Have you heard about the elementary school student with a milk allergy who lost their life after eating curry at school lunch? Food allergies can be serious enough to threaten lives. People born without the enzymes to digest certain foods can experience severe immune reactions when they eat those foods - from hives and breathing difficulties to anaphylaxis in severe cases.
This is why many people have no choice but to adopt a vegan diet. If you have a dairy allergy, you must completely avoid milk, cheese, and butter. If you're allergic to eggs, you can't eat anything containing them. However, what starts as a necessary dietary restriction often becomes a turning point toward a healthier life.
Diverse Vegan Options for People with Allergies
Did you know that not all vegan diets are the same? Vegetarianism comes in many forms, varying by degree and the foods allowed. The advantage is having many options to choose from based on your allergy situation and health condition.
The strictest form, fruitarianism, involves eating only fruits and nuts. This extreme approach excludes plant roots and leaves, consuming only fruits and grains - honestly, it's not easy to maintain nutritional balance this way.
What we typically know as vegan excludes not just meat and fish, but also milk, eggs, honey, and all animal-derived products. In a broader sense, it's a lifestyle that also avoids leather products and cosmetics tested on animals.
Lacto-vegetarians consume plant-based foods plus milk and dairy products, but avoid meat, fish, and eggs. Conversely, ovo-vegetarians eat eggs but not dairy products. The most popular choice, lacto-ovo vegetarian, includes plant foods, milk, dairy, and eggs while avoiding only meat and fish.
There are more flexible options too. Pescatarians allow fish, and pollo-vegetarians can eat chicken. The increasingly popular flexitarian approach involves mainly vegetarian eating with occasional meat consumption - quite realistic for those who find complete vegetarianism challenging due to work dinners or family gatherings.
Being Vegan Doesn't Mean You're Allergy-Free
Many people mistakenly believe that following a vegan diet eliminates allergy concerns. That's not true at all! In fact, for adults, plant-based foods can be major causes of anaphylaxis.
Many foods in vegan diets can trigger allergies. If you have nut allergies, you can't eat almonds, cashews, or walnuts. With soy allergies, you must avoid soybeans and lentils. Gluten in wheat flour can be problematic, and seeds like sesame or sunflower seeds can also cause allergic reactions.
You Can Still Maintain Nutritional Balance with Allergies
If you have nut allergies, you can choose oat milk, rice milk, or hemp seed milk. For protein, try pea protein, chickpeas, or quinoa. Instead of nut butters, sunflower seed or pumpkin seed butter makes delicious sandwiches.
For those with gluten allergies, use rice flour, buckwheat flour, tapioca flour, or potato starch. When craving pasta, rice noodles, buckwheat noodles, or lentil pasta are great alternatives. For baking, almond flour or oatmeal works well - assuming no nut allergies, of course.
Soy allergies are a bit trickier. You'll need to use other vegetables instead of tofu and choose oat milk over soy milk. Grapeseed oil is a good substitute for soybean oil.
Watch Out for Cross-Contamination
Vegans with allergies must be especially careful about cross-contamination. When buying packaged foods, thoroughly checking ingredient lists is essential, and you should also check manufacturing facility information. If you see statements like "This product was manufactured in a facility that processes peanuts," those with peanut allergies should avoid it.
The same applies when dining out. Check menus in advance and always ask about allergen-containing ingredients. Many restaurants now provide allergy information, so take advantage of this.
Pay Extra Attention to Nutritional Balance
Vegans who restrict certain foods due to allergies may face higher risks of nutritional deficiencies. If you have legume allergies, protein intake becomes challenging, so you'll need alternative protein sources like quinoa or amaranth. For dairy alternatives, choose plant-based milks fortified with calcium.
Vitamin B12 is virtually absent in plant foods, making supplements essential. Since plant-based iron has lower absorption rates, consuming it with vitamin C is important - like adding lemon dressing to spinach salad.
Recent research suggests that well-planned plant-based diets can help prevent allergic diseases. While those with existing allergies need more careful management, properly managed vegan diets can bring many health benefits.
Even if you started a vegan diet out of necessity due to allergies, finding the right approach for yourself can lead to a healthier, more vibrant life. It's okay not to be perfect. There are flexible options like flexitarianism and partial vegetarian approaches like lacto-vegetarianism.
What matters is understanding your body well and consulting with nutritionists or allergy specialists to create a personalized diet plan. Remember, you can enjoy delicious and nutritious meals whether you have allergies or follow a vegan diet. Here's to your healthy vegan journey!
Comments
Post a Comment