By Richmond Natural Medicine

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September 10, 2018

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Traveling with your food allergies can be a tricky task, especially when you’re confronted with lots of new foods at the table of family and friends.

Tis the season for lots of food, family gatherings and plenty of travel time!  It’s best to prepare ahead and allow yourself plenty of time to search for ingredients or chart your travel course (what foods are available along the way).

Here are some tips for keeping yourself well fed and feeling great while on the road or away from home:

1. Familiar snacks are your new best friend. While you’re still at home, find some travel friendly/shelf stable snacks that you can take with you on the road.

2. Prepare allergy-friendly recipes before you travel and gather ingredients to take with you if you’re contributing a dish to the holiday table. Don’t expect unique ingredients to be available at every store around the country – sometimes they can be impossible to find especially around the busier cooking times of year.

3. Digestive enzymes can rescue you from un-expected foods that sneak in. If you have a specific food allergy that can be aided by the use of digestive enzymes, make sure to keep a small bottle with you in case you accidently ingest something that can cause some problems later. Herbal bitters are another great option!

4. Keep a list of ingredients that are “off limits” so if you’re out in a new city at an unfamiliar grocery store you can easily cross-reference food labels. This can also help your host/hostess know if their foods are OK for you to eat and if not, how much extra foods you will need to provide for yourself.

5. Prepare a quick and compassionate response to all of the questions you will get in regards to you refusal of offered foods. This can be something like, “Thank you, but I have a food allergy to XYZ and need to be careful about what I eat around the holidays.”. or, “Fortunately I have finally found what foods really trigger some digestive issues and XYZ is one of them. Thank you so much for offering!”.

Substitutions for some common food allergies:

Gluten Free: Pamela’s Bread mixes – excellent for almost anything you can bake gluten free! http://www.pamelasproducts.com/products/

Dairy Free: Daiya Cheese makes a great alternative to cheesy dishes: http://us.daiyafoods.com/
Coconut milk is an excellent alternative to regular milk for cooking and baking.

Eggs: 1 tablespoon ground flax seeds with 3 tablespoons water = 1 egg. Grind together in a food processor until thick. Place in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.

Sugar: Some alternatives to regular granulated sugars are maple syrup, honey, molasses or dates.

If you would like more assistance with your diet, consider an appointment with our Nutritionist, Dr. Viktoriya Beliy.  You can contact our office at (804) 977-2634 to make a Nutrition appointment.