Lupus and Food Allergies

My wife has a bunch of food allergies, and it’s my understanding that this is fairly common with people who have lupus. She’s allergic to nuts, melons, avacados, and quite a few other foods, but those are the big ones that we have to watch out for. It’s the nuts that are the worst, just because we never have nuts around, and I love nuts, especially walnuts.

Just a short online search revealed a very interesting link to a web chat transcript on The Lupus Foundation of America site. Dr. Laura Coleman is a registered dietitian, and had this to say in response to a question regarding specific foods causing a lupus flare:

As for whether there are any specific foods that trigger a lupus flare, the answer is unfortunately rather vague. Some foods may trigger a flare for some people but not others, and some people may not have problems with any foods at all. That being said, patients can pay attention to their diet, and if a specific food is suspected of triggering a flare, they should require that a pattern of ingestion followed by worsening occurs at least 3 times before eliminating a food from the diet. Even if it appears that a food is causing some trouble, it could be that another factor, such as the source of the food, use of chemicals or other preservatives, or even the interaction of several foods, is the problem.

I recommend that you read the entire transcript, which is available here.

I also found a very helpul site on Food Allergy, which offers some useful advice.

Food Allergies

I’ve heard that it’s fairly common for lupus patients to have a lot of food allergies. I know my wife has a bunch of them. It’s not a huge deal, but it is one of those things that we have to always be aware of when we are out to eat. You would be surprised how many things have nuts in them, especially desserts. Getting a salad is also usually an adventure. Shredded carrots are evil.

Here’s the list to the best of my knowledge:

  • NUTS except peanuts but I think they are actually a legume so they don’t count
  • RAW VEGETABLES lettuce seems to be safe but raw carrots are bad news
  • AVOCADOS no guacamole for you dear
  • MELONS this one makes me very sad because I love melons
  • KIWIS strawberries are fine, so what’s wrong with these guys?

I’m probably forgetting some of them, but that’s most of them. We try and avoid them as best we can, but I don’t want to remove them entirely from the house because of the kids. Jenny will occasionally take allergy medicine if she really wants something, but that’s not usually a good idea. Does anyone else out there deal with this?