Summary
The author of the web content emphasizes the importance of self-awareness and proactive investigation into one's own health, particularly concerning diet and food sensitivities, to identify and mitigate health issues without solely relying on medical professionals.
Abstract
The article "Becoming A Food Detective" recounts the author's personal experiences with severe headaches and digestive issues that were ultimately linked to specific dietary factors, such as artificial sweeteners in sugarless mints and the additive carrageenan in soy milk. Despite not being a medical professional, the author took charge of their health by paying close attention to their body's reactions to various foods and making dietary changes accordingly. The article underscores the lack of comprehensive nutritional education among many healthcare providers and encourages readers to be vigilant about their dietary intake, as food allergies and sensitivities can develop over time and may not be immediately recognized by doctors. The author advocates for being one's own health advocate, suggesting that individuals can often identify and resolve health issues by closely monitoring their diet and its effects on their well-being.
Opinions
I’m not a medical professional. That doesn’t matter. I still know my body better than any medical professional I have ever visited.
The good ones quickly realize I pay attention to my body and work with me as part of the team. Those who treat me like an uninformed bystander will seldom see me more than once.
We typically know when something is wrong with our bodies. Even when it bamboozles the experts, and they give us reasons that don’t seem to ring true. Sometimes we have to figure out what may be going on ourselves and not wait for the medical professional to do it for us.
When I was in my 20s, I started getting severe headaches. I was concerned. I had never had headaches that severe before.
My mom’s best friend had died because of headaches when I was a child. She had a brain tumor and died in the hospital before diagnosis. She was a nurse, as was my mom.
There was some fear stemming from the lack of diagnosis for my mom’s friend when I also had unexplained severe headaches. I knew I was going to be aggressive to find out what was going on.
I went to my allergist first. I often had issues with allergy-related headaches. My allergist told me that allergies do not cause headaches.
I looked at him and said, “I’m allergic to grass. I mow my grass and get a headache. I’m very allergic to ragweed. I go to the indoor farmer’s market where they sell ragweed as flowers and get a horrible headache and have to take Benadryl and sleep for hours after that. But you say there is no connection?”
He fumbled and jumbled and tried to over-explain a simple concept. Oh, the headache was a secondary symptom indirectly caused by allergies. Blah, blah, blah. I never had full confidence in him again.
But he did take the headaches seriously and referred me to a neurologist.
As with many referrals, it was going to take me a week or so to see the neurologist. The headaches were unbearable. I am typically calm but found myself very emotional. Something had to give.
I started trying to figure out anything in my life that had changed. I had no exposure to any of my known allergens. There were no new laundry detergents or shampoos or perfumes. I started looking at foods. I knew of no food I was allergic to but also knew they only tested for a few.
All of a sudden, I realized I had started eating sugarless mints, at the rate of about half a pack a day. Could that have anything to do with them? I stopped eating the mints immediately. The headaches went away fairly quickly, and I never had another that severe. I never had to have an appointment with the neurologist. I was reacting to the artificial sweetener in the mints.
This experience made me very attentive to the food/body connection. My mother, in her 60s at the time, ended up in the ER after eating shrimp. She had eaten shrimp at least weekly for years. She also developed a horrible allergy to strawberries, another favorite food she had frequently eaten.
A few years ago, I started having digestive problems as I had never had them before. The best way I can describe it was that it felt as though my entire digestive tract was on fire. Flaming. It was horrible.
While waiting for an appointment with my nurse practitioner, I started Googling. I was going through all the foods I was eating, but nothing seemed to either fit a pattern or cause my issues.
It was then I remembered I had switched to soy milk. It was supposed to be healthier than cow’s milk, some said, and starting to go through peri-menopause, I thought more soy would be a good thing. (This is before our learning more about soy.)
I Googled “soy milk” and “digestive issues,” and I got it! It was quite probably a substance called carrageenan.
Carrageenan is a type of red algae, and they use it as an emulsifier in many products. The easiest way to explain an emulsifier is to think about making chocolate milk with syrup and milk at home. If you don’t stir it, the chocolate sinks to the bottom. Now think about the chocolate milk you see in the grocery store. It remains all mixed up. The difference is usually an emulsifier, and most often, that emulsifier is carrageenan.
I started paying attention to its presence on labels, didn’t buy those foods, and my problem went away. It would still crop up on occasion. A yogurt label did not mention it, but I had an attack as though it was in there. With a bit of research, I learned that the yogurt brand did include it. Possibly there were only trace amounts and didn’t legally need to be on the label, but it was enough of it that it made a difference to me.
It’s not a secret that many medical providers today do not get adequate training in nutrition. They get even less training on detecting food allergies and sensitivities.
Even if they get this training, they aren’t able to know all the foods you eat. You’ve got to be your expert. You have to pay attention to everything you are consuming and notice the impact on your body.
You can find an additive like carrageenan everywhere. At least half of the ice cream brands contain it, as well as many of the alternative dairy products. You see it in deli meats and cereals. I have even found it in “natural” toothpaste.
Not only has carrageenan been proven to be the reason for bloating and severe digestive problems in many individuals, but it’s also linked to colon cancer. With the severity of my own symptoms, I believe strongly that if I had not discovered the reason for that severe inflammation of my digestive tract, a more severe condition would have developed. That sort of intense inflammation has to become even more damaging to your body if its progression is not stopped.
Look at any food label, and you’ll often notice all kinds of additives and flavorings that have names you can’t pronounce. Others you know and can pronounce, but it doesn’t sound like it would be a problem. High fructose corn syrup in ketchup? Ick. Buy another brand, even if it costs more.
Pay attention to what food you are consuming. It can include ingredients to which you can develop intolerances or allergies. Also, remember that you can consume something for much of your life and have allergies and sensitivities develop seemingly overnight.
I suspect that I didn’t develop my issue with carrageenan overnight. I know I can eat something with it on occasion and not suffer any ill effects. But other days, it will put me out of commission for a couple of days.
I now carry Benadryl for when I have this sort of issues. At home I keep the liquid type, as my doctor told me to use it first whoever I can and swish it around my mouth before swallowing. But the pills work, too. My issue with carrageenan is controlled simply by avoiding it. My mother’s shrimp and strawberry allergies could kill her, however.
When I’m feeling sick these days I often think about that old phrase “you are what you eat.” Sometimes it looks innocent on the surface but can be a demon in disguise. I pay attention.
Red algae sounds as though it should be healthy, doesn’t it? It’s not healthy for me. It’s not for many people. But how many are being diagnosed for severe digestive issues when they could find relief by taking one additive out of their diet? The answer to that question frightens me.
Too little, too late
The embarrassing behaviors I made fun of, I now do
The inescapable circle of self-improvement