Has Anyone Started Reacting To Products That They Didn't Before?

[shayre]

Hi. I recently started having trouble again. I had branched out and tried some new things, and started having major gluten problems again. However, when I stopped them...I still kept going downhill. I started feeling like I feel when it's something very low level of contamination, but that I'm having daily. I just could not trace it this time. I went back to almost nothing from a box, package, jar, etc...except my Lundberg rice cakes and some jelly...oh, and veggie steamers. I have really had more problems than I've had in a long time. I was thinking that maybe some manufacturer had changed their practices, so I started calling everyone again. Blue diamond almond milk said that there is no possibility of cc. Does anyone react to it? I also tried silk almond milk, but I was so sick that I just gave it up and decided to take no chances. I called on 2 peanut butters that I use. Santa Cruz suprised me, and told me that they are not a gluten free facility and that gluten and oats are run on the same line. YIKES! Maranatha peanut butter told me that they would only test to 10ppm. She was NOT helpful at all, and actually got really snippy when I asked for more info. I said that I really would benefit to know if they get positive or negative results with their tests at 10ppm? At least, that way I can make a better informed decision if I wanted to chance it. She was rude, and told me that no one there will tell me that information. She suggested that I just stop eating it. They no longer have my business for the rest of my family now! I was infuriated! Wouldn't it benefit a company to just be honest? Why test your products if you are not going to give your consumers the results, right? Ugh...anyway...I also called Bertolli about the olive oils, and they assured me that there was no chance for contamination. I called Lundberg, and they told me that there was also no possibility of cc for their rice and rice cakes...I guess that I should have asked about thier other products when she put it that way. I also had started Enjoy Life rice cereal, but I seemed to go downhill about then. That was a company that I thought that I was okay with, but does anyone think differently? Kettle Cuisine soup...tried it once and thought I reacted to it specifically (hubby talked me into trying it). I called them, and they told me that they test each batch down to 5ppm, and that they take it very seriously. They were very helpful,and said that they have gotten some cc ingredients in the past a couple of times, but they would stop those batches from going out. They were so open and honest:) I'd really love to give them business. They emailed me again with their sympathy and wanting to talk about more details. Love it. So...I don't know if I have just been gettig more cc in something than I usually do, or if my body has reset itself to being more sensitive that I already was. I am going crazy! I am getting better now, after cutting out everything. Now my hubby is on my case that I need to expand my diet to be more healthy. How am I supposed to do that when I get glutened everytime that I try? I am terrified of food, and he says that I need to get over it and try. Seriously? I am worried that I might already have permanent nerve damage, and each time I get accidental cc...that I might make it permanent if it's not already. I get glutened a lot! I think that I just got glutened from an Applegate turkey burger that I ate because I was starving from running out of all of my own food. Does anyone that is ss have an opinion on these products and a couple of more? Again they are:

Maranatha PB

Santa Cruz PB

Lundberg Rice and rice cakes

Enjoy Life cereal or other products

Applegate Turkey burgers

Kettle Cuisine soups

Blue Diamond Almond Milk

Silk Almond Milk

Cascade Jelly

Bertolli olive oil

Kinnikinnick products

EnerG breads

Thank you so much!

[RiceGuy]

Well, I've had times when things which are definitely gluten-free started giving me trouble. That is, I've become intolerant to certain foods or ingredients which up to that time posed no problems. So you may have had something like that happen. I can fully understand the possibility that a gluten-free food or ingredient is no longer tolerated by your body. Something like a nut or grain could, I suppose, be such an item.

Since all brands of natural peanut butter I've tried seem prone to rancidity, I make my own fresh sunflower seed butter, which to me tastes nearly identical to natural peanut butter, except without any noticeable rancidity. The freshness is remarkable IMHO, so I may never go back. I do know that rancid oils and other things cause me trouble.

HTH

[shayre]

Hi. Well...my response is definitely not an "intolerance". I am intolerant to a lot of food...and it brings gut issues. My gluten symptoms are all neurological and muscular and brain fog. That is specific to gluten. I am positive of gluten somewhere. My mom has tried a couple of times to give my son a peanut butter maker, and I told her not to bother...now I'll have to think on that one:) I eat peanut butter everyday. I go through it so quick, that I don't think that I've had racidity problems either. The other question is where to buy safe seeds and nuts if I were to make my own. I have been looking for safe cashew and walnuts all of this time. Honestly though, I will always opt to buy it already made if there is a safe alternative...I'm just so busy and tired all of the time! Thank you for your post:)

[Skylark]

Is Open Original Shared Link safe enough for you? They segregate gluten and gluten-free products on different lines and in different areas of their warehouse and GFCO certify.

[RiceGuy]

I eat peanut butter everyday. I go through it so quick, that I don't think that I've had racidity problems either.

OK, but what I meant was that a brand new jar of peanut butter would already be rancid. Rarely would I end up with one fresh enough to not taste any rancidity. However, once I began making my own nut/seed butters, I realized that part of the taste of the peanut butters I'd been buying actually was rancidity, even when I thought it tasted fresh.

Anyway, what you say about being certain the reaction is to gluten is perfectly understandable. My reaction to gluten is also unlike any other, so there's virtually no mistaking it. But my sensitivity has gotten to the point that many products which are certified gluten-free are still too contaminated for me. It seems the 20ppm standard is too high for me. Even products from companies with dedicated facilities have caused me trouble, so it wouldn't surprise me if you're reacting to such things.

[shayre]

OK, but what I meant was that a brand new jar of peanut butter would already be rancid. Rarely would I end up with one fresh enough to not taste any rancidity. However, once I began making my own nut/seed butters, I realized that part of the taste of the peanut butters I'd been buying actually was rancidity, even when I thought it tasted fresh.

Anyway, what you say about being certain the reaction is to gluten is perfectly understandable. My reaction to gluten is also unlike any other, so there's virtually no mistaking it. But my sensitivity has gotten to the point that many products which are certified gluten-free are still too contaminated for me. It seems the 20ppm standard is too high for me. Even products from companies with dedicated facilities have caused me trouble, so it wouldn't surprise me if you're reacting to such things.

Yes, I know that I react below 10ppm. I seem to be okay if the company says "undetectable at 5ppm", but now recently... I'm just not sure even about that anymore. I haven't noticed the rancidity taste that you are describing, but I might not notice if it always tastes that way.

Nuts.com...do any other very sensitive people have any issues with nuts from there?

[dilettantesteph]

I have been at this for over 4 years now and I get more and more sensitive as time goes on. My son was diagnosed at the same time and the exact same thing has been happening to him. I believe it is gluten and not other intolerances because I think that the likelihood of us developing the exact same intolerances at the exact same time is just too low. Also, as I have managed to find more clean forms of whatever foods I have reacted to, I find that I can tolerate them after all.

Keep a food/symptom journal if you aren't already. It is hard to want to try new foods because it is unpleasant and unhealthy to be reacting all the time, yet a variety of foods is important. I've been concentrating on growing my own. This winter I have had to try some commercially available items due to necessity. I ran out of garden produce.

One thing I've been trying lately is macadamia nuts from Hawaii which are grown without pesticides. Wheat is grown in Hawaii so the chances of wheat mulch being used is very low. It also helps to wash everything like crazy. These nuts I buy in the shell and wash before and after shelling. I'm sure it sounds crazy and obsessive to certain people on this forum, but if I can eat them without getting sick that way, then hooray!

I'm also doing O.K. with Birkett Mills buckwheat, sorted and washed carefully. I have found what looks like corn in it so if you are highly corn intolerant, maybe not.

Good luck. Don't be afraid, be careful. e-mail me if you are interested in more food ideas.

[shayre]

I have been at this for over 4 years now and I get more and more sensitive as time goes on. My son was diagnosed at the same time and the exact same thing has been happening to him. I believe it is gluten and not other intolerances because I think that the likelihood of us developing the exact same intolerances at the exact same time is just too low. Also, as I have managed to find more clean forms of whatever foods I have reacted to, I find that I can tolerate them after all.

Keep a food/symptom journal if you aren't already. It is hard to want to try new foods because it is unpleasant and unhealthy to be reacting all the time, yet a variety of foods is important. I've been concentrating on growing my own. This winter I have had to try some commercially available items due to necessity. I ran out of garden produce.

One thing I've been trying lately is macadamia nuts from Hawaii which are grown without pesticides. Wheat is grown in Hawaii so the chances of wheat mulch being used is very low. It also helps to wash everything like crazy. These nuts I buy in the shell and wash before and after shelling. I'm sure it sounds crazy and obsessive to certain people on this forum, but if I can eat them without getting sick that way, then hooray!

I'm also doing O.K. with Birkett Mills buckwheat, sorted and washed carefully. I have found what looks like corn in it so if you are highly corn intolerant, maybe not.

Good luck. Don't be afraid, be careful. e-mail me if you are interested in more food ideas.

I am definitely interested in more food ideas, so I will email you sometime soon. I am so unhappy to hear that others think that they just get more sensitive over time too...ugh! I was already so limited, and get glutened all of the time because it's everywhere...in spite of my obsessive carefulness too. Do we just keep getting more sensitive until I can't NOT be glutened with any level...ever...and then deal with just being sick all of the time...and then die of related diseases? I know that's morbid! Soooo not happy:(

[dilettantesteph]

I am so unhappy to hear that others think that they just get more sensitive over time too...ugh! I was already so limited, and get glutened all of the time because it's everywhere...in spite of my obsessive carefulness too.

I'm not happy about it either. Just when I think that it isn't possible to get more sensitive, it happens.

One positive thing about it is that my health continues to get better and better in-between crazy efforts with elimination/challenge diet studies to figure out what is getting me now.

Do we just keep getting more sensitive until I can't NOT be glutened with any level...ever...and then deal with just being sick all of the time...and then die of related diseases? I know that's morbid! Soooo not happy:(

It's been over 4 years now and so far I have been able to figure it out and find food to eat every time. I haven't gotten close to your morbid ending yet. Sometimes in the misery of being sick and having a hard time figuring out why, it feels like it though.

I only add one new thing per week, and only if necessary. Often I start with small amounts and if that works I go for really large amounts to be sure. Then I can hopefully relax and know that food item won't get me. Unfortunately people change their procedures and former safe things can become unsafe even without a sensitivity level change. That's when it's the hardest to figure out what it is.