ADDITIVE-FREE DIET: SULPHUR, MONOSODIUM GLUTAMATE (MSG)
Sulphur additives are a case in point. Sulphur dioxide, a main component of air pollution, is a major threat to anyone with asthma. In the form of metabisulphite and other compounds used to preserve foods, beverages and drugs, sulphur is equally liable to trigger asthma, flushing or even shock in allergic people.
Some foods are treated with sulphur as a matter of course. Unless otherwise specified, for instance, all dried fruits are automatically treated with sulphur dioxide. So is molasses. Look for fruits and molasses that are clearly labelled ‘unsulphured’.
Many wines are laced with sulphites. Unfortunately, wine and other alcoholic beverages are not required to have their ingredients listed on’ their labels.
Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is perhaps the most famous instigator of ‘restaurant allergies’. Have you ever gone out to eat Chinese food only to come home feeling headachy and nauseated? Or flushed, warm and numb throughout your arms and chest – maybe with a pain in your chest or stomach? Chances are you had a brush with ‘Chinese Restaurant Syndrome’. The root of the problem is actually MSG, a flavor enhancer used not only in Chinese but also in Japanese and South Asian cuisine, and in many packaged foods as well. In fact, MSG is sold on supermarket spice racks right next to the marjoram and mustard seed.
For years, MSG reactions were dismissed by doctors as merely imaginary, or at most a slight irritation of the oesophagus. Then reports began to appear in medical journals telling of people who developed more than just annoying numbness -some experienced asthma and serious breathing difficulties after eating anything containing MSG. Finally, two doctors in England discovered that a fellow physician had a bona fide allergy to MSG: he lost all feeling in his hands and feet – once for three years straight. He discovered, though, that if he stayed away from certain foods, especially those containing MSG, he could prevent the problem entirely. His two doctor friends ran him through a battery of food challenges and lab tests. Nerve tests showed that, for one thing, the numbness was quite real. And blood tests showed that every time he ate MSG and felt numb, his blood IgA levels rose – often regarded as a sign of allergy {Annals of Allergy, February 1982).
There are few reliable tests for food allergy; there are none for additive allergy. The only way to test for allergy to an additive is to eliminate it just as you eliminate milk or wheat. To avoid additives, though, your label reading skills have to be doubly sharp.
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Tags: Allergies