No thanks, I'm allergic to that stuff
I've been mulling over diet plans...
and the thing that gets me the most is that so much of what's recommended is stuff that my body just won't tolerate.
I have more food allergies than I like to admit to, and probably alot that I don't know about. I usually figure out I'm allergic to something because I break out in hives that not only itch, but burn like you would not believe. My hair falls out (that's the most distressing reaction--and sometimes the hardest to determine. Am I going thru normal shedding, or am I allergic to something?) Or I get wicked-mother gastro-intestinal upset. It can be anything from acid reflux, blowing up a pant size, to other more unpleasant lower g.i. tract reactions. I have to pay attention to what I've eaten as much as I have to pay attention to how much I've eaten.
Eating is getting to be a real pain. In more ways than one.
So, I know off the bat that grapefruit and soy are out. I know now, thanks to my hair falling out recently, that I'm allergic to strawberries (it stopped when I stopped the strawberries.) I'm also allergic to canola oil (every time I eat something fried in it, I get welts).
And then there's the artificial sweetners. There's not one artificial sweetner on the grocery store shelf that doesn't give me some sort of nasty gastro-intestinal problem, one way or another. Even stevia--a sweetner that's a lot more natural than the others--gives me a reaction I'd rather not discuss.
What to do...
When I went to BlogHer, one of the items in the schwag bag was a box of Sweet Simplicity a new artificial sweetner.
"Oh, thanks for reminding me I'm fat!" I thought. I was going to leave it in the hotel along with the Sesame Street magnetic perpetual calendar, but decided to take it with me.
So, this morning, I made my coffee, and realized that I forgot to buy sugar yesterday. I could've used maple syrup (don't laugh! real maple syrup, not the maple flavored high fructose corn syrup most people are used to, is great in coffee!) but sometimes it bothers my stomach. And I was in no mood this morning for a day-long stomach ache.
I remembered the brown box of sweetner and decided to use some of it....
I expected the same kind of icky bittery oversweetness of every other sweetner, but was surprised there was no bitter and only a little sweet. I added two more packets, and it didn't get to the level of super-ultra sweet, but it *did* bring out a nice flavor in the coffee...
Better yet, no gastro-intestial upset of any kind! and no sugar cravings! (yes, usually too much sugar gives me dry mouth and sugar cravings.) Also, I didn't feel like I was in a fog most of the day, and didn't want to take a nap sometime around 3.
It was also easier to tell when I was legitimately hungry--not trying to fight some kind of stomach cramp--and to tell when I was full. I usually have problem sensing when I'm full--sometimes it doesn't hit me until I've hit the point of no mas.
Now, it's a matter of the allergy test. No welts or hives so far. I'll watch things over the next couple of days to see what happens--if hair falls out or I end up itchy somewhere, or some other weird allergic response, I'll know that I can't really tolerate the stuff.
But it would be nice to get some distance between myself and refined sugar. Now, I'm not about to get on the bandwagon that sugar is evil and nobody should eat it. No--just because I have a problem with it, doesn't mean the rest of the world does, too. I have other things in my health history that might cause me alone to be sensitive. So, for me, it might not be a good thing. The rest of the world will have to determine their own sugar sensitivities for themselves...
Still, I'll be super-happy if I finally found a "sweetener" that tased okay and didn't mess up my digestive tract. After all, conquering sugar's always part of a dieter's dilemma.
and the thing that gets me the most is that so much of what's recommended is stuff that my body just won't tolerate.
I have more food allergies than I like to admit to, and probably alot that I don't know about. I usually figure out I'm allergic to something because I break out in hives that not only itch, but burn like you would not believe. My hair falls out (that's the most distressing reaction--and sometimes the hardest to determine. Am I going thru normal shedding, or am I allergic to something?) Or I get wicked-mother gastro-intestinal upset. It can be anything from acid reflux, blowing up a pant size, to other more unpleasant lower g.i. tract reactions. I have to pay attention to what I've eaten as much as I have to pay attention to how much I've eaten.
Eating is getting to be a real pain. In more ways than one.
So, I know off the bat that grapefruit and soy are out. I know now, thanks to my hair falling out recently, that I'm allergic to strawberries (it stopped when I stopped the strawberries.) I'm also allergic to canola oil (every time I eat something fried in it, I get welts).
And then there's the artificial sweetners. There's not one artificial sweetner on the grocery store shelf that doesn't give me some sort of nasty gastro-intestinal problem, one way or another. Even stevia--a sweetner that's a lot more natural than the others--gives me a reaction I'd rather not discuss.
What to do...
When I went to BlogHer, one of the items in the schwag bag was a box of Sweet Simplicity a new artificial sweetner.
"Oh, thanks for reminding me I'm fat!" I thought. I was going to leave it in the hotel along with the Sesame Street magnetic perpetual calendar, but decided to take it with me.
So, this morning, I made my coffee, and realized that I forgot to buy sugar yesterday. I could've used maple syrup (don't laugh! real maple syrup, not the maple flavored high fructose corn syrup most people are used to, is great in coffee!) but sometimes it bothers my stomach. And I was in no mood this morning for a day-long stomach ache.
I remembered the brown box of sweetner and decided to use some of it....
I expected the same kind of icky bittery oversweetness of every other sweetner, but was surprised there was no bitter and only a little sweet. I added two more packets, and it didn't get to the level of super-ultra sweet, but it *did* bring out a nice flavor in the coffee...
Better yet, no gastro-intestial upset of any kind! and no sugar cravings! (yes, usually too much sugar gives me dry mouth and sugar cravings.) Also, I didn't feel like I was in a fog most of the day, and didn't want to take a nap sometime around 3.
It was also easier to tell when I was legitimately hungry--not trying to fight some kind of stomach cramp--and to tell when I was full. I usually have problem sensing when I'm full--sometimes it doesn't hit me until I've hit the point of no mas.
Now, it's a matter of the allergy test. No welts or hives so far. I'll watch things over the next couple of days to see what happens--if hair falls out or I end up itchy somewhere, or some other weird allergic response, I'll know that I can't really tolerate the stuff.
But it would be nice to get some distance between myself and refined sugar. Now, I'm not about to get on the bandwagon that sugar is evil and nobody should eat it. No--just because I have a problem with it, doesn't mean the rest of the world does, too. I have other things in my health history that might cause me alone to be sensitive. So, for me, it might not be a good thing. The rest of the world will have to determine their own sugar sensitivities for themselves...
Still, I'll be super-happy if I finally found a "sweetener" that tased okay and didn't mess up my digestive tract. After all, conquering sugar's always part of a dieter's dilemma.
posted by Tish Grier at 12:25 AM
4 Comments:
I still haven't tried mine, and I had signed up for a free sample through their poll and then got the box at the conference too. Perhaps I will now give it a shot.
I was checking out the nutritional information here. They do call it an "all-natural" product because I guess fructose and a "sugar alcohol" are better than chemicals?
I too have many food sensitivities, and they have gotten worse as I age. I always had GI reactions to things, but now I've started getting the itchy hives and stuff like that too!
Come to think of it, it all started with an allergy to alcohol that showed up about 5 years ago. So I wonder if sugar alcohol will do me in too?
Well, it's Day Two over here, and so far my hair hasn't fallen out of my head and I haven't broken out in hives *or* zits...
I'm not a doc, but I'd hedge a guess that the sugar alcohol won't hit you quite the way that grain alcohol hits you. Other than that one is grain and one is fruit, the fermentation process, or how the fruit alcohol is extracted, could be very different from the way ethanol is created.
BTW, did you know that Splenda comes from sugar? Isn't chemistry amazing? First time I had it, I thought "how could they make sugar taste so bad?"
One thing I'm finding interesting with this sweetner is that I have virtually no sweet tooth--at least not like usual. Sure, I want a donut right now, but that's a frustration thing, not a craving thing. It's funny how I can actually tell the difference when, even a couple of days ago, I couldn't.
Geeze, if it's not figuring out that I want a donut out of frustration, it's figuring out that my hair's falling out from the strawberries I ate...can life get any more complicated?? ;-)
Multiple food allergies are a pain. I know I have them too. Lots of things set me off.
I had an ELISA food-allergy test done and it helped a lot. Gone is the indigestion, sugar cravings, skin problems, etc. As long as I avoid my allergen foods, I'm good and I'm losing weight.
Just thought I'd share.
thanks, Von...
I've wanted to do allergy testing for some time, but because I do not have employer-provided health insurance, allergy tests are a luxury I can't afford (there's a rant in there about healthcare, but that's another blog entry.)
I think they're great though, and are just as important as we mature as they are for young kids. It's odd how some of us get more sensitive as we get older (rather than less.)
I'm watching things very carefully right now, which is helping a great deal. Eventually, I'll be switching doctors, so, hopefully, that will help, too.
Post a Comment
<< Home