Problems With Produce

[dilettantesteph]

The whole foods diet should be totally safe for super sensitives, but there are still problems.

Early on I had problems with mushrooms and with investigation I found out that they are often grown on wheat straw. Wheat straw shouldn't contain gluten, but I guess there can be enough left over grain in there to cause problems for the highly sensitive. I can still eat wild mushrooms without a gluten reaction so I don't think that I am intolerant to mushrooms.

I had problems with citrus and apples and figured it had to do with the edible coating that they can apply to improve shelf life. I have found uncoated sources which I can eat without issues.

Tomatoes became a problem at the end of last summer. I got them from a certain booth at the farmer's market, and when I switched back to the store ones I had problems. I had some green ones from my garden ripening in a paper bag. I could still eat those ones without problems. I don't think that I developed a tomato intolerance for that reason. I'm left having to wait till next season to be able to eat tomatoes.

Now in the dead of winter I have found organic swiss chard and organic beets have gotten me. What is going on with produce? Are they doing something now that they didn't before? Maybe I just developed intolerances. If so, my son would have had to develop the same intolerances at the same time, which seems pretty unlikely. I will need to wait till it gets warmer to get other sources to try to find out.

Meanwhile it is hard to find veggies which I can eat.

I'm wondering if anyone else has noticed problems like this with produce.

[jerseyangel]

I don't think I have. There are certain produce items I can't eat, but that's because they are legumes or citrus which I am sensitive to in addition to gluten.

Does washing and/or peeling help?

[dilettantesteph]

I'm not sure that washing helps because I have never not washed, but I think so. It isn't always enough though. Peeling I know helps because we were having problems with unpeeled peaches last summer, and when we started peeling them the problems went away. Peeling doesn't always seem to be adequate either.

[Cypressmyst]

I always thought it had something to do with the pesticides or the coating. But who knows what happens to these veggies from the time they are picked to the time they get to the store. Could be that they are shipped in a truck that ships wheat...though you would think that would wash off and certainly peel away.

And even organic!

That is just evil.

I wonder if veggies are uptaking one of the problem proteins from the wheat fertilizer? If we are what we eat...it stands to reason that the veggies might be what they eat?

I don't rightly know, but I did want to pull my hair out in sympathy for you. For whatever that is worth. :hair:

[padma]

I always thought it had something to do with the pesticides or the coating. But who knows what happens to these veggies from the time they are picked to the time they get to the store. Could be that they are shipped in a truck that ships wheat...though you would think that would wash off and certainly peel away.

And even organic!

That is just evil.

I wonder if veggies are uptaking one of the problem proteins from the wheat fertilizer? If we are what we eat...it stands to reason that the veggies might be what they eat?

I don't rightly know, but I did want to pull my hair out in sympathy for you. For whatever that is worth. :hair:

I have had similar reactions. Commercial non-organic bananas make my mouth break out, grapes and other fruits make me feel like I have eaten poison. I think it is the pesticides and chemicals used at the packing sheds to wash the veggies and fruit. I come from a farm family so know how that system works.

Some organics now have "natural" pesticides which I know cause people with MCS serious problems. I also have MCS so have had to learn where the chemicals are hidden. It is always changing. Also, much produce, including organic, is coming from China and is ultra polluted. Scary.

My reactions to gluten and to chemicals are different. Gluten makes me have intense abdominal pain and symptoms like the stomach flu. My whole digestive tract is inflamed. Chemicals tend to make me fuzzy headed, a little nauseous, sometimes make my mouth break out and can make my skin break out in a matter of minutes (different than DF). I use to think if I was totally gluten free my body would handle chemicals better, but that has turned out to be an erroneous idea.

I think there is a good chance that GMO's have something to do with reactions. I can't prove it, but being so sensitive to so many things, I avoid GMO's like I do gluten. Most of the time I am healthy because of it.

I try to buy produce at farmers markets or a reputable health food store where they know who grows their food. I know that is not possible for everyone.

[padma]

Hi. I couldn't figure out how to respond to your email, so am posting here.

Thanks for your note. I appreciate the support. Yes, I would be willing to brainstorm what is safe and what is not.

Are you able to eat steamed rice? I am thinking that if I rinse it well, it may not have any residues on it from any gluten grains. I think there are brands where the company does not process anything but rice. That should be safe.

Right now I am only eating organic fruit, vegetables, small fish, organic chicken and turkey (not often) and no grains or rice products. My intestines stopped hurting 2 days ago, so hopefully will be able to maintain this. At least as I add a new food I'll have a baseline to compare to. Up until now I have had constant pain for months, either low pain or high pain.

Maybe if we list what we CAN eat that will be a good place to start. I get depressed when I think of what I can't eat. It is really important for my attitude for me to think positively about this eating issue.

[Cypressmyst]

Yeah, they are really starting to take a serious look at all grains. Rice and Corn have gluten in them (Not sure wild rice does though). The gluten in rice and corn isn't enough to cause a problem in most people but it is certainly not unheard of. I know for me corn made me feel naucious and blah after a while and rice was keeping me just a bit bloated and I feel better off it too.

Neither of them knock me on my but like the gluten in Wheat but I just decided to listen to my body. For now Quinoa and salads are on the list of good to eat things.

Focus on what you can eat. Colorful and beautiful REAL food. I can't have dairy but have found nutritional yeast to be a GREAT substitute, it hits the cheese tang factor.

If you look up Paleo Diet or Paleo cookbooks they are full of good suggestions for spicing things up. I'm on a restricted elimination diet still or I'd be making use of some of the recipes more (still can't have eggs though :/)

Larabars are also a favorite treat.

Another thing you may want to look at is getting checked for bacterial infections, parasites and fungi. They are MUCH more prevalent in humans then the Doctors realize and can cause lots of issues similar to gluten.

[Muffy]

I have occasional issues with apples and I think it's the coating. I also have problems with dairy and I read somewhere on this forum that some waxes can be cassien based. In any case, I always wash them with gluten-free soap and it doesn't help at all. I sometimes have reactions to frozen veggies too, and that trips me out. I'm always reacting to something and I do get a new fruit allergy every once in a while as well.

I have been eating the occasional rice pasta and I also have bloating after. I think I am finally ready to let it go. I feel puky after eating some today and I wonder how it affects me neourologically as well. I always blame my bran fog on CC but I am a silly ape so I wouldn't be suprised if I am willingly doing it to myself and don't even know it.

[mushroom]

I have occasional issues with apples and I think it's the coating. I also have problems with dairy and I read somewhere on this forum that some waxes can be cassien based. In any case, I always wash them with gluten-free soap and it doesn't help at all. I sometimes have reactions to frozen veggies too, and that trips me out. I'm always reacting to something and I do get a new fruit allergy every once in a while as well.

I have been eating the occasional rice pasta and I also have bloating after. I think I am finally ready to let it go. I feel puky after eating some today and I wonder how it affects me neourologically as well. I always blame my bran fog on CC but I am a silly ape so I wouldn't be suprised if I am willingly doing it to myself and don't even know it.

Have you addressed the concept of a leaky gut, Muffy? This is where the normally tight joints in the small intestine are loosened by the action of gluten and allow larger particles of food to pass into the bloodstream. If we eat a lot of any particular food that gets past this barrier in too large a size we are likely to become intolerant of it and react badly to it. Do you take any probiotica?

[Pac]

The whole foods diet should be totally safe for super sensitives, but there are still problems.

Early on I had problems with mushrooms and with investigation I found out that they are often grown on wheat straw. Wheat straw shouldn't contain gluten, but I guess there can be enough left over grain in there to cause problems for the highly sensitive. I can still eat wild mushrooms without a gluten reaction so I don't think that I am intolerant to mushrooms.

I had problems with citrus and apples and figured it had to do with the edible coating that they can apply to improve shelf life. I have found uncoated sources which I can eat without issues.

Tomatoes became a problem at the end of last summer. I got them from a certain booth at the farmer's market, and when I switched back to the store ones I had problems. I had some green ones from my garden ripening in a paper bag. I could still eat those ones without problems. I don't think that I developed a tomato intolerance for that reason. I'm left having to wait till next season to be able to eat tomatoes.

Now in the dead of winter I have found organic swiss chard and organic beets have gotten me. What is going on with produce? Are they doing something now that they didn't before? Maybe I just developed intolerances. If so, my son would have had to develop the same intolerances at the same time, which seems pretty unlikely. I will need to wait till it gets warmer to get other sources to try to find out.

Meanwhile it is hard to find veggies which I can eat.

I'm wondering if anyone else has noticed problems like this with produce.

I have exactly the same problem, especialy with tomatoes. My own and from local farmers are ok, from the shop it's a hit and miss situation. Now I'm trying to go by the smell and it works pretty well. If it smells like tomato, I eat it, if it has no smell at all, I stay away from it. I also wash and peel everything that can be peeled. Then wash it again, wash my hands and knife before cutting it into smaller pieces. I never put cleaned stuff directly on the counter, even in my gluten-free house.

I wonder how much of my shop-bought produce intolerance is due to my extreme intolerance to air-borne gluten. I'm surounded by big supermarkets with their own bakeries inside and I do get sick every time I go shopping. I can't use herbs and leafy veggies from shops because it is almost impossible to wash them well enough. Same for cheeses from the deli - they're right next to the bakery and I got sick every time I ate them until I realized I need to buy either the whole loaf or pre-packaged pieces.

Citrus fruit I only buy when it isn't sticky and my hands don't burn and itch after touching it. I don't have citrus intolerance - ate tons of them in both Mexico and South Africa, it's just the chemical stuff they import into Europe I'm intolerant to.

I have no problems with mushrooms - when I peel them well. It's a local guy who grows them for most shops so I will ask, anyway.

I really plan to stock up for next winter. I can store potatoes, onions, apples, garlic, make my own sourkraut. Also dry wild mushrooms, blueberries, rosehips and all the herbs for both teas and spice mixes. There's so much food all around us in summer, I just need to go and pick it.

[dilettantesteph]

I plan to buy a big freezer and stock up next summer as well. I didn't realize this last summer how much of a problem it would be. I stocked up a bit, but not enough. I do fine with most farmer's market stuff. Message me and I can give you a link for citrus that you can get by mail order which has only bugs and dirt. No pesticides or coatings. Does your mushroom guy mail out? I've love some mushrooms. I don't find very many wild.

[dilettantesteph]

Larabars are also a favorite treat.

I've seen posts here about super sensitives reacting to laurabars and dates, and how flour can be used to pollinate dates.

[T.H.]

I sometimes have reactions to frozen veggies too, and that trips me out. I'm always reacting to something... I have been eating the occasional rice pasta and I also have bloating after. I think I am finally ready to let it go.

Do you know if you have any corn issues? I know a lot of corn allergic folks have to avoid frozen veggies because of the citric acid that is often present. It's usually created by bacteria that is fed corn syrup, and the collection process doesn't always get rid of the corn completely enough for really sensitive corn allergic folks.

And...white rice often has corn used to polish it, as I recall, so if your pasta is white rice pasta, that can have corn contact. And organic produce is often using cornmeal now as an organic anti-emergent for weeds. Don't know if this would apply, but it might be a link to all of the above, maybe. :-)

In the realm of looking for issues? I've had a small amount of trouble with produce grown on a farm where they either had wheat grown on neighboring farms (close enough for the wind to carry it over) or near farms with huge numbers of cattle, where the cattle feed had tons of gluten grains and they could actually smell it on the air some days when the wind blew hard enough.

Most of the time I've been able to wash/peel that off, but only if I washed a few times. Once - I was still sick. Three times - I could eat it and seem okay.

I'm trying to grow some local heirloom corn this year to double check and confirm if I react to gluten cc of corn every time, or if corn itself might also be an issue, you know? Gawd, PLEASE let it just be the gluten! I want corn so badly. I'm willing to dry that stuff and process it, just for the chance at some tamales every once in a great while. Miss corn SO much.

[dilettantesteph]

Thanks. I've been washing pretty carefully with soap, but maybe I need to be even more thorough. Ultrasonic cleaner, here I come.

[padma]

Do you know if you have any corn issues? I know a lot of corn allergic folks have to avoid frozen veggies because of the citric acid that is often present. It's usually created by bacteria that is fed corn syrup, and the collection process doesn't always get rid of the corn completely enough for really sensitive corn allergic folks.

And...white rice often has corn used to polish it, as I recall, so if your pasta is white rice pasta, that can have corn contact. And organic produce is often using cornmeal now as an organic anti-emergent for weeds. Don't know if this would apply, but it might be a link to all of the above, maybe. :-)

In the realm of looking for issues? I've had a small amount of trouble with produce grown on a farm where they either had wheat grown on neighboring farms (close enough for the wind to carry it over) or near farms with huge numbers of cattle, where the cattle feed had tons of gluten grains and they could actually smell it on the air some days when the wind blew hard enough.

Most of the time I've been able to wash/peel that off, but only if I washed a few times. Once - I was still sick. Three times - I could eat it and seem okay.

I'm trying to grow some local heirloom corn this year to double check and confirm if I react to gluten cc of corn every time, or if corn itself might also be an issue, you know? Gawd, PLEASE let it just be the gluten! I want corn so badly. I'm willing to dry that stuff and process it, just for the chance at some tamales every once in a great while. Miss corn SO much.

Hi, Shawna. I was thinking about issues with veggies. In Ayurvedic medicine from India, which is about 5,000 years old, they teach that if you have a digestive problem, you should cook food thoroughly with spices that help digestion. I know you have a problem with some spices, but maybe you can find some that you are ok with. They say, "no raw food", especially apples. They are about the hardest food to digest. Many of us with Celiac have compromised digestive systems, so this might apply. Also, "food combining" helps because it is easier to digest certain foods together.

I hope you aren't allergic to corn, either. I'll be curious to know how it goes. Be sure to get organic seeds, otherwise you will most likely have GMO seeds and get GMO corn. Once you have one crop you will have seeds forever to plant again.

So many of our sensitivities are from the chemicals they put on food in the field, in the packing sheds and in processing. Recently I found out that there are really toxic chemicals put on the paper that packages food. It prohibits mold from growing and other stuff. Popcorn had started making me sick and in looking it up I found that the paper used for microwave popcorn had these chemicals.

Last week we bought some popcorn from a farm in the midwest and popped it in an air popper. I didn't have any adverse reaction. Cool, huh? I can't say for sure it is the paper, but that would be my best guess. The chemicals are suppose to stay in the paper, but food packages get hot if a house is hot, or hot in the car while transporting it. When it gets hot it creates fumes which may get on the food. Also possible it simply rubs off on the food, just like the metals and plastics in cans.

[paige350z]

I do have some problems with produce. While my problems are kinda complicated and I'm still trying to sort out what all intolerances I have and done have, I know that Citrus bothers me. Orange and lime for sure. Sometimes when I drink lemonade i get a sour stomach, but no other reaction. Whereas Oranges will put me in the bathroom all day. Onions bother me too. I have to be very careful with those.

[Juliebove]

Just a thought... Could you have OAS (Oral Allergy Syndrome)? I have it with some nuts but it is very common with fresh produce too. The body mistakes the food for a pollen. For instance, celery is related to birch. If you have OAS your body might react to raw celery. But you could probably eat it cooked.

I have a problem with most fruits. A person once surmised that it might be the natural sorbitol in the fruits. Sorbitol gives me horrid stomach pains.

[mushroom]

I have a specific citrus reaction, not like anyone else's reaction to things, but a reaction I get to other things I don't tolerate also. I became intolerant about two years ago. I am hopeful that I might be able to eat it again sometime.... I developed it because I just plain ate too much of it. That's how I became intolerant of caffeine too - too much coffee when I worked in an espresso bar/nightclub type place (no, I won't try to explain that, you have to be a Kiwi to understand it )

[T.H.]

For those who react to citrus - are either of you dairy or soy intolerant/allergic?

Most of the citrus you'll find in the stores, organic or not, has a wax coating on it (it can be considered organic because it's based on an insect, as I recall). But the particular wax on the citrus uses soy or dairy casein to help get the texture right.

I get a gluten cc issue with most commercial citrus, but I kept having a soy allergy reaction too. then I hunted down some folks near me who had citrus trees and didn't spray, add coatings, wash it with soap after picking, nothing. I ate an entire bag and didn't react once.

Right now, though, even at the farmer's market, half the time when they say their oranges have no coatings and so on, I still react. But when I KNOW the source, like have seen their tree and know there's nothing on it, I have been okay with no reaction.

Might be worth checking on, if you have one of those two other allergies and the reaction isn't too bad.

[dilettantesteph]

I am not sensitive to soy and I also react to coated oranges. I can eat them from a guy I know who doesn't put anything on them. Yum. It is nice to be able to eat oranges again.