What to Do if You Suspect a Food Allergy

What to Do if You Suspect a Food Allergy

In this article

• See a Doctor
• Keep a Food Diary
• Try an Elimination Diet
• See a Dietitian

Keep a Food Diary

This simple task can help you help your doctor figure out what is going on. For one or two weeks, write down in a notebook:

• Everything you eat
• Any symptoms you have
• How long the symptoms happen after eating certain foods

Try an Elimination Diet

Let's say you had a reaction after eating prawns or shrimp with peanut sauce. You think the shellfish or peanuts caused it, but you don't know which. An exclusion or elimination diet can help pinpoint the problem food. It is important to do this under doctor supervision because a food allergy can be dangerous and even fatal.

With help from your doctor or a dietician:

• Don't eat the foods you think you’re allergic to for two to four weeks. If you don't have any more symptoms, you probably are allergic to one of those foods.
• Gradually add a single food back into your diet. If your symptoms come back, you’ve found the culprit. If they don't, the food is OK for you to eat, and you can try another single food.

To eliminate a food from your diet:

• Read labels to make sure it isn't an ingredient in packaged foods you buy or eat.
• Know restaurant items that are likely to contain your problem food. If the kitchen can't prepare the dish without it, don't order it.
• Make sure that utensils, cooking surfaces, and oils used to prepare your food aren't also used to prepare the food you need to avoid.

You should have self-injectable epinephrine at all times to help counter an allergic reaction.

See a Dietitian

A registered dietitian can help you figure out where your problem food might be lurking. If you are eliminating a nutritious food like milk from your diet, your dietitian can also help you get important nutrients in other ways.