Do you or does someone you know have a food allergy or intolerance? Have you found products that you like and/or resources that are helpful in tackling this issue?

I have an intolerance with most seafood, not an allergy. It only upsets my stomach, no other symptoms. The only thing that works for me is to avoidance. I'm sure there should be some that I could tolerate but after trying many types of seafood and feeling like I need to run for the bathroom I just don't feel like experimenting more to see what I could tolerate. I get my fish oil through pills which don't seem to upset me.

Now, my husband has some lactose intolerance. He can drink a bit of milk or have a bit of ice cream but has to limit. Cheese does not seem to bother him either. We have not had to resort to the lactose intolerance products on the market for him as long as he watches how much he eats in a day.

Some folks who are lactose-intolerant can tolerate come cheese (usually not soft ones) and yogurt because the lactose is broken down somewhat. But that varies from person-to-person. My friend's husband is LI and when I told him that, he got very excited and reported to me next time we hung out that, indeed, he can eat cheese again.

He was very grateful

I seem to be sensitive to Aspartame (Nutrasweet). I first noticed this when EXTRA chewing gum first came out and I always seemed to get a sore throat when I chewed it. I made the correlation to aspartame after having the same reaction from sugarfree yogurt and hard candy. Seems each time I accidentally eat something with the sweetener in it, I get a worse reaction than before so I am very careful to read every label. I have only talked to one other person that has ever seemed to have a sensitivity to aspartame and later found out that she and I have one other thing in common--we are both hypothyroid. I would be curious to know if any other hypothyroid people have had the same problems. I typically try to avoid any type of artificia sweetener now just to be safe.

I've found the recipe site Cooking Allergy Free extremely helpful over the last few months. It's real easy to enter your allergies, and it will spit back recipes that suit your needs.

They're a little light on recipes right now, but seem to be growing. It's the best site I've found for having multiple allergies.

My family including have all kinds of food allergies. We have Celiac Disease (your body can not digest the proteins in wheat, oats, barley, or rye and eat any products that not only contain these ingredients but are processed in a facility that processes these products). We also have milk, corn and rice allergies.

We went gluten-free about three years ago when one of our sons was diagnosed with Celiac Disease and this past year our daughter. Being gluten free has made a world of difference for all of us. My husband had Reiter's syndrome (a from of arthritis that affects your muscles) since going gluten free three years ago he has not taken any medication over the last 1 1/2 years. My daughter since she was a baby has always (even after having her tounsels out) has had swollen glands. She was diagnosed this past spring with Celiac Disease, and milk allergies. Since switching her diet she no longer has swollen glands. It is amazing how food can effect your body. If you want to read some more information go to Celiac.com.