my sister

When I want to know if I can eat something new (that my twin sis with all the same allergies hasn't already tested) I will put a tiny bit in my mouth for a while, then I wait to see if my mouth starts itching (or if anything worse happens). If it does that food is probably not going to work.(I spit it out if I react by the way.) There are some things that I can eat cooked that I can't eat raw. I can eat cooked apples, but they are a problem when they are raw. For people with extremely bad allergies (i.e. life-threatening reactions) obviously don't try to eat it cooked, just stay away from it completely. I probably shouldn't be eating apples at all, but I really like them and so far haven't had any problems with them when they are cooked. Having a list of specific things to avoid helps me since I can try anything that is not on that list. If it is new I will try it carefully with my epi-pen and inhaler around, but I can try it.

If it is really hard to find things to feed your sister you may want to look into ethnic cooking from other parts of the world. There is a huge variety of food out there, based on a massive variety of staple ingredients. If the "standard" food around you isn't well suited for her, see if you can find some recipies based on something she can eat. The internet can be a great source of recipes by the way. It may still take some modification depending on what is available where you are, but it may give you some ideas of things you could try. I hope that helps. If you need more specific ideas of things, then let me know what she can't eat and I could try to help you think up somethings that she could eat.

The other thing to try if it is too bad and you think her health is at risk is to ask your doctor about it and see if he or she can refer you to a good nutritionist who can help you work around her allergies. I hope that helps.

--- Heather ---

I am pretty sure you are going to need a doctor's help to feed her well, or she may need a good multivitamin or something because she has a lot of limitations.

For grains, she may be able to eat rice, buckwheat, lentils, millets, oats, sorghum, barley, rye (careful that it is not mixed with wheat in store bought products), Fonio, and Quinoa. I have never heard of some of those, but I found them on wikipedia. Others are a lot more common. I hope she is able to eat some of the more common ones. Again recipes on how to prepare them are probably on the internet somewhere. I would google it if you can find the ingredients. Some veggies are high in carbs too and she may be able to eat those. Potatoes come to mind right off, but I am sure there are more.

Are all milk products out for her as well? I feel sorry for her if she can't have cheese. I love cheese. It makes everything else taste better.

Looks like vegetables are fairly open (maybe because she hasn't eaten enough of them to know what she is allergic to, though I am not allergic to many veggies and I am a lot of fruit) so at least there is that. She may or may not like them, but they are there. Potatoes, sweet potatoes (best with marshmallows melting on top),(can you tell it was just Thanksgiving?) beans, tomatoes (in moderation), lettuce, just about anything that is a veggie.

Ideas for fruit- I will start with things I can't have that it looks like she can. peaches, plums, figs, apricots, honeydew melon, watermelon. Now on to things I can have, grapes, pineapple, oranges (in moderation since her stomach may not like it), pears. There are probably a lot more things that could be added to this part of the list, but I am making myself terribly hungry. I will move on.

Looks like meat is mostly open except for turkey and eggs. So chicken, steak, ect are all available. I am no good at cooking meat so I am bad at ideas for this part.

I am not sure what to do about the acid reflux. Everything I can come up with is a milk product. If not that it has wheat in it. Not very helpful for her. Maybe one of the other grains could help, but I am not sure they are as useful.