Theory of Food II Blog Assignment #2: Diets and Dietary Restrictions

 Atkins, Paleo, Keto, WeightWatchers, low-carb high-fat, intermittent fasting, gluten-free... These are just some of the many famous, and often ephemerous, dieting and dietary trends we hear about every year. Without fail, every few months emerges the next go-to fad that promises fast and sustainable results where other methods have failed.

Then comes the issue of allergies that have taken more and more precedence over the last few years, with some schools going as far as banning children from entering facilities with lunches that contain allergens, most notably the deadly peanut butter (Carlucci, 2017).

In this blog post, we will first examine the paleo diet before putting ourselves in the shoes of someone with a sesame allergy, and see how eating is like when not being able to do so the mainstream way.

1. Paleo Diet

The paleo diet is not as recent as one might be led to believe: its first advocate was the American gastroenterologist Walter Voegtlin who came up with it in the 1970s (Bradford, 2016).

The paleo diet puts forward the idea human genetics have not caught up with the rapid development of agriculture and that any food that would not have been consumed in nature by Paleolothic age cavemen is ill-suited for us. This translates to a diet based on "lean proteins, eggs, vegetables, fruits, nuts and roots" (para. 1) and where processed foods, but also farmed meat (beef, sheep, dairy) and cultured plants (legumes, wheat, rice, potatoes etc) have to be cut out. Salt as well, by the way, because it is not something early humans had readily access to.

Paleo Experience

I am sorry to disappoint you, but I am not very keen on completely switching my diet while having a busy schedule and entering the winter season in Canada, which in my mind could result to a shock to the system and reduced immunity during this period where we need it most. I think you will find enough testimonials of other people who tried the paleo diet themselves on YouTube to get a better idea of it.

What I can do, however, is offer you a 7-day mealplan following the principles of the paleo diet:

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
Breakfast	Eggs with bacon	Scrambled eggs with chives	Parmesan, ham and tomato omelet	Almond yoghurt, tree nuts and raspberries	Avocado on coconut flour bread	Banana, mango, papaya and pecan smoothie	Paleo Irish Soda Bread (TPRM, 2021)
Lunch	Grilled salmon with oven-roasted eggplant	Pork tenderloin with ratatouille	Chicken and vegetable salad topped with sunflower seeds	Shrimp fried cauliflower rice (TPRM, 2020)	Egg-bacon-beef burgers	Shrimp and scallop ceviche	Steak bites with sautéed kale
Dinner	Courgettini spaghetti bolognaise	Baked hake with grilled asparagus	Grilled steak with oven-roasted pumpkin	Sashimi & octopus salad	Steak tartare with almond flour bruschetta	Paleo Pizza (Rege, 2018)	Roast turkey with cranberry-apple compote
Snack	Fruit salad	Canned tuna	Celery sticks	Cashews	Hard-boiled eggs	Blueberries	Cucumber slices

Thoughts

While I am obviously no dietitian, I am skeptical regarding how sustainable this way of eating is: we humans are omnivore, and having a diet that overflows with proteins and does not contain any starch makes me wonder whether it affects one's energy levels in the long-term. Also, wouldn't its adherents get extremely hungry? This seems like a diet you would start in the summer, but how realistic is it to keep it on in the middle of winter?

Several inconsistencies with the Paleolithic age lifestyle appear as well: cavemen of that era did not have readily access to supermarkets and would have probably eaten all meats raw. If such cavemen were natives of cold climates such as North America and Europe, then they would never have eaten tropical produce such as mango, banana or coffee in their entire lives, much less enjoy the convenience of frozen fruits or dairy-free Starbucks drinks year round that the modern Paleo dieter is allowed to consume. To me, it seems this diet takes vague historical concepts and applies them to the modern era merely to sell another low-carb high-protein diet, the latter being potentially damaging to kidneys from my general understanding. Finally, it goes without saying that a diet based on meats and fish is prohibitive and out of reach for many.

2. Food Allergy

As a reminder, the eleven priority food allergens selected by Health Canada (2018) include:

• Eggs
• Milk
• Mustard
• Peanuts
• Crustaceans and molluscs
• Fish
• Sesame seeds
• Soy
• Sulphites
• Tree nuts
• Wheat and triticale

One Week With a Sesame Allergy

Originally, I thought sesame was not such a prominent ingredient in the typical Canadian diet that avoiding it should be difficult (unlike eggs, dairy or gluten for example). Think sesame seeds in baked goods (bagels, hamburger buns), and some dishes where sesame is processed into a hidden form, such as tahini (sesame paste) in hummus or sesame oil in numerous Asian dishes.

However, according to Food Allergy Research & Education (2020), it turns out sesame can appear in a multitude of food and non-food products, from margarine and herbal tea to medications and perfumes, as illustrated in the factsheet below:

With that in mind, we will provide a 7-day mealplan devoid of sesame seeds:

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
Breakfast	Wholewheat bagel with jam	Cereals with milk	Bread with peanut butter	Omelet with peppers and chives	Homemade granola, yoghurt and strawberries	Plain bagel with cream cheese	Pancakes with maple syrup
Lunch	Sesame-free sushi platter	Subway sandwich with Italian bread	Red lentil dhal with basmati rice	Shawarma plate (no hummus)	Hamburger with fries (seedless bun)	Zucchini frittata	Chicken salad
Dinner	Curry chicken with rice	Roast beef with potatoes	Mezze platter (tahini-free hummus)	Barley and vegetable soup	Tuna steak with oven-roasted pumpin and broccoli	Kimchi jjigae (no sesame oil)	Fusilli with spinach and mushroom sauce
Snack	Apple	Pear	Yoghurt	Celery sticks	Hard boiled egg	Toast bread	Sesame-free chocolate

P.S: While foods prone to containing sesame are specified, it goes without saying every ingredient will have been checked not to contain any.

Sesame-Free Hummus Recipe

• 1 can chickpeas, drained
• 1/2 cup cashew or almond butter
• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 3 tbs lemon juice
• 1 minced garlic clove
• 1/2 tsp cumin powder
• Pinch of cayenne pepper
• Salt, ground black pepper (to taste)

1. Put all ingredients into a blender, blend until a smooth paste is formed.

2. Adjust consistency with water and/or extra lemon juice, check seasoning.

3. Serve in a bowl and drizzle with some olive oil and extra cayenne pepper for decoration.

You can serve the hummus as a dip with oven-baked pita wedges and vegetables sticks or spread it on toasted bread slices.

Reflection on the experience

The information provided by FARE which shows sesame can pretty much be in anything has definitely changed my mind: indeed, instead of merely needing to avoid everything bagels, it becomes evident those allergic to sesame need to double-check everything they injest or put on their body, food and otherwise! Where incomplete or non-discernible labelling is present (such as an imported box of halvah with ingredients only listed in Arabic for instance), they cannot afford to take any risk and are better off sticking to what they know lest they should suffer dire consequences.

I have no reason to personally avoid eating sesame. As with other seeds and tree nuts, it is high in good fats, and if consumed in moderation, can be part of a healthy diet. Doing this research, however, has definitely opened my mind and makes me more sympathetic to the reality of living with a food allergy. It also makes me doubt the feasibility of operating a large-scale food and product supply chain while still being able to cater to every single allergic need.

Combining Sesame Allergy With Being a Chef

There is no reason as to why one could not work as a Chef while suffering from a sesame allergy. Just as with religious dietary restrictions, such a Chef would be expected to cook dishes containing sesame without being required to taste them.

Furthermore, many restaurant workers, even after going through a food safety course, are not necessarily aware of how easy it can be to harm someone with a food allergy due to negligent work practices: deep-frying French fries in a fryer used for fish or using a knife cross-contaminated with peanut butter could result in a trip to the emergency room for unsuspecting diners. Having someone in the kitchen directly impacted by a food allergy should be considered an asset to educate fellow workers on food safety and prevent potential future lawsuits.

Works Cited

Bradford, A. (2016, January 13). What Is the Paleo Diet? Live Science. https://www.livescience.com/53368-paleo-diet.html

Carlucci, M. (2017, September 10). Lunchbox letdown: parents grapple with long list of banned foods at schools. CBC. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/lunchbox-letdown-parents-confused-over-ban-on-peanut-butter-alternatives-1.4281489

FARE. (2020, November). How to Read a Label for a Sesame-Free Diet [Poster]. FARE. https://www.foodallergy.org/living-food-allergies/food-allergy-essentials/common-allergens/sesame#:~:text=Symptoms%20of%20a%20sesame%20allergy,first%2Dline%20treatment%20for%20anaphylaxis.&text=To%20prevent%20a%20reaction%2C%20it%20is%20very%20important%20to%20avoid%20sesame.

Health Canada. (2018, May 14). Common food allergens. Government of Canada. https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/food-nutrition/food-safety/food-allergies-intolerances/food-allergies.html

Rege, L. (2018, December 5). Perfect Paleo Pizza. Delish. https://www.delish.com/cooking/recipe-ideas/a25337271/paleo-pizza-recipe/

The Paleo Running Momma. (2020, May 17). Shrimp Fried Cauliflower Rice {Paleo, Whole30, Keto}. https://www.paleorunningmomma.com/shrimp-fried-cauliflower-rice-paleo-whole30-keto/

The Paleo Running Momma. (2021, March 10). Paleo Irish Soda Bread {Grain Free, Dairy Free}. https://www.paleorunningmomma.com/paleo-irish-soda-bread-grain-free-dairy-free/