I am currently 2 months pregnant with my 2nd child. As with my first pregnancy, if I don't keep eating small snacks throughout the day, i get nauseous. Here is the problem. I am allergic to all fruits and veggies. This is a sudden thing that has happened and with my first child I ate lots of fruits and veggies and was all belly until 8 months. With this one I find myself going to chips and other junk food. I love salad and all that great stuff but since I can't eat it anymore I am running out of healthy snack ideas to keep my stomach happy and my weight gain to a minimum.
Thanks for any suggestions...I greatly appreciate them :)
EDIT: I do ok with steamed veggies, but that is what I ususally do in order to get a veggie in with dinner. I can't eat anything raw (veggie wise) and I am not sure of cooked fruit...so far I know that these are the things I have a reaction to...all raw: Apples, bananas, grapes, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, cucumbers, lettuce, carrots, corn, tomatoes, broccoli, cauliflower....used to love all of these things and now my mouth swells, itches, and with a few it is even hard to breath. It literally happened overnight for some. Like carrots. I had some carrots one night...had some the next day with lunch and had a reaction. Still trying to understand why all of a sudden I would have reactions to so many things, but for now, since I don't know why...I just have to stay away from them.
EDIT AGAIN: So, I should have said that these things started about 4 months ago...before I was pregnant. I was diagnosed with Hypothyroidism about 2 years ago, but again there was nothing going on at the time these things came about. It has been REALLY weird. Got my results back from my allergy test. I am literally allergic to EVERYTHING. 11 pages of things to be exact. I am allergic to wheat, soy, and corn...which is in EVERYTHING! Peanuts (which I never was before) and I LOVE peanut butter! Every fruit and veggie came back as an allergy as well...which I figured, but wasn't positive it would be ALL of them for sure and it was. I am still confused as to why all of a sudden I would go from NO allergies to SOOOOO MANY. I am going to see an Endocrinologist and an Allergist as well as a Chiropractor because I heard that can help....ugh. Hope this works or at least I find out what happened.
I just want to say I am also allergic to those things although I can still eat a few things, bananas, grapes to an extent, some melon. Mine is a cross pollination allergy with the plants they grow from. I'm ok when they are cooked though.
Could you eat hummas (chick peas)? A great snack with pita or crackers, and you can find lots of flavors prepared at the supermarket as well as babgahnush (sp?? eggplant), etc.
Try dried cereal and low fat dairy, yougurt, cottage cheese, etc.
Can you eat tomato sauce, Try lots of dishes with that.
Wow, that's a tough one. Did you see an allergist? Maybe try organic? Could it be a chemical ingredient (like from a pesticide) that is affecting you?
granola, granola bars, nuts (walnuts, pecans, cashews), oatmeal. If raw fruits are a problem, what about cooked fruits like apple sauce or those baby food pouches of mixed fruits, or even Lara bars or dehydrated fruits? I also highly recommend PowerBars (harvest or energy variety) for snacking. Good source of protein, carbs and vitamins.
As for the "why" all this is happening, I had the reverse happen to me. From 5th grade through to my first pregnancy, I had major food allergies (beef, pork, milk, wheat, sugar, apples, bananas, oranges, corn, oats, rice...and the list went on and on and on). About a year after my first child, I got tested again and they had all disappeared!
Here's the deal with allergies: they are an immune system response. When pregnant, our immune systems are "compromised" and get all messed up (which is why medical warnings tend to say "infants, elderly and pregnant women..."). In your case, your body has started fighting what used to be perfectly ok foods. This may or may not go away, unfortunately. My allergies were triggered by a really bad illness (i.e. immune system went haywire with what should have been a normal flu) when I was in 5th grade. Then, my first pregnancy at age 26 messed with my already screwed up immune system and essentially hit the RESET button. Which for me was a really nice thing after 16 years of dealing with the allergies!
I sincerely hope that after your pregnancy, you'll be able to eat all those wonderful HEALTHY foods again. In the meantime, try for whole grains and good proteins (lean meats, nuts)
Do you have a problem with all fruits and veggies? Is it just raw or cooked too? I can't even imagine getting through my pregnancy without fruits and veggies. Can you eat beans like in hummus? I made a lot of low fat muffins for myself, but I almost always added pureed pumpkin or squash or bananas, etc. I eat a lot of yogurt and granola. Nuts are great, PB or almond butter sandwiches, cheese and crackers.
EDIT-Since it seems you can eat veggies at least cooked, I would try to work them in whenever possible. Muffins/bread with zucchini, pumpkin, carrot, etc, English muffin pizzas with steamed veggies on top, mini fritatas (spinach, mushroom, broccoli, etc) made in muffin tins, steamed veggies with dip. I make things in big batches and keep them in the fridge or freezer so they are easy to pull out when I need them.
Good luck!
vanilla yogurt, cheese and crackers, peanutbutter and gram crackers, almonds or walnuts, tuna or chicken salad with crackers, beef jerky, plain popcorn, rice cakes, jello
wow. well the things you mentioned that you cant eat raw are also the types of foods that are the most heavily pesticide ridden. why not try organic, especially if you can find a local farmer to ensure no cross contamination . i am sorry about your new allergies :(
Greek Yogurt (protien)
Brown Rice
If dried fruit gets you, nevermind, but if it doesn't - dried cranberries, papaya, pinapples
Granola
Banana bread
Almonds
Pita chips & Hummus
Agree with all these suggestions - also, lowfat cheese and crackers. I'm totally in love with Laughing Cow spreadable cheese wedges at the moment.
Peanut butter and graham crackers always kept me full, too.
Can you eat popcorn?
I'm not a Doctor but my cousin was diagnosed with Crohn's Disease after her second child. Having IBS is common too. There is a diet called the Maker's Diet that is supposedly really good along with some other Natural food store items. I don't know that much about it. Even if it's just something you're going through with your pregnancy there may be some good options in the diet. It's called Maker's Diet by Jordan Rubin. Some ideas off the top of my head as it sounds like you're craving salt and crunch:
There are veggie chips, pita chips, plantain chips, kale chips,baked chips etc. at health food stores which may help with your crunchy craving.
You can also make your own sweet potato chips and kale chips(slice thin and bake)
Pickles (the good Klausen kind in the refridgerated isle)
Some frozen fries baked (if you get the thin ones they aren't that fattening, exp. when baked) or make your own.
Toasted sandwiches (small tea sandwiches with egg salad, tuna, pbj).
Baked beans with toast (very popular in Britain and comforting - pour baked beans over toast and eat with fork and knife)
Some pasta salad with deli meats (lowfat ham a little salami) and shredded cheese (parmesean) with a light dressing (instead of veggies)
Lowfat wraps with cheese / meat / hummus
Lowfat Cottage cheese (with some applesauce - sounds weird but good)
Hummus on toasted bread or pita chips, Pirate's booty's are a pretty healthy alternative to chips and other snack foods. Cottage cheese, yogurt, maybe?
yogurt, string cheese, nuts, peanut butter on whole wheat toast, v8 splash, whole wheat pasta, rotisserie chicken sandwhich
I did the same thing with both of my pregnancies: no raw fruit or veggies, no salad, (and boy did I crave them!!) no dairy, no chocolate, no water, no juice, no gatorade, no chicken, etc....oh, and no prenatal vitamins either. I had really bad nausea the whole 9 months, both times. My doc just said to limit salt, and eat whatever you could get in. I didn't gain any weight until the 8th month both times, and the majority of it came on in the last 6 weeks, mostly with water. I know how tough this is, but you can survive....try natural vitamins derived from food, and I wish you luck! I have been there, if I can help more, pm me.
