Other options include making your own chocolate, which is fun if you have time.  I made some peanut butter cups last month, but they didn’t turn out good.  Once I get some good recipes, I will be sure to post them though!

If you’ve found any corn free chocolate please email me at cornallergysymptoms@gmail.com so I can add them to this post for everyone.

Managing any allergy is about managing load.  If you have multiple allergies, you have to reduce the exposure to as many of them as possible to feel better.  For example, my son always got worse in the spring with seasonal allergies plus corn.  Now that he’s not eating corn, he actually does not have any spring allergy symptoms anymore.  I believe that his allergic load was decreased to the point where his body could handle it.

Exercise has so many benefits, which we all know.  But, I have noticed that walking regularly and doing Pilates appears to make my son and I stronger.  Also, when I think I may be starting to react to something, if I can, I try to walk a bit.  I think exercise can help push the symptoms away faster – but this is strictly anecdotal and I am not a doctor.  I am only relaying what I have experienced and my allergy symptoms DO NOT include breathing problems that would take me to the ER.

Drinking plenty of water, I believe helps reduce symptoms.  I don’t know if it’s diluting the problem or cleansing, but it appears to help.  If I think I am starting to react, I try to drink about 16 oz of water as soon as I can.  It seems to help me a bit.

Antioxidants also seem to help me quite a bit for some reason.  I regularly drink green tea, probably 3 cups a day, at least.  I put cinnamon, cardamom, ginger and clove in it to help digestion.  Pomegranate juice or Acai juice can also be great.  I don’t drink them as much as I’d like because they are so expensive, but I highly recommend at least 4 oz of pomegranate juice daily.  Just make sure the juice is 100% natural – no high fructose corn syrup etc.  I have to get mine from the health food store to be sure.

So, having food allergies force lifestyle changes that make you “fish or cut bait”.  Everyone has to decide how far they are willing to go to feel well.  Some people don’t want to work too hard at  it, but others are willing to really go the extra mile.  If you like feeling good, try more exercise, more water, adding antioxidants and above all else, avoid those offending foods!

I’ve also come to the conculsion that most starchy foods bother me to some extent now.

For more information visit my site http://www.CornAllergySymptoms.com

First, sit down when you have a moment before shopping and make a grid for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  Add snack items as well and a few frozen or canned things just in case you are in a bind.  Not only will this menu planning save you from making mistakes, you will likely save money because you will not waste as much food.  This helps a lot as eating corn free costs more money.

When planning your menus, consider your week.  Are you going to be very busy on certain days?  Do you run out of steam by Thursday?  Can you use a slow cooker to take some of the load off of making dinner?  Can you cook something ahead, like a casserole, and put it in the freezer?  There are plenty of tricks to help you eat well without spending all of your time in the kitchen.

Other great ideas to handle your corn allergy include:

• Keeping your fruit bowl full
• Cuttting up some celery and carrots and store in a Ziploc bag in the fridge for easy use
• Keeping some food bars handy, like Larabars, which are delicious and healthy
• Keeping a few frozen meals that you can eat.  Amy’s makes a few items that are corn free
• Keeping a few cans of soup or chili handy, just in case you run out of steam
• Making a few things ahead of time on your days off for the week like pancakes, casseroles or soups which can all be frozen with great success
• Eggs are a kind of fast food, and in a pinch, you can make one quickly and they keep you full longer than a lot of other foods (as long as you aren’t allergic to eggs)

Being prepared is equivalent to being successful at managing one’s food allergies.  If you are well prepared, you don’t have to think about what you will be eating later, just choose from the list you’ve already made.  Keep things fresh by getting cookbooks or searching online for recipes.  If you have a family, have them help.  They can be in charge of pre-chopping vegetables, washing a few pans or even making some blueberry muffins.  They will learn to pitch in and cook at the same time, both great life skills.

For additional information on how to deal with a corn allergy, visit my site at www.CornAllergySymptoms.com.

Some people who are allergic to corn find it difficult to eat corn fed meat.  This adds more challenge to mix.  I have found one company online that does not feed their animals any corn called Rocky Mountain Organic Meats.  They do not carry chicken, however.  There’s a web site for chicken breast recipes that has a lot of corn free ideas if you can tolerate chicken.

If you are looking for fast food options, there aren’t many in the traditional sense.  You might have to consider your fruit bowl and some pre-cut vegetables as your new fast food.  If you are out and about and in a real bind, I know that Chipotle has said they have corn free options.  In an email they told me that only their tortillas contain corn.  You might want to double check on that before eating anything however, especially if your allergy is severe.

Now, just because you have made a particular dish at home and it was corn free, don’t assume that it will be corn free outside or in a frozen form.  Indian recipes don’t usually have cornstarch in them, yet frozen indian foods often use cornstarch as a thickener.  That goes for nearly any foods with “gravies” involved.  At home, you can use flour, potato, or tapioca starch for a thickener.

What you will get in return for your hard work cooking from scratch is the awesome ability to know which spices go with what.  You may get creative and make up your own recipes.  You will quickly learn that packaged spice mixes for gravy, taco seasoning etc were never really necessary and you get a really nice flavor with natural spices at a fraction of the cost.

You will also learn how to appreciate the true taste of foods and you will finally feel full.  Without all the added chemicals and the allergy wreaking havoc on your brain, you will live better and enjoy the benefits of this lifestyle change.

For more information on corn allergies, visit my site at www.CornAllergySymptoms.com.

1. Be honest.  Tell them how it hurts you and how much you need to avoid corn.  Show them a list of corn derivatives so that they can appreciate the magnitude of your problem.  Explain that you don’t expect them to make anything special for you, but that you might ask sometimes what they put in their food for your own health.
2. Don’t go for dinner.  You might have to meet people for coffee or card games or movies instead of food.  For people who love to meet over food, this can be disappointing and painful.  But, believe me, for the person avoiding corn, its worse.
3. Make it a potluck.  This is my favorite because I can take two or three dishes to share that others are really impressed with and that I can eat.  Everyone likes my food and realizes that packaged mixes and corn is not necessary to eat well.  In fact, you will eat better without all the extra ingredients and preservatives that most packaged foods contain.
4. Make it just tea and cake.  Just put together dessert meetings with tea and cake, where of course, you bring your own desserts to share and eat.
5. Ask “how did you make that” as it’s a socially acceptable way to find out if there’s corn in it.  You can usually only ask that once per meal though so pick something you think will be ok to eat, or your gamble won’t pay off.
6. Grill it baby.  Grilling food is a great chance to just get plain old chicken or meat, as long as you don’t get involved with marinades or the marinades are natural and corn free.  You can bring corn free chips, potato salad or all sorts of fun things to share and everyone is so busy they don’t notice what you have or haven’t eaten.

For more tips, coupons or corn free recipes, or a list of corn derivatives visit my site at www.CornAllergySymptoms.com

So, you have a sneaky suspicion that something else is bothering you?  You are probably onto something.  I’ve found the most effective way to learn if I am allergic is to stop eating that thing for a few days, then eat it again and see what happens.  Of course, this is for moderate allergies, not severe ones.  You should never try to eat something that could send you to the hospital.

Food allergy symptoms vary widely from one individual to another and from one food to another.  My first sign that I’ve eaten something wrong is usually itchiness around my mouth or my nose.  At times, I will feel a little burning or tingling on my lips too.  Nearly instantly to within 10 minutes of eating something, I know it’s bad for me.  Others don’t have that luxury to connect the two.  I’ve had some tell me that their reaction is delayed.

Food diaries have the answers.  Keep a list of what you’ve eaten and how you feel.  This worked very well for me, especially if I ate only one food at a time.  Sticking with “whole foods” helps too.  Packaged foods contain so many ingredients that it is very hard to tell what it is that’s bothering you.  Most people with allergies learn to cook meals that use really basic ingredients.  This helps eliminate a lot of the guesswork.

Multiple food allergies are difficult to deal with, but not impossible for most.  It’s important to get to the root of the allergies and avoid the foods that are causing them.  If you do, your quality of life will certainly improve.  So, no more stalling.  No more ignoring the signs.  If you have reactions to other foods, face it head on.  You’ll be happier for it in the long run.

For more information on corn allergies visit my site at: www.CornAllergySymptoms.com

I’ve been getting excited lately seeing some labels actually mark their products as containing corn.  What a relief not to have to guess. 

Many health food stores serve those with wheat allergies.  People with wheat allergies sometimes rely on corn as a substitute.  Considering this, it’s no surprise that many of the products on health food store shelves contain corn.  It’s still necessary to check every label prior to purchase.  For example, all of the chips that I have checked at Whole Foods have corn or a corn derivative except for the plain Popchips.  Man, I miss BBQ chips!

Checking labels can be overwhelming.  Let’s face it, food allergies are overwhelming.  Sometimes, the print is so small and my eyes actually get tired of reading.  I take my son with me too, so he can read some of the labels.  It’s like tag team food checking. 

Your best bet for corn free, as far as packaged foods are concerned, is to look for plain items.  For chips, look for plain potato chips, sea salt, no flavors, cooked in something besides vegetable oil or corn oil.  Watch out for corn starch, it’s used as a thickener and is found in many organic foods.  You will also find cornmeal and citric acid in a number of items.  Just be sure to keep a list of corn derivatives when you go shopping and don’t go when you are tired or hungry, it just makes it worse!  Don’t let a corn allergy get the best of you.  With patience and determination, you can learn to live corn free.

For more information about living with a corn allergy, visit my site: www.CornAllergySymptoms.com

I love a good party, don’t get me wrong.  I want to be social.  I never understood how social eating with others actually is.  When you refuse other people’s food, it actually hurts their feelings, even though you don’t want to.  Even though my friends and family know I am allergic to corn, it’s not always been easy.  People want to be helpful and try to make some corn free recipes, and yet, it turns out that what they’ve made is NOT corn free.  There might be some MSG in broth or some other corn derivative.  It seems that corn is practically every processed food and we are so used to cooking with packaged items that it finds its way into everything.

So, what’s a party going holiday eater to do?  If you are like me, you eat before you go so you are already full.  This way, you aren’t as tempted to eat something with corn in it.  Then, if you are lucky, your host doesn’t mind if you bring a dish.  I bring something good that I can eat, and a dessert too if possible.  If it’s dinner, I eat salad with oil and balsamic or oil and lemon and dressing.  Potatoes work for me, as long as they are cooked plain.  Plain steamed vegetables work and that’s about it.

Stuffing is a no go unless you can find corn free.  I recently went Whole Foods and was unable to find corn free stuffing.  The good news is that it actually said it had corn in it! (+derived from corn). Awesome!  Turkey doesn’t work for me, I don’t know why.  Maybe they eat corn or they are packaged in a broth, I am not sure.  I avoid gravy since it’s made from the turkey juice or packages, either way it’s not working.  Anything with added soups like green beans with mushroom soup is also a no go since the soup has corn in it.

For more information about living with a corn allergy, visit my site at www.CornAllergySymptoms.com

Rice:
Make any kind of rice you like once your okra stew is nearly done.  I prefer jasmati, a kind of jasmine long grain rice.  I also use a rice maker which appears to be fool proof.

Beef & Okra:

• Frozen okra slices
• 1lb beef stew chunks
• 1onion
• 60z can tomato paste
• sea salt
• canola oil
• pepper
• lemon juice

First put your okra slices in a pot and cover with just enough water and add 1 cup of lemon juice.  Boil for about 5 minutes then drain and add to crock pot.  This reduces the okra slime that makes some people hate it.

Brown beef chunks with 1 diced onion and some canola oil.  Add to crock pot.

Put a 6oz can of tomato paste (no citric acid) in the crockpot.  Add salt and pepper to liking.

Add just enough water to cover everything in the crock pot and cook for 8 hours on low.

Serve the stew on a bed of rice with yogurt on the side, some finely chopped tomatos and cucumbers as a side dish.

This okra stew is crock-pot-a-licious!

For other corn free recipes for those following a corn free diet visit my site at www.CornAllergySymptoms.com

Corn Free Recipes – Tomato Soup Recipe

• 1 Tbsp butter
• small can tomato paste
• 1 pinch oregano
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 2 cups vegetable broth
• 1 tsp flour
• 1/2 tsp sea salt (or to taste)
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 small onion finely chopped (or 1tsp onion powder)

Saute onion with butter (do not burn), add broth, oregano, sugar, salt, pepper, tomato paste, bay leaf and bring to a low boil, add flour and wisk well to thicken, cool slightly and slowly wisk in milk, bring to low boil and serve when ready.