Guest guest Posted January 5, 2004 Report Share Posted January 5, 2004 Does anyone know of a list of common GM foods in the US? My sister's had this rash on her face and neck for weeks now, and we still think it's food related. She eats so well usually, but you never know where a GM food might crop up, and that might cause an allergic reaction. And even after the offending food is eliminated, it could take days for the skin to clear up, so it's so hard to pinpoint the culprit. She's basically eating meat and veggies with a few fruits like apples and bananas, but has cut out everything suspicious. We even looked at a list of fruits and veggies that have the highest and lowest amounts of pesticides. (Will post that later). But we're not sure about GM foods.. she doesn't get all organic, so maybe even potatoes are suspect. She barely eats any grain, but then again, who knows how much it takes to produce an allergic reaction... - Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 5, 2004 Report Share Posted January 5, 2004 >. She barely eats any >grain, but then again, who knows how much it takes to produce an allergic >reaction... > >- You can't underestimate the amount it takes for an allergy! Homeopathic amounts seem to cause a nice reaction ... For me, the amount of grain it took to make me ill turned out to be one beer and 2 rye crisp a night. It takes one quarter of a peanut to make a peanut-sensitive person very ill, or sometimes, just sitting at a table with someone eating a peanut butter sandwich. I've gotten a migraine from holding hands with someone eating French bread. I also reacted to brown sugar, which was used when I WAS making wheat bread (so likely had traces of flour in it). I also react to wine we made in my wheat-days, though it was probably made with yeast/barley starter (we used beer yeast a lot in those days). Rashes are often from allergies, but I wouldn't worry about GM foods until you eliminate " the usual suspects " from the common foods. Some people DO react to fruits such as apples and apricots. I get itchy from shrimp, often, though I'm told that is because of the iodine content. There is a very itchy kind of rash called dermititis herpetiformis, which is triggered both by gluten AND by iodine -- it takes months or years to heal, even after stopping grains. -- Heidi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 5, 2004 Report Share Posted January 5, 2004 > I've gotten a migraine from holding hands with someone eating > French bread. Yikes! An idea for a dating service comes to mind.. > Rashes are often from allergies, but I wouldn't worry about > GM foods until you eliminate " the usual suspects " from the > common foods. Some people DO react to fruits such as > apples and apricots. I get itchy from shrimp, often, though > I'm told that is because of the iodine content. There is a very > itchy kind of rash called dermititis herpetiformis, which is > triggered both by gluten AND by iodine -- it takes months > or years to heal, even after stopping grains. Hmm.. now I wonder if iodized salt is the culprit.. That's the hard part, figuring out the culprit, since there can be a lag time before symptoms appear... and then once you eliminate something, it can take a long time to heal, so you can't be sure if the eliminated food was a problem or not. Maybe I'll suggest she get allergy testing. Which type of allergy would be likely to produce this kind of rash? I thought it would be IgE moreso than IgG or IgA, but maybe I'm wrong. The ELISA food allergy testing I had is IgG. I know there's a finger stick test available, not sure how good any of them are. She says her skin feels thin and dry like paper, aside from the redness, itching and pain :-( But only on her face and neck, doesn't seem like eczema. - Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 5, 2004 Report Share Posted January 5, 2004 >Hmm.. now I wonder if iodized salt is the culprit.. It's definitely a culprit for me -- I figure we eat enough seafood that we don't need extra iodine, and besides " all the best cooks " dislike the taste :--) >That's the hard part, figuring out the culprit, since there can be a >lag time before symptoms appear... and then once you eliminate >something, it can take a long time to heal, so you can't be sure if >the eliminated food was a problem or not. This is true. Also the reaction can happen 2 days to 2 WEEKS after you eat the food, and with DH, it takes months to go away, even though there is a clear connection between the rash and IgA deposits. >Maybe I'll suggest she get allergy testing. Which type of allergy >would be likely to produce this kind of rash? I thought it would be >IgE moreso than IgG or IgA, but maybe I'm wrong. The ELISA food >allergy testing I had is IgG. I test negative for all the IgE stuff. Zero reaction to a skin test. I get REALLY itchy from grains always and seafood sometimes, but I've never been tested for IgG allergies. I tested moderately high (but not celiac high) for IgA to gliadin and casein, using Dr. Fine's stool tests. His tests are likely the most accurate for IgA -- the others test IgA in the blood, and it doesn't always " make it " to the blood. However (and confusingly) a lot of people with this kind of allergy, called an IgA allergy, are DEFICIENT in IgA and so test negative. >She says her skin feels thin and dry like paper, aside from the >redness, itching and pain :-( But only on her face and neck, >doesn't seem like eczema. What does she use for shampoo and facial products? A lot of those contain allergens (the one I used to use had wheat germ oil in it, and the fragrances are really a problem for a lot of folks). -- Heidi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 5, 2004 Report Share Posted January 5, 2004 Heidi, Thanks, I'll tell her about allergy testing. >What does she use for shampoo and facial products? A lot of those > contain allergens (the one I used to use had wheat germ oil in it, > and the fragrances are really a problem for a lot of folks). I think she's changed those around a lot lately, and can barely stand getting anything on her face now anyway. It's so dry and feels better with lotion from that standpoint, but the other day she tried some plain olive oil and it stung like crazy. But I'll mention the wheat germ oil, because that could be in products that seem generally less toxic. - Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 6, 2004 Report Share Posted January 6, 2004 According to WAPF, the last number in a bar code indicates whether the food is GM. I think it's " 8 " if it's GM but I'm probably wrong. I don't even remember what this is from, but it's on the website somewhere. Do you have a Whole Foods near you? The sell both organic and conventional, but everthing in the store is guaranteed to be non-GM. Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 6, 2004 Report Share Posted January 6, 2004 http://www.truefoodnow.org/ is a great resource about GM stuff. At 06:40 PM 1/5/2004, you wrote: >Does anyone know of a list of common GM foods in the US? My sister's had >this rash on her face and neck for weeks now, and we still think it's food >related. She eats so well usually, but you never know where a GM food might >crop up, and that might cause an allergic reaction. And even after the >offending food is eliminated, it could take days for the skin to clear up, >so it's so hard to pinpoint the culprit. > >She's basically eating meat and veggies with a few fruits like apples and >bananas, but has cut out everything suspicious. We even looked at a list of >fruits and veggies that have the highest and lowest amounts of pesticides. >(Will post that later). But we're not sure about GM foods.. she doesn't >get all organic, so maybe even potatoes are suspect. She barely eats any >grain, but then again, who knows how much it takes to produce an allergic >reaction... > >- > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 6, 2004 Report Share Posted January 6, 2004 >According to WAPF, the last number in a bar code indicates whether the food >is GM. I think it's " 8 " if it's GM but I'm probably wrong. I don't even >remember what this is from, but it's on the website somewhere. Thanks, I'll go look. >Do you have a Whole Foods near you? The sell both organic and conventional, >but everthing in the store is guaranteed to be non-GM. That would be heaven. Unfortunately I'm in upstate NY with just a smallish health food store. Last time I lived near a decent HFS was in Boston in the '70's-80's and loved Bread & Circus, but I'm sure those large HFS are even better these days. - Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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