What Is Making Me Sick?

[suziq0805]

I've been feeling sick lately- some loose stools and feeling so queasy. But I absolutely cannot figure out what could possibly be making me feel this way. The only new things I've eaten lately are wal-mart's extra virgin olive oil, Americolor food coloring (I called the company and they told me it's gluten-free), a new Spring Valley vitamin (labeled gluten-free), King Arthur gluten-free chocolate cake mix. I'm stumped. Just curious as to whether any of these products are labeled gluten-free but actually contain trace amounts and anyone else has reacted to them.

[Adalaide]

I do use the Wal-Mart brand olive oil, although I simply buy the pure since I use it in a lot of cooking and don't want to burn it quite so easily. I haven't seemed to have any reaction from it at all. Is it possible that you are having a reaction to something that isn't gluten? It isn't at all unlikely for you to discover a new intolerance that could be causing you problems.

[mushroom]

It could possibly be something in your vitamin. I have just started taking a new vitamin complex, and have ended up with hives on my butt I took them for two days, stopped today and will see how it goes. I only ever add one thing at a time because I never know what is going to come in from left field and bite me. This has several ingredients I am not used to (active, not inert) but I have found several supposedly therapeutic things that I do not tolerate.

[AVR1962]

Your cake could have gums (like xanthan) in it that can make some feel sick to their stomach, I know I couldn't eat it for a long time. Olive oil is on the high salicylate list....while I don't think it would cause the reaction you are talking, salicylates can cause itchy issues. I eat use canola oil instead because my stomach doesn't handle olive oil well.

[dilettantesteph]

Gluten free doesn't mean 100% gluten free, it means very low gluten. Some of us react to very low gluten. To find out, do elimination/challenge diets and keep track in a food journal. What we react to varies a lot from person to person. Until you can identify someone who reacts like you do, you really need to figure it out for yourself. I think that I'd react to all those things.

[GFreeMO]

Gluten free doesn't mean 100% gluten free, it means very low gluten. Some of us react to very low gluten. To find out, do elimination/challenge diets and keep track in a food journal. What we react to varies a lot from person to person. Until you can identify someone who reacts like you do, you really need to figure it out for yourself. I think that I'd react to all those things.

Other than Olive oil, those things would make me sick too!

[ravenwoodglass]

You might want to drop all the suspect items and then when you are feeling better add them back in one at a time a week apart and see if you can pinpoint what is getting you that way.

[mommida]

Like the gums in some gluten free mixes, some react to substitute flours. Check the ingredients of the cake mix for sorghum and millet flours. (Those seem to be the two common offenders.)

Other than that start a food journal to narrow down any food sensitivity or source of cross-contamination.

[suziq0805]

Thanks for the replies! I'm feeling better over the last 24 hours- and I have eaten some of the cake in that time so I don't think it's that and I have continued with the vitamins so maybe it's not that either. It's my son's birthday party today so we'll see what happens when I eat the frosting. Keeping a food journal isn't a bad idea. Thanks for the ideas as to what can be some common culprits in those foods- gives me a place to start at least!

[GFreeMO]

Thanks for the replies! I'm feeling better over the last 24 hours- and I have eaten some of the cake in that time so I don't think it's that and I have continued with the vitamins so maybe it's not that either. It's my son's birthday party today so we'll see what happens when I eat the frosting. Keeping a food journal isn't a bad idea. Thanks for the ideas as to what can be some common culprits in those foods- gives me a place to start at least!

Glad that you are feeling better! Remember that it can take 3 days for a reaction to happen. If it happens again, I would remove those foods again. I know that it's nice to have cake and things but most of us feel better when we are only eating whole foods that we make ourselves.

[Takala]

Without casting stones, sometimes, it is good to stick with name brand olive oils, due to the ongoing problems with imported ones sometimes being cut with other kinds of oils.

Open Original Shared Link

Open Original Shared Link

Book review Feb 2012, of Tom Mueller's "Extra Virginity, the Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil"

Open Original Shared Link

In America, olive-oil adulteration, sometimes with cut-rate soybean and seed oils, is widespread, but olive oil is not tested for by the F.D.A.

[Pame]

I've been feeling sick lately- some loose stools and feeling so queasy. But I absolutely cannot figure out what could possibly be making me feel this way. The only new things I've eaten lately are wal-mart's extra virgin olive oil, Americolor food coloring (I called the company and they told me it's gluten-free), a new Spring Valley vitamin (labeled gluten-free), King Arthur gluten-free chocolate cake mix. I'm stumped. Just curious as to whether any of these products are labeled gluten-free but actually contain trace amounts and anyone else has reacted to them.

Not sure for you but I know what gets me in those type of items so I'll just tell you that.

Walmarts olive oil may not be 100% olive oil, which means it can have vegetable oil in it, wheat

Vitamins can have msg type products in them that make me have the reactions you described. I have started getting mine from Life Extensions

Gluten free cake mix probably has xanthian gum in it which can cause loose stools, is made from the bacteria that causes brocoli and caulif. to get that black slimy stuff on it.

Not sure about the food coloring but anyway check out those things. I am extremely sensitive to any msg type product so you may want to go to the truth in labeling website and read up about that and see if you are as well. Unfortunately xanthian gum is in so many things so it makes your choices a lot less open but if it makes you sick you don't want to be eating it. In dairy they use carageenan a lot and that makes me sick as well.

Good luck

[ravenwoodglass]

Walmarts olive oil may not be 100% olive oil, which means it can have vegetable oil in it, wheat

Wheat is not a veggie and would not be an issue in the olive oil.