Healthy, allergy-free food substitutions

Many people these days suffer from some kind of food intolerance or food allergies.

Symptoms of food intolerance can be very uncomfortable so say the least and in some cases it can even be fatal. Here are a few healthy allergy-free food substitutions for your recipes so that you don’t have to miss out on your favorite foods:

Egg – Eggs are used in a number of recipes and if you’re allergic to them, you might be missing out on a lot of your favorite foods. Combine a tbsp. of either chia seed or ground flax seed in a small bowl and add 3tbsp of water. Let this sit for about 10 minutes and you will have a gel like substance. This is your egg replacement and you can use it in your recipes. I’ve used them successfully to make pancakes and brownies.

Milk – Lactose intolerance can be highly uncomfortable but luckily in this day and age there are a whole number of replacements for milk. Some of these milk include: rice, almond, soy, oat, quinoa and cashew. A lot of them even add extra calcium and protein to replace the lost nutrients. Make sure to choose the unsweetened versions to avoid excess sugar.

Bonus tip: To make buttermilk, and 1 tbsp. of vinegar to 1 cup of your milk alternative.

Butter – This is also due to lactose intolerance. Although most people won’t suffer from such a severe lactose intolerance that butter really affects them, there are some unlucky few that do. Chia or ground flax seed can be a good substitute for butter in most baking recipes as they are high-fat seeds. However, if it’s a liquid consistency that you are after, you can also use applesauce as a replacement.

Gluten/Wheat – Gluten intolerance seems to be the new trend these days. So if you are allergic to gluten or just choose to live a gluten free lifestyle here are a few replacements: Coconut flour, almond flour, rice flour, quinoa flour, tapioca flour and even oat flour. However, most oats contain gluten due to cross contamination with wheat so make sure that your oats are certified gluten free.

Nuts – Nut allergy, specifically peanuts, is the most common food allergy. If you’re allergic, try replacing them with seeds such as chia, flax, pumpkin, sunflower and hemp instead. There are even seed butters so you can enjoy your PB&J, without going in to an anaphylactic shock.

I hope that this small list of allergy-free food substitutions can you with your dieting journey.