Food Allergy Families

I did a lot of GF cooking with potato starch instead of corn starch. Is that an option? I just subbed it equally and I never noticed any potato-y taste or any difference. When we were GF though I did a ton of cooking - I know that is not always a viable option for everyone.

I know the cookbooks that come out of Canyon Ranch have good recipes that use agave or rice or fruit syrups instead of sugar or corn syrup, again if you are into cooking then they may be useful.

Thanks, we do use products with potato starch, but unfortunately between my 3 jobs and my hubby's 2 jobs, plus working off rent job, there's not any time left over for cooking.

Also, is a corn allergy genetic too? Both my son had husband have celiac, but not sure if I should take my son off of corn syrup and starch too.

I don't know about corn specifically, but I'll pass along what my allergist told us about allergies in general. She said that the particular allergies are not genetic. However, if there is a family history of food allergy, then there is a higher likelihood that children or siblings may also have a food allergy.

I'm not sure that made sense! What it meant for us is that Elizabeth is at a higher risk for food allergies. But, since Emily is allergic to cashews, it doesn't mean that Elizabeth will also be allergic to cashews. It could be a completely different food.

HTH! (And that it wasn't too confusing!)

Holy crap, I'm surprised you have time to EAT!

I know there's a celiac board here on WebMD, don't know how active or helpful that might be but they may have some answers. We went GF for a number of reasons, a number of times over the years but none of us has celiac that we are aware of, so I'm afraid I don't have a ton of answers there. Definitely sounds like some good questions for the allergist or GI doc- is your DH getting tested for corn allergy or just going by how he is feeling? I'd like to know what they have to say about your son. Also, is it possible the corn is affected from some sort of cross-contamination, do you think?

It's just how he feels. When eliminating foods with corn syrup, he starts to feel the same way he did when he eliminated wheat and gluten, like he was going through withdrawal. He feels like his head is in a fog and he's super irritable. To him, that tells him that's he's also allergic to it. We'll have him tested later, but my son will be officially tested for school documenting purposes this summer. (He was tested by an alternative practitioner and the schools won't accept his documentation, they said I need a certified MD to document it)

I have lived with hives on an almost daily basis for more than thirty years. As it turns out, I have an allergy to corn starch. I got married two years ago and my spouse was the one that figured out why I had constant hives. She started reading the labels on everything I ate and after two months she anounces, "You are allergic to corn starch".

Once she figured it out, all sorts of things suddenly made sense. My laundered shirts gave me hives. It turns out that the starch used in most laundries is corn starch! Now I say, "NO starch, please". Problem solved.

It used to be that when I touched our cat I broke out with bright red hands that itched horribly. I would scratch at my hands until they bled. I thought I was allergic to the cat. As it turns out, the kitty litter was made with corn starch!! We switched to a corn starch-free brand and poof! The problem is gone.

As a child I was intensely allergic to grasses. Over the years, this improved. Interestingly, corn is in the grass family.

For reasons that I do not yet understand, eating an ear of corn does not cause me to break out. There must be something about the processing of the starch that concentrates or modifies the allergen.

I can eat rice and potato starches without any difficulty.

Also, some high fructose corn syrup products will cause me to flare-up, but not all. Again, probably something in the quality of the manufacturing and refining processes.

My reaction is very dose dependent. With small doses I will get a few scattered hives, but with large doses my hives are the size of dinner plates with accompanying respiratory compromise and diarrhea.

As long as I am very aggressive about avoiding exposure, I can now go for weeks at a time without hives.

It was my non-medical, but highly observant wife who figured out this problem which was particularly amusing since I am an MD.

Thanks for sharing your experiences, Creedwait. The last sentence made me laugh, sorry. I'm glad you got it figured out - it is amazing how many places corn starch crops up. (no pun intended).

Tapioca starch is a great alternative too, and the result not as dense as potato starch. You're really in a pickle not having time to cook. I'd vere towards ethnic foods that don't use those things so much, like south Indian. I also have gluten intolerence as well as a strong intolerance to corn syrup especially, and pop corn. When asked to be tested for celiac I was found not to have an issue, tell that to the cramps and the hives and the mood swings etc. Later I found out if Iwanted the test to be effective I had to start eating gluten again as I had been off it for 3 years, well other than closing the book on what I already knew and determining if it was true celiac disease or a strong intolerance I really didn't need to know and I was not going through that hell again so if your son gets tested for school but hasn't been eating it in awhile I'm just saying it might not register. I'm not sure how good they are with it in the US but in Canada labeling laws are terrible. Anything marked with fructose or glucose must be assumed to derive from corn. Because I'm new with the corn thing it makes mistakes very painful. Like gluten, my body was so toxic for so long and it's so pervasive I wasn't having a clear reaction after ingesting it and sick all the time. Now that I have avoided corn for a good stretch when I have it by mistake, corn syrup I mean, a whole bucket of hell rains down on me. Abdominal cramps, gas, stomach cramps, red inflamed face, random burning rashes, mood issues and so on. If you can't cook for yourself, all you can do is read the label and there will be some inevitable trial and error. Palm sugar is a darling alternative as a sweetener as it has a low glycemic index.