Any Quinoa Allergies?

[sraplayas]

DS has several sensitivities including, Wheat, Almonds, Lentils, Corn, and Green Peas.  I am 99% sure that he is also sensitive to Quinoa.  I have doubted it in the past, b/c from my understanding it is a low-allergy food. 

We all love it so I am bummed, does anyone have this issue?

The way I am seeing it is a burned look on his diaper area after he poops it out (it is a painful burn, too and took him 12 hours for the burn to fade.

What grain do you use if not Quinoa? 

We are G-Free at home, among other things (!) and we rely on cheese and pumpkin seeds, sunflower seed butter, eggs for protein but of course you can't build a main meal out of that!  So I like to combine grains with whatever vegetable is in season.  We eat alot of brown rice!!

[DevaMajka]

No advice, but I'm another one who has sensitivities to low- allergy foods. I had an allergic reaction to mango (went to ER), and ds2 is sensitive to sweet potato (later confirmed by IgG test).

Millet is similar in testure/size to quinoa. It doesn't have the same nutritional profile, but it could give you more variety.

[kjbrown92]

Both of my kids tested positive for quinoa intolerances. They just got it back after 2.5 years without it (I've been adding more fun foods back first). My DS was also intolerant to rice (another supposedly low-allergen food). There isn't a no-allergen food, I don't think. We found buckwheat noodles. He used to put his meatsauce on something else besides noodles and I can't even think what it was now. Do you do any beans/legumes (I know you mentioned lentils and green peas as a no)? We use buckwheat cereal as a breakfast thing. Not sure if you could turn that into a side dish or not (never tried). We've also used millet in place of rice in things like jambalaya, so that's a possibility.

[sraplayas]

Great suggestions!  Buckwheat is OK as far as I know, and ditto for Millet. 

DH makes great buckwheat panackes! 

[DevaMajka]

We liked these waffles when we were gf. This recipe has quinoa, but is adapted from recipes that don't (which are linked in the recipe). I'm pretty sure I made them with all millet before. 

[rhesp1212]

Yep, my son is super sensative to Quinoa!! Breaks out in a rash all over his face, diaper rash, reflux...it's bad!! Course, he is also sensative to most other grains.

other options to use instead of quinoa are millet, teff, amaranth, and buckwheat. They are all gf too! Sadly, my son is sensative to all of those except buckwheat.

You could also try sorghum flour for making baked goods. Not sure about cooking it as a grain though.

[sbgrace]

Buckwheat grouts sub well for rice.

Lots of gluten free stuff has cross contamination with tree nuts (especially almond). Not sure if cross matters for you or not but I thought I'd mention it since I had no clue. I've got tree nut free sources of teff and buckwheat (and rice of course). I find buckwheat grouts work in place of rice while cooking. I like teff cooked as a grain but my kids don't. It's very small--might be a texture thing more than taste. My son does eat teff flour crackers and you can bake with it as well I know. Aramanth has a very strong flavor..better mixed with other grains in my experience.


Becky, my son had a huge reaction to mango too. Turns out it shares a protein with cashew and pistachio and, as such, has anaphylactic potential. I don't think it's low allergen at all!

[sraplayas]

Yes, cross-contamination is an issue---almonds and hazelnuts (but we avoid all due to cross-cont.).  The Quinoa we use is the Red TJ's Quinoa.....

DS seems to be working the Quinoa out of his system.  His rash is the worst he's had in months---blistering and burned looking plus red-dots on waist-diaper line.  Also, today he had bloody mucous. :(  This really bothers me and I am wondering if he could have gotten into something or if it was just the Quinoa?!  My heart feels sad for him.

[DevaMajka]

I hope your ds's reaction improves quickly. It's so sad to see our kids reacting like that. You just want to fix it, and you can't. :(
 

Originally Posted by sbgrace 


Becky, my son had a huge reaction to mango too. Turns out it shares a protein with cashew and pistachio and, as such, has anaphylactic potential. I don't think it's low allergen at all!

Very true. And it's related to latex allergies (but not that often). I see it on lots of "foods to eat on an ED" and "not likely to cause a reaction" lists though. Maybe people just think it's low allergen. lol