Dairy deception
When it comes to eliminating dairy, some products are a no-brainer. Cheese, yoghurt, ice-cream and cow’s milk all become glorious memories from days of yore. But you may be surprised to learn that dairy derivatives including casein, butter fat or whey have been added to many of the foods you love. Sneaky, we know. For those who are lactose intolerant (rather than severely allergic) the amount added is usually slight enough to stomach. However, when it comes to eating well knowledge is power– so here’s a list of foods unexpected foods that often contain hidden dairy.
– Prepared bread crumbs
– Processed sandwich breads (both white and wheat)
– Crackers
– Granola
– Deli meats such as ham or turkey
– Protein bars
– Margarine
– Breath mints and chewing gum
– Peanut butter
Dairy is excellent at disguising itself, much like a ninja or carmeleon.
Now, we would never suggest that you should painstakingly fret over every little thing you eat. You’ve got to live after all! What we DO believe that when going dairy-free it pays to be alert and always keep a careful eye on the ingredients listed on the nutritional panels.
Emma
Wear your allergy on your sleeve
While researching gluten free recipes, I stumbled across a children’s clothing trend that definitely did not exist when I was in primary school.
These t-shirts are a really interesting way of negotating the fact that most infants with food allergies probably do not completely understand their condition. Parents can monitor what their children eat when it comes to home-cooked meals and packed lunches, but at school or friend’s places this is out of their control. By alerting other adults that their son or daughter cannot eat certain food products (such as dairy, wheat, eggs or peanuts) parents can reduce the risk of a severe allergic reaction. This is a great idea in theory, as it helps to avoid miscommunication and potential disasters. However, I can’t help but question the practicality of this strategy. In order for the allergy awareness t-shirts to be effective, a child would technically need to wear it on a daily basis. This is particuarly unrealistic in Australia, where most students are required to wear a uniform to school. However, most parents would have already alerted the school about any allergies their child suffers from- meaning the shirt could be useful in other circumstances where they are away from the home.
What do you think? Would you purchase one of these shirts if your child had a food allergy, or do you think it is impractical?
Emma
Travelling does not need to be terrifying!
Being somebody that travels a lot myself, I know how hard it is to be picky with your food in another country. This difficulty could potentially be a lot more difficult if you have a food intolerance! Foreign countries may not always understand your language, room service is always prepared behind closed doors and some places simply want to take short cuts out from helping you!
It is so important that you do not let your allergies get in the way of you having the time of your life away however, which is why we have a quick guide for you here.
1. Choose where to go- For people with food allergies, often deciding on a destination requires some extra planning and thought. If you have a peanut allergy, perhaps a remote village in Vietnam or Thailand is not the way to go…this being said, if this is what you want, perhaps discuss your travel options and safety plan with your Doctor before making final decisions.
2. Research local hospitals and medicare- Just to give you a peace of mind before you leave!
3.Carry hand wipes-Washing your hands frequently is a great way to prevent accidentally coming into contact with allergens. But when you’re traveling you can’t count on having access to soap and running water. A good supply of hand wipes ensures that you can clean your hands and wipe any eating utensils that may have come in contact with foods that may cause a reaction.
4. Pre-Pack Safe food-if possible, bring safe food to last you until at least the beginning of your trip. If you are in an area where it is not easy to purchase or order allergen-free food, stock up on food supply! Sometimes if you are travelling internationally, it is hard to be able to read labels at local grocery stores.
5. Make sure your travel insurance covers you-Most travel insurance covers pre-existing cases such as food allergies without any extra surcharge. To be sure, we know that Mondial and Aussie Travel Cover are very food-allergy friendly.
6. Download a restaurant card! Restaurant cards like this one are available in 51 languages for Coeliacs are a great way for restaurants to take you seriously.
I hope that this guide has helped you and that you have safe and happy travels, filled with good food for you Ingredient savvy Ingredieaters!
Anna
Thank you Coles!
There are good things in life, and then there are GREAT things that follow. We think that Coles has a great thing going on as they team up with Coeliac Australia. Here at IngrediEAT, we believe that everybody should be treated the same, food allergy or no food allergy, which is why we completely support Cole’s member discount card.
Every month, Coles will post up discounts on certain gluten-free products. Registration takes less than a minute and every month the offers shall change so you will never get bored of the gluten-free goodness Coles has to offer!
To claim your card, click here http://www.coeliac.org.au/resources/coles.html.
Enjoy!
Anna
Trick or treat
When I was ten I lived in Saskatchewan, Canada for around six months. One of the main things I noticed (other than the freezing weather and lack of avocados) was that Halloween is a much bigger deal over there than it is here. I’m talking decorated houses, elaborate costumes and lots of different types of chocolate for trick or treaters to choose from. It’s a bit of a shame that it isn’t the case here, considering Halloween is only two weeks away and can be a very exciting occasion. Regardless of where you are in the world, one thing immediately comes to mind when Halloween is mentioned- candy! Unfortunately, sweets are a bit of an area of precaution for those with gluten allergies. The good news is, we’ve rounded up a range of delicious gluten free treats for you to munch on the most terrifying day of the year.
Orange chocolate coconut clusters
So get into the festive spirit by whipping up these desserts to serve to at your Halloween party, hand out to trick or treaters or polish off by yourself.
Emma
Coeliacbrities
Celebrities- they’re just like us! Minus the private jets, personal chefs, perfume endorsements, ability to actually find something when they Google themselves…. Okay, maybe the rich, famous and beautiful aren’t on the exact same page as us, but if there’s one thing privilege can’t buy it’s resilience to illness. Even shiny-haired starlets, Hollywood leading men and Oscar winners fall victim to conditions like Coeliac disease. Here are some of high profile names who have been diagnosed with Coeliac disease:
Zooey Deschanel
Danni Minogue
Emmy Rossum
Chelsea Clinton
And then we have the gluten intolerant:
Billy Bob Thornton
Juliette Lewis
Rachel Weisz
And those who follow a gluten free diet for the hell of it:
Jennifer Aniston
Gwyneth Paltrow
Victoria Beckham
Admittedly, these gluten free A-listers usually have a team of chefs, dieticians and nutritionists on hand to attend to their dietary needs. But we believe that having a healthy, balanced diet all comes down to being ingredient savvy- whether you have Coeliac disease, gluten intolerant or are trying to cut down on wheat for weight loss reasons!
Emma
Fake it and you’ve made it!
Hi everyone,
I hope you enjoyed a weekend of sporadic sunshine and eating good food!
Two years ago I went to New York City and visited the most amazing vegetarian restaurant . It specialised in mock meat and we stuffed ourselves with fake buffalo wings, fake steak and fake chicken burgers-it was de-li-cious. My sister’s boyfriend however is a self confessed carnivore and we highly doubt that he would go near a vegetarian restaurant no matter how many insults and threats are shouted at him…(us women have to use tactic!), so we decided to take the easy option and not tell him that the meat was fake. Yes we told him at the end of the meal where he turned pale and told us he felt “cheated” and betrayed (but we never directly said it was fake?), but during the meal, he was raving on about how delicious the food (meat) was.
The point here is that whether you are vegetarian and cannot eat meat, are lactose intolerant and cannot digest dairy, or if you have coeliac disease and cannot eat gluten, there is so much fake stuff on the market for you to eat instead!
Here are a few of my favourites.
1. Toffutti “Better than cream cheese” cream cheese
Yes the name says it all. I bought this beautiful product at Coles when I was dieting and trying to eliminate excessive amounts of dairy from my diet. It is spectacular. Many substitutes, aka ‘Fake’ products are watered down, off-putting versions of the real thing but my oh my this was some exception! The texture was thick and creamy but didn’t leave you with that heavy feeling in your gut (guilt?) after you consume a high fat product like authentic cream cheese. In fact, I could eat this by the spoonful and still cream in my mouth! (excuse the pun) The entire container contained only 7 grams of fat and 120 calories. This product is soy based and therefore lasts forever in the fridge. The only thing to note about this product is that it DOES look like plastic, as in it looks like it has been bleached overly white…but I’m sure it’s just the soy? Either way, highly recommended.
2. Tofurky’s pepperoni pizza
I have always found the concept of fake meat to be extremely interesting…I started eating it just because it was so WEIRD. How can a product look like meat, taste like meat but be made of soy, tofu, vegetables and anything other than meat? The food scientists have managed to mould products to the point that when you bite into a fake meat chicken nugget, you can see the strings of ‘chicken’ instead of it being a big blob of soy fakeness.
It is always good to decrease your intake of meat every now and then-for the vegetarians, I just recommended Toffutti and now I am recommend Tofurky. Tofurky is king. Tofurky has everything from ham, pepperoni, burger patties to sausages. My recommendation is their pepperoni pizza.
3. Soynut Butter
Peanut Butter is a product that has been embedded pretty strongly into our culture. Everywhere people rave about peanut butter and jelly, peanut butter and honey, peanut butter and celery, peanut butter and meat pie…(jokes…but I’m sure some people do it?) people tend to enjoy putting peanut butter on anything! You no longer need to feel like you are missing out on with this faux peanut butter product. Soynut Butter’s line has chocolate flavoured peanut butter, chunky textured and creamy textured. It tastes just like peanut butter but even better, and without the high density of fat! Have I convinced you yet?
So there you have it. There is no more need to feel like you are missing out on anything really with the crazy inventions that our food technicians have created for us.
Fake it and you’ve made it!
Enjoy your sunday night,
Anna
Progress
We are excited to report that our petition to eliminate the soy milk surcharge in cafes and restaurants has already attracted 20 signatures. Thank you so much for your support guys! But remember, the more the merrier and we still need 80 more signatures before we can send the petition off to the ACTA. So, don’t be shy and add your signature using the link below- the sooner we get the cause out there, the sooner we can stop wasting our hard earned cash on a few drops of milk!
Emma
Do I have a lactose allergy?
To follow up on our last post on determining whether you are allergic to gluten, it’s now time to guide you through the often perplexing world of lactose intolerance. If you’re anything like me, chances are you have at least five friends who only seem to be allergic to dairy when it suits them. I’m talking about the people who will demand only soy, almond or rice milk with their coffees but are always first to leap to their feet as soon as gelato is mentioned.
” Lactose allergy? What lactose allergy?”
This comes down to more than just truth-bending and diet trends, as it turns out cow’s milk is particuarly high in lactose sugar (compared to other dairy products like cheese, yoghurt and icecream.) As a result those who are even mildly lactose intolerant will struggle to digest milk, but are often perfectly fine when it comes to small portions of cheddar cheese or frozen yoghurt. Some symptoms of lactose intolerance are:
- Abdominal pain
- Abdominal swelling
- Flatulence
- Diarrhoea
It’s important to note that these symptoms can also be linked in Irritable Bowel Syndrome, a functional gastrointestinal (GI) disorder. That is why it is important to book in a visit with your GP if you experience of these symptoms, as you will need to take either a blood or breath test to determine the problem.
Source: http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/Lactose_intolerance?open
Emma
Do I have a gluten allergy?
Once you have been diagnosed with Coeliac disease or gluten intolerance, it’s fairly easy to create a plan of action (especially with blogs like ingrediEAT helping you along the way!) Often, the tricky part is actually realising that the reaction you are having to wheat is not normal. In severe cases, the presence of an allergy may be quite obvious but when symptoms are more subtle and varied it can be difficult to identify the issue. Here is a list of symptoms commonly associated with Coeliac disease or gluten intolerance:
- Weight loss or weight gain
- Nutritional deficiencies due to malabsorption e.g. low iron levels
- Gastro-intestinal problems (bloating, pain, gas, constipation, diarrhea)
- Fat in the stools (due to poor digestion)
- Aching joints
- Depression
- Eczema
- Head aches
- Exhaustion
- Irritability and behavioural changes
- Infertility, irregular menstrual cycle and miscarriage
- Cramps, tingling and numbness
- Decline in dental health
If you have encountered any of these issues, it may be worth paying a visit to your GP for a checkup! Once the doc gets to the bottom of it, you’ll be able to carry on with life- symptom free, stress free and hassle free. Keep your eyes peeled for our next post on spotting lactose allergies.
Emma
Source: http://www.glutenfreediet.net.au/symptoms-of-gluten-intolerance/
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