a good friend asked me a really good question so i thought i would address it here. i was so blessed, thanks parentals, with food allergies. i wasn't born with them, i developed them later in life. yes you can develop allergies, i know what you are thinking.. um what?!?! yeah brace yourself.
a few years ago while on a plane ride home to utah, the cute stewardess gave me a snack pack of peanuts - which really is like 4 peanuts and a bunch of air- and a drink. i graciously accepted them since i was stuck between a drunk and an old drooling man. yep worst plane ride ever. i was praying for the snacks so i could move and take my mind off where i was. so i ripped my snack open and dug in. well about 5 minutes after finishing up my snack i found myself feeling like it was really tough to swallow. like really tough. i kind of panicked, but then i thought what will that do for me? i am stuck between a smelly man, a drooling man and about 35,000 feet in the air. so i just closed my eyes, took slow deep breaths and just tried hard to relax. i rushed off the plane, called my mom in a panic and told her we had to stop at a gas station and get benadryl stat. we made it to the gas station. i puked and then force swallowed, not sure how i got it down, 2 benadryl and tried to stay calm for the remainder of the drive.
fast forward a month, when i could get into the allergist, i am sitting in his office waiting for a horrid test. yes horrid. i had to have a scratch test on my arms. they put serum of what you are allergic to, or what they think you could be and scratch your skin to get it in. then you sit for like 30 minutes and see what happens. so i sat there with both arms covered and sure enough in like 10 minutes i had hives. HUGE hives. to more than just nuts. what the?!
now that i have food allergies, i have to be tested once a year to make sure i haven't developed more and that the ones i do have are still there or not. since that first test i have developed allergies to: all nuts, soy, wheat, basil, corn, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds & garlic.
now.. since i have these blasted things, i have to change my eating a little. like i can't have peanut butter sandwiches, or whole wheat bread. i can't do stir fry with soy sauce and pretty much every chinese food recipe is off limits. now, if you don't have allergies, which i pray you don't.. you can do things differently. like whole wheat bread is the best bread for you, and nuts are a great snack. peanut butter is a wonderful source of protein. i will try and make note of when i change things up for my allergies, just so you know there is another option.
