Traveling with Food Allergies

Traveling with Food Allergies

[: 00:00:00

[00:00:16] Nasreen: Thank you for joining us for another episode of Time to Talk Travel.

We're here with an episode that we feel very strongly about today. and if you have a food allergy , dietary restrictions, anything you're avoiding, we're going to cover that today.

Tips, tricks, how to deal with it, and maybe a couple horror stories along the way, because, you know, everyone has them. I know that Moe and Ciaran have a ton of stories about this. I have experience, but they have longer lists than I do, so you guys kick it off with how you handle it. What do you want to start with? Horror or tips?

[: 00:00:51

I was on a trip to New York with a bunch of girlfriends and we ate our way through New York. My favorite thing was to go to a restaurant and just tell them to surprise me with whatever the chef decided I should be eating.

And I miss that more than anything in the world, to be honest. Because now I have to be the person who's like, well, does it have this or this? And I hate that. But it was on that trip that I spent the whole night on the bathroom floor because everything I ate just sat so Badly. And my girlfriends were like, you need to get this checked out. This is not normal and we need you to be better and be able to come and eat with us all over cities. I discovered by elimination that I am definitely intolerant to gluten and dairy which are two very sad things to not be able to eat.

Especially when traveling.

That was the beginning. There's lots that I can't eat now but I've found some successful ways to be able to still enjoy food all around the world and you know, be a little bit more creative I'd say.

[: 00:02:01

If you have a true food allergy it's scary out there to not have an EpiPen. And my other tip for people with allergies is carry the fast melt Benadryls and a can of Coke. When you combine the two, it's actually more effective. It just gets into your system a little faster and the caffeine enhances the effect. It can save you from having to use the EpiPen sometimes if you get both of those things on board real quick. And also Pepto Bismol and charcoal.

This is my rescue kit, Pepto Bismol. after you've been glutened or dairied or whatever. It can coat your guts and you won't absorb as much.

And charcoal tablets also can help with the aftermath of the misery absorbing the toxins that your body couldn't digest. I also carry lactaid, BNAID, and all the FODMAP type enzymes, because I have a very sensitive stomach and there's some things that I'm deathly allergic to and some things that I am just sensitive to, but it makes traveling a challenge.

Every time I'm going to a foreign country, I make sure that I get a printed version of what I'm allergic to in the native language. And, like, I cannot have gluten. Here are ingredients that contain gluten. Flour, you know, et cetera, et cetera. And I just don't eat processed, breaded, sauced things in general. You can give me a piece of meat, but just grill it with some olive oil.

[: 00:04:14

[00:04:15] Ciaran: I can have some dairy. I just have to watch it. Not too much. But like, there's a restaurant here that I love that has this amazing, baked brie, you know, that you like put the bread in it's

like brie and wine

[: 00:04:29

[00:04:31] Ciaran: It's amazing. When I go there, they bring me sliced green apples and we cut it in half and we keep my half separate so I can enjoy it too. So that's like a workaround.

[: 00:04:41

And I didn't know that he was allergic to nuts and

to cashew specifically. And he tried the teeny tiniest dessert that was cashew based and within five minutes he was having a very violent reaction and he hadn't had a reaction in probably 10 years. But I had no idea. I would have stopped him had I known that because he just didn't read the fine print. He did not have an epi pen either.

The first hour we were in California was very adventurous heading to urgent care and then to an er. That boy now carries epi pens, but it's important because they could help you to avoid those situations just having another set of eyes or many eyes knowing what you're not supposed to be consuming.

[: 00:05:42

Benadryl. The fast melts I'll have to look into. I've always carried liquid Benadryl with me because that does work for me in some cases. I went through a long period where I couldn't have gluten. and it's honestly a long story because it ended with me having my appendix out and then suddenly being able to eat gluten.

So I kept having attacks.

[: 00:06:03

[00:06:04] Nasreen: I looked into scientific research and there's some kind of theory that it may be somewhat related and for me, I can now have gluten again. So I'm not arguing with that. However, I can have Benadryl and it will slow down an allergic reaction for me. I'm allergic to pine nuts.

And so I think one of the challenges with EpiPens, they can't, Be really hot or really cold. In Texas I just got lax about carrying the EpiPen because it's going to get hot no matter what. There are little carrying cases you can get on Amazon that help temperature control it so that it will protect it from getting too hot and expiring.

The other item that I was going to mention quickly is with charcoal. It does work really well. If you're on other medications, particularly birth control. Talk to somebody if you take it. It does interfere with some other medications.

I think one of the challenges for me is knowing that I'm allergic to something specific, I don't always look through everything as carefully as I should, because I'm not looking like you guys are for the three things I can eat.

I'm trying to eliminate what I think might be there. And that can sometimes be tricky. We were sitting down in New York at a Chinese restaurant. I'm thinking Chinese restaurant. There's no pine nuts here. I'm flipping through the pages trying to think about what I want. And I all of a sudden see a lobster Chinese dish that says it has pine nuts in it. And I talked to the waiter very briefly and I'm like, I'm allergic to pine nuts. He couldn't answer my questions. And I was just like, Gone. But I, if I hadn't flipped further, that could have ended poorly, because I would never have thought to look for it there. So just not letting your guard down.

[: 00:07:44

but like, you know when you go on a cruise you tell them your allergies and One of my really obscure and one of my worst allergies is to monk fruit Which is a sugar substitute and it's in a lot of things and sometimes it's labeled as natural flavoring Which is why I eat almost nothing that's processed. When you are gluten-free, people like to lump gluten-free, vegan, and sugar free into one category.

They'll make desserts or side dishes that are all three gluten-free sugar-free, dairy free.

[: 00:08:22

[00:08:24] Ciaran: They were like, we have a special dessert for you, a special gluten-free dessert. And I wasn't really paying attention and I took one bite of it and I was like, this is artificially, they're like, this is not sugar in this dish. And I was, what is the sweetener in this? And they're like, sugar free, no problem. Sugar free. But I told you I'm very allergic to monk fruit. They literally had to go down into the bowels of the ship and find the chef and get the list of ingredients.

Meanwhile, I'm there like standing with my EpiPen ready to stab myself, chugging a Coke, popping the Benadryl, ready to go. And it turned out it was Stevia, which I'm not allergic to, which is wonderful. But sometimes when you have one special need, you're going to get lumped into a category with other things.

There may be some other ingredients in there that you're not expecting,

That you would not normally consume. It goes back to anything that's processed, anything that's from a mix. You've got to get the list of ingredients. You just can't slack off.

[: 00:09:23

It comes on faster and it's usually worse. I just try to avoid it. But fava bean flour, Was frequently used in ciabatta bread for a while. Panera had it in there . I just avoided ciabatta for the longest time because I'm like, I can't have it. It impacted where I ate because I would love to patronize these smaller businesses . But the chains had the ingredients online. I could know ahead of time what I could eat or not eat, or know that somewhere was eliminated.

Do I really want to go to a chain? Not necessarily. I'd like to try something local, but if I'm traveling for work, I can't invest the time into knowing what I can eat everywhere. It was easier to pick a couple places I could handle And pick one of them for the night.

[: 00:10:24

Because when you're traveling, that's the least

time you want to have an incident. Whether it be hives or, you know, Spending time in the bathroom or having a gluten baby belly.

None of those things are comfortable on a good day, let alone when you're traveling.

[: 00:10:50

So asking, have any of your providers changed lately? Have you guys switched syrup companies?

[: 00:11:13

You think you'd be asking for a golden chalice or something, but it's just a case of They are becoming more aware. You can find more options. They're getting servers and chefs are used to being asked

to, make substitutions or provide the ingredients. I do find that it is much better.

I also find that when we're in Europe, my level of intolerance seems to be a little bit more on the genetically modified side of things. There's something about that that bothers me in all processed foods . I can actually eat the Italian bread and flour. My husband actually imports 00 flour from Amazon, he can make me fresh pasta

with that. He can bake. And it's not as good for some things like bread or pancakes or things like that. Cakes, but.

[: 00:12:18

[00:12:19] Maureen: have it. So there is something to that. I would say be cautious, if you're celiac, maybe not, but if you have an intolerance, you might be able to risk it and try something.

[: 00:12:30

with nothing in it, and I can tolerate it.

Not in large amounts, in small amounts. But that was super exciting for me to discover. That and I have found that I can also tolerate small amounts. I am gluten intolerant, but I'm not Cross contamination reactive. So if things are fried

in the same fryer I don't react and I've even found a few times that if things are deep fried I don't react.

I don't know if it breaks down a protein or something. I don't do it very often, but I found once or twice that I have taken a little tiny bite of a beignet in New Orleans and not gotten sick. But if I had a little tiny bite of a normal donut, I would be on the floor

[: 00:13:35

And even with taking the enzymes they help, but they're not a miracle pill by any means.

[: 00:13:42

[00:13:53] Maureen: There are just some things you have to just sacrifice. My friend lives in Montana. She was talking about making a peach and mulberry pie. And I was like, for a bite of that, I would cheat. That's worth it. As long as I'm at home and I'm not not traveling.

[: 00:14:08

reactions that I have, it's really not hard.

I can look at a full bakery case and be like, those are gorgeous. I'll take a million photos of them, but I have zero desire to eat anything in that bakery case

[: 00:14:28

[00:14:41] Nasreen: I think you guys are right. People are getting better about it. There's more menus out there And more items. I'm very cross contamination reactive to the pine nut thing. The whole pizza cutter thing. If I know that, the restaurant has a pesto pizza.

If I know there's pasta with pesto, I have to go through I can't have it touch anything. It can't do this and that. It's actually a fun story about my husband and I's first date. When we met for the first time, we went to an Italian restaurant, and I'm telling him at the table that I am allergic to pine nuts, and he ordered pesto,

because he didn't know that was what was in pesto, and he's freaking out. He's thinking to himself, he just screwed everything up. I'm giving him the lecture, okay, so you've gotta keep your plate on that side, and you can't touch your fork to that and then to the appetizer in the middle. We asked and thank goodness a lot of places have started doing pesto with other nuts And I can have other nuts and so that was the case. He still tells the story and he's like, yeah I almost tried to kill you on our first date because he just didn't understand what it was. I have noticed that when I'm having these Conversations and i'm sure you guys have the same thing where if people respond in certain ways You're like they definitely don't know what they're talking about and aren't taking this seriously. Sometimes they'll be like so you can't have nuts and no You Pine nuts, which come from a tree and are different from any other nut, like peanuts, which are legumes and come from the ground and are totally different.

No, just pine nuts. If they start saying a couple certain things or being like, well, maybe I'm like, nope, not doing it, not doing it. I'm out. Peace out.

[: 00:16:06

[00:16:10] Maureen: Oh, I think the best is when I say that I can't have dairy. So you can't have eggs. I don't understand where, I guess in the food chart thing, when we were children, they lumped eggs and milk

[: 00:16:23

triangle. Yeah.

[: 00:16:25

People don't understand what gluten is and that it’s wheat. No, it's not in an apple.

I mean at least people are trying to understand and and trying to accommodate. They do tend to make fun of me a lot. When you go into a restaurant or you go into somebody's house and they're like well what can we feed you? And you do try to be like you said, just simple, just clean, give me some vegetables, just give me some protein with no cream sauce. But it is annoying when you go and they don't list it and Oh, okay. That looks good. And then they Throw some cheese on top and you're like, oh,

[: 00:17:05

[00:17:06] Maureen: salad didn't need cheese.

Like why we have an obsession with cheese in this culture.

[: 00:17:11

[00:17:30] Maureen: you actually trying to kill me

[: 00:17:31

[00:17:41] Maureen: Fish a lot of times pine nuts

[: 00:17:43

I'm ready to stick my finger and mark it in some way so I know it's not the same plate.

[: 00:17:54

I'll just order it and I'll say without dairy and they look at me blankly. Like I was a crazy person. I'm like, well, cause Bailey's. Oh yeah. Yeah. We put Bailey's. Well, that's what I'm saying. You do have to be careful with the cocktails too.

They'll put garnishes or, if you can't have eggs, they'll put the foam on it. Many cocktails have dairy in them.

[: 00:18:25

[00:18:29] Nasreen: , one of the challenges too is we get towards this artisan level of cocktails, things start getting slightly more complicated. Things are made in house. They used to use Clamato juice when they were making the giant Bloody Marys and some of the places are doing their own and it might have oyster in it. It's definitely something if you're going to an upscale bar to ask about because the last thing you need is your, Bloody Mary that you know you can drink being garnished with a String of olives that have cheese.

[: 00:18:56

[00:19:22] Maureen: Yeah, yeah, especially traveling itself. Airports are brutal. I have had more of a reaction to nuts lately than I like, cause I'm running out of food to eat. If you look between gluten and nuts, there's very few things that you can eat. And those carrots that have been sitting there for three days, don't look that attractive.

Definitely pack your own snacks.

I actually have been trying out an app. There's a bunch of apps now that will help you not only with ingredient lists, but also with being able to Know what

are in things. It's kind of cool because it makes you a whole profile.

I haven't really tried it out much yet, but

I think that might be helpful

On the green for dinner. My husband had never been there. And I was like, Oh, it's a classic

He ordered scallops, which I really should have stuck with because that I could eat. I wanted the short ribs and he said, okay, there's a sauce.

Okay, leave the sauce off then, right? It came with cheesy potatoes. And I said, can I just get regular potatoes instead of the cheese potatoes? And he's like fries? No, just

Potatoes without cheese on them.

I ended up with a steak.

With no sauce,

Broccolini. And it was supposed to come with root vegetables. And I love root vegetables. I was so more excited about that than anything

and French fries. That's kind of them taking what I said. A little too far because they basically covered their ass by saying, here's the things that we feel comfortable serving you without getting my, okay. I'm intolerant.

I'm not celiac. . And then the kicker was, They came back and charged me for the steak at steak level, not short rib level. I talked to the manager and said, Hey, they didn't clear that meal with me.

He offered to redo it. I said, no, it's okay. It's fine. I can eat it. Because usually what happens is they take it away. Everybody else has done their meal. By the time you get your meal and now you're the pain in the ass who is a whole meal behind eating. Quite often I just end up taking it and not eating, which defeats the whole purpose of going out to dinner. They took it off the bill. She was very gracious about it. She apologized profusely, but that's just kind of the frustration level sometimes where, , you just want to go and have a classic meal.

And it always ends up being a joke now with my friends. Because very rarely do I ever get a meal I can eat.

[: 00:21:40

[00:21:55] Ciaran: I do find Italy is like my happy place for food. They're very, very good about knowing what's in their food.

And labeling things on the menu. The food is just simpler in general. It's fresher, simpler . Maybe it's cultural, but I love being in Italy because I always feel like I can go into a restaurant and order a phenomenal meal that will arrive at the same time as everybody else's and not need to be sent back and just not make me sick. Italy's number one on my travel list, that's one of the reasons. Sorry.

[: 00:22:29

But Italian restaurants here, that means I'm eating a salad.

[: 00:22:56

pine nuts,

[: 00:23:01

[00:23:03] Ciaran: Yeah, and that's a whole other experience. American Italian

food is not the same thing as Italian food, but We eat a lot of Mexican. There's a lot of fast food salad chains. Mendocino Farms is one that opened recently near me that I just love because I know I can get a fabulous, delicious salad, and they'll change out whatever I want and they know exactly what's in everything. It's a great one for me.

[: 00:23:28

with ethnic restaurants that are owned by somebody from the population that they are cooking, not an Americanized chain ethnic restaurant. Because if it's an Americanized Greek restaurant, or Lebanese, , they're gonna throw pine nuts in everything.

But if it is an actually ethnically based restaurant, I eat Middle Eastern food all the time because it doesn't have those ingredients in it. But if I went to an Americanized version, it would be in the grape leaves, which isn't what we do in Persian culture. Mexican food was easy when I was doing no gluten. I mean, for Chains,

Chick fil A had the baked nuggets, and you could do a fruit salad instead of the fries, so that was an easy one. I covered a lot of the Deep South, and so I had to pick what I could know I would eat that would be there. That was just one that I knew I wouldn't get sick from.

[: 00:24:16

[00:24:30] Nasreen: I always get laughed at when I say Waffle House, but they cook in front of you. So if I get eggs, I can see what they're doing. They cook it immediately in front of me. I sit at the counter, they make eggs, I'm good. I

love

[: 00:24:42

More omelets in the world, please.

[: 00:24:51

Cut fruit, I don't want to deal with a menu. So honestly go to a grocery store and don't think about dinner some nights. Just pick up a couple little snacky things. It's girl dinner on the go.

[: 00:25:16

[00:25:16] Ciaran: Foods, Trader Joe's, when I'm traveling in the United States, if I can order and have things delivered to my room, or I bring my carry ons, like a whole supermarket in there. I've got my gluten free pretzels. I've got my Chomps meat sticks. I've got my

Kind bars, all the things I know that are gonna give me energy for a few hours.

I

[: 00:25:39

It's not even the ones that might make you sick because they're E.

coli. It's legitimately tons and tons and tons of allergens, so even when you think you know what's in something, it's a good idea to double check, it's a good idea to make sure nothing has changed, it can still get you, unfortunately.

[: 00:26:12

I don't want to replace crackers or whatever with just chemicals, right? Just because it's gluten free or dairy free, what are you ingesting in exchange for that?

[: 00:26:28

Why are there people standing 40 people deep in front of this place?

And I went, turns out they have the most amazing poke bowls. But the nice thing about poke bowls is that it's fish, lemon juice. And they were, they were like, here's what's in it. Lemon juice, soy sauce, water and fish. That's it.

[: 00:27:01

[00:27:04] Ciaran: Well, soy sauce, I don't usually react to,

I can handle a

little tiny bit,

a little tiny bit.

[: 00:27:10

[00:27:20] Ciaran: Once I discover a place that I can eat at. I eat at kebab places too. You said Middle Eastern food. There's

a kebab place that was near my old house that was our go to because I knew I could get the salad and the kebab and never get sick.

[: 00:27:34

[00:27:38] Ciaran: hmm.

[: 00:27:39

I'm always happy. And I think it's just that there's some cultures where the food is

simpler, like you were saying about Italy, there's less ingredients, there's less to wade through. Sure, you may not be able to have a couple of things because they can't take an item out because it's a stew or something that's already made, but there's likely to be more options where they can run you through the six ingredients that went into it.

Well, that was overwhelming.

[: 00:28:06

[00:28:07] Nasreen: I don't envy you guys. It's hard when you have something that you're very allergic to with the cross contamination thing, but certainly not as hard as navigating on a regular basis so many things that can be in food I sometimes wonder how parents with kids who have allergies that are severe can do it.

I know that you were saying the app. I used to have a note on my phone that said other terms that this can go by that I'd check ingredients against. If you're going to another country, you were saying to bring the list of how it's said, also bringing a list of what it's called in other languages and just being super clear.

[: 00:28:42

You can see exactly what you might, or may not be able to eat in the airport and plan accordingly.

[: 00:28:55

[00:28:59] Ciaran: saying

one of

[: 00:29:01

write Buccee's,

[: 00:29:03

source from a bunch of different companies. I bet they can tell you who they got it from because they

repackage everything, a lot of stuff is Buc ee's, but it came from somewhere else.

[: 00:29:13

Buy the rest.

[: 00:29:19

[00:29:28] Maureen: There you go. Yay.

[: 00:29:30

[00:29:45] Narrator: This has been another episode of Time to Talk Travel, brought to you by HashtagTravels. com. You can keep in touch with us between episodes by checking out our site, joining our newsletter, or connecting with us on social. We've always got the information you need in our episode notes. Until next time, happy travels, and thanks for being a part of our trip.