[Edit 9/28/2009 & 10/11/2019] This post, like all of the posts reprinted from the “main” Titus2Homemaker site, was written a while ago. Although I have never been “undiagnosed” with this intolerance, I have begun to doubt the validity of the testing that usually produces the diagnosis of potato intolerance. I can’t seem to find my notes to save my life, but the nutshell version has to do with the mechanics of how the testing is done, and the attitude I was met with when I asked for more information. In the meantime, please take the following with a grain of salt. If it is helpful, please use it! But do your research, too. 😉 By the way, sweet potatoes and yams are not actually potato relatives, so if you have a potato allergy, that does not necessarily rule these out.]
I have recently been “diagnosed” with a potato intolerance. Now, I had never heard of an intolerance to potatoes, so I set out to find more information on the ‘net. Unfortunately, there isn’t much. Among those who test for this particular intolerance, it is apparently not seen infrequently; however, those who do not test for it have pretty much never heard of it! I was not able to find a list of specific products which are or are not safe, so I thought I would begin adding products to this page as I found out about them. If you know of others, please let me know.
This potato group to which I am intolerant includes potatoes, sweet potatoes, and yams. (These are not all actually potatoes, but they fall into the same group for this particular purpose.) Kabuki squash, jicama, and Jerusalem artichokes (sun chokes) are related to potatoes and potato-intolerant people may be intolerant of them.
Yeast is, apparently, often cultured on potatoes. However, Fleischmann’s assured me that their yeast is not. (Because it has been a while and I did not immediately write it down, I cannot recall what they told me it is cultured on, but they did specify.) [Update 12/2/13: Reader Jenn had this to say: “I don’t know if things are different in canada compared to the united states, but I talked to the company, and this is what they said about their yeast: ‘Potato starch is used as a filter media during the dewatering process. As such, all fresh and dry yeast products sold through ACH would have some small level of potato starch contained therein.'” Thank you, Jenn!]
Baking powder apparently also sometimes contains potatoes, in the form of the starch used as a filler/buffer. (This buffer keeps the powder from “acting” before you add it to your recipe.) Rumford baking powder does not contain potatoes. (It does contain corn, so if you’re allergic to corn, you will want to avoid it.) You can also make your own.
B vitamins may be cultured from a potato base. This is quite problematic, since most flours, pastas, breakfast cereals, etc. are “enriched” with these vitamins! Anything with “enriched flour” as an ingredient (and, of course, the enriched flour itself) is suspect. White rice is frequently “enriched,” as well. (“Enriched” really only means that the manufacturers have replaced a tiny percentage of the nutrients they originally removed from the grain, so it isn’t a wise food choice, anyway. However, sometimes there are few options.) So far, the companies I have called (including Carnation, in reference to their Instant Breakfast) have told me that all of their B vitamins, or all but B12, are chemically synthesized, and nothing comes from potatoes.
According to my paperwork, dextrose is sometimes a potato sugar derivative. I have yet to come across any dextrose which is not, in fact, a corn derivative, but I avoid eating anything which contains dextrose without first calling the manufacturer to inquire. Most table salt contains dextrose. (Good quality sea salts – those that clump – generally do not.)
Other potato derivatives may include “modified food starch,” “hydrolyzed vegetable protein,” “vegetable broth,” MSG (also labeled as “monosodium glutamate” or “natural flavorings”), “propylene glycol,” some plastic wraps or food storage bags (so that they are biodegradable, apparently), and penicillin-type antibiotics.
Shredded cheese often contains potato starch as a coating to prevent its sticking together. Check the label and look for one that uses a different type of starch, or buy block cheese and shred your own.
From reader Kim W.: I was…found to have a potato intolerance. In addition to the items on your site, the doctor included all lo-fat and skim milk products because vitamin A palmitate is from potato. Also, all esterified estrogens are made from wild yam and sometimes yam and soy. Thank you, Kim, for that information about vitamin A and estrogen supplements!
One of my children received this same diagnosis recently and I’m not sure what I think about it. I would love to hear your thoughts on its validity!
Jen, I had a whole email full of notes somewhere at one time, and I seem to have lost them – that’s why I’ve never gotten around to writing about my thoughts on its validity.
In a nutshell, I believe that a potato intolerance can be a very valid issue, but I don’t trust the testing that was used for me (and which, I understand, is most commonly what was used when this is the diagnosis). What they do, in essence, is to put the blood and the food in contact with one another and see if there is a reaction – but that does not reflect the way that digestion actually works in the human body. Potatoes don’t ordinarily enter the bloodstream, nor does broccoli or carrots or any other food; they are broken down in the digestive tract into elements like sugars and amino acids, and these enter the bloodstream. Now, if the gut really is not digesting the potatoes properly, then potato molecules could, theoretically, enter the bloodstream, but that is not what this testing is checking for. Maybe I’m just being overly simplistic, but this just seems so simplistically obvious to me that I have my doubts.
And if I question those who do this sort of testing, rather than showing me how I’m wrong, they have a tendency to just tell me that if I don’t believe in it, maybe it’s not for me. To my mind, that’s a red flag about its validity. If a process is scientifically valid, someone should be able to explain at least a theory for how it might work, even if they aren’t positive how it does work.
That’s my two bucks, anyway. 😉
Are you a scientist ? Are you a doctor ? Do you personally have a potato intolerances and or know anything about how it makes someone feel or alters the quality of life ? My guess is not so much its very real and shame on you to question something that alters many lifes you may not understand it and that’s okay but judging something that others struggle with everyday and undermining it , your just wrong. Keep your comments to yourself my question to you is why get on a website that’s ment to help others and question something that’s very real? You dont struggle with it then why bother to be on a site like this and comment ? Find something to be positive about , good riddance
I’m not sure what you’re after with this comment. I didn’t “get on a website” and comment; this is my website. If you read carefully, you would see that I did not question whether potato intolerance is real — if I did, I wouldn’t bother writing a whole post on how to avoid potato derivatives — I only question the soundness of the particular testing used to diagnose me. This was also clarified several times in the comments, where I have done my best to be as helpful as possible. When your allergy/intolerance is an uncommon one, it can be extra-hard to find information; I’m very sorry you’ve had to deal with this frustration and, it sounds like, with people who don’t take you seriously.
(BTW, I currently am having issues with anything starchy — potatoes, sweet potatoes, all grains, parsnips, bananas, coconut, etc. So yes, I know how this stuff impacts quality of life.)
Rachael, I tested positive for potatoe. It was accurate. I don’t understand the testing, it was not well explained to me. I do understand the pathophysiology. Has to do with leaky gut syndrome. I lack the enzyme necessary to digest potatoe, therefore it ferments and sits in the gut too long, creating inflammation that leaks into the bloodstream causing systemic disease.
I understand how leaky gut works. Based on what I was told they look for in the blood, though, the test used doesn’t make any physiological sense to me. It is possible someone gave me bad information (I can’t for the life of me find my correspondence), but what they told me didn’t make sense.
Other common forms of potatoe: maltodextrin, guar gum, xanthum gum, tapioca pearls, modified food starch, natural flavorings, enriched flours, cellulose, and, it’s very important not the eat anything with sugar within 8 hours of eating fruit!!! Fruit means any fruit other than melons and rhubarb. They don’t consider tomatoe as a fruit. Olives, olive oil, palm oil, cashews, coconut and Avacado are considered fruit as well as cardamom, cloves, nutmeg and allspice! Sugar means anything derived of cane sugar. Also brown sugar, molasses, Florida crystals, cane syrup, high fructose corn syrup, sucrose, sucralose, Splenda, turbo ado sugar, sugar beets. Life is complicated. I’ve basically eliminated sugar so I can eat fruit whenever I want except for a sugar day here and there when I avoid fruit. The good thing? Pure Maple syrup and raw honey are not considered sugar!!! I hope this helps!
Well, the way to find out if the test was correct is to eliminate everything with potatoe in it for 6-8 weeks and see how you feel. Then eat a potatoe and see how you feel over the next week?….then you’ll know if the test was accurate.
Beer also has yeast made with potatoe….that is most beer….cheaper beer does not. Some hard liquor is made with potatoe too.
I’m not sure about the test Rachael. It worked for me. We would have to ask the ND’s. Seems they keep info to themselves. Its not well published that’s for sure. I would love to have access to there journals?
Rachael, When I was tested she put four drops of blood on a card. She sent the card to some lab out of state and it took a month to get the result. Is that similar to what they did for your test?
I tested positive for potatoe intolerance. At first I didn’t believe it. I was 56 years old at the time. Then as a year went by and I experimented with eliminating all things potatoe it made a huge, huge difference in my life….I wish I had known as a child, it would have saved a lot of grief for me!! I’ll never eat a potatoe again, I feel great!! Changing my diet fixed my chronic health problems including hypertension and osteoarthritis as well as bloating, generalized swelling, intermittent contsipation, diarrhea, intermittent foggy brain, and fatigue. Oh also intermittent depression. I was told that any symptom that goes up and down is usually related to food. As a young child my symptoms were intermittent constipation, foggy brain, depression and fatigue. My joint pain and hypertension didn’t start until I was in my 30 – 40’s. The symptoms are subtle and can be easily overlooked, but yet can have a great impact on daily function, ability to do really well in school or work and have a tremendous negative impact. Once the potatoe was eliminated from my diet though it made my symptoms much more profound after eating something with potato.
Here’s another resource about how the potato food intolerance works. There are other helpful articles on this blog as well – written by the daughter of one of the Traditional Naturopaths who uses and teaches this testing method. She does counseling for people with all of the food intolerances, helping them find food products and things.
https://www.hazelwoodnaturalfoods.com/post/what-is-a-potato-intolerance
I was diagnosed with potatoe intolerance as a child and now my daughter has the same. Thanks for the informative website! As far as the previous post about validity of the actual intolerance- as a child I was frequently getting ear infections and tonsillitis. I had a rash under my lower lip and overweight. The MD said the next ear infection and the tonsils were coming out. that was when my Mom became very agressive in removing potatoes from my diet. Soon after, lip rash resolved, rarely a sore throat, no ear infections and I had lost some weight. No traditional medical professional would probaly agree but from personal experience, potatoe intolerances are VERY real. It definately forces a person to get in tune with their body and what they put into it.
Thank you for your comment!
To clarify, I don’t doubt that potato intolerance can, indeed, be real. What I question the validity of is the particular test that was used to determine that I had a potato intolerance.
If you have any substitution ideas to contribute, I’d love to hear them!
Please describe your test. My daughter was just tested same way Lynne described above.
The Carroll Food Intolerance Test is the one that was used for me.
The Carroll Institute has an app that has a list of safe brands for each food intolerance and combo intolerance.
My ND gave me a log in link to the website version.
Some brands of most items use sea salt, aren’t enriched with B-vitamins, and don’t have thickeners.
Some condiments are ok.
Cheeses are a problem if they use regular salt (with anti-caking agents) or are coated to make them non-stick, like shreds.
I was told to use only full-fat dairy products, because they don’t have their natural vitamins removed. Nothing needs added back in.
My son is 5 and was tested about 4 months ago for food intolerances. I was told it was potato that he was having issues with. I told our natuaropath that he doesnt eat potato that often how can it be causing so much trouble. That is when she informed me about all the food products out there that use potato as a filler, sweetener, base. i started to do internet searches and really cant find any info as to all the different additives and ingredients that contain it so when i found this post i was happy. I was aware of a few of these like the vitamin A, the Dextrose, Multi Dextrose, yeasts, veg oils etc. But this gave me a few more things to look out for. My son has had trouble with digestion/constipation, and extreme mood swings. He would have uncontrolled unreasonable “mental breakdowns” crying fits, screaming, defiance. When he was smaller i chalked it up to being a toddler unable to communicate his feelings. When he got older and they got worse I had him tested. After changing a few main things in his diet he has greatly improved. I switched from 2% milk to whole, veg oil spread to real unsalted butter, cut the breads, potatoes of course, sugars, artificial sweetners, and more. Its hard to do but we have noticed a big change in his behavior and “flow”. After his diet change he came home from school and burst into tears at the door threw himself on the floor, screamed kicked and just flipped out for about 40 min. When he calmed down enough to talk i asked him what he had for snack at school he said milk 2% and poptarts. I was definately on board with a diet change after that.
Wow; it sounds like the dietary changes have a made a huge difference! That’s great! I’m curious if the underlying issue is really potatoes, specifically, or carb overload. (Just ’cause I’m curious about everything. lol Cutting carbs and increasing healthy fats seem to be a common theme in your dietary changes – which is wonderful, because that can only beneficial for the whole family!)
Hello. My name is Kim and I am 40 years old. I have 4 children and literally after I gave birth in the hospital to my daughter who is now 14 1/2, I became allergic to potatoes, even though I ate them all my life.
I didn’t know it right away because I didn’t eat potatoes all that often but when I did, I would have a terrible reaction…..my heart would start racing, then my throat would close up some….lips tingle….but I never was aware of food allergies and didn’t know what was happening….at the time, I also had a lot going on so I thought it was panic attacks. This went on for a few months. I finally realized it was the potatoes…went to my doctor and told him, he told me to just avoid them, gave me a script for an epi-pen and sent me on my way. So over the years, I avoided them and as long as it wasn’t a fry, potato chip, baked potato, mashed….I never read labels.
Last week, I was eating jolly ranchers chewy candy and after a few, started to have a terrible reaction.
I grabbed the pack and read the and saw it ingredients had potato starch. Since that day, I have been having reactions to a lot of things to the point that I guess I build up enough allergy that the slightest potato carrying product now effects me. Vitamin A Palminate which is in ALL LOW FAT DAIRY PRODUCTS….even imitation milk products like Soy Milk, Almond Milk because it is used as a filler. This is one of the hardest things to avoid because its in everything boxed! Also I have to avoid potato starch which is in everything too. Most yeast contains potato, except Red Star. I have to avoid all refined flour because of the vitamin A, its potatoes. I have to avoid Cellulose Gum. Very important….never realized this but for years, below my mouth would get irritated and red every time I would brush my teeth….red patches..that inflamed and itched…well, Cellulose is in most toothpaste!!! I did switch a few days ago to Arm and Hammer which doesn’t contain it and seems to be ok. I am freaked out about Dextrose cause its in everything too and unless if I call each food item/company, I will not know if its potato based.
All shredded cheese contains potato starch. It keeps it from sticking together so now I have to buy blocked cheese and shred it myself. I did read that I can do that and freeze it in larger amounts.
Instant oatmeal packets contain potato. Almost all cereal contains Vitamin A Palminate. I love cereal and always used 1% Milk and low fat dairy so this is very hard for me. I love bread and bought a bread maker last night. I am used to fast food restaurants cause I am always on the go…..now its impossible because everything on the menu I can’t eat. Even salad dressing is dangerous. I can only have homemade oil and vinagar dressing. All this time I ate Hellmann’s Mayo…not realizing it contains potatoes. I can’t have Iodide salt either. The list goes on an on.
Its as if a switch clicked on for all this to avoid. I feel like I am forced into diet mode (which I needed to go on one anyways and never did good sticking to them. But this is the rest of my life…Not something I can just give up on now. A week ago, my life wasn’t so bad avoiding the basics of fries and chips. Now, this just sucks. Its depressing and I am scared to eat out anywhere. My life has been turned upside down.
I feel so bad for parents with kids with severe allergies because its a lot of reading, avoiding, prepping, and its just very very discouraging. : (
If anyone out there knows of other words in ingredients that I need to avoid that I have not listed, please take a moment and comment. I need all the help I can get right now.
Arm and Hammer contains baking soda which commonly contains Potato. I have been using it too & only just learnt of this.
Baking soda does not contain potato, it is baking powder that does.
I was told by my ND that baking soda was always ok for potatoe intolerance folks, but that only certain baking powders were ok….like Rumfords brand is ok, but others may not be.
Thanks for the information. I have just had an allergy test that reviled an intolerance to potatoes. Its just a shame that from 10 months old when potatoes were introduced into my diet no one made the link between the many reoccurring illnesses or a lymph Hernia. My behaviour was unmanageable and eventually i went into care were treatments and abuse were common. I always new that it wasn’t my fault that I could not manage emotions and have fought through hell so many times after great loss and suffering. I am so relived to have found the cause now i’m 40 years old and as I get my diet right I am no longer the Jekel and Hyde character i have been all my life. Shame it tock so long and cost so much of my life that I cant get back. 8(
Oh, I’m sorry – that stinks! I know the feeling. When I cut gluten out of my diet, similar issues disappeared. I’m glad you’ve found the culprit now, but so sorry it took so long! How are you adjusting to the change in diet?
Two years ago I was diagnosed with a combination intolerance between potato and grain within the same 8 hours. I was also diagnosed with a fruit intolerance. (The test I took is called the Carroll food intolerance test.) My symtoms aren’t that bad so it’s sometimes easier for me to accept food containing these things than to say “no thanks”. My rule is to never buy any fruit for myself, which I’m good at keeping. Since potato is included in so many things compared to grain I stick to the potato and skip the grains, thus no bread, pasta, cakes, etc, but I’m experimenting on recipes with grain substitutes. It’s hard to stick to my “food rules”, especially on parties and when being social or at a restaurant for example, so sometimes I cheat. However, I can’t do it too often or too long a period since I get pain in my joints. I have also found that if I restrict my eating and totally skip things I’m intolerant to when starting to feel the symtoms of a cold, it does not develop but subside – interesting!
Grain includes wheat, rye, rice, barley, oats, corn, buchwheat, millet and wild rice – and anything derived from these things, such as beer, liquor, malt vinegar, whiskey, noodles, bread, cornstarch and oil, wheat germ or bran, and dextrin (made from corn). Thus I cannot just say to people that I have coeliac disease which is gluten only, which would be much more accepted and easier to handle.
What kinds of problems do you find with your food intolerance and how do you solve them?
Hi. I just wanted to add an update to a comment earlier about the Fleischmann’s yeast. I don’t know if things are different in canada compared to the united states, but I talked to the company, and this is what they said about their yeast: “Potato starch is used as a filter media during the dewatering process. As such, all fresh and dry yeast products sold through ACH would have some small level of potato starch contained therein.” Just to warn anyone who is thinking of using their products!
Ohhhh, Jenn, that’s good to know! Thank you!
My son just got diagnosed with Potato and Corn intolerance. Do you have any more info on this?? I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed at the moment, but reassured by the positive outcome I have read that people have had from changing their diets. It’s the light at the end of the tunnel that I’m trying to focus on! I’m not much of a cook or baker, so I have bought alot of products in the past. That is going to have to change. I’m going to take baby steps at first and try to dive more into this once school is out. Any info/advice would be greatly appreciated!
I was diagnosed 5 years ago, I can say this is very real for me because I was definitely experiencing all the food intolerance type symptoms but after knowing all there is to know on what to avoid, my problems have disappeared! There is a free resource you might want to check out to see if it works for you too: http://www.windroseclinic.com/Food.html Click on “View custom food list, with only items you can eat.” and then select “Potato” as your main food intolerance…also keep in mind that some people can have a secondary food intolerance that kind of bothers them a little. For most people, it is fruit & sugar as a combination food intolerance, which means you can’t tolerate eating fruit & sugar within 8 hours of each other. Some people can have a primary intolerance to fruits too. But anyways, if you want to know more, let me know. I pinned this page on pinterest as it is the only one I’ve seen out there other than this other one I know about too: http://www.songofhealth.com/subscribeintro.html Anyways, I thought you’d like to have this info and to know that there are other people out there too and it is a REAL diagnosis that can be helped:)
Thank you, Tabetha, for sharing that! That looks like a really helpful resource.
I am also intolerant to Potato and Refined Sugars. Just wanted to add that regular Table Salt contains potato starch. No additive sea salt is ok . I have not been able to find any information on the net about the Potato intolerance but if you do a search for Gluten intolerance you come up with hundreds of sites. Not sure why there isn’t any information available.
It good to know that there are go many weirdos out there like me. I have a nightshade intolerance which means to potatoes. It sucks for sure because there isn’t a lot of stuff out here on the internet about it. I was just trying to see if there is a brewers yeast out there that didn’t have potato. I know Red Star yeast it good, but that’s for baking. I was thinking about trying to make my own hard cider.
Red Star has a nutritional yeast, so I bet they do brewer’s yeast, too.
Been trying to sort out the potato component of yeast and cheese. So the red start nutritional yeast is potato free? Is it sugar free as well? And I’m so intrigued that block cheese can be potato free? My ND just told me to assume all dairy has potato. Do you have any insight into this?
I’m not sure if the yeast is sugar-free. I can’t remember what they told me it’s cultured on, but that’s what I’d call and ask them: what is it cultured in/on? And is there any sugar involved in that process?
I can’t imagine any reason that dairy, as a rule, would have potato. I don’t want to second-guess your ND, but that makes absolutely no sense to me. I wonder if maybe the idea was just that anything that contains dairy, you want to assume has potato (because you won’t know exactly what they used). If you learn something different, I’d love to hear it, but I just can’t fathom where potato would come from in a typical, single, unprocessed dairy product (plain block cheese, plain no-additive yogurt, etc.).
Shredded cheese has potato starch to prevent it from caking up.
Yes, it does. But the ND referenced is referring to all dairy — as in, if it’s made from milk it contains potato. I don’t know of any dairy that by nature contains potato, although they do add potato starch to shredded cheese (check the label, ’cause occasionally it’s cornstarch), and something like yogurt with added ingredients could have potato.
Jen, I don’t know if you saw Marva’s recently-posted comment, but she may have answered your dairy question. The vitamin A dairy is typically fortified with is potato-derived. So probably if your dairy is essentially unprocessed (you’re getting it from the farm, for instance, or somewhere it isn’t being industrially-produced and therefore not “fortified”), it’s okay.
I was told I have to have whole milk, so whole milk yougurt, sour cream etc. If they enrich it, the same with bread they are adding potatoes to it. You are fine with cheese from a block and whole milk.
Hello! It took me about 10 years to figure out that I am allergic to the nightshade family. I lived with painful lesions, deep fissures, swelling, and scalloping of the tongue for years without relief.
My first reaction was when I was about 10 years old. After eating barbecue chips, the inside of my mouth felt cut up and raw. After avoiding barbecue chips and spicy foods for a while, I later figured out that it was cayenne pepper and paprika that were causing the reaction. A little later, I was eating cherries and my entire mouth itched. If i touched my eyes my eyes would swell. After seeing an allergist, he told me that I was allergic to birch which pollinates tree fruit (peaches, apples, pears, cherries, etc). He never tested the cayenne pepper and paprika allergy, but at that point I had my allergies under control and knew what to avoid.
When I got to college, my tongue worsened and I couldn’t figure out what I was doing wrong. I stayed away from spicy foods which always has cayenne and paprika as an ingredient, but I was still having reactions. I asked many doctors whenever I had a visit and they would respond by saying “that’s weird” or “interesting,” but never seemed to care enough to try and figure it out. I was beginning to think that I had some sort of auto-immune tongue disorder; but all that has recently changed.
About 6 months ago, (before switching doctors) I asked if they would do a thyroid test to see if anything came back irregular (hypo and hyperthyroidism run in my family and can cause scalloping of the tongue). It turns out my thyroid was fine, but my liver enzymes were elevated. They sent me to a specialist and no matter what I did my enzymes became more and more elevated. They did many tests to insure that this wasn’t due to hepatitis or any other diseases.
At this time, I kept bringing up the issues I was having with my tongue (each day I was in pain with lesions making it difficult to eat, speak, and relax). The specialist didn’t seem to care about my tongue, and told me that my liver was fatty and that I needed to lose weight despite having a pretty normal BMI (I am 5’8″ and fluctuate between 160-164 pounds which is at the top of the normal BMI for my height). I took their advice and hit the gym and ate even more healthily than usual; I’m a vegetarian, always eat fresh veggies and fruit, but the specialist wanted me to stop eating all beta carotene (aka all healthy greens, squash, carrots etc.) because I have carotenemia and he thought that may be affecting my liver. How any vegetarian can lose weight without eating most veggies is beyond me, but I wanted to regain my health so I tried to remain positive and do my best to follow his advice. When the test results came back my liver was worse.
I hoped that if I could figure out my tongue issues it would help my liver so that was my next feat. Despite my desires to retest my inconclusive gluten test (due to a deficient immune system) he “didnt think” that was what was causing the elevated enzymes. So without their help, I decided to try a gluten-free diet for a month and see what happens. Not eating gluten greatly improved my liver, but my tongue got much worse. I felt so defeated. At this point, a little light bulb went off in my head because a few years back I remember reading that potatoes are in the nightshade family along with cayenne and paprika; and potato starch is used in almost all gluten-free foods. I finally cut out all nightshades and most gluten (which took a while because potato is in EVERYTHING!!!) and VOILA! I finally had relief! The greatest gift ever! Yet, now, I had to figure out how to live a semi-normal life without it! I would like to add that at this point, my tongue pain would last 5-7 days after eating anything containing or contaminated with any nightshade food.
I learned very quickly that living nightshade free is extremely difficult! The only positive thing about it is that you are forced to eat healthily because 99.9% of packaged foods has potato in it or is enriched or contaminated with it.
Here are some products that do not give me a reaction:
-For people who can have milk, whole foods sells “Organic Valley Grassmilk” and Sky Top Farms (located in New York) sells one as well. The milk is unhomogenized and tastes delicious! Better yet, all the cows are fed only grass and hay (which means NO GRAINS and NO POTATO’s!) Sky Top Farms also sells a half and half and a heavy whipping cream as well which is so great! Organic Valley also carries a Grassmilk cheese which is also sold at whole foods! I use the milk in my granola or make a homemade chocolate milk in the microwave with plain Hershey’s cocoa and honey.
-I also can eat some foods from Trader Joe’s:
-Plantain chips (which kind of taste like potato chips)
-Raisin Rosemary Crisps and Fig & Olive Crisps (both delicious crackers that are made with buttermilk and baking soda that actually taste good). DO NOT BUY THE PUMPKIN CRANBERRY CRISPS!!! I mistakenly ate one and cried for about an hour because I didn’t realize it contained baking powder and will be suffering for the next week!
– Their goat cheese also doesn’t seem to bother me but who knows.
-Another product I love is granola from White Lion Baking Company. It is $9.99 at Whole Foods but it is worth it! It is also gluten-free! I haven’t tried Paleonola granola but I did check the ingredients and it does not have any nightshades in the original and chocolate flavors.
-I have also tried Nomato products. Their nomato sauce and nomato ketchup are okay. I add lemon and black pepper to the ketchup and need to figure out a recipe to spice up the sauce. Either aren’t great but plain rice, fish, and veggies get old.
The rest of my diet is very plain veggies, fruit, eggs, and fish (which I recently started eating again due to how restrictive this diet is). I make all my own food and no longer go out with friends because I can’t drink or eat with them. It is pretty depressing but know you are not alone.
If anyone would like to contact me, my Email is HC9889@gmail.com. I am desperate to find other packaged and processed foods that I can eat, and would love to get in contact with other people who are suffering from similar allergies! Wishing the best to all!
Hi,
I can relate to you with potatoes and yeast. I have my intolerance nearly ten years after having a hystorectomy done, part of my colon was damaged. It took me 2 years to find out what foods I can eat and can’t. I always loved marshmallows though I found out the hard way certain brands have potato starch in them. Gravy and stock cubes have both yeast and potato starch in them. Cooked ham is another one I would never have thought. I have to make my own burgers as shops put breadcrumbs in burgers and sausage meat. You can get your local butcher to make ones for you… People thinks it’s a gluten problem but gluten free stuff have potato starch in them. I can’t eat sweet potato either. And I had taken multivitamin and had an adverse reaction to those also…
There doesn’t seem to be tests carried out for these intolerances hopefully they will start to soon… X
Thanks so much for this information. I have a full blown potato allergy and I find it very hard to navigate through what I can and cannot eat. It is like playing Russian Roulette with everything I eat. I developed this allergy in my 30’s and have anaphylaxis to raw potatoes and get horrible stomach pains and/or turn pink with hives when I consume low grad amounts of potato. I initially go tested for a wheat intolerance, but we realized it was the potato in the bread. Some breads are better than others but I generally avoid bread and pasta. This blog was very informative. Thanks so much for posting it.
Hey just found you.
I recently found out what causes my nocturnal leg cramps. POTATOES.
I’ve suffered with them since age 5.
Docs all said, eat a banana it’s your electrolytes off balance.
Not true.
I’ve also always been allergic to cow milk. I recently found that Vitamin A is added, it’s from potatoes. Duh.
Now, I’m thinking I’m not dairy intolerant, it’s the potatoes.
Nightshade vegetables, like potatoes, tomatoes and peppers cause similar reactions to those exposed to military nerve gas. Similar /same reactions.
8 to 12 hrs after ingestion the cramps, spasms begin often resulting in few people putting the two together.
I’ve been Paleo, no potatoes. One night after months off them, I ate fries.
At 2 am, I had a severe reaction. I hadn’t had any cramps for months. It was the potatoes acting up.
After years of pain from docs telling me it’s electrolytes I now know it’s the potatoes.
Really?! That’s really interesting. (Really frustrating, too, I’m sure.) I haven’t heard of potatoes causing cramps before, but you’re absolutely right that nightshades tend to be inflammatory, so it makes sense.
I think you just answered a comment for a previous poster, too, with the added vitamin A!
I have gotten really sick for about 2 days and felt off when I eat what I am intolerant too. Its amazing what your body gets used to and then when you cut it out how it reacts to it being introduced again.
If anyone with a potato allergy is willing to email me I would tremendously appreciate it. I’m pretty sure I’m allergic to potatoes (avocados too) but having definite throat swelling, swallowing difficulty, wheezing, nasty stuff. And more than anything I need a list of ingredients that do contain potato and may contain potato. I’m going to pull what’s on this list tonight but really could use help and fast because there’s not a lot of room for error after 3 weeks of reactions and not being sure what’s causing them the reactions are getting worse.
My allergist is looking for a potato expert cause they don’t know either. My email address is julie.schultz76@gmail.com if they allow that. If not, please reply to my comment and hopefully I will get a notification.
Hi, My son and I have a life/death allergy to potatoes which is airborne as well as ingested. Yams and Sweet Potatoes ARE NOT POTATOES. They are in a completely different family. For 32 years of my life, my parents, who were following advice of other people, told me I could not have Yams or Sweet Potatoes. I finally found a Doctor on my own and they even tested me for Yams because I refused to believe them. So, people allergic to potatoes are most likely not allergic to Yams.
Secondly, they put potatoes in everything because only a few of us living in this hell complain, but EVERYONE is eating 132 pounds of potatoes on average without eating any actual potatoes. Modified Food Starch is usually potatoes. ALL the big name soups contain modified food starch. Stabilizers and even that baby formula — I think its elecare Jr…and many baby formulas have it. Maltodextrin…sounds like dextrose for a reason. It usually is made from potatoes. Shredded cheese has potato powder on it.
Kraft is the only brand I could find with cellulose on their shredded cheese. Cellulose isn’t potato. Stabilizers also are often potatoes. You find this in Ice cream for example. All but Original flavor Kraft Mac n Cheese have potato starch. I have had people try to kill me intentionally by exposing me to potatoes, so please do not share my name. For us its like how Superman can’t take Kryptonite.
Ugh. I have zero tolerance for people who knowingly, intentionally expose people to things they’re allergic — or even just sensitive — to. Thank you for sharing all these details about products that do/don’t contain potato. Do you happen to know about the (baking) yeasts? There seems to be some conflicting information about whether various yeast brands are safe.
I know this is an old post but I wanted to see if I could clarify the test for you, as I understand it (I’m not any kind of medical professional). I am in the midst of a bunch of immune testing and it has been enlightening on how the whole digestive tract/immune system works. I’m also trying a potato elimination diet, which is how I found your website, as I tested for sensitive for potatoes years ago and never eliminated them. I was too lazy 🙂
The typical blood used for intolerance testing, tests your blood for an IgA reaction to a food. IgA is secreted in your mucus enzymes and the biggest amount is in the lining of your gut. So, it interacts with ALL the food you eat. If the IgA , which is also in your blood, reacts with the food, then you have a sensitivity. IgE is responsible for an allergic reaction but won’t react to an intolerance. My IgA is currently so low that they can even check if I’m celiac as it won’t react.
Either way, the gold standard is eliminating it from your diet and then adding it back in. My GP suggested we start an elimination diet as we both think my reaction is more likely a strong food intolerance.
Thanks, Anne!
The test that most often seems to be used when a potato intolerance is diagnosed is the Carroll Food Intolerance Test. From the information I have seen, it does not appear to test for immunoglobulins. That’s why I’m skeptical of the test, ‘though not inherently skeptical of “food intolerance testing.” If you scroll down on this page, Chris Kresser addresses this very question, and the doubts/concerns he expresses are exactly my thought process: https://chriskresser.com/are-food-intolerance-tests-accurate/ I’m not beyond being convinced, by further education, that it’s valid, but given the current information I have, I’m skeptical. And the fact that when I asked for more information, I was brushed off with, in essence, “if you don’t believe us, fine, go away,” rather than an honest attempt to engage and educate, is a red flag for me.
I’m also skeptical. But I know when I avoid potatoes, I feel better. I have been trying to heal leaky gut for two years by following a modified automobile Paleo diet. I get so frustrated when I have symptoms after eating something like coconut aminos or fish sauce. I’ll bring in the suspicious food and it always tests positive for potatoes.
I also am the only person I know who has this. Sort of comforting to know I’m not the only one.
Thanks for the Chris Kresser link. I really respect him.
I guess the best we can all do is pay attention to our symptoms and eat accordingly.
Best of health to you!
Hello! I think there is a conflict in different “ways of knowing” on this forum. One thing that I notice is that there is a conflation between what is an allergy and what is an intolerance, as well as what is scientifically valid though the scientific method, and what is an energy based modality with clinically beneficial results. The Carroll test is not going to make sense under the framework of the scientific method. That doesn’t mean it “isn’t real,” and clinicians have found it to be very effective for many people. That’s observational science, but not “gold standard” scientific method. These do not need to be oposing views. Many of what MD doctors do in practice is not scientifically tested because they are using medications in ways not tested or intended, at doses not tested, etc. That is OK, sometimes, becuase they have clinical experience and are trying to find what works for individual patients. For many, Carroll testing gets RESULTS. The Carroll test uses a blood sample, but the blood sample is not put in direct contact with the specimen like in a lab. There is an aspect of what some would call “energy medicine” and what others would call “pseudoscience” in the Carroll method. I am a scientifically minded person, and if there isn’t science to back something up (such as many traditional practices, because they have WHOLE SYSTEM effects, which means there are too many variables to test throug the scientific method- aka- “untestable”), then I need to SEE IT, to believe it. I am in an environment where I get to see lots of traditional, vitality, and whole system healing modalities in practice, and I have to say, I see AMAZING CLINICAL RESULTS. I, as a scientifically minded person, cannot ignore that. That’s data. I know, it’s not gold standard research, but it IS DATA! And in the end, if healing is what people want, these modalities help people get there! I’ve seen it. I’ve lived it.
The reason ND’s are saying, “if it’s not for you, it’s not for you” is because they can’t give you the kind of gold standard proof you need. If you need that, this isn’t for you. If you can try something, with a REAL, SOLID 100% try, and be willing to take the leap of faith, then you may end up being one more person who has amazing clinical results. Maybe not. There are many roads to health. But for some, the Carroll test has radically changed their life for the better. Even without a fully understood mechanism of action.
I was diagnosed with a strong intolerance to potatoes about 6 years ago. When I got my diagnosis (overseas from a blood test) I didn’t believe it, since I had never heard of anyone who had problems with potato. I decided to see for myself what would happen. I had a big plate of potatoes for dinner. I awoke in the middle of the night writhing in pain with the worst migraine of my entire life. I was also covered in a rash and had gastrointestinal symptoms.
From that day, I swore I’d never eat another potato again. Unfortunately, potato really is everywhere, and I have accidentally ingested it more times than I’d like to admit. I even got horribly sick from high quality European hot chocolate; it turns out the caffé had added potato flakes as a thickener.
The migraine that I get from potatoes is very intense, and the only true relief I get is from betamethasone. Not even painkillers do much to dull the pain. I also get neurological symptoms and brain fog, along with the more tolerable rash and gastrointestinal symptoms.
Before I knew that potatoes were the culprit, I had such horrible migraines and brain fog I thought I may have had brain cancer. I even had a CT scan done of my cranium.
When I eliminated potatoes from my diet, my migraines and brainfog “magically” disappeared. Since then, every single time I have had similar, albeit less severe symptoms (maybe due to the smaller quantities ingested) I always found out afterward that I had accidentally ingested potato. After 6 years, I still pay dearly for consuming even very small amounts. It is as if I have become even more sensitive from my mistaken exposure.
I know of no other food that gives me grief.
Living overseas, I was used to eating very natural foods. I ate little or no processed foods, and benefited much from straightforward European labeling laws . Since I moved back to the U.S., I have been battling with headaches once again. I continuously find new and obscure places where potato may lie, and so this blog has been a huge benefit to me. This week alone, I have abandoned 2% “organic” milk, anything with dextrose or maltodextrin (including my antacid :(), baking powder, the beer I love, etc.
Despite the hardships, I am grateful for the hope of getting back to “normal”. I thank everyone for your experience and information!
Oh, wow; I would never have thought to check for potatoes in chocolate!
Just wanted to validify the potato intolerance. I was diagnosed with a potato intolerance 20 years ago. Through most of my childhood, cold sores and canker sores plagued me. Abdominal cramps and painful menstrual cramps were the norm. After eliminating a lot of potato, these issues were resolved, but because I didn’t eliminate “the small stuff” (enriched flour), I ended up with chronic inflammation of my lower back, including occasional bouts with debilitating sciatica. Now when I get a touch of potato in me, the reaction varies from abdominal cramps, blisters on my lips/mouth (from straight potato), sore throat, headache, etc. Definitely not worth it! It’s interesting, too, how the different ingredients cause different reactions. The headaches only come from eating shredded cheese.
It was about ten years before I met another potato intolerant individual, but know I know about 20! We should definitely have support groups! It ain’t easy.
I’m allergic to Nightshades and haven’t had an issue with anything “Enriched.” For reference of my sensitivity, I react pretty badly to small amounts on the skin and even in the air.
Wow; I’m sorry. That sounds really not-fun. Thank you for sharing, though; that’s helpful to know.
I was just told I have a potato intolerance. I am very skeptical and after reading this blog even more unsure. I feel great. I eat a vegan diet have lots of energy and all around feel super healthy. I tested because I have been having some neck pain and the chiro person told
Me to go see this ND about food? I did and now this.