Poor you! But at least it's figured out.

Grain milks are odd, but I like Three Trees Oatmilk with Seeds for making oatmeal with seeds. Or are seeds out, too? Are legumes okay? Beans, lentils, etc.? I'm assuming so...

Check out vegan resources for alternatives for dairy and eggs. There's vegan yoghurt! Often no nuts means no coconut as well. If that's true for you, read labels on everything. Coconut oil is everywhere these days, especially with or instead of dairy. Like vegan cheese used to be mostly soy, but now it's mostly coconut. There is still soy cheese, but it's not that great. You might also make sure no nuts includes cashews, which are pseudonuts. It probably does, since they're often more of a problem than real nuts, but you never know. Cashew cheese is less like real cheese in flavor and appearance, but it tastes good and eats well, and is satisfying.

For ”eggs” in cooking/baking, check out aquafaba, the goo in canned, cooked garbanzo beans (chickpeas), You can also make all kinds of good things with garbanzos, which are higher in fat and starch than other beans, so they go well together.

You can treat sliced chicken tenders as you would seafood morsels, so long as they're cooked through. Not the same thing, of course, but you can still savor a favorite sauce and feel less deprived,

Rather than dwelling on what you miss, try focusing on new things you can make. Try cooking Indian cuisine, if you don't already. Or Persian. Or barbecue. Cook your way through a cookbook. Make it fun! And good luck!

I haven't talked face-to-face with the physician who wrote me this information, so you're certainly giving me loads of questions when we do finally get to meet face-to-face. I got the cart before the horse in this one, but got really lucky. I wanted to go in to his office after the diagnostic testing, and they agreed. Fixed the stricture, keep on doing the PPIs that have been working, but he also said cut out foods. I'm less on board with it, as it's not tried and true yet, with few answers on which way works best. 50/50 mostly, and I am far less likely to be compliant. I'll cut back and cut out where I can, and see where I'm at when we meet up.

And I said the same thing to the person who was taste testing with me when were trying out dairy-free treats this morning. I said, maybe all the stuff I cut out like potatoes and corn, I can now eat, when I skip eggs, milk, and pasta, for instance. I'm trying for happy replacements, and hoping it'll be healthier in many ways :)

I hasn’t heard of a gut condition for which one avoids the foods you listed, so I looked it up, and what popped up was eosinophilic esophagitis (EOE), an allergic condition for which the list of foods to avoid is dairy, wheat, soy, eggs, nuts, and seafood/shellfish. Interesting. Further reading suggested that for that condition, one can test which of those foods actually needs to be avoided, via an elimination test diet: eliminate all those foods, then reintroduce one at a time and see what happens.

https://www.oregonclinic.com/6-Food-Elimination-Eosinophilic-Esophagitis-EOE

I don’t know if that condition is what you have, but maybe ask your doctor about the general idea of an elimination diet test. It might be that you only need to avoid some of those foods. Unless you’ve actually been tested on each food on the “avoid” list, I suspect it is just a general list and not tuned to your specific condition.

Anyway, I could do without nuts (a snack but there are others), wheat flour (there are reasonable substitutes, increasingly available for the gluten-free market), and eggs (if I could have egg whites, that would be better), and liquid milk (don’t really drink it much, and there are substitutes) but I would hate to be without cheese (nooo!) or all types of seafood (nooooooo!).

EoE is my condition. It's not well known, so the treatments aren't as well known. At this point, after researching it (I work in medical research administration, so I do have an idea what I'm doing) it looks like they're throwing everything at it, and seeing what sticks. I almost don't believe I have any food allergens. I have asthma, another risk factor and another condition that causes high rates of eosinophils, and non-food allergies, yet another risk factor and another condition that causes high rates of eosinophils. I'd bet you a billion dollars, years from now they'll say environmental conditions were enough to cause the high rate of eosinophils in my esophagus. Oh, and I am also willing to do the swallowed steroids (budesonide)... that I already use for my nasal rinse. What's one other place in my body? I'm highly compliant when it comes to meds. Those are easy enough.

I'm working on what I can easily change before tackling the big ones, those you just mentioned.

Unlike John, I know nothing, so have no idea if this is relevant. I have lots of allergies, environmental and food, but only as an adult was I diagnosed with asthma. So I stopped walking places, i.e., breathing around cars. Surprised doctor informed me that the asthma ”went away”. OTOH, I test allergic to canteloupe, but I've never had a reaction to it. Still, at some point I did notice that I feel better in general if I skip it. Which is to say that sometimes small irritants can have sneaky effects and a single big irritant can mess with you big time. Good luck with it all!

Is it safe to assume you have allready been to the allergest or dermatologist for your allergen tests?

I would swear there was another answer a moment a go?

Yes, I have an allergist. Supposedly, this condition cannot find food allergies through skin tests. I have contacted my specialist allergist, not my allergist. I'm not sure a lot of people could say what I just said? They are a special specialist. I've enlisted their help to decide if it's an egg allergy.

I will not give up cheese, nuts, or fish and shellfish until I find a way around the other three. Flour is not going to be hard. We made fried chicken with coconut flour yesterday, and it was better?! than wheat flour?!! It was crispier. We've talked about making waffles with the same flour and substituting vinegar/baking soda to sub for the egg tomorrow.

I think there are less issues than I thought there were.

Cheese doesn't have to disappear? And seafood/fish doesn't have to disappear... completely. I can sub milk, I can avoid soy altogether :( and I will keep reducing all the other things I'm not supposed to be eating.

I'm really interested to see what my super hyper focused allergist says about egg allergy. I have all the symptoms of that. Which disappoints me greatly. I LOVE eggs. When I can't figure out what I'm going to eat for a meal, I cook an egg. Fried or hard boiled. My buddy.

****

Sherry. For sure the other answer? I've noticed so much good advice from Sherry. Lactose free milk will not help me. I cannot have animal protein milk. If it was Sherry, come back! Yes, I want your input.

I get the great resistance to giving up what you love, but whether through testing or a stictly followed elimination diet, if you learn that eggs or anything else you love is causing the problems, I highly encourage you to cut them out for six months. See if you feel better. Once you feel better, see if it's worth it to you to go back, Or to give yourself a treat every month or two. Feeling better is awesome and sometimes hard to imagine when one feels icky all the time.

OTOH, a specialist allergist said generally to all to get out of Southern California and try the PNW. No. Just no. Feeling potentially better (though I have allergies there, too) is not worth abandoning my life. I could abandon dairy and eggs if I had to, though giving up cheese would be dismal. But still worth seeing how much better you feel if you did it 100%. I did that with tomatoes, for gut health. It was kind of awful, but worth it. Now that I'm better on that front I eat them, but advisedly. Feeling better is worth it.

It's six weeks, in an elimination diet 😉 But if I'm able to give up longer, I'm going for it

I plan to give it a for real try, over time. I can't give it ALL up instantly. I can tackle it bit by bit. We have had fun experimenting. Coconut is ok, so we "went there" and made fried chicken with coconut flour, figuring that if something so iconic was ok, it'd be really easy to use other places. We make good fried chicken (we can't call ourselves true Southerners if we didn't), and it ended up better?! Crispier. Huh. Now I'm not going to switch to a fried food diet, but if it worked there I can imagine what it would do for waffles 😁 Sunday brunch looks like it won't suffer. I found egg substitutes, and I bet it would be okay in a waffle. I wouldn't go around eating egg substitutes alone, but that's a chip into the gigantic hurdle.

That is such a bummer that the allergist can't give you any definitive direction with this.

Can you do legumes, like lentils, beans? Chickpea flour is good. You can tell it's chickpea, but it's kind of nutty and more savory like a wheat flour. I make socca fairly often. It's basicly a pancake or flatbread, made with chickpea flour, water, and oil. Seaonings optional.

For clarity sake, it's not a lack on the allergist's part.

It's very hard to decipher if you have food allergies because they can take so long to show up. Hence the weeks long elimination.

I'm pretty sure beans and legumes are okay. I haven't met with anybody about the diet, but he was pretty specific about which items to cut out. I think I do need clarity on what "nuts" means. Though, I'm pretty sure they mean tree nuts. Ate the last of the fish in the house, drank the last of the cow milk, and will give away the 5 lb bag of flour I bought a couple of weeks ago. Haven't even begun thinking about how to get rid of cheese. My workmate's daughter is a vegan and she says that there are some decent vegan cheeses. I find that hard to believe. Soon to find out!

Went through this with husband years ago. It was frustrating. I started concentrating on items he COULD have, instead of what he CAN NOT have! Sheet pan dinners are so versatile, and easy. Ditto kebabs. And stir frys. So many variations of vegetables, meat, seasonings, spices, marinades and sauces!

Why the hell does HOUZZ make it such a PITA to post here anymore? GRRR

(((angelaid and hubby)))

The deeper I delve, the more I'm looking at it that way. Trying to make it fun!

Just went through my kitchen. Really there wasn't too much I had to take out of the cabinets, or fridge or freezer (the pasta, pound of scallops, and bag of flour will be given to somebody tomorrow). I did leave the last pound of butter, cheese (I've allowed myself to eat it until my child leaves for their new home in another week and a half. They can have the remainder to take with them), four or five eggs, and two cans of tuna. I will keep the mayo to use for dishes I bring to other people's house. Stripped down to the meats veggies and fruits that I can have.

Following this with interest. I have autoimmune issues and it's been very tricky for me to figure out the impacts of diet especially because I've not been disciplined enough to give things up for long, so this thread is helping me think about it again.

Since beans are okay, I want to share that I made soft tofu recently and it was easier than I expected:

https://www.seriouseats.com/fresh-silken-tofu-recipe

and then make Soondubu jigae Korean soup or Thai peanut sauce on spinach with soft tofu, 2 of my favorites! Or just eat it with a little soy sauce/chil crisp with cucumber, cabbage, etc.. for me, it was hard to stop eating straight after steaming! And the leftover ground soybean is called okara and can be used myriad ways.

Is corn okay? I made grits from dried hominy recently which did have cheese and cream, but I would make it again leaving out the dairy in favor of rich broth and some meat added - the corn was the star. And of course rice dishes... For me, I feel best when I make and use rich broth, I now cut my chicken bones with meat shears to make it gel and become more nourishing.

Thanks for the eggs substitute list, I remember now chia seeds are amazing the way they thicken up and I remember the chia bowl idea from when my daughter was vegetarian and exploring 'alternative' foods.

It's awesome that you've found help and know your way around the medical profession.

I missed that soy is also out. While I wouldn't have shunned a tofu dish, I don't typically make them. Probably would've been good in some "egg" dishes. Oh well. I don't like oatmilk as a cold milk substitute :( Tried both non-sugar and extra foamy varieties. Nope. Onto rice milk. Small vent? My work girlfriends were the first I told about this. They've been very kind. But apparently not supportive?! Next lunch date is at Ruby Sunshine. All brunch all the time (pancakes, beignets, french toast, egg dishes...) Even the salad has cheese and breaded chicken. I've figured out I'll have brunch potatoes, bacon, and a cup of fruit, but it sure will look silly. sigh.

lat, you can do it, even if it's one change at a time.

Well, I have to watch my diet due to IBS and GERD, but luckily most of the bad foods for those conditions I don't eat anyway. I have heard of people being allergic to fish and seafood but fatty fishes are big pluses for most inflammatory conditions so this is a new one for me. If soy is out, that eliminates a lot of my foods. I prefer soy milk and I like tofu. But I eat a LOT of beans and grains, including whole grain barley which is supposed to be very mild. I also special order short grain brown rice, which is totally different than the long grain, and I often mix it with barley. I also eat a lot of oats. But if those grains are out . . . I'd recommend at least taking a B vitamin supplement then . . . I've gone mostly vegan these days. I eat a lot of stir fries and squashes, sweet potatoes, bean stews like chili. Baked stuffed peppers. Some type of chopped salad is almost always in our fridge. I add cooked quinoa to some salads, it's not a grain, it's a seed. Hubs would be happy on a diet like that. I don't like meat even on the best of days, although I make a lot of seasoned chicken and pork for hubs. My late mother left me a whole file folder full of endless iterations of seasoned cooked chicken and pork.

Last night I made a slaw with fennel, granny smith apple, red cabbage, scallions, and a bit of shredded carrot. The dressing was cider vinegar, honey and olive oil. I should have used lemon juice or orange juice, cider vinegar and granny smith apples combined were too tangy for my taste. That kind of salad, cabbage with some crunchy ad ins, is usually in my fridge or the makings of such.

Rob, my sister in heart, I hope all this makes you feel better pretty darned soon.

At least you can have potatoes, I'd hate to give those up. I'd hate to give up eggs too, although it wouldn't be as difficult as giving up milk. Unfortunately, I don't have any experience or advice to give you, and I've never found a decent substitution for cheese.

ANnie

I feel for you so much! I bet you know all I'm about to say, but I'll say it so you can see it.

If you're doing an elimination diet, you're much better off doing it right the first time. That is, truly eliminate with no cheats all the suspect foods. It's a dead bore, crazy making and screws up your normal life, but if you felt fine it wouldn't be an issue. You CAN do this. Maybe you need to have a tapering down time. Of course don't go radical until you hear what the doctor has to say. Just remember, the doctors hear so many "I can'ts" that they may give in when they really want to shout at you that you need to do this to feel better. The trick is, cut out everything potentially bad. Give your body time to heal on the highly restrictive diet, however unfun and uncomfortable that may be. For other things, it can be as short as 6 weeks, but your doctor should have a number in mind. Then, once you're pretty well as healed from the "bad" foods as you're going to get, add in one eliminated food and see if it's okay. Then set it aside, wait awhile and try the next, repeating until all have had their chances. Then add back two at a time to see if they pair up to be "bad". It's a total bore, but it works. If you're not going to do the whole thing, there's little point in doing part. I had a friend who did that, and she was perpetually deprived because she wasn't really eliminating the baddies from her diet, just giving it a lot of lip service and a half-hearted wave.

In your case, before clearing more out of the kitchen, I'd look for a few things that you can for sure have and see what you can make out of them to replace the eggs that you eat when you can't think of what else. Make sure there's some nutrition similarity, and that what you invent tastes good. Then start tapering off actual eggs. Without soy and nuts, I don't know how you're going to find a good dairy substitute. Avocadoes might be a good sub for cream cheese on toast, and might be satisfying, but they're not cheese. Pâté , maybe?

I'm very sorry to read that you have this problem. It can so easily become obsessive when you can't have what you really enjoy. Lots of great advice above.... just offering my sympathy.

I too would have an issue giving up milk. DH and I may be the only adults you know who drink milk with dinner every night. We do not order it when eating out ;)

I would have to look into this much deeper before I could give suggestions, but wondering how you'd do with rice flour, is that allowed? If breading anything at all, I like it. A lighter coating than wheat flour that I will sometimes use on 'broccoli beef' made with beef or chicken (thighs, cut into ribbons) or petrale that we can often buy fresh. So of course the sole out with your seafood restriction.

So I've been thinking about pâtés and terrines, both meat and vegetable, ever since I thought of it while writing my noodgy last post. I really think it could fill the roll of eggs eaten as eggs in many instances. There's the protein, there's the fat, and there's the flexibility. Once made, it can also take up about the same space in the fridge as a carton of eggs. Fry up a slice to substitute for fried eggs, cut it up to put in hash, use a wire slicer to make a thin enough piece to roll omelette style around a parsnip purée. Cold substitute for boiled eggs, egg salad, etc. There was this deli near my university that had wonderful terrines/pâtés which were amazingly versatile as well as great straight as a slab on the plate. It might be a lot of fun trying out different recipes from around the world, and inventing your own.

Your terrines sound very interesting! For the record I love braunschweiger, so yes I'm on board for pate 😉

The update is, because I drink milk so quickly, I ran out quickly, and have been trying different ones to see what can fill the spot. I don't mind oat milk in coffee drinks, but hate them cold, right? I like coconut milk cold! But I don't see how I could ever have it with spaghetti, for instance not that I would? But for some savory things I don't see it working? Though I can't have it, it would be really good with shrimp? Ha! At any rate, I did try cow milk again and immediately had a reaction. I didn't think any food was bothering me, yet I think I might have felt something. Aww. And now I'm thinking I should sort of go the other route. Cold turkey and my two biggest offenders? I'm going to set a goal for the first of the month. That way, I'll have time to prepare, and a drop dead time.

I just love fried eggs so much! There is nothing else like them, I'd love a suggestion for that. I could totally do without wheat flour and nuts and soy and fish, even though I'd rather not. That's been easy to do for the past week. I can't believe I made it even a few days without cow's milk. You don't even know! It was so hard for me to go from whole milk to 2%. I try to go down to skim at some point, went back to 2%. Where I went to university, we had our own dairy. Have you ever had fresh whole milk? I can think of nothing tastier. I could sooner give up chocolate.

I did however go to a place several counties over, where I attended University, and have not been able to eat without an issue for years... today. And I didn't have a single issue! That was so amazing!!!! I even clapped for myself.

I can do this. Appreciate y'all!