Grains, Legumes, Nuts, And Seeds

[RiceGuy]

Hi everyone. I have a few questions for those who avoid grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds. Especially if you have noticeable symptoms if you ingest some, even a trace.

For those who cannot eat (or just avoid) legumes, does this include: coffee, cocoa, chocolate, carob, mesquite, guar gum, green peas, and green beans? Does it also include soybean oil?

For those who cannot eat (or just avoid) nuts, does this include: almond, Open Original Shared Link, and coconut? Does it also include the oils from nuts, such as walnut oil, macadamia nut oil, peanut oil, and coconut oil?

For those who cannot eat (or just avoid) seeds, does this include: black pepper, celery seed, caraway, cumin, fennel, mustard, and all other spices derived from seeds? Does it also include oils from seeds, such as sesame, safflower, sunflower, etc?

For those who cannot eat (or just avoid) grains, does this include: amaranth, buckwheat, and quinoa, as these are not "true" grains like wheat, rice, corn, sorghum, and so forth. Do you find it necessary to use corn-free xanthan gum (the microbes which produce it are typically fed corn, though not always). Also, sugar cane is in the grass family, which is where the "true" grains come from. So if you must avoid all grains, do you also have to avoid regular cane sugar?

Now for perhaps the trickiest one of all: Vanilla. Real vanilla comes from a bean-like pod which grows from an orchid (from what I've read, it is the only orchid known to produce something edible). Inside the vanilla "bean" there are some 60,000 teeny tiny seeds. So is vanilla from a bean, a seed, a flower, a vine, or something else? Does anyone find it necessary to avoid vanilla?

[mushroom]

Hi Rice Guy: I am one who avoids some of all of these. Since I suspect that lectins are responsible for my avoidance my reactions may be different from others.

Legumes: - Consume decaf coffee about once a week in a cappuchino; cocoa, chocolate, guar gum. Avoid green peas and beans, soy bean oil, carob

Nuts - Consume almond, cashew and coconut. Avoid peanuts and the oil

Seeds - Consume them all but not in huge amounts. Chia and sesame in muesli, e.g. Avoid safflower and sunflower oil as much as possible on advice of a nutritionist

Grains - Consume most grains, including xanthum gum and cane sugar. Avoid Amaranth, quinoa

Vanilla - Momma, don't take my vanilla beans away - I don't care what it is except yum!

[missy'smom]

Lots of good questions. The foods that I avoid are all based on allergy skin testing and elimination/challenge of the foods. I included my comments in bold in the quote of your post below.

  On 11/4/2011 at 6:34 PM, RiceGuy said:

Hi everyone. I have a few questions for those who avoid grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds. Especially if you have noticeable symptoms if you ingest some, even a trace.

For those who cannot eat (or just avoid) legumes, does this include: coffee, cocoa, chocolate, carob, mesquite, guar gum, green peas, and green beans? Does it also include soybean oil? I tested pos. for legumes.

I avoided all "beans" but no green beans and chocolate and green peas and soy as these were all separate tests. Of those others, the only one I tested pos. to was soy. Back to the beans. After avoiding for 2 years I recently re-introduced chickpeas with no problems. I have those on a 4 day rotation to avoid repeat problems, which has happend in the past with other foods. I plan to try some other variety of beans in the future. Don't happen to drink coffee or eat carob. I became allergic to chocolate a while back so will be avoiding for a good long while. After 2 years avoidance I have not tried re-introducing soy in any form. Don't know if I will. Soy is a cross-reactor to latex and I am quite latex allergic. Allergist said "be careful" with soy. Tried a bit of oil a couple days in a row and got some odd patches show up on my skin so I am avoiding oil as well.

For those who cannot eat (or just avoid) nuts, does this include: almond, Open Original Shared Link, and coconut? Does it also include the oils from nuts, such as walnut oil, macadamia nut oil, peanut oil, and coconut oil?

I was doing fine with nuts and initially not pos. but started a low-carb diet and started eating more and became allergic to almonds(almond meal baking;))I did have problems earlier on with cashews and tested pos. on repeat testing. So far so good with coconut but occasionally I wonder, however I don't eat it often so am ok. The nut oils...I don't try them. Don't know. My son is mildly peanut allergic and I tested pos. for peanuts on my initial tests so as a family we avoid the oil. With almonds I tried re-introducing after a long avoidance and seemed to be ok with occasional consumption but it turned on me suddenly and I ended up with lung function issues and burning tongue, stomach etc. So no almond oil and almonds are out for good. I may consider trying pecans and walnuts again but with the almond problems I am avoiding all nuts and oils for now.

For those who cannot eat (or just avoid) seeds, does this include: black pepper, celery seed, caraway, cumin, fennel, mustard, and all other spices derived from seeds? Does it also include oils from seeds, such as sesame, safflower, sunflower, etc?

I had not thought of the seeds as including all those. Interesting. Black pepper test was pos. Haven't noticed problems just trying not to use it everyday. Cumin was also pos. Haven't tried re-introducing yet. Mustard was pos. and gave me problems with re-introduction the first time so I haven't tried again after another long avoidance. It's also listed as a latex cross-reactor and I was still showing pos. on the 2nd round of tests even after 1 year avoidance. Just recently ditched sunflower-even the oil and feel much better and symptoms cleared up so it clearly was bothering me.

For those who cannot eat (or just avoid) grains, does this include: amaranth, buckwheat, and quinoa, as these are not "true" grains like wheat, rice, corn, sorghum, and so forth. Do you find it necessary to use corn-free xanthan gum (the microbes which produce it are typically fed corn, though not always). Also, sugar cane is in the grass family, which is where the "true" grains come from. So if you must avoid all grains, do you also have to avoid regular cane sugar?

Buckwheat is a problem for me, again it's a latex-cross-reactor. Some of these things I am not yet sure if they bother me because of the latex or some other reason. A few more years may clarify that.

Now for perhaps the trickiest one of all: Vanilla. Real vanilla comes from a bean-like pod which grows from an orchid (from what I've read, it is the only orchid known to produce something edible). Inside the vanilla "bean" there are some 60,000 teeny tiny seeds. So is vanilla from a bean, a seed, a flower, a vine, or something else? Does anyone find it necessary to avoid vanilla?

[Marilyn R]

Hi Riceguy,

I can tolerate most of the foods you mentioned in your posts if I don't overindulge. (For instance, I'll have a tablespoon of nuts for a snack every other day, or sunflower seeds on a salad a couple of times a trace amount of soy lecithen. Anything else with soy (like vegetable oil, mayo, tuna fish, most processed foods, even gluten-free processed foods, alternative milks, etc.) are out.

Coconut isn't in the nut family. It's in the palm family. I've never had a problem with coconut milk or oil. (I used to hate that dried coconut in a plastic bag when I was a child, and still despise it.) So rest easy about coconut products. I like the coconut aminos as an alternative to soy sauce (health food store find).

I think the vanilla is ok if you're getting pure, fermented vanilla, but that's just armchair advice.

[missy'smom]

I'll add the when I ditched sunflower recently I also ditched stevia(Truvia). It had been bothing me for while but I couldn't figure out why until I googled it and it is in the sunflower family. Mystery solved.

[RiceGuy]

  On 11/5/2011 at 12:31 PM, missy said:

I'll add the when I ditched sunflower recently I also ditched stevia(Truvia). It had been bothing me for while but I couldn't figure out why until I googled it and it is in the sunflower family. Mystery solved.

Interesting, that even with such purity, whatever component(s) bothers you is still detectable by the body. However, I will point out that Truvia has other questionable ingredients. It contains erythritol, a sugar-alcohol derived from corn. It also has "natural flavors", which of course says nothing about from what they are derived.

But if it was the Stevia extract itself which you reacted to because it is in the chrysanthemum family, then I wonder if you also cannot eat lettuce, globe artichoke, Jerusalem artichoke, shungiku (edible chrysanthemum), endive, escarole, chicory, cardoon, scorzonera, or salsify. Then there is ragweed, which is also in the same family.

Incidentally, have you ever tried Simply-Stevia made by Stevita? It has the highest purity of any Stevia extract I know of, and has no other ingredients whatsoever. It's also made in Brazil, not China like all other brands I've been able to verify.

I find it fascinating and amazing, how the immune system can detect the presence of such minuscule levels of things. Although it can also be very frustrating too!

[missy'smom]

Riceguy,

I don't have problems with the other things you mention, as far as I know and with which things of those that I consume but the ones I do are not all that often. I put the sunflower puzzle together after ditching 3 things that bothered me. They were ditched one at a time over a period of time, without knowing why, other than they bothered me. The latest being a salad dressing with sunflower oil. The one before that was Earthbalance soy-free which has sunflower lecitin and the first was Truvia. I haven't tried the pure form of stevia. That salad dressing had me looking back at the others and realizing that there was a connection and it was sunflower. I would not have thought I was sensitive on that level.

I have lost more than one member of a food family before but not always. For exemple I am now allergic to broccoli, brussel sprouts and califlower but am still ok with cabbage. However those first 3 were staples of my diet for a long time and I consumed them more often and in greater quantity than cabbage. As a bit of insureance against losing cabbage, it is now on a 4 day rotation. Not more than once in 4 days.

[dilettantesteph]

I avoid all those things unless I grow them myself or source them very carefully. I am super sensitive to cc. I don't have food allergies to any of them that I know of.

[RiceGuy]

  On 11/5/2011 at 8:55 PM, missy said:

Riceguy,

I don't have problems with the other things you mention, as far as I know and with which things of those that I consume but the ones I do are not all that often. I put the sunflower puzzle together after ditching 3 things that bothered me. They were ditched one at a time over a period of time, without knowing why, other than they bothered me. The latest being a salad dressing with sunflower oil. The one before that was Earthbalance soy-free which has sunflower lecitin and the first was Truvia. I haven't tried the pure form of stevia. That salad dressing had me looking back at the others and realizing that there was a connection and it was sunflower. I would not have thought I was sensitive on that level.

I have lost more than one member of a food family before but not always. For exemple I am now allergic to broccoli, brussel sprouts and califlower but am still ok with cabbage. However those first 3 were staples of my diet for a long time and I consumed them more often and in greater quantity than cabbage. As a bit of insureance against losing cabbage, it is now on a 4 day rotation. Not more than once in 4 days.

Sounds like the common culprit is sunflower specifically, not the other members of that same botanical family. So if it were me, I'd be thinking that the Truvia's "natural flavors" more likely contains something specifically from sunflower. Though companies are usually very secretive about stuff like that, I suppose they should at least tell you yes or no to a sunflower-derived ingredient. Or, if the symptoms aren't too uncomfortable, I'd try the pure Stevia extract and confirm it that way.

I'm reminded of when I found I was reacting to celery seed. After researching it, I found that there are in fact two different plants used for the spice. One is the common vegetable, which is the source of the whole celery seed. The other is apparently a plant actually named "Celery Seed", because it tastes like it, and the leaves are used to make ground celery seed. I can eat the seeds from true celery, but not the other one.

[T.H.]

  On 11/4/2011 at 6:34 PM, RiceGuy said:

For those who cannot eat (or just avoid) legumes, does this include: coffee, cocoa, chocolate, carob, mesquite, guar gum, green peas, and green beans? Does it also include soybean oil?

I test positive on allergy tests to navy/white beans and soy, and have reacted with a mild allergic reaction to carob beans, guar gum, green peas, and green beans, yes. Soybean oil has been a problem, although the reaction was very mild. I don't react to mesquite beans (and a couple other regular legumes), but do react to another legume often found in the same part of the country as mesquite: palo verde beans. Also, sennakot is a legume based laxative that I react to, as well.

Coffee beans and cocoa beans are actually not legumes, although funnily enough, I'm allergic to coffee, too.

  Quote

For those who cannot eat (or just avoid) grains, does this include: amaranth, buckwheat, and quinoa, as these are not "true" grains like wheat, rice, corn, sorghum, and so forth. Do you find it necessary to use corn-free xanthan gum (the microbes which produce it are typically fed corn, though not always). Also, sugar cane is in the grass family, which is where the "true" grains come from. So if you must avoid all grains, do you also have to avoid regular cane sugar?

[RiceGuy]

  On 11/9/2011 at 5:01 AM, T.H. said:

I test positive on allergy tests to navy/white beans and soy, and have reacted with a mild allergic reaction to carob beans, guar gum, green peas, and green beans, yes. Soybean oil has been a problem, although the reaction was very mild. I don't react to mesquite beans (and a couple other regular legumes), but do react to another legume often found in the same part of the country as mesquite: palo verde beans. Also, sennakot is a legume based laxative that I react to, as well.

Coffee beans and cocoa beans are actually not legumes, although funnily enough, I'm allergic to coffee, too.

I react very badly to low level gluten cc and always get a gluten cc reaction to all grains and pseudo grains I've tried, I'm assuming due to processing. It's a strong enough reaction that it's been hard to tell if I react allergically, too. I am mildly allergic to wheat, I am oat sensitive, and I am definitely allergic to sugar cane - the latter gives me an unpleasant enough reaction it's very obvious when I get some.

I've been trying to grow my own grains and near-grains to test out if I react to low level gluten cc AND the grains themselves, and so far amaranth and quinoa seem to be completely fine, if I grow them myself. My corn crop bit the dust, so I have to try that again next year. I haven't tried bamboo, yet, but that's in the grass family as well so I've wondered if it might be an issue.

I do react to xanthan gum (I also have trouble with citric acid, lactic acid, and dextrose from corn). I have looked for corn-free xanthan gum, but haven't found any yet. I have found xanthan gum that claimed to be corn free, but after research, it turns out that it was still fed with corn, just processed to a point that they considered it to be 'corn free.' If you have ever found an actual corn-free xanthan gum, I'd really love to hear about it! Been looking!

Very interesting. If you're looking for a truly gluten-free buckwheat flour, the only one I know of is from Open Original Shared Link. Buckwheat is the only thing they grow, and the only thing they mill. It's the only one I've not had any trouble with. As for corn-free xanthan, that's a tough one. Corn is such a cheap grain, in part because the US typically has a huge surplus of it. I haven't done much searching for xanthan, so I don't know if a corn-free one is actually available. Some sites list the one from Authentic Foods as corn-free, but it doesn't make that claim on the label from what I can tell. The first company which comes to mind is Open Original Shared Link. I haven't checked to see if they sell xanthan directly, but if not, they might be able to tell you where to obtain it.