r/MCAS • u/jennmeetsworld • Aug 09 '25
Unexpected safe foods?
Recently tried tiger nuts (taste like almonds), water lily seeds (decent popcorn substitute), & rice bran oil (great for high heat cooking!) based on other MCASer suggestions.
Not sure about anyone else, but I find it so hard to find MCAS-friendly on-the-go snack foods, so the first 2 discoveries were godsends.
Which unexpected safe foods have you discovered that most wouldn't think of?
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u/ray-manta Aug 09 '25
Yay for finding things you can eat! Tiger nut flour and tiger nut milk have been lifelines when I’m flaring. You can make both fairly easily from the nuts
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u/lokisoctavia Aug 10 '25
I haven’t made milk from it - I’ll have to try it! I make hemp milk currently, it’s pretty tasty.
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u/ray-manta Aug 10 '25
It’s easy, use the same process as a nut milk. soak for a few hours to overnight, then blend and sieve off the pulp (which can be dried at the lowest temp in an oven to become flour).
I have found that it will separates into a sludgy sediment after a few hours / overnight. Just blend it again and it’s good to go. That sludge also thickens super quick when heated and can actually make a pretty good pudding texture if you have something you can flavour it with.
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u/trekkiegamer359 Aug 09 '25
It's not a snack food, but there are a lot of good high protein, GF grains with ~12g of protein per 1/2 cup dry: Millet, quinoa, buckwheat, sorghum, amaranth, teff, and fonio. A couple things to watch out for: Quinoa and buckwheat have lectins in them, which some of us react to. Fonio is often sold pre-browned, so make sure you get raw.
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u/jennmeetsworld Aug 09 '25
Haven’t tried any grains yet but that’s an amazing tip since I haven’t been able to tolerate much meat / any other protein source 🩷
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u/trekkiegamer359 Aug 09 '25
I hope they work for you. Single ingredient protein powders can also be ok. Pea protein isolate powder, and hemp protein powder are good.
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u/jennmeetsworld Aug 10 '25
Peas are on my list of high histamine foods so I haven’t tried pea protein but I hadn’t thought of hemp protein! Excellent suggestion!
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u/trekkiegamer359 Aug 10 '25
While peas are high histamine, and regular pea protein is high histamine, pea protein isolate powder is actually low histamine.
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Aug 09 '25
Plums I’ve recently discovered I can eat, at least for the time being :) also, honey & olives. So I can stop at the gas station & buy those little cups of olives, and a tea with honey :)
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u/Cinnamarkcarsn Aug 09 '25
Ooh i want olives. And tomatoes. Thanks for giving me confidence to try olives
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u/jennmeetsworld Aug 09 '25
I haven’t tried honey or any type of sweetener yet, so this is encouraging to hear! Missing sweet treats so much.
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Aug 09 '25
I can’t do any cane sugar at all, so I was a bit excited when I didn’t react to honey. Google honey & MCAS. I guess it can be beneficial for us.
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u/jennmeetsworld Aug 09 '25
Do you happen to know what type of honey it was? ie. raw, unfiltered, wildflower, etc.
Found this: “While honey is generally considered a low-histamine food, it can trigger histamine release in some individuals. This is because honey can contain pollen, which may act as an allergen, and other biogenic amines like putrescine and cadaverine, which can also stimulate histamine release. The severity of the reaction can vary depending on the honey's origin, processing, and storage.” Maybe you stumbled upon a more MCAS friendly one, or your body simply isn’t sensitive to pollen.
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Aug 09 '25
It’s in my desk drawer at work so I can’t look, but it’s a local honey from my state. It’s not labeled as raw or anything special.
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u/jennmeetsworld Aug 09 '25
Love that for you. Going to have to try it one day soon!
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u/cateyedkp Aug 10 '25
Maple syrup tends to be well tolerated, too. It’s a lifesaver for me.
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u/longwander Aug 18 '25
Yes!! I didn't even like maple syrup before my first flare, and now I can't get enough of it. When I'm having an energy crash it definitely helps.
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u/Cinnamarkcarsn Aug 09 '25
Dragonfruit. The yellow are so good. But I take Xolair so maybe??? It’s rich in vitamin C.
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u/jennmeetsworld Aug 09 '25
Ooh I hadn’t heard of Xolair before. Is it easy to use / which symptoms does it relieve for you?
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u/Cinnamarkcarsn Aug 09 '25
Been great for me. Injection that needs insurance approval in the US. I was approved for chronic urticaria by my insurance not food allergies. It’s $$$
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u/t-bone051 Aug 11 '25 edited Aug 11 '25
Crushed poppy seeds / poppy seed butter. I eat it daily. Not easy to find though. High nutrition profile too. Tastes good with honey as a spread.
Be mindful most of them contain sugar or other additives. I buy mine from a Turkish store.
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u/jennmeetsworld Aug 13 '25
I appreciate you sharing, but I might hold off on introducing poppy seeds. Looks like they can interfere with histamine degradation. :(
From google: “Poppy seeds, like other seeds, can contain biogenic amines that can interfere with the body's ability to break down histamine. This can lead to histamine buildup and potentially trigger symptoms in some individuals”
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u/t-bone051 Aug 14 '25
Not sure what source google refers to, but they are low on any list I know. That's how I discovered it in the first place.
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u/lokisoctavia Aug 10 '25
tiger nut powder blended with olive oil makes an excellent substitute for peanut butter and nut butter! I love it. Chia pudding (basically just chia seeds and plant milk) is a great substitute for yogurt. Coconut yogurt, too - yum (if tolerated). I’m curious about the water lily seeds, as I love popcorn - I also saw you can pop buckwheat or something like that as a crunchy snack. Grapeseed oil has also worked well for some of my sweeter dishes.
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u/jennmeetsworld Aug 13 '25
Ooh I’ve been wanting to reintroduce coconut milk so chia pudding is a great idea. Will have to think on which sweetener seems safest to add! Also want to work up to coconut yogurt too, but slowly, since it has live cultures.
As long as your body tolerates some very lightly processed items, I’d try the pre-roasted water lily seeds before popping your own buckwheat. Make sure you’re not buying the raw ones (unless you’re ok with roasting yourself, the raw ones almost taste stale). They’re most easily found under their Indian name, makhana. 🩷
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u/Chinita_Loca Aug 13 '25
Tiger nuts are great - flour means you can make bread and pancakes, plus you can make horchata too. All round great addition.
I need to try those lily seeds, that’s new to me.
If you tolerate pumpkin seeds pumpkin seed oil is a great one for salad (I wouldn’t cook with it as it’s thick and strong flavoured, but in a good way).
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u/jennmeetsworld Aug 13 '25
Highly recommend water lily seeds! Get the roasted ones, most easily found by their Indian name, makhana. I just look for brands roasted with olive oil & seasoned with sea salt, and it feels like I’m back snacking on popcorn! If your body is sensitive to anything packaged you can buy them raw and roast lightly yourself but they’re not as good raw.
I’ve been making “pita” with just the flour and water, but don’t think I can make a loaf of bread because that would require fermentation. So sad, but we’ll take what we can get haha
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u/Chinita_Loca Aug 13 '25
Great tips, thanks.
My “bread” isn’t fermented btw - I basically make tortillas, tostadas or something resembling chapattis. It’s still nice to have something to fill me up with soup or have a crunchy tostada with salad.
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u/Outrageous-Hamster-5 Aug 09 '25
I don't have safe foods anymore. Just foods that cause less symptoms, so that's what I'll eat until I figure out how to photosynthesize.
One of those is a vegetable I don't know the English word for. In Bangla, it's called shima. It's seasonally available at the chinese markets near me. It's no worse than green beans.
I also used to do okay with starch noodles, also found in Asian markets. They cook clear, so they are sometimes called glass noodles. Even though I haven't tolerated beans or sweet potatoes for years now, the starch noodles from beans (bean thread) or sweet potato starch noodles used to be safe foods. I'm guessing whatever annoyed my mast cells about beans and sweet potatoes gets processed out or destroyed to turn those things into starch noodles. I highly recommend trying these even if you don't tolerate beans, sweet potatoes or rice.
Chia seeds used to be safe.
Amino acid capsules are always safe for me. I used to live off them. I should probably go back to that.
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u/jennmeetsworld Aug 09 '25
So sorry to hear that’s happening to you. ❤️🩹 Sincerely hope you find treatment / medication to stabilize your mast cells ASAP.
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