None |
| Eggs | • None
• Use egg-free egg replacer products such as Ener-G Egg Replacer |
| Legumes | • All plain legumes and legume dishes prepared with allowed foods, except soy and peanut |
| Nuts | • None |
| Seeds | • All seeds such as
-Anise - Caraway - Cumin - Fennel -Flax - Melon - Mustard - Pepper - Poppy - Pumpkin - Sesame - Sunflower |
| Fats and Oils | • Vegetable oils such as
- Olive - Canola - Sunflower - Safflower - Flaxseed • Meat drippings • Lard • Poultry fat • Homemade gravy with allowed ingredients • Tahini (sesame seed butter) |
| Spices and Herbs | • All pure fresh or dried herbs and spices |