Allergy Gremlins: Eggs, Almonds & Dust Mites!

At last, my allergy panels came in. The results were actually pretty good, with a couple of notable surprises.

I knew wheat and gluten would pop positive up on the food allergy panel. No surprise that they did. Interestingly, spelt, which I rarely eat, was more positive than even the whole wheat.

As I've mentioned before, I have those Irish genes that are so prone to gluten sensitivities. What many do not know is that Italy has an even higher prevalence of celiac disease than Ireland (perhaps because of the volume of gluten in their pasta-rich diet).

What surprised me were the US BioTek Standard Food Panel charts that had significant hits on eggs, particularly egg whites, almonds, and lima beans. I had eaten eggs for breakfast and grabbed a handful of almonds for a snack. Alas, when your system becomes sensitive, anything you eat can become an allergen.

So, for the next 6 months, I will be avoiding eggs and almonds along with wheat and dairy. Oh yeah, lima beans and cranberry, weirdly, popped up as important foods to avoid, but since I don't eat lima beans that often, that will be easy. Regarding the cranberries, I will just switch to pomegranate juice, which is all the rage as a non-alcoholic/non-caffeinated drink that brings similar antioxidant benefits to red wine and black tea.

The other little allergy gremlin for me to avoid? Dust mites. Egad, when you read about these little critters, it's enough to make you get rid of all your pillows and want to buy plastic casings for your mattress and get rid of all carpets.

Did you know that 10% of the weight of a 2-year old pillow is comprised of dust mites and their droppings. Eeeeew! I'm getting rid of my old pillows and cranking the washing cycle on bedding to "hot."

Maybe my little cat, Diva, will experience an easing up of her asthma in the process!