Baker's/Brewer's Yeast

This is definitely the hardest intolerance to deal with.  It is my highest allergy which I get physically sick from if I ingest.  Also, it is the allergen that I am having the hardest time finding information on.  I will give you everything I have found so far.  Hopefully, I can post later with loads of information.

Foods that MAY contain Baker's or Brewer's yeast:
Aged meats (sausage, bacon, etc.)
Alcohol
Any baked good with baker’s yeast (pizza dough, bread, etc., including most sourdough breads)
Anything fermented (vinegar, alcohol, bean paste, soy sauce, etc.)
B Vitamins, unless stated that they are not from yeast

Label Reading: Egg

When reading the ingredients on the label, here are Ingredients to Avoid:
albumin
egg (white, yolk, dried, powdered, solids)
egg substitutes          
eggnog                         
globulin
lecithin
livetin                         
lysozyme                     
mayonnaise                  
meringue               
ovalbumin
ovoglobulin
ovomucin  
ovomucoid
ovovitellin                   
Simplesse
vitellin

Note:  Watch for eggs in desserts (especially those with shiny glaze), baked products, pastas (egg noodles), pancake mixes, custard or hollandaise sauces.

Label Reading: Dairy/Lactose

Label reading for Dairy is a little more complicated than one may think.  I was a big coffee drinker.  My company supplies non-dairy creamer which I grabbed:

No big deal right?  That was an easy replacement.

Check this out:

Label Reading: Gluten/Wheat

When reading the ingredients on the label, here are Ingredients To Avoid:

all-purpose flour

bulgar  

bran

bread crumbs

cake flour

couscous

cracker meal

durum

durum flour

enriched flour

Starvation Sensation?

When you are first starting out and re-learning how to eat, sometimes it is hard to get that "I'm full" feeling; especially if you are craving foods that you cannot have. This is what I used during those times.


Everyone has that emergency moment when you are running late and starving.  So you grab a candy bar or swing through a drive-through, which no longer is an easy option.  So this protein drink became my favorite quick fix.  I use this most days for breakfast.  It is a protein powder called Spiru-Tein.  You can find this online or at most GNC stores.  Be careful.  Most protein powders contain milk or milk protects.  This is the only one I found that does not contain any of my allergies.  It does contain soy.

It is a meal substitute and  has all your daily vitamins.  You can mix it with juice or milk.  There are lots of different flavors.  It comes with a scooper that is measured for every eight ounces of liquid.  This makes the container last a long time.  I use a blender with the chocolate and soy milk.  Yes, sometimes I even add some Rice Dream Ice-cream for a no-milkshake. 

Common Sense $$$ Saving Tips for Allergy-Friendly Shopping

If you are like me you have realized that grocery shopping with food allergies can get expensive.  Fortunately, it makes eating out less common which saves money.  

I'm sure we have all walked into an organic or "allergy friendly" grocery store and gone wild because there are so many foods there that we can actually eat.   We aren't walking down aisle after aisle reading labels and getting frustrated.  It is easy to let that get the best of you.

The most important thing is to buy everything you can at your everyday grocery store.  Specialty grocers are typically more expensive all around which makes one-stop shopping a hole in your wallet.  If you stick to the perimeters of your everyday grocery store, it will take the frustration out and also save you some money.

Allergy Cooking Aides

Before finding out about my food intolerances, processed foods were my thing.  I'm sure this is true with most insanely busy people or people that have no interest in being a gourmet chef.  You come home from work, pop a pre-made lasagna in the oven and wait an hour.  Now, all you have to do is call the kids for dinner.

I have a small kitchen so I'm not big on appliances but I have found some incredibly useful.  So here are my four recommendations:

• Food Steamer.  This is the particular one I bought; although there are many different kinds and sizes.  For my kitchen, this was small enough but also big enough to hold everything I need at once.  It comes with a rice holder which eliminates the need to also buy a rice cooker.  This cooks your food and keeps it nice and moist in the meantime.  You can use it to make a stir-fry without having to stand and "stir-fry" it.  You put your food in, set the timer and don't worry about it. It has a guide on which foods take how much time, etc.  Once the time is up, it switches over to a hold-warm mode.  So if you are in the shower, it does not dry out your food.  This is one of my favorite ways of cooking because everything stays moist.  I put my rice on the bottom in the rice container, surround that container with vegetables, put my meat on top with more vegetables and that's it.  You can always heat up your sauce while the steamer is going. My favorite is Trader

Two Birds with One Stone (Gluten Free = Wheat Free)

If you have an allergy to gluten and wheat, I always find that's a good place to start.  They are usually the clearest-marked products so they are easily identifiable.  Once you knock out these two, the other allergies are easier to identify.  

Wikipedia:   A gluten-free diet is a diet free  of gluten (Yes, I know). Gluten is a protein found in wheat (including kamut and spelt), barley, rye, malts and triticale. It is used as a food additive in the form of a flavoring, stabilizing or thickening agent, often hidden under "dextrin". A gluten-free diet is the only medically accepted treatment for celiac disease, the related condition dermatitis herpetiformis, and wheat allergy.

Buying a Gluten-free food will ALWAYS be wheat free.   HOWEVER, this does not go both ways.  Wheat-free foods may still have barley, rye or a derivative which would be unsafe for someone with Celiac Disease, the most common reason for eating Gluten Free.

Also, just because an item is in the 'Organic Section' of your grocery store does not mean it is gluten free.  You must look for symbol such as one shown in my previous post.  If there is no symbol and you are not sure, here is a great list of gluten-free ingredients:  Safe ingredients: Alphabetically listed

Here is a list of helpful resources:

Gluten Free Groceries by State:

Grocery Store List One

Food Symbols

The ‘gluten free’ symbol means that the product inside the packaging does not contain wheat extracts. Some people are sensitive or even allergic to such extracts. Therefore, clear labeling is required.

Simple Replacements for Simple Things

Bread: If you aren’t allergic to yeast, there are plenty of gluten-free (all gluten free products are also wheat free) breads that you can find in the organic section of most grocery stores. There are also gluten-free wraps, pizza crusts, rolls, etc.

If yeast is an issue, especially Baker’s yeast, then bread is not out of the question. There are yeast free/gluten free breads that you can find such as a tapioca loaf. Personally, I didn’t like the taste or texture.


My replacement for bread….... Lettuce! 
Now, I know it sounds kooky; but imagine getting a wrap without the wrap. That’s basically all it is.