Ughh food sensitivities!

tinypastels

Sooo not only am I gluten intolerant, I am intolerant to corn, which is in like, everything! I have to shop at Whole Foods, Trader Joes, and my local co-op if I want to avoid those corn chemicals. I don't react to them like I used to, but its really uspetting when I do. It's just a reminder how disgusting our country's food is, and I'm not able to shut my mind off to it with these reactions.

Anyway, I've been ignoring the gluten and corn thing for the past 6 months or so, and its really showing in my health more than individual reactions. I'm really going to stick with eating LESS if that's what it takes to fit in my budget. No more corner markets, or frozen dinners. Definitely no more candy. I forgot to add, I am a sweetaholic and would gladly give up food for candy. Yeah its that bad.

I'm also vegetarian. And sensitive to tomatoes and cheese.

Anyone relate? Experiences? Maybe we can add each other for help?

chercee

I'm kind of in a similar boat, with some differences.

I'm gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free, red meat-free, caffeine-free. It is HARD to find food to eat, I know!

The way I've dealt with it, both for my health and wallet, is to cook from scratch. There are very few packaged food items I'll buy. I make most meals myself, from step 1, which enables me to control exactly what I eat. It takes creativity, and it also takes the willpower to stick with it. It's worth it to feel better.

CaveDeb

Hi, I thought I would search the forums for others with food sensitivities. Mine are so numerous that I do better working from a list of known safe ingredients than a list of things to avoid. I'm okay with gluten, but a lot of conventional grains cause me problems. I can't tolerate soy, artificial colors, any artificial sweeteners, msg, annatto, some potatoes and corn, and with things like cheeses, I have to get the whole block kind rather than the pre-shredded or pre-crumbled kind, and I'm not sure whether it's the anti-caking agents or the mold preventive stuff that's problematic.

Like tinypastels, I shop Trader Joe's quite a bit as I have found their ingredients lists, for the most part, to be more trustworthy than many stores, and I love farmers markets where I can ask questions and avoid things like the preservative coatings that make so many fruits and vegetables toxic to me. And chercee, I'm right with you on cooking from scratch, always from very simple ingredients.

What kinds of reactions you have to the foods that trigger problems for you? For me it's a general inflammatory response - bloating, indigestion, chest pain, swollen joints, sometimes skin rashes. In addition to foods, I react to a lot of fragrance and cosmetic products.

Have you found any improvement with weight loss? Since losing the first 30 lbs, my reactions sometimes seem not to last as long. I still have a long way to go, but I'm hoping that my reactions have something to do with too much of a toxic load built up in fat, and maybe if I replace enough fat with muscle, I'll see a big improvement. Even if it doesn't, I'm sure weight loss will still be good for my overall health.