Quinoa

[cinda]

Hi all,

Ok so I bought this quinoa bar that clearly said gluten free on the package. I got so sick last nite and today and not been real great, not terrible, but not my new usual. My mom printed me some info she had found on another site, and reading it I noticed Quinoa is not considered safe. I did a search on here and yes it is ok. Help... I'm so confused. All i know is I feel like I was glutened, and I could not figure out what I had eaten. Could it have been the bar?

cinda

[RiceGuy]

There's always the fact that everyone seems to have their own unique set of reactions. However, you should check the label for things like casein, soy, dairy, etc. Many individuals who go gluten-free find they don't tolerate certain other things very well either.

[tarnalberry]

Quinioa is gluten free. That doesn't mean that there wasn't cross contamination in the ingredients, or in the production, or that there was something else that made you sick (in that product, or something else you ate). But quinoa itself is gluten-free.

What were the other ingredients in the bar?

[cinda]

I was thinking it was the EnerG brand. But I am not seeing the bar on the web site, so maybe not. It was one of those bars with molasses and sesame seeds. I can't think of anything else unusal I ate. Trust me these days I can list an entire days food on one hand or less. I have been sick still even now. This has actually turned into one of my worse bouts. Thanksgiving was well... not great. I did take some cough syrup the nite before last. Maybe it was that. I just want to figure it out so I don't do this again. Good to know quinioa is ok. My mom had printed off 51 pages from a web site and quinoa was listed as bad. Guess all their info was wrong?... Thanx for your help everyone..

Cinda

[RiceGuy]

I did take some cough syrup the nite before last. Maybe it was that.

That could be. From what I've heard, cough syrup isn't all what it's supposed to be anyway. I saw a report about that on 20/20, and they said it was basically useless, along with many if not all over-the-counter medications. As I recall it is mostly sugar, with perhaps something to deaden the nerves in the throat so you don't feel the irritation. There is actually nothing in it to help rid the body of the cause. However, sugar is known to lower your body's ability to fight infections and slows healing if I understand correctly, so that's something to consider.

Sugar will also give yeast a ready food source, so it can be a problem that way too. I keep seeing threads which indicate to me that celiac disease sufferers often have yeast problems. That's not surprizing since the immune response will show up as a higher than normal white blood cell count, leading to misdiagnosis as a viral infection. It has been my experience that doctors will typically prescribe an antibiotic for this. These have a tendency to kill off good flora in the gut, which then allows yeast to proliferate even further. That's also another reason for poor digestion and malnutrition. From what I know, molasses is going to basically do the same thing.

Keep a close watch on symptoms. Sometimes you'll find that what looks like a familiar set of symptoms is actually a bit different in certain ways. Those slight differences can help you narrow down the causes.

[jenvan]

quinoa is gluten-free...and i used to eat quite a bit of it. it may just bother your system, like how corn bothers mine. i've used trader joes or this one: Open Original Shared Link you mentioned the cough syrup, what type did you take? i've only used a syrup once, a few years back, and i woke up vomiting not long after. i believe it was nyquil...

[cinda]

ok so i am slow..

It was definately like something wreaking havoc on my system, but I ended up with the telltale headache and nausea that got worse and worse. Thanksgiving was not fun. The cough syrup was a prescription one with codiene I'm sure it was was that. It was from last year. I threw it out

[kabowman]

I discovered that I have serious problems with sesame seeds from a gluten-free bar I ate. It took me a few weeks to determine that was the problem because I would sometimes eat only a little bit of the bar and I wouldn't get too sick and my husband said he was using "questionable vegetables" in my morning eggs which he threw out, conveniently when I ran out of bars. Then, when I went back for more bars, and I ate half of one in one sitting, boy was I sick; I barely made it home.

Anyway just a thought. I take tylenol with codine for pain with my hands/arms occasionally and I take Dayquill and Nightquill whenever I get sick but I take it in pill form.

[cinda]

Maybe that was it. Still not sure. I do know that I will not eat one of those bars again just in case it was that. I was so sick. It started slowly and got worse and worse. It started out like it was just not agreeing with me, by the next 2 days it seemed like a glutening. I did get sick again recently after eating pumpkin seeds. It was the same effect. Started out slow and then had me down for 5 days. That time also I could not figure out what else I had eaten that triggered it. Maybe a seed thing. Either way things I stay away from now.

On the codiene thing, I talked with the Pharmacy consult we have where I work. He said it could have been something they binded the cough medicine I took.