I’m drinking quite a few of these lately.  It’s a PB & J Smoothie.

It contains:

frozen bananas & raspberries

almond milk

maca powder

peanut butter powder

brown rice protein powder

 

I’m also enjoying decaf pumpkin spice lattes lately.  Did you know Starbucks will make your drink with almond milk as long as they don’t have to steam it?

It has been almost two months since I was diagnosed with an allergy to corn.  I have had to make many adjustments to my eating habits.  You would not believe some of the foods that corn is found in and what kinds of ingredients are actually derived from corn.  Did you know that maltodextrin, unless otherwise stated, is derived from corn?  How about baking powder?  Unless otherwise listed on a package of brownie mix or in muffins, baking powder contains cornstarch.  Ever heard of dextrose?  Most of the time it is added to products to preserve freshness.  It is mainly derived from corn.  Other ingredients that I have found to be derived from corn also include glucose, invert sugar, distilled white vinegar, xanthan gum (not always), and many more.

Let me re-visit one of these ingredients: distilled white vinegar.  Why do you have to be in so many things, but most importantly, KETCHUP?!  I officially make my own ketchup because I still need to dunk my kale!

Another thing that is pretty tricky is, unlike wheat, soy, milk, and tree nuts, corn is not typically listed on a package for a quick allergy reference.  Do you ever notice at the end of some ingredient statement you can find the phrase, “CONTAINS: milk”, for example?  I have yet to find one that says, “CONTAINS: corn”.  One thing I learned about food labeling laws last year when I went back to school was, food manufacturers are not required to give the allergy information on a package.  They must list the ingredients and any sub ingredients, like baking powder, but they do not have to list the allergens. Most manufacturers just do this to be nice.

Needless to say, grocery shopping has become a bit more challenging.  When a source is not listed for an ingredient (like dextrose), I typically use my best judgment in determining whether or not to buy the item.  My way of eating has become less and less processed.  If I want bread, I either make it myself or purchase one kind that, I know for a fact, does not contain corn.  Last night I made soft tacos for dinner.  I had two choices: make my own soft shells (store bought contain cornstarch) or have a taco salad.  I ended up with the salad out of laziness of not wanting to make my own shells.

So what do I miss? More than anything I want to eat a big bowl of popcorn while watching a movie, with my second craving being for warm tortilla chips and guacamole from Taco Boy.

What do I eat?  I eat a ton of fresh fruits and veggies plus many frozen kinds as well.  I still get to enjoy oatmeal or eggs for breakfast (no biscuits from Hominy though).  Most cereals contain some kind of corn too.  Many dairy items are still fine to eat, like good cheese and Greek yogurt.  Forget flavored yogurt.  Most contain cornstarch.   Luckily I am not allergic to any seafood so I have been enjoying as much as possible! J  I will choose shrimp over bread any day.  That is, unless it’s my Baba’s bread.  All bets are off then!

If you had to choose to cut one food item out of your diet, what would it be?

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