http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/09/dining/09alle.html?th&emc=th
"Mrs. Muñoz-Furlong said that she and doctors on her medical board do not believe that genetically modified foods cause food allergies because most children with allergies react to specific foods, like eggs or milk."
Personally, I react to two specific foods, and it does not matter whether homegrown, storebought, or organically grown and guaranteed not to be genetically modified. This started before genetically modified food was commonplace. I used to have a mild reaction but post-CFS it's gotten more severe (not into the life-threatening category ... yet).
However, anyone who thinks they may have CFS should be aware that some food allergies can cause fatigue. I know of several people diagnosed with CFS who actually had celiac disease -- when they eliminated wheat/gluten from their diets, they were instantly "cured".
Although some of the information in the 1988 Stoff/Pellegrino CFS book is outdated, I still recommend getting a copy of it (Amazon has several listings for hardback and paperback versions; currently, the most copies are available at http://www.amazon.com/Chronic-Fatigue-Syndrome-Jesse-Stoff/dp/0394569563/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1199877832&sr=1-5 )
That book has several versions of elimination diets that can help you determine whether what you're eating makes you worse (or, like the people with celiac disease misdiagnosed as CFS, whether what you're eating is actually the cause of all your problems).
I am fortunate to live in California where fresh produce is available year-round; I don't have to rely on processed food full of chemicals in winter. After trying each of the elimination diets in the book, I concluded that my only food allergies were the ones I already knew about, and that what I ate did not drastically affect my health (except when I went vegetarian and didn't get enough protein because I'm allergic to soy; a nice steak helps me immensely!).
But, if you have been misdiagnosed with CFS when you actually have a food allergy, an elimination diet will help you identify the real problem and save you a lot of misery.
10 foods are responsible for over 90% of food allergies. Eliminate all 10 from your diet for a couple weeks, add them back one at a time, one every few days, and see if you have a reaction when you add one back. If the foods that make you react are corn, soy and/or wheat, you'll have to become very diligent about reading food labels, because one or the other seems to be in just about every processed food. High fructose corn syrup is in your can of soda, so for the time you are on the elimination diet, you're best off to drink only bottled water and herb tea.
The top ten are milk (dairy of all sorts including yogurt, cheese and butter), eggs, nuts, soy, wheat, fish/shellfish, onions, corn, yeast, and citrus (some sources also include tomatoes and white potatoes). MSG is also a common allergen, so if you eat a lot of Chinese food, you'll want to stay away from that for a couple weeks to see if that helps.
2 comments:
Interesting info, thanks! Isn't it a good idea to get a blood test for food allergies before starting an elimination diet?
Also it IS possible to live healthfully on a soy-free veg diet:
soyfreevegan.blogspot.com
but it is hard :/
"Isn't it a good idea to get a blood test for food allergies before starting an elimination diet?"
My doctor told me that my insurance wouldn't pay for allergy tests (she had been turned down repeatedly in the past when recommending them), and many of our CFS patients can't afford expensive testing because they've been out of work for so long.
Add in, as Tom says, we "trust doctors about as far as we can spit". We've been lied to, accused, and abused so often that we'd much rather do as much as we can on our own without having to deal with doctors.
Even though I now have a doctor I trust, I still try to only use him when I need a prescription written. He's not a CFS expert (there isn't one within 2.5 hours of here), so if I'm first going to have to educate him, it's easier to just do it myself.
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