corn intolerance/allergy - anyone else?

[antherder]

What I can't figure out is why this reaction should be so specific to HFCS as opposed to any other sweetener (which is why I've wondered if the "corn" aspect has anything to do with it).

Hi Forbin,

Do you know about sulfites? They may explain your reaction to HFCS.

Have you seen this info?

http://www.learningtarget.com/nosulfites/corn.htm

 

[Athene]

Antherder,
"Unfortunately, the very first step in corn refining is a 2-day soak in hot water laced with sulfur dioxide."
Sulfur dioxide, that's interesting. Has a nasty effect on me.

I know I am wandering further off the topic here, but has anyone had a similar reaction to Forbin's from Maltodextrin? Apart from the shakes, I get such excruciating abdominal pains from it that I literally cannot stand up straight.
I found a chat room of other people who get the same from it, but we could not figure out the reason, or find any common medical problem among us (other than gluten intolerance). Gluten intolerance should be irrelevant anyway, as maltodextrin is usually made from corn, rice or other non-gluten grains.

 

[antherder]

Hi Athene,

If the maltodextrin is derived from corn syrup then it could be a sulfite reaction. Sulfites cause such a wide range of symptoms. I was horrified when I discovered about the corn being bathed in sulfur dioxide, as I thought I had a sulfite-free diet. Being gluten intolerant, I was relying on cornstarch for baking... no more pancakes for me... at least, not edible ones...

Do you tolerate other forms of corn okay? Since I abandoned my regular pancake consumption, I don't cope with even small amounts of corn starch very well (it's organic too). And cornmeal gives me a belly ache from hell. But then so does millet. And quinoa. Tricky...

 

[Carrigon]

I have a problem with corn, wheat/gluten, eggs. Basically most things that are in everything, I can't have. And it's a huge problem every day to find something that won't make me sick, irritate my stomach or my bladder.

 

[antherder]

Carrigon,

Have you tried aloe vera juice (made from inner gel only)? Some people don't tolerate it, or are allergic to it, but it keeps me alive. I couldn't eat anything without it as it stops my severe nausea, and severe stomach pain. I still get mild/moderate nausea--I've been taking aloe for nearly eight years and it doesn't work as well as it used to--but I'd have no quality of life without it. Kind of a sticking plaster thing, which isn't the best obviously, but it might ease your symptoms. Probably not with the gluten, but with other foods.

 

[Athene]

Hi Antherder,
I seem OK with moderate amounts of corn, it is one of the less problematic grains for me.
Can you eat chick peas? Chick pea flour makes reasonable pancakes (they call it gram flour in indian shops). I'll post up instreauction for you if you're interested...

 

[Forbin]

Hi Forbin,

Do you know about sulfites? They may explain your reaction to HFCS.

Have you seen this info?

http://www.learningtarget.com/nosulfites/corn.htm

Thanks for the info, antherder!

Unless I am reading it wrong, the link seems to say that there is actually much less sulfur in HFCS than in other corn derived products:

"High fructose corn syrup and fructose are so highly refined that much of the sulfur dioxide is left behind and the effective concentrations are usually low enough to be ignored. As a matter of fact, they are almost as low in sulfur as cane and beet sugar."

That would seem to run counter to my own experience where I can tolerate foods containing "corn syrup" and "corn sweetener" etc., but still get a bad reaction to HFCS.

 

[antherder]

Hi Forbin,

Sorry that info wasn't any help. I must've missed that bit. I'd like to blame the brain fog (again) if I may.

I know how frustrating it is to react to something and not know why. Before I went gluten-free I had a very scary reaction to one particular brand of wheat biscuits. My lips started swelling and my throat felt all sore and constricted. I had never reacted this way to other brands, or to bread,which I ate daily. I rang the company to try and find out what was in their product that was different, but the ingredients were the same. I think the wheat was sourced from another country. I guess it must just be something that crop was sprayed with. (If anyone has any other suggestions, please feel free to chime in.)

 

[antherder]

Athene,

I'm not sure about the chickpeas. I do eat them, but my last few encounters haven't gone so well. I did actually pick up a packet of chickpea flour the other day, but a bout of ditheryness overcame me and I put it back down again. Will try to reintroduce them when my tum is feeling a bit more robust. But thanks for the suggestion.

I do confess I love their name though-their other one..garbanzo beans...how cool is that...lentils don't sound anywhere near as exciting...

 

[Forbin]

Hi Forbin,
...I had never reacted this way to other brands, or to bread,which I ate daily. I rang the company to try and find out what was in their product that was different, but the ingredients were the same.)

On a couple of occasions, I have noticed what I have felt to be a reaction to HFCS in a product that did not list it as an ingredient. In both those cases, the product began listing HFCS as an ingredient shortly thereafter (within months). My guess is that, in some cases, products may be allowed to change their ingredients while still using remaining stocks of old packaging, particularly if the change is not considered significant. You obviously could not do this when adding an ingredient that people might have a serious allergy to, like peanuts, but I imagine that changing from corn syrup to HFCS is considered "innocuous" by those who regulate packing.

 

[Athene]

On a couple of occasions, I have noticed what I have felt to be a reaction to HFCS in a product that did not list it as an ingredient. In both those cases, the product began listing HFCS as an ingredient shortly thereafter (within months). My guess is that, in some cases, products may be allowed to change their ingredients while still using remaining stocks of old packaging, particularly if the change is not considered significant. You obviously could not do this when adding an ingredient that people might have a serious allergy to, like peanuts, but I imagine that changing from corn syrup to HFCS is considered "innocuous" by those who regulate packing.

Forbin, this is really interesting and I bet you are right. My sister has had this theory for a long time. She gets dramatic and very rapid reactions (like her whole body going bright red etc) so it is impossible to mistake when she reacts. Its amazing how many times she has eaten products with so-called preservative free apricots and then had her dreadful reaction to sulphur dioxide, the preservative nearly always used on apricots.

She also found out that many, many foods can have additives that are not listed in the ingredients. This is usually if the processing, using preservatives etc, has taken place on one of the ingredients rather than being added directly to the ultimate product. She also says many manufacturers simply chuck ingredients into products where there are blatant holes in regulations. Chicken can legally have up to 20 percent pork injected into it to plump it up and there is no law saying it must be on the label. The factories are certainly not checked frequently and inspectors certainly do not examine what goes into every different product so nearly all violations never come to light.

I used to tour and examine factories in my previous life as a corporate investor, and it is completely standard to make, for example, chocolate biscuits all morning to fill an order and then switch to peanut biscuits in the afternoon to fulfil a different order: if the factory is working at full capacity they skip the washing process to save time, so contamination takes place. Obviously this contamination will include additives as well as ingredients. This is the reason why nearly every chocolate or biscuit product says "MAY contain nuts" - they are covering themselves for legal action as peanut allergy is known to be fatal. When it is a matter of other allergies that are rarer or less dangerous they just keep quiet.

 

[Athene]

Re: High fructose corn syrup - it is produced using aspergillus niger, toxic mnould that lots of us PWCs are badly allergic to/poisoned by.

Many useful enzymes are produced using industrial fermentation of A. niger. For example, A. niger glucoamylase is used in the production of high fructose corn syrup, and pectinases are used in cider and wine clarification

This is from the Wikipedia article
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspergillus_niger