Unless you’ve been living under a rock, I’m sure you’ve heard of Pinterest. In fact, if my blog analytics are correct, you probably got here from Pinterest. Pinterest is a great source of recipes. I love being able to see pictures of what the finished product will look like, even if my own finished product looks more like a Pinterest Fail.

Although the search function has improved greatly from the early days, Pinterest is still a tricky place to navigate when it comes to cooking for a family member with food allergies.

On Pinterest, your search results come from the description of the Pin entered by the original Pin-er. Unfortunately, the Pin-er might have described the Pin with a phrase like, “Yummy! Want to try!” instead of something like “gluten free banana bread”. So unless you searched for the word “yummy”, you wouldn’t get that recipe in your results.

In the allergy world, we think of our own dietary restrictions with very specific terms. I’m “dairy-free” or “gluten free”. The technical name for the way I eat is lacto-ovo-pescatarian.

But how many Pins will I find when I search “lacto-ovo-pescatarian”? Not many! Because most Pin-ers don’t evaluate the ingredients in a recipe and put the technical words in the description.

What DO Pin-ers use to describe the things they Pin? Buzz words. The name of trendy diets. Here’s a list of phrases you can search and the dietary restrictions those searches should give you:

If you are dairy free or lactose intolerant: vegan, Paleo, macrobiotic

If you are egg free: vegan, macrobiotic, raw

If you are gluten free: South Beach, Paleo, Dukan

If you are soy free: vegetarian, raw

If you are avoiding meat: asian, vegetarian, vegan, macrobiotic, raw

What other dietary restrictions do you have and how can I help you find recipes? Leave your comments and suggestions! (don’t forget the easy mobile comment feature)