Food Sensitivities

While on this diet I have found that I have several food sensitivities. Symptoms manifest in many different ways for me. Some of the more subtle manifestations are rashes or flu-like feelings (e.g. phlegm and nasal congestion or a runny nose. The more extreme symptoms are gas, bloating, or diarrhea. In most cases these symptoms come as physical response initiated by my immune system, while others come just because my body cannot digest the food.

Lactose

Long before starting this diet I learned that I was lactose intolerant. That intolerance was not from an immune response but simply because my body cannot handle milk sugars (a.k.a. lactose). For over a decade I took a lactase supplement so that I could eat ice cream. Eventually Pineapple and I discovered that greek yogurt reversed some of our intolerance; the bacteria in the yogurt found purchase in our guts allowing our digestion to heal enough that we can have some ice cream without the aid of lactase or soda.

Sorbitol

I've also known for a long time that my body has a strong response to apple juice. Any more than a half-cup will clear out my digestion within 30 minutes. The same is true for pears, apricots, and other related fruits.

A doctor told me my body couldn't break down the disaccharides (a.k.a. sugars) in apple juice; I didn't have the enzymes which would split the disaccharide into two individual sugars. However, I'm no longer certain he was correct. I eventually got curious enough to find out the kind of disaccharide contained in apple juice. All I could find is sucrose which is standard table sugar. I can consume table sugar without issues.

Consequently, I now think my problem with apple juice is sorbitol, a naturally-occurring sweetener. Part of why I suspect sorbitol is that I have discovered that I am sensitive to dates, coconut meat/chips (coconut oil is okay while too much coconut water is not), and several other foods which have high levels of sorbitol. I also seem to be okay eating a single apple or some apple sauce. I suspect that something about the apple juice cooking process concentrates the sorbitol content.

By the way, sorbitol is a polyol, which is the 'P' in FODMAP, a class of foods which I must consume in moderation to avoid extreme reactions. For instance, celery is a high-fodmap food and causes a strong digestive response in me.

More Symptoms

While reading "The Paleo Approach: Reverse Autoimmune Disease and Heal Your Body" I started paying more attention to my body's reactions to various foods. I started looking for both mild and strong reactions.

Almonds

Several years before reading that book I noticed that Smokehouse Almonds would give me flu symptoms which would last for a couple of days. At the time I thought that it was the flavoring causing the reaction (I love all sorts of smoked foods). But now I suspect the flavoring just induced me to consume large volumes of almonds and its the quantity my body was reacting to.

Because of my increased observance from reading "The Paleo Approach", I also discovered that almonds would cause mild skin rashes on irritated skin; I specifically noticed a rash appear underneath my watch (fitbit) within 30 minutes of eating fewer than a dozen almonds. The reason I am certain that it's the almonds and not my watch is that I wash my watch all the time. I would get rashes under it from time to time and so I started washing it at least daily to keep it clean from irritants. On that occasion I had absentmindedly checked my skin under my watch just before eating the almonds and there was no rash.

I have visited an allergist and I got blood tests run for a wide range of nuts. However, all the tests came back negative. He stated that there is a 15% chance of a false negative (and another 15% chance of a false positive) on these tests, so the only real test is how my body responds. In my case, it doesn't respond well.

Stevia and High Fructose Corn Syrup

Well before reading that book I noticed consuming soda induced flu symptoms. But I had thought those symptoms would come to anyone who consumed soda. Pineapple confirmed that she also gets such symptoms from soda.

From the book I learned that consuming high fructose corn syrup can result in flu symptoms, hence my sensitivity to sodas.

I also learned that consuming foods sweetened with stevia cause me to get flu symptoms while aspartame does not. Specifically, I tried consuming various types of Coke. Standard red-can Coke (high fructose corn syrup) and Coke Life (stevia) caused me to get a stuffy nose and clogged throat (phlegm). On the other hand, Diet Coke and Code Zero (both use aspartame) have no such effect. I don't like the sharp edge aspartame imparts so I stopped drinking soda altogether.

I also have tested my stevia theory with a few other foods or supplements (e.g. Emergen-C) and I get the same symptoms each time I try it.

Kiwi

Much to my disappointment I learned that my body does not like kiwis. Since I love to experiment with fruit combinations in smoothies and I knew strawberry-kiwi would be an excellent combination (I've always loved that flavor pairing) I bought a dozen kiwis. Regrettably, after a single kiwi my throat became itchy and my digestion was deeply disturbed and cleaned itself out within about 60 minutes.

I assumed that kiwis are just a high-fodmap food (they're actually low-fodmap). After a few months on my diet I tried eating them again. My digestion responded just as forcefully as before. Regrettably, I will probably never eat them again. 😞

Strawberries

Not all of my sensitivities are as obvious to detect as celery and kiwis have been. Strawberries seem to treat me okay if I only have them occasionally. My digestion might protest a little bit with a single helping, but if I have the exact same food the next day my digestive system will clean itself out. I know because of my strawberry limeade smoothie; I ate it two days in a row.

Delayed Sensitivities

I've had the same 2-day response with shrimp and with pineapple.

The strange thing is that with strawberries, shrimp, and pineapple, as long as I was having them very regularly (every day or every other day) I could consume them with only a slight uneasiness in my intestines (I experience the same "squishiness" I get from consuming high-fodmap foods). But since starting this diet, in all three of those cases, at some point I stopped eating them for a week and then started eating them again only to discover that I reacted on the second day.

To my understanding, before I stopped eating those foods, my body developed some antibodies to deal with the low levels of perceived threats. When I stopped consuming those foods those antibody levels dropped; some residual antibodies remain in case those threats come back (that's also how vaccines work). Those residuals may eventually disappear (some vaccines need boosters every few years), but they could also stick around indefinitely (other vaccines don't need boosters).

Well, those threats came back. On the first day I resumed eating those foods the trace antibodies were activated and then rapidly replicated so that all invaders could be caught. The second day my body had an abundance of antibodies to attach to the consumed allergens. The resulting inflammation quickly cleaned those foods out of my body. Thankfully these food sensitivities are not at the level of anaphylaxis.

So, I'm going to continue paying attention to the food I eat and how my body responds. I'll probably have more disappointments as I discover other beloved foods treat me poorly. But I trust that in the long-term I will be happier with less inflammation in my life, and that for most of these foods I can still have some once in a while.