My Food Chemical Sensitivities Pt1

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My Food Chemical Sensitivities Pt1

Written by Kristen Jugueta

Monday, 22 September 2008 00:00

This is the first part of my article about my food chemical sensitivities.

The following information from Wikipedia is about Multiple Chemical Sensitivity(MSC.) I don’t know if I have this or not, but I have always had sensitivities to a wide range of chemicals, and it was the best description as to what I am experiencing. A lot of people who suffer from Trimethylaminuria - Fish Odor Syndrome or other body odour conditions can also suffer from multiple chemical sensitivities possibly because of the fault in the FMO3 gene.

Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MSC) is described as a chronic condition characterized by adverse effects from exposure to low levels of chemicals or other substances in modern human environments. Suspected substances include smoke, pesticides, plastics, synthetic fabrics, scented products, petroleum products and paints. MSC sufferers report being exquisitely sensitive to a wide range of organic chemicals and from 100 to 1000 times more sensitive to hydrophobic organic solvents than normal people. Here is the link if you want more information: (Source) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiple_chemical_sensitivity

I am very sensitive to a lot of chemicals, even very small amounts. I also have a wide range of sensitivities to foods that I eat because of the chemicals in them. I have always been very sensitive to chemicals because of the possible fault in my FMO3 gene (liver.) I believe that after my exposure to the organophosphorus pesticides (neurotoxins) on the fruit and vegetables that I was consuming (it took a month before I worked out what was making me sick) my food/chemical sensitivities have become worse, I am becoming more and more sensitive to foods that I could tolerate before, and I am experiencing bad side effects. I am very limited to what I can eat now, because the food that I eat will either cause side effects, or it will trigger off my fish odor. It is sometimes difficult to try and work out which particular ingredient in the meal that I consumed, caused the side effects that I experienced.

Anyway, I am going to mention the foods that I have a sensitivities to so far, and the side effects that I experience:

? 22/07/2008 - This is the worst food sensitivity that I have. Pesticides from non-organic fruit (apples, bananas and mandarins, bought from the supermarket, even after washing them thoroughly) cause me to have weakness, pain, numbness and tingling in my arms and legs.I felt so cold, like a core cold, and I just couldn’t get warm.I had severe pain in my upper right leg, near the groin. I also had attacks where I had pain in the back of my head, and I felt like I was going to pass out, and my head would feel strange. When I had this, it triggered of waves of nausea, and I would feel like I was going vomit, like it was triggering the vomiting centre of my brain. I had to lie down to get some relief.

I had these symptoms for over a month until I discovered what the cause was (22/08/2008.) Each time I eat the fruit, the symptoms start to come back, and it can take up to three days for the symptoms to completely go away. My partner does not experience any problems when he eats the same fruit. I then bought some organic fruit and vegetables. Of course when I bought them, I completely went nuts because I hadn’t had any fruit or vegetable for a while.

After I ate the fruit and vegetables, I experienced the same side effects as when I consumed the fruit and vegetables from the supermarket, but they weren’t quite as severe. I assumed that organic fruit and vegetables were free of chemicals. When I did some research, I found out that organic fruit and vegetables still have chemicals on them, but not as much as fruit and vegetable that you would buy from the supermarket.

Here is an article you might be interested in An Apple A Day Can Make You Sick

I was really starting to miss my fruit and vegetables. I decided to see if I could eat canned fruit and vegetables without any side effects. I bought some fruit salad, and tinned beetroot. Unfortunately I experienced the same side effects, as when I ate the fruit and vegetables from the supermarket. I had some tofu, steamed vegetables, soy sauce and crushed ginger for dinner one night. Within one hour after eating this meal, I had a headache, and I felt like I was going to faint/pass out. I had to lie down. I woke up the next morning, the symptoms had eased, but they were still there. I worked out that it was the crushed ginger from the jar that had caused these symptoms. There were preservatives in it. The next night, I had the same meal without the crushed ginger, and I had no problems.

I ate some frozen steamed vegetables with some soy sausages and a vegetable pourover. It was about 11:00pm. Again, prior to this meal, I never had any problems with any of these ingredients. Anyway, I ate the meal, then went to sleep because I was tired. I woke up about 1:00am, I still felt incredibly tired, but my mind wouldn’t shut off, and I was wide awake. I lay in bed, and stayed there until about 6:00am. I got up, and started moving around. All of a sudden I had severe chest pain and tightness, and I felt incredibly shaky and fatigued. I had to go and lie down. It took about two days for these side effects to completely go away.

I ate some sushi with my partner. It was stupid in hindsight, but I had some with him anyway. The sushi that I ate had no meat in it, with the nori (seaweed) on the outside, and suchi rice in the inside. One had avocado and cucumber in it. The other one had carrot, cucumber, and egg in it, but I removed the egg. Again, after I had eaten it, I had the same side effects as I did with the fruit and vegetables. I know that the vegetables caused them. It tasted so good though.

* So far I have been able to eat potatoes, onions and mushrooms. I don’t feel good after eating them, but at least my side effects with these foods aren’t nearly as bad as they are with other fruit and vegetables. I can also eat vegetarian spring rolls and vegetarian fried rice from the local chinese shop and so far have not had any severe side effects for some strange reason. * What fruit or vegetables I can eat depends on whether any chemicals have been sprayed on the fruit or vegetables, the seeds or in the soil. There is no way of really knowing, and if you ask people that sell them, they will tell you that there are no chemicals on them, and then I find out that there are chemicals on them because of the side effects that I get. * I can eat eat any foods without any artificial colors,flavorings or preservatives in them. The only problem is that they are not always written on the label if there are any in the product. With any luck, I won’t experience any sensitivities to the only foods that I can eat.

? Continued in My Food Sensitivities (Part 2)

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