14 replies to this topic

[Finally@45]

I searched 'corn sensitivity' on this site and I see it comes up ALL the time and people have to be reminded that corn sensitivity is definitely not the same as Celiac disease. I had to get into a few debates myself in order to let go that there must be some connection.

I made Bob Mill's gluten free cookies the other day and I was unable to move from the gut pain that almost immediately started. At first I thought, "Couldn't be..." Then I had some more many hours later, and I had the same reaction. Hours after all of that, I had a bad bout of the big D. Yet, I couldn't narrow anything down in my diet that contained gluten or was otherwise unsafe.

My throat swells up whenever I have carmel color. I get terrible urinary/bladder tract infections if drink anything with corn syrup. (Easy one to let go actually.) I throw up popcorn if I have it on an empty stomach, so I normally avoid it.

After those darned cookies, I'm thinking "Ok, go ahead and go corn free--they weren't THAT good!"

So now I'm on a mission to go corn and gluten-free.

My question: I keep hearing about the Caveman diet and that it significantly reduces all grains. Has anyone tried this and found success without other side effects? I can't help but wonder if I'd eventually become deficient in something and then cause some other problem. I think [not know] I'm digesting rice just fine, but I can't see having rice every single day. Quinoa is ok, occasionally.

[bartfull]

Corn gives me the exact same symptoms as gluten. I have read that "corn gluten" CAN cause the same intestinal damage, but whether it can or not, I will never touch corn again.

BUT - if your throat swells up when you have caramel color, that is not an intolerance symptom, but a true allergy symptom. You MUST avoid corn, please, because the next time you have it you may get a true allergic reaction and DIE. Don't mess with it. Learn as much as you can about hidden sources of corn. PM me if you want more info.

I haven't gone paleo. I still eat rice. But there are several folks here who can tell you about the paleo diet, and from what I've read, they have no side effects, and are getting all the nutrition they need.

[GFreeMO]

Corn gives me the same symptoms as gluten does too. I also get bladder issues and yeast issues (female) from corn.

I recently gave up rice and I feel so much better.

It's difficult at first but maybe trying grain free may help you too.

I hope you feel better soon!

[srall]

My reaction to corn is the same as gluten. In fact the only grain that I can tolerate is just plain white rice. I feel best on the caveman diet, but I don't do it all the time. I should. But it's so hard for me...so I go in spurts. However, the only cheats from the paleo diet that I do are rice and white potatoes.
My daughter has an intolerance to corn and a pretty severe allergy. We avoid it completely at my house. It is tough to lose another food, but it sounds as if you are not handling corn well?

It's so hard to keep giving things up, as most of us on this forum know so well. But I now understand that our bodies talk to us, and it's important that we listen. Good luck!

[Skylark]

You don't need grains to be healthy! I'd recommend reading Loren Cordain's Paleo Diet book. I eat like srall, occasional white rice, potatoes, or sweet potatoes. I feel much better eating very few grains and low-starch.

[alwaysafter8]

Does anyone know, if we have intolerances to certain foods (like corn), would it show up on an allergy test or is it a different type of test we need to get for sensitivities? I had a corn allergy test, that showed up negative (no 'allergy'). But now that I'm reading about cross-reactive foods & intolerances in general I'm not sure.

My doctor didn't have any advice for me (she didn't even know how to order an allergy test!) & just told me to visit here, so here I am.

[GFinDC]

Does anyone know, if we have intolerances to certain foods (like corn), would it show up on an allergy test or is it a different type of test we need to get for sensitivities? I had a corn allergy test, that showed up negative (no 'allergy'). But now that I'm reading about cross-reactive foods & intolerances in general I'm not sure.

My doctor didn't have any advice for me (she didn't even know how to order an allergy test!) & just told me to visit here, so here I am.

Sounds like a smart doc to refer you here! There are not many food intolerance tests available. Food allergies are different and the do have tests for them. Skin prick testing is probably the most reliable for food allergies. Food intolerances they can test for are lactose intolerance and fructose intolerance. Maybe there are more but I haven't heard of them, so a pretty limited choice. The better test is an elimination diet, and it costs nothing but your time and patience.

[Finally@45]

This is definitely depressing and I seemed to have been getting so well, then out of the blue these other symptoms come up.

The doctor had a corn allergy test done (blood test, not the skin prick), with little expectation that it will prove anything. She agrees with a lot of the literature that corn allergy and intolerance tests are not developed to detect corn gluten senstivity and gave me the firm sermon that I'd have to let go of corn too since my symptoms are so severe, particularly since I'm having signs of anaphylaxis with carmel color. She agreed that the reason my symptoms seemed to quadruple all of a sudden is likely because my intake of other grains allowed on the gluten-free diet increased significantly.

I can't remember where I read this, but I do recall that when I was first diagnosed and tried to read every book I could find, that one of the books warned newly diagnosed Celiacs not to go crazy eating the gluten-free products such as the cereals, cookies, breads, etc. because you'd want to deal with one problem first before stirring up another....some Celiacs don't know they are intolerant to multiple grains right away... so take it easy. Well I wish I had listened to that advice now!

As suggested, I'm checking into the Paleo diet and watching the Dr. Osborne videos on YouTube. This is a HARD diet to follow! gluten-free is a piece of cake, no pun intended, compared to grain free. Corn is in so many products and additives, it's crazy. I might as well get a job at Whole Foods, cause that's where I spend my spare time lately.

Certainly a lifestyle change. Eating out isn't bad, at least you can scope the menu in advance and choose other places. But being at a family/friend event and having people look at you weird because you refuse to eat practically everything but fresh, unadulterated fruits,nuts, veges, and meats,is another story. May be easier to claim I'm a healthfood freak. I think some people assume a person who lists multiple food problems is being crazy; too bad.

[Finally@45]

BUT - if your throat swells up when you have caramel color, that is not an intolerance symptom, but a true allergy symptom. You MUST avoid corn, please, because the next time you have it you may get a true allergic reaction and DIE. Don't mess with it.

The doctor agrees with you that corn will kill me if I keep trying to eat it. Thanks, you encouraged me to get in with the doctor immediately the day you posted.

Sometimes the things that are most obvious to us in life are the very things we choose not to see!

[deb445]

May be easier to claim I'm a healthfood freak. I think some people assume a person who lists multiple food problems is being crazy; too bad.

This made me laugh! So true for me too!
A colleague saw me eating a bag of chips the other day, and was shocked! She said, "I'm surprised you eat those!"

[etm567]

I'm not sure exactly what to say I have. I found out I was celiac, gave up wheat, was better for a few years. I have always loved popcorn, and have always eaten lots of it.

I got better from going wheat free. After a couple of years, maybe three or four, I dared fate and ate some bread. (I just couldn't resist it.) I didn't have an immediate reaction, so I kept eating it. I gradually built up a reaction again. This began first with lots of gas, and then later on the cramping and diarrhea. And of course I had to go off of wheat again.

Then, maybe a year later, I had a sudden full-blown gluten reaction. That for me means terrible cramping, some incredibly painful pooping with yellow poop, that eventually turns into total diarrhea and what seems like a complete emptying of my guts. It takes a while, like an hour or two, but it is then over. Usually. That would be if I have just eaten something at one meal or something like that.

I went to a new GI, as I didn't really have one. I told him I was completely perplexed, as I had given up wheat, gotten much better, then eaten wheat, gotten sick, then given it up again, and gotten better. And then, suddenly, in the last week I had had what I considered to be a full-blown gluten reaction, while I had not touched anything with wheat gluten in it. I did mention that I had been eating lots of popcorn, which was one of my all-time favorite snack foods, and that I had always snacked on it, with lots of butter. Yumm!

Without missing a beat, basically, he said my problem was probably corn, that there was a protein in corn that physically resembled the protein in gluten, and that thus there could be a "cross sensitivity" in some people.

Elsewhere on this site I have read that there is no such thing as a corn "cross sensitivity." But I cannot eat any corn products, whatsoever. And when I do, the reaction I get is not just a food allergy type reaction, where I might get hives. No, it is a gluten-type reaction, where my guts go crazy and I have tons of gas and agonizing poops that turn to total diarrhea.

I don't always get the hives, but sometimes I do. This could be from eating a food product that has maltodextrin in it, or any other such corn-derived substance.

From what the doc said, I have the impression that a) this is indeed a cross-sensitivity; and it is not at all uncommon.

Is it not a cross-sensitivity? If not, what would be the difference? Why do I have a gluten-like reaction to it? And while I say it is the same, it is not quite as bad. I think it might be, say, 80 percent of the horror of a reaction to wheat gluten. Which, by the way, I do not have when I stumble, as I am very good at avoiding wheat, but not nearly so good at avoiding corn. So a little bit of a corn-derived product will make me sick, whereas a similar wheat product will not immediately make me that sick, as I do not have those antibodies running around anymore. It took me a while to figure this out. but I finally did, when I ate some real wheat quite by mistake, with no reaction. I now know from experience that I would eventually react, but it does take a while if one has not had any wheat gluten in a few years. But since corn products are EVERYWHERE! it is much harder to avoid, and thus I have immediate reactions to it all the time. I just cannot seem to get it out of my diet altogether. I mean, it is in everything.

etm

[dreacakes]

I'm sensitive to all grains. When I eat corn I have the same reaction to eating wheat gluten.
There are medical practitioners and researchers out there who actually say that people with gluten intolerance need to avoid ALL grain. They claim it's essential for healing.
I know that for me, I had to cut out all grain before I began to get my health back. I'm on a paleo-esque diet. ("esque" because I do eat some goat dairy and a bit of sugar containing foods sometimes) I was put on the diet by my doctor, who'd had incredible success with putting his other patients on the diet as well.
It's very nutritious, makes you feel amazing, and has the science to back up it's healthfulness.

This book is a great starter book for the diet if you want to look into it more: http://www.amazon.co...diet autoimmune

[foam]

The problem is you go off wheat and you replace it with other grain proteins in excess which you then get allergic to within a few years, corn is typically the next to go, after some more years you only have Rice left because it has the least protein, but even with rice sooner or later you can get allergic to it. In leaky gut we are dealing with an Immune system problem that attacks food protiens. As for allergies to colours and additives, that's not the same thing, the corn syrup and infections is just too much sugar. Right now after being Gluten free 100% for over 3 years I can totally eat Wheat, it's the ONLY grain I can eat with no effects. But of course if I keep eating it that will not last. But I don't mind eating it right now to gain weight since it's no big deal for me to not eat it and I rather eat that for the short time that I can tolerate it and use that time to lower my allergens to other grains. 3 years ago Wheat was the worst stuff ever and a instant pain in the gut for me, Now corn can somtimes be that bad, amazing how time changes things

[anngf4life]

I guess I will be eliminating corn now. I cooked a stew and made the roux with the corn oil and every this g else was gluten-free and I am in pain now, was feeling good after going gluten-free for 2 weeks now. Now that I am reading these results of a corn gluten I think I will be trying this now. Thanks for the info....hope everyone feels better soon.

[foam]

You would be unlucky to be so sensitive to corn that the oil would affect you, what else was in the stew? any grains of any kind? lentils?. Very doubtful oil was the problem imho.