If you have a severe food allergy, you likely go to considerable lengths to ensure that this food never ends up on your plate. Having a more moderate allergy to something, however, can often be challenging in its own way. In such a scenario, you may not like the symptoms that you get after consuming something to which you're allergic — perhaps severe abdominal cramping, for instance — but you may still enjoy eating the food in question, and could often feel tempted to eat even a small amount of this problematic food. Here are some tips for managing this awkward situation.
Write Down How You Feel
The next time that you eat the food to which you're allergic grab a notepad and begin to list exactly how you feel when the symptoms hit you. If it's been a while since you ate the food in question, it's easy to convince yourself that you'll feel fine after eating it — this can especially be the case if the idea of eating the food tantalizes you.
Be descriptive in noting in your notepad what side effects you're dealing with. Perhaps you're doubled over in discomfort and have to sit on the toilet for a long time. This way, the next time that you feel tempted to eat the food, you can consult the notepad and hopefully think otherwise.
Find Similar Alternatives
One of the nice things about having a food allergy is that there are usually a variety of healthy alternatives to the products that you cannot eat. For example, if you're allergic to dairy products but love yogurt, there are many supermarket options for you to consider. For example, coconut yogurt is a popular choice for those who seek to avoid dairy in their diets. Try to develop a taste for these healthier alternatives, as you'll hopefully start to crave the food to which you're allergic less.
Try Exercising
Exercise can be a worthwhile endeavor to help defeat a craving for something that you shouldn't be eating. When you exercise, you often won't feel as hungry afterward. This is especially true if you've had a lot of water to keep hydrated. This alone may be enough to curve your craving. Additionally, if you're noticing the euphoria that many people experience after working out, you'll hopefully feel less inclined to eat the food to which you're allergic, as you won't want to go from feeling good to feeling bad.
Check out a website like http://www.oakbrookallergists.com for more information and assistance.
