Two months ago, I took a food intolerance test in Manila because I wanted to check if I was eating food that was making me feel less than awesome. I had been feeling bloated and tired, and since I eat pretty much everything, I decided it was time to find out if I had any food intolerances. My mom had the exact same test done and my sister had a similar one done so I also just joined the bandwagon and was curious to see what we had in common.
The test involves a pinprick on a finger, then a small sample of blood is squeezed out from that into a tiny vial. It doesn’t take long and isn’t painful. After a few days, you can pick up your results and sit down with a nutritionist who will explain the list to you.
The results are given in two formats, one arranged according to the different food groups, and another arranged by order of reactivity, which I’ve included below.
The list of elevated food, here in red, are the ones I should avoid. The yellow list, can be consumed once a week and the green can be eaten anytime.
My thoughts on the food that I have to avoid:
Milk/ Casein: I’ve stopped drinking cow’s milk for a long time now, same with yogurt, but I still eat cheese and ice cream occasionally. I switched to almond milk for drinking for the past three years. I’m not really surprised that this is on the list but it still makes me sad.
Egg white: I have a problem with this because I love eating eggs! Hard boiled eggs are one of the easiest breakfasts ever. It’s portable and foolproof. I love making cheese omelets and putting fried eggs over rice dishes. Boo.
White Haricot Bean: I don’t really eat this. Can I trade this for eggs instead?
Corn: This is difficult. Corn appears everywhere! What about my favorite nachos from the best taco truck in Astoria? Popcorn when I watch movies? Chips? Corn from Cafe Habana? Sad.
Agar-Agar: I never thought this algae derivative would be on my list. I even make coffee jelly from agar-agar instead of regular animal gelatin, but I guess I should reach for the Knox packets after all.
Soya bean: Another really tough one. Soy is in a lot of food. I love miso paste, especially when mixed with butter. I eat tofu occasionally, but I use soy sauce often. A lot of non-dairy ice creams and desserts are soy-based. Goodbye miso ramen.
Aloe Vera: I don’t really eat this either. Switch please.
Goat’s milk: I don’t drink it but eat goat cheese. I visited the Catapano Dairy Farm and bought several of their award winning fresh goat cheese last year over the Thanksgiving break and was planning to go again this year, but will probably pass now that I’m avoiding this too. Sigh.
Plaice: this is a fish I’m not familiar with.
Sheep Milk: I don’t really drink it or eat sheep cheese.
Wheat and Gliadin: Oh no. I love bread, pasta, ramen, crackers, pita, cake, cookies, and most baked goods. I can’t believe I’ve turned gluten free.
Sardine: I don’t eat these often either.
Brewer’s Yeast: BEER. All the fermented stuff I love! This one super hard to avoid.
Red Kidney Bean, Cola Nut, Amaranth: You will not be missed.
Pistachio: A bit surprising, so goodbye to snacking on these.
Cashews: A lot of non-dairy ice creams are cashew based too! BOO.
Oat and Barley: Goodbye oatmeal.
Mushrooms: I love mushrooms. Shiitake bacon is so good. Not as good as the real bacon but is addicting is a different way. Mushrooms in miso butter is the triple threat I will not be making anytime soon. Just writing this down reminds me of the awesome mushroom dish at Dirt Candy that I had several months back. Why am I intolerant to mushrooms? Maybe because when I was a kid, whenever I didn’t like the food on the table, (which was often) I would eat Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom Soup with rice. It was my staple food.
Hazelnut: Goodbye Nutella.
Mustard Seed: This is another tough one. I love using it in salad dressings! And on french fries, burgers and hotdogs!
The borderline list:
Celery: Okay, I won’t really miss this, but celery is in most stocks.
Curry: Another tough one.
Tiger Nut: I don’t eat these.
Malt: As if there weren’t enough reasons to avoid beer.
Buckwheat: Goodbye soba. 🙁
Pea: Goodbye wasabi peas. 🙁
Plum: Will not miss this.
Radish: But I love daikon! What about my sinigang?
Pomegranate: Same as plum.
Tuna: Gosh this list ended with a bang. One of my favorite things from Mu Ramen has tuna in it. Why did I take this test again?
Alright, there are still more foods on the green list than the red and yellow lists combined, but after almost two months of trying to avoid what I’m supposed to, I’ve been really bad at following it.
As part of this whole experience, I started listing down my food and beverage intake on my calendar, and at first I was pretty thorough, until I started eating food that I wasn’t supposed to and started feeling guilty. If I didn’t write it down, maybe my body would forget too! Hahaha.
It’s challenging to eat out and cook for two, since my husband eats pretty much everything, I always end up having a bit or two of whatever he is having.
For the first month that I was strictly avoiding the elevated food, I definitely felt less bloated. During that time I didn’t drink alcohol much too. So those two factors helped a lot. I was able to exercise more often since I felt less sluggish.
So what happened? Well, my friend asked if I would be interested in eating in Eleven Madison Park since they had reservations for five, but had one friend cancel. I’ve wanted to eat there but I now they get booked well in advance so I decided to say yes. I wanted the complete dining experience and I know how disrupting substitutions can be for the cooks so when asked if anyone had dietary restrictions, I said no.
I ate everything and also had wine with dinner plus the apple brandy after dessert. I’ll share my entire dining experience at Eleven Madison Park another time, but for now, that dinner got me to eat what I’ve had to avoid. Now I find it harder to resist eating bread, chips, noodles, and ice cream.
-B