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Hi All--

Since I posted my note on foods that cross react with pollens, a couple of you wrote and pointed out the rather obvious omission of "corn" on the list - almost a staple for those of us who can tolerate it...which was the point. There are many celiacs who do not tolerate corn. Anyway, in addition to the corn issue, one listmate (former science teacher) wrote a very interesting and informative response that I thought you might find interesting as well.

Cheers,
Ayn in Alabama
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I just joined the Listserve, so I never saw your first post.  I have celiac, and before it was diagnosed 3 years ago, my pollen allergies "cross reacted" to give me multiple food allergies as well.  My immune system was quite stressed.

It really is the pollen allergies giving you food allergies, and not the other way around, according to the multiple doctors I've seen.  Were you to be tested, you would probably not test positive to all the foods that would give you problems.  Many cause what they call "oral allergy syndrome" (OAS)  which is a tingling in the lips, mouth, and throat.  Supposedly if the food is cooked, the reaction won't occur, but that hasn't been true in my case. They don't call that an "allergy," but it can be fatal if your throat swells shut.

Wheat is a grass.  If you are allergic to grasses, your tolerance for those foods listed in your  "about.com" listing will be less during grass pollen season.  Many OAS food reactions are seasonal.

You may be interested in checking the botanical families of the foods that bother you - I find that if I'm bothered by one, the others can be suspect.

For example, last week I had a mild anaphylactic reaction to eating fresh beets.  When I looked up beets, I found they were in the "goosefoot" family, which contains lambs quarters, pigweed, and Amaranth.  When I checked the pollen count, goosefoot pollen was present.   I can eat amaranth flour in the winter, but not in weed pollen season.

Here's a site that lists food families - http://www.calgaryallergy.ca/Articles/botanical.htm

It is a Canadian allergy website.

All this to say, you may be both Celiac AND allergic to wheat.  I am, and I have to be much more careful during grass season.






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