Monday 4 November 2013

Methinks I Have An Onion Allergy / Intolerance

I don't know why it's taken me so long to look into this but I think I'm allergic to Onions. What prompted me to come to this conclusion is the fact that every Saturday afternoon for many months I have been visiting the bathroom frequently, I had no idea why.

The Glutenite picked up on this fact and finally questioned it, why I hadn't myself I don't know but possibly because I couldn't bear the thought of 'what's wrong now'. I started to question what common factors there were every Saturday, food shopping, lunch, some form of shellfish but the type differs from week to week usually.


It may sound silly but I get incredibly stressed at the thought of our weekly shop. I thought this may have something to do with the stomach flair ups, it was after all stress which led to my gluten problem in the first place, getting stressed out does often hurt my tummy.

Why do I get stressed about the weekly shop? Weirdos. Creepy f8cking men and one in particular who seems to delight in following me around the shop or placing himself in the next aisle he knows I'll visit. It's not a new occurrence, weird people gravitate to me they always have. Now, I don't mean eccentric people, I love eccentric people, I mean plain bl**dy weird.

I thought long and hard about it and came to the conclusion that the stress of that wasn't the cause. The Glutenite is always with me and were I to choose to (though I can't be bothered to waste the energy) I could quite easily deliver a diatribe to mortify the said perv. My mother taught me no nonsense well.

It wasn't that.

Again it comes down to food, but what?

Every Saturday lunch for as long as I can remember we have Nachos or Taco Trays. A meal always terribly enjoyed. So I broke down the ingredients, Pepper, Onion, Chicken, Spices (one being Onion Powder), Avocado, Sour Cream.....

Then I figured it out. We had to stop having Chicken Soup because the same thing would happen, the frequent bathroom visits; Onion.

Recently I've been having problems with Boiled Bacon, especially when I serve myself up a taster portion prior to the meal of just carrots and gravy; Onion in the gravy.

That's the only ingredient that is consistent to me getting reactions.

So this week I used Leek in the Taco Trays instead of the onion, I still had a slight reaction. It wasn't as severe but thinking about it there was definitely symptoms. Looking further into it, of course, Leeks and Onions are from the same family. As are Chives and Garlic, I haven't used Chives in a long time but Garlic, pretty regularly. I think I'm ok with Garlic though, I can't recall any reactions.

Aside of bug bites and stings my allergies have been quite uncommon; Pepper (the spice) and Tomato skins. Seems that this one is quite prevalent as I discovered here (see the comments).

So I'm going to dump the Onions, experiment once more with Leeks and go from there. It's no big deal at all if I can't eat Onions or Leeks or even Garlic to a degree, it's just a case of figuring out which ingredients need to be avoided.

If I ever develop an allergy to Wine, that's when I'll have a hissy fit.

More tomorrow.

8 comments:

  1. I went gf at the beginning of the year because I has unexplained abdominal pain and immediately felt a million times better, but kept having flare-ups. My gums become inflamed if I eat certain things like raw onions or bananas (and I'm allergic to latex, which is somehow related) and I finally decided to give up everything I have reactions to when I read about FODMAPS. Pretty sure I have fructans intolerance. Now I feel normal most days and I'm just trying to find where my tolerance level is. Went overboard this weekend and paid the price.

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  2. Hi Sandra,

    I definitely want to eliminate everything that is causing problems, I'd love a totally settled stomach. I'd also love to get rid of the bloating episodes too but I have no idea what causes them, guess maybe it's time to start a detailed food diary.

    Thanks for your comment, hope you feel better soon :)

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  3. Hi,
    Just discovered you're blog from all the way Down Under in New Zealand. Fantastic work.

    Re: onion allergy, I will second the above poster regarding FODMAPS. I have been sticking to a FODMAP free diet and slowly working back in what I can and can't eat. Onions are a really common intolerance, my partner is intolerant too. Big difference in overall health espec bloating, tummy pain etc since cutting them out!

    Ta,
    Kali

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  4. Hi Kali,

    Thanks for the praise! I looked into FODMAPS again after that comment and I've since eliminated Avocado from my diet - only time I ever ate it is when we had Taco Trays - It's really helped. I must do some more reading but my stomach problems seem to have vanished since I've stopped eating onion and Avocado, it's amazing how these foods can cause such reactions.

    Thanks for stopping by!

    Lee

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  5. Hello,
    Living in France and new on this blog. Just some info: if you find out that you react to wine, especially white wine, with symptoms such as swollen eyelids or asthma, then look into sulfite intolerance ! Here in our home we have discovered this year that my 33 year-on hubby is mainly allergic to dairy products and sulfites; he used to be treated for asthma, was using an inhaler every day, not the case any more, his asthma is under control as long as we prepare everything ourselves without those evil products! And I am gluten intolerant. Makes a big difference in your life when your bowels feel at peace, doesn't it ?

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  6. Hi Joelle,

    Still fine with wine thankfully! That's great news about your husband and his asthma, who knew food could be so evil before we started looking into it?

    I wish for peaceful bowels for all! :)

    Love France btw.

    Lee

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  7. Hi

    Just came across this (marvellous!) blog of yours :-)

    My husband is also coeliac and cannot eat onions (has to be careful with garlic too). We had both been missing an oniony hint in certain foods until a few years ago I came across a spice called Asafoetida. It smells vile raw, and you only need to use a tiny bit - but it does give a very subtle oniony flavour when cooked. It's not too fancy/expensive - you can get it in Tesco.

    Angela :-)

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  8. Hi Angela,

    Thanks for the praise! I've heard of Asafoetida (possibly in relation to Indian cooking?), I'll have to give it a go. I've been using shallots - which I'm fine with - but it would be good to have other alternatives.

    Thanks for stopping by with that :)

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