Food Intolerance Can Make Holidays Complicated
For many with a food intolerance such as sulfites, sensitivity or allergy, eating can become even more complicated around the holidays. First there are all the social gatherings and feasts. In addition, traveling and maybe trying to be polite as a guest at someone else’s home is not easy. Sometimes there are a lot of new foods, often homemade with no list of ingredients label attached to the casserole dish or homemade cookies.
Sulfite Intolerance Can Be Very Complicated And Hard To Explain
Having an intolerance that is fairly obscure, such as sulfites, can be especially difficult. We can’t just make a blanket statement that we are allergic to a common allergy such as gluten or dairy. (Even though, I have personally seen how even these common allergies can be difficult to explain or navigate.) If we mention sulfites, we also have to explain all the ways sulfites can be hidden. Most of the time no one in the room has heard of a sulfite let alone a sulfite intolerance. If they have heard of sulfites they only know about wine. They may respond by showing sympathy for me having to skip the wine. It feels like this is the extent of most peoples’ knowledge regarding sulfites.
But I Still Love Thanksgiving
As far as holiday meals go, I love Thanksgiving food. I love the holiday. My extended family coming together and sharing this meal is everything for me. I have spent many Thanksgivings away from home while pursuing medicine. Still, I always made every effort to come back home any chance I had. If I couldn’t come home, I tried to replicate the Holiday wherever I was to feel a part of home was with me this time of year.
Despite my sulfite intolerance, a long-standing tradition is my saving grace. Every Thanksgiving, my extended family gets together at alternating homes. My mom and aunts all make 1 or 2 dishes each and we all show up ready to eat. They have been making the same 6 or 7 dishes for the last 30 years. Over the years our menu has expanded as my generation has grown, bringing our children to the gathering and sometimes contributing something new to the spread. The blessing for me in the stability of this tradition. I already know what I can eat. If there is a new food, it’s my family and they don’t mind if I ask them what ingredients are in the dish. I always go home too full, without a tummy ache and feeling perfectly fine the next day – a rarity for someone like me with a sulfite intolerance after social gatherings.
Sneaky Sulfites
Still, holiday eating is more than just one meal. It is about the office potlucks, the school parties, Christmas cookies and holiday parties with alcohol. The trickiest ingredients to avoid include lemon juice concentrate, high fructose corn syrup, caramel color, red #40, yellow #5, gravies made from packets, boxed potatoes, and certain alcohol mixers and wine. Because sulfites don’t have to be listed as an ingredient if it is only used in the process of making the food, sulfites are not always listed in foods with these additives. It is important to learn these hidden sources to avoid getting sick or having a reaction.
Find Your Happy Place
People with sulfite intolerance have various degrees of tolerance. This means that some may feel sick or have a reaction with just a few bites of food with sulfites while others may have to consume large amounts. Knowing your threshold is important. Some food innately has sulfites including onions and garlic which is tolerated by many but even this small amount might cause others to have a severe reaction.
What About Cocktails?
When it comes to alcohol, options include Organic wine, No Sulfites Added Wine, Vodka and some other liquors. Other than wine, the biggest pitfalls lie with the mixers. Mixing tap water and vodka with a freshly squeezed lime is safe for me but a gin and tonic (sulfites in tonic) is not. I also avoid the fancy cocktails that contain syrups and concentrates. I tend to avoid any wine, even low or no sulfite added wine when at social gatherings. My reason being is I figure there are likely some hidden sulfites in food. I don’t want to add to my exposure knowingly.
Let’s Strive To Start A Conversation In Order To Spread Knowledge
My purpose of this blog is to help educate those with a sulfite intolerance so they can feel better. I hope by reading this blog, people learn what a sulfite intolerance means and then share the message with others. Part of sharing this message is talking to family members, friends, and coworkers. I hope that one day when someone says sulfite sensitivity or sulfite intolerance, people understand that as well as many understand gluten or dairy sensitivity. Though even with a well known allergy as gluten, there is still a lack of awareness. I tried to order Gluten Free food for a severely gluten allergic kid at my daughter’s party. I was offered corn dogs among other non Gluten Free foods as options.
Going forward, maybe start your own traditions with foods that are safe for you to eat. Perhaps skipping the wine or mixers will make all the difference. Even if you don’t think people will understand or will ask too many questions, you should feel comfortable speaking up about your needs. Most likely your loved ones don’t want you to feel sick after eating a meal they lovingly prepared for you. If those of us don’t talk about, answer questions and share information about this less common food sensitivity, it will continue to be a mystery. Mostly I hope that because of this blog, fewer people will feel sick over the holidays and more people will talk about what a sulfite is.
