When people hear that I became allergic to many foods after a lifetime of eating them they tell me how sorry they are and how hard it must be. Often they look so sad for me. They ask me how I could cope without eating any bread or pasta or chocolate . . . and the list goes on.
About 5 years ago when I was finally diagnosed with multiple food allergies I was so so sick that I could not live a normal life and certainly was not enjoying myself. So while I was devastated at the news that I could no longer eat wheat, corn, soy, milk or nuts I was relieved to know what was wrong with me! I already knew I could no longer drink milk, eat peanuts, shellfish or chocolate as I had had major reactions to these foods over the prior 15 years. But now I was really restricted . . . or so I thought.
It took my body about a year to recover. During that time I ate a very restricted diet of protein (meats, chicken, fish), cooked veggies and fruits. After about a year as I started to feel better I began to crave cookies and went to natural food stores to satisfy my cravings. I did buy many of the cookies available at that time. Most of them are made with corn flour, soy flour and nut flours, none of which I could eat, or bean flours which did not appeal to me in a cookie. Many were very sandy in texture and others were spongey. None of them satisfied me. As a lifelong baker I started to play with recipes in an effort to develop cookies that I would actually like to eat! More on this next time.
But the moral of this story is that it is not the end of the world to become wheat and gluten-free or to have to restrict what you can eat. It may feel like it at first, but there are so many options available now. And, besides, I eat in a healthier way now than I was growing up and for many of my adult years And, my kids have learned about different foods, how to substitute one food for another and to be empathetic to others. It’s all good!