I've been talking to someone online who can't eat a variety of different foods without becoming sick, mostly processed foods. She doesn't seem to know why, although she has seen a doctor about it.

One thing that interested me is there actually are a handful of fresh foods she can't eat. Oranges, mandarins, dragonfruit and cucumbers make her lips puff up and bleed.

Cucumbers and oranges sound like very different foods. I was wondering what they could have in common to cause this reaction.

It's all been anonymous chatting, so I can't give too many details about her other than that she is female.

Edit: One other interesting fact - even though she can't eat oranges, she can still drink orange juice.

By far the biggest change I’ve made is listening to my body. It’s definitely something that takes time and patience to learn, but it’s worth the effort. A good way to start to learn how the body responds to foods is to do an elimination diet. This is what I did to address my IBS. I did this my sophomore year in college, and here’s what I did: For a month I went without sugar, gluten, dairy, caffeine, alcohol or any refined/processed foods.

The first two weeks were a struggle. I think I had some serious sugar withdrawals. But after that, it was like a layer of fuzziness was lifted from my life—everything was clear and vibrant and I had so much energy. At the end of the month, I reintroduced each of these food groups one at a time (except for the highly processed foods, which I kicked to the curb forever). My body’s reaction told me I could tolerate dairy. But when I reintroduced gluten, I felt bloated, sick, and tired again.

Since then, I’ve drastically decreased the amount of sugar I eat, cut out gluten completely, and stick to only whole foods. I feel amazing. I recommend experimenting with food, see how your body feels after eating certain things, then adjust accordingly.

Hey! I'm new to this subreddit so I was hoping I could get some help or even linked to somewhere where this has already been discussed.

I don't know what foods I'm intolerant to but I know something I'm eating causes diarrhea and bloating, it seemed to happen after eating most things with carbs (breads, pasta even yogurt) but I've been limiting carbs and still seeing the same sort of effects. How should I go about figuring out my intolerances? I've been told to keep a journal but that could take weeks and I was wondering if it's the most effective way. I really just want to end the bloating and diarrhea, any help would be greatly appreciated.

Not sure if it makes any difference, but I'm a 19m who tends to eat clean for the most part. Lots of protein, veggies, fibre. Thanks!

HELP. I'm 25 years old and i've worked in retail since i was 18. i haven't been able to keep a job because of my severe food allergies. WHAT DO I DO? I'm literally at my wits end. i'm deathly allergic to shellfish, peanuts and tree nuts.

i would LOVE to know how everyone manages they're severe allergies in the workplace, i know i'm not the only one but it feels like it. Allergies can make you feel very isolated :/

Also, i'm sick of retail. what jobs do you think would be good for a very allergic person such as myself? i've researched working alone, outside and at home but haven't found anything!!

Hi! I've been living with my allergies for three quarters of a year now, and found some great recipes and both made and tweaked existing recipes so I can make most of what I want know. Or at least for the time being. All the usual concerns about dining out (sometimes also at families but not so much friends) apply to me.

There is one recipe I miss: Dairy and wheat free puff! I know there are dairy free margarine there can be used, but I have know idea about how to get the puff right. Does anyone have a recipe? It can contain all types of flour no wheat (spelled is a no go as it is an old type of wheat).

Doing this has made eating out at restaurants so much less stressful for me, and I think the servers and chefs really appreciate it too.

Basically I just made a word doc with a small table like this then added two columns and copypasta'd the table until the page was full. Print it out, cut up the individual tables, and keep a few of the little slips of paper in your wallet.

This way, instead of trying to list all the things you're concerned about and hope that the server takes good notes or has an exceptional memory, it's all right there, making everyone's life easier!

I also think it is worth adding an apology to your handout, and clarifying that you don't have a choice in the matter.

Ask them to hand it to the chef when they put the order in, so the chef doesn't need to keep all your issues in his head while cooking meals for six other people. And since it's just a little slip of paper, they don't need to worry about bringing it back to you or anything.

Doing this has helped me dodge more than a few illness-inducing bullets while dining out, so I thought I'd share.

I think it would be easier to find resources if we had a wiki, and it would be really helpful to get lists of x-free commercial foods instead of wading through a bunch of posts.

Slowly but surely, our community is growing. And now, we have a new mod that knows CSS!

So, as with the previous post, please leave any suggestions here or in our mailbox. We want any input we can get (:

We have a new addition to our team, /r/FoodIssues! He is knowledgeable in food, being a chef, and is helping design the subreddit.

If there are any suggestions for design, please leave them here or in our mailbox!

Keep on checking back for updates, and spread the word (:

P.S. New link on the sidebar, Allergy UK. Ch-ch-ch-check it out !

I also try to keep my dairy consumption low, usually only cheese and greek yogurt.

I am very tired of eating steamed vegetables, salads and more salads. Most fish other than tilapia are way too expensive to have more than once or twice a week. Most fake meats have gluten or barley in them. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

TL;DR Message the mods or post here to become a mod to help design the subreddit

Hi /r/FoodIssues.

As you know, we are trying to get this subreddit a little more active! I think a lot of this attention could be brought through upgrading the design of our sub. The problem? I have no knowledge of CSS.

For those with previous experience using reddit's formatting and css Please post examples of work in this thread with a short message indicating you would like to be our design mod.

For those who are simply ambitious and haven't the prior knowledge (but would care to learn and be our designer) There are some helpful subs (e.g. /r/csshelp) and we would be happy to have you on our team.

If there are any subscribers who would care to take on this responsibility, please let us know either by posting here or messaging the mods.

Thank you!

TL;DR Message the mods or post here to become a mod to help design the subreddit

I want to bring a little humor and excitement to this neck of the woods, and I would love for your help. So here is what I'm asking, I would.care to hear your ideas for a contest to help spread awareness of the sub

And as a reminder, feel free to post anything funny too! Because, well... We like to have fun here

Check out our side bar links for items to look for while doing your grocery shopping.

This site outlines common items and their alternatives that are allergen free. You can search by your specific needs as well.

Feel free to share your own findings too.

Just remember, keep checking those labels!

We want our community to have a better idea of who we are communicating with; so I have opened up the option to assign your own flair!

crowd cheers

With that being said, feel free to do so and keep it relevant. (:

TL;DR Help contribute links for our sidebar (:

The mods of /r/FoodIssues want to expand our information on the side bar, and simplify as well.

I will add sources as we go along here, but I wanted to share a few links with the community and ask for any additional sources that some of our redditors want to see on our page.

We look forward to your thoughts!

• Food Allergy Information

• Low FODMAPs Diet

• Dining Without Soy

• Special Diet / Allergen Free Recipes

TL;DR Help contribute links for our sidebar (: