Tuesday 22 January 2008

Food allergies, intolerances and the importance of tea




I can't eat wheat, corn (maize), dairy, yeast, potatoes, and a whole host of other foods that will undoubtedly crop up in the posts to come. My food allergies and intolerances are fairly recent developments and I'm continually surprised by the ways that it limits me. With every new introduction comes my patent-"allergy"-disclaimer to ensure no near death (or sometimes just very painful) experiences.




The first time that I went to see my family doctor about my allergies I was in my final year of university and had had intolerances and allergies for a few years so I had developed a dietary plan based on the main food groups substituting food supplements for any nutrients my diet was lacking and checking . In asking for help my doctor simply said "it's basically because you eat crap." which was very helpful, she prescribed me for some IBS medication and sent me on my way. The medication only made any stomach cramps worse, my symptoms were not synonymous with IBS, and I still couldn't eat any foods I had previously shown an intolerance to. In the past few years more and more of my friends are finding that they can't eat certain foods and the majority of my friends have at least one intolerance.



Two of my closest friends suffer from coeliac disease, and as time passes they're finding that their diets are becoming more and more restrictive. Because of our restricted diets we always arrange to meet for tea, visiting specialist shops and experiencing tastes and flavours that we usually have to avoid. During our most recent meeting, we got to talking about dinner parties and how they both rely on recipes that I have provided. So welcome to Cinnamon Tea and Mulberries a food blog for people with intolerances and allergies!


(Picture borrowed from flickr).


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