The Most Common Food Allergies and Intolerances (And How I Cook Around Them)

Almost every group I cook for now has someone at the table managing an allergy or intolerance. When I started The Veggie Wifey I knew these diets  were treated differently, and many of those diagnosed with an allergy or intolerance were given food made with zero effort on taste. Once you understand what the most common ones actually are, cooking around them becomes second nature, and honestly the food often ends up more interesting, with no compromise on flavour or texture..

The Difference Between A Food Allergy And A Food Intolerance

Let’s get the differences out of the way first.  A true food allergy is your immune system treating a harmless food as a threat, and it can be very serious or  life-threatening. A food allergy is different from a food intolerance. For example, the most common food intolerance today is lactose intolerance. This is a common digestive condition where your body cannot break down lactose, a natural sugar found in milk and dairy products. People with this kind of intolerance do not  produce enough of the enzyme (lactase) to digest it, causing bloating, gas, diarrhea and pain. When you are intolerant,  your body struggles to digest something due to certain enzyme deficiencies, but your immune system isn’t involved and in most cases, it is not as life-threatening. 

If you think you or your child is reacting to a food, please see a doctor and get properly tested rather than guessing. I cook around allergies and intolerances every day, but I’m a chef, not a medic, and this is important to note here.

What Are The Most Common Foods Allergies?

Most serious food allergies come down to a short list, often called the big eight. These are:

• milk
• eggs
• peanuts
• tree nuts
• soy
• wheat
• fish
• shellfish. 

Sesame has become common enough that a lot of countries now treat it as the ninth. If you cook plant-forward like I do, you’ll notice you’ve already sidestepped a good chunk of this list, no fish, no shellfish, no dairy, no eggs. That’s part of why vegan cooking is so friendly for multi-diet households.

What Are The Most Common Food Intolerances?

• Lactose 
• Gluten (difficulty digesting wheat, rye, and barley proteins)
• FODMAP

FODMAP refers to Fermentable (carbs and fibers broken down by gut bacteria to create gas), Oligosaccharides (wheat, garlic, onions and legumes), Disaccharides (lactose), Monosaccharides (fructose found in natural fruits, honey and high-fructose corn syrup) and Polyols (sugar alcohols and artificial sweeteners)

• Histamine (when the body lacks diamine oxidase (DAO) enzyme and cannot digest aged or fermented foods properly)
• Food Additives (when the body is sensitive to preservatives  like sulfites in wine or flavor enhancers like MSG)

What About the Ones People Forget?

Soy and wheat are the sneaky ones for plant-based eaters, because they hide everywhere. Regular soy sauce, stock cubes, packaged sauces and a lot of mock meats lean on both. Peanuts and tree nuts are worth flagging too, since so many vegan recipes reach for cashews and peanut butter for that luscious, creamy texture. When I’m cooking for a nut-free crowd, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, flax or chia seeds step in beautifully either on their own or as a combination.

An Easy Guide On How To Replace Allergies And Intolerances In Recipes

This is the question I get most, so let me try to write up a short and easy version of how to do this. Sometimes, replacing ingredients is very easy. Other times, a few more steps need to be taken to create that same texture or outcome. This happens a lot when replacing ingredients in baking. 

Here’s exactly what I reach for depending on what I’m creating:

1. To replace milk, I use soy milk for baking, pea milk for a good high protein alternative for smoothies and shakes, coconut milk or cream for sauces and spreads, almond and oat milk for everyday use if you’re allergic to the others . 
   
2. To replace eggs, it’s a little tricker. It truly depends on what you want the outcome to be. If you’re trying to make an omelette, chickpea flour is your best bet. If you want to replace eggs in baking,  you can see my video here to give you a full overview on how to replace eggs in several different recipes
   
3. To replace peanuts, or any tree nuts, you can use sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, chia or flaxseeds. A combination of all can also sometimes do the trick. These seeds are very beneficial for your health as well. 
   
4. To replace soy, it is also a multi-faceted situation. For seasoning, soy sauce can be easily replaced using coconut aminos with a 1:1 ratio. However, coconut aminos has less sodium, so you may want to check and taste if some extra salt may be needed in the recipe. Coconut aminos are also gluten-free. With regards to tofu, it can also be replaced using jackfruit, mushrooms, lentils, beans and chickpeas. These are all great sources of protein too!
   
5. To replace wheat, I love using different kinds of flours such as almond flour, coconut flour and gluten-free oat flour. However, they cannot be used on their own – that’s the only issue about replacing wheat. The protein content is very different in these flours, so they need a lot of support to recreate the same texture. I also have another video on how to replace gluten in every recipe. You can see the video here.
   
6. For food intolerances like FODMAP, many people opt for low-FODMAP diets. This is directed by a professional and certified doctor,  and restricts short-chain carbohydrates in your diet for a period of time, to relieve gas and bloating. 
   
7. For other intolerances, I always go by the mantra: READ THE INGREDIENTS. It is so important  to understand the ingredients behind the label when grocery shopping. The nutrients, the sugar content, the additives, and the emulsifiers used. Food marketing has become a big business, and as health conscious consumers, we need to be even smarter when making our purchases.
   

When cooking for those with allergies and intolerances, texture and flavour should not be compromised. This new method of cooking is truly about learning and exploring new ingredients that are sometimes healthier alternatives. It may be hard at the start, because historically, we have been told to use eggs, milk, dairy, etc. However, once you figure out the best replacements for those key ingredients, it will be really easy for you!

If you would like to explore recipes to help with certain diets, feel free to check out my nut-free, gluten-free and egg-free recipes on my website!