Severe reaction to sunflower oil?

[Aaron275]

Hi,

A few weeks ago I used a type of margarine that was made with sunflower oil. I don't normally eat sunflower oil. It made me feel absolutely terrible and I stopped eating it after only a few days. This margarine was gluten-free.

I stopped eating it more than 3 weeks ago and I still don't feel right. Some days are better than others, but it feels just as bad as a glutening, possibly even worse.

I understand that sunflower oil is high in omega 6 and this can cause inflammation. I think this might be what has caused the problem but I'm open to any other suggestions as well. I've tried a few things that I thought might help like raising my intake of omega 3s, and nothing seems to make much difference.

I've read online that the half life of omega 6 is 680 days. So if that is the problem, does that mean I'm out of luck and I just have to wait for the levels to go back down?

Please help.

[Aaron275]

I've started using higher amounts of omega 3 and it does seem to be helping with symptoms (presumably by lowering omega 6). I'll update again if things continue to get better or worse.

[Scott Adams]

This is an interesting sensitivity, and makes me wonder if there is a chance of cross-contamination with gluten, as I can't understand why omega 6 would cause such a strong symptom. It is possible you have an allergy to something in it?

[Aaron275]

Hi Scott,

I was wondering the same thing. It really did feel as bad as eating gluten.

Here's the exact product that I used:

https://nuttelex.com/product/nuttelex-original/#nutritional-table

It claims to be gluten-free. Do you think there is any chance of cross-contamination?

I am not aware of being allergic to any of the ingredients in it, but I guess it is possible.

I'm worried that no doctor is going to believe that I had this reaction to margarine.

[Scott Adams]

Of course it’s possible there could be a contaminated batch out there, but it might be best to just avoid it. Sunflower seeds would be the most likely allergen in it. and I’m not sure what is in their “natural flavour.”