My Story

Monosodium Glutamate.

Maltodextrin.

Aspartame.

Natural and Artificial Flavoring.

High Fructose Corn Syrup.

How many see those words on an ingredient list, yet don't think twice about giving them to your family?

I certainly didn't.
After all, no one would allow any harmful ingredients in our food supply - would they?  Free boxes of Hamburger Helper was stockpiled, through coupons, on my pantry shelves.   Next to that boxes of Mac and Cheese, pasta salads, and cereals stood in all their glory. On the shelf below it, cans of various products were stacked.  One shelf over contained body washes, shampoos, shaving creams, deodorants, etc.

Yes, I was an extreme couponer.  I was quite proud of being able to walk out of a grocery store with $600 worth of food that I only paid $300 or less on. Note the "was".

All of this began happening before the advent of "internet".  You could not easily look up anything.  You had to go to this building called a "library" to research anything.   As the internet became available, information and networking with others who have had problems became easier.  Discovering deceptions on behalf of the food industry became a lot easier.

I used to drink a lot of soda.  A lot.  I could go through a 6-pack or more in a day.   When diet versions were created using Aspartame I switched so I could cut out the empty calories.  At no time did it occur to me that I was basically drinking poison.  I began to get headaches and a "foggy" feeling in my head.

Some may find this a bit odd, but I never needed an address book.  I could remember everyone's names, birth dates, anniversaries, addresses, phone numbers. etc. with ease.   One day I ran to the ATM to withdraw cash.   I walked up to it planning on grabbing the cash and getting to the store before the kids' nap time.  Something I've done thousands of times before.  Inserting my card, I prepared for the prompt to enter my PIN.  Except there was one problem:  I couldn't remember it.

I usually just punch it in without thinking about it, so I tried to do that and was informed the PIN I entered was incorrect.  By now a line was forming behind me, and I had children in the car.  Retrieving my card, I retreated to my car trying desperately to remember my PIN.  Sitting there, the feeling of frustration almost left me in tears.  Forgetting numbers just didn't happen to me.   It finally popped into my head, but from that point on I had to keep a note hidden with the number on it until I was positive I wouldn't forget it again.

I forgot a friend's birthday.  Not just any friend.  At the time, she was my best friend.  I went to call my mom and forgot her phone number.  A number I grew up with.  A number I couldn't forget in a million years.  But I forgot it.  I had to write it down.   I had to start making myself notes on what I needed at the store, because I couldn't remember what I wanted when I got there.   It was obvious something was wrong with my long-term and short-term memory.

I was in my 20s.  Not an age that normally has memory problems.   Going to the doctor resulted in the discovery that Aspartame screws with the brain.  It was recommended I stay away from Aspartame and never give it to my children.   In fact, the doctor said that everyone should stay as far away from it as possible as well as any other artificial sweetener.   Except for one problem:  it was in the vitamins their grandfather, who worked for Bayer, kept them supplied with despite the warnings that it should not be given to children.

I had to tell him to stop sending them to us.  He said I was overreacting.  I told him I wasn't and repeated what the doctor said.  That was also one of the few doctors I listened to.  My soon-to-be-ex-in-laws have always felt I was stupid, so I expected the fight.   I informed him that I would throw them away if he sent them.  My choice on what to feed my own children became a bone of contention for several months until they realized I wasn't backing down.

As time went by I found it in other children's products.  I had already read labels until #5 outgrew his food allergies, but now I found myself reading everything for hidden artificial sweeteners. I was amazed at the amount of items it was in.  My favorite cold medication recently began adding it.  I can't find many medications I can actually take now.  Over time my memory improved, but it was never 100% again.

Then high fructose corn syrup was exchanged for the sugar.   I didn't notice when this happened, because food makers can be sneaky people.   No announcements were made.  It just happened.  I noticed the soda tasted a bit "off", but thought it was just an odd batch.

I noticed changes in my body that I put down to getting older and childbirth.   Things that normally didn't hurt began hurting.   Again, I figured I'm getting older.  It was normal, right?  Turns out it isn't so normal after all.  It wasn't until recently that I discovered what HFCS can do to the human body.  I also discovered how many items I bought listed it as an ingredient.

A few years after the Aspartame incident, I began feeling odd after eating certain foods.  Sometimes it felt like things were crawling under my face and scalp.  Sometimes I had a headache.  Many times it was both along with feeling like I was going to vomit, my face would flush and "floaties" showed up in my eyes.

Within 24 hours I'd be in the bathroom with severe stomach cramps.  I began keeping the empty containers to compare with each other if I became sick.  One ingredient immediately popped out at me:  Monosodium Glutamate.   Cutting any food out that contained that ingredient had me feeling better, but I was still getting sick.  Comparing ingredients lists did nothing.  Sometimes only one ingredient would be in two items that made me sick, but the third item wouldn't contain it.

It was put down to Irritable Bowel Syndrome.  I was resigned to making sure I knew where a bathroom was at all times.   It sucked.  I would promise to take the kids somewhere, we'd be walking out the door, and - pow - I was running to the bathroom in pain.   At one point my youngest daughter accused me of having a phobia of going places, and she felt it was all in my head.  Ironically, this is my daughter who claims everything makes her sick (we found out later why).

One night we were running very late with errands and childrens' activities, so I grabbed Kentucky Fried Chicken on the way home.  Normally, I only have one serving.  That night I had two.    Within an hour my head was killing me.  One of the kids looked at me and said, "Mom, your face is like really red!"  Looking in a mirror showed I looked sunburned, but we hadn't been outside much.  I felt like I was going to throw up.  I fought the heaves, because KFC the second time around just did not sound appealing. The room was doing The Twist.

I went to bed early, but woke up in the middle of the night with the most severe chest pain I have ever felt.  My heart was trying to race itself out of my rib cage.  My breath was hitching.  I couldn't get a good breath of air.  Trying to reach behind me to wake my husband proved fruitless.  My entire body was frozen.  Nothing would move.  That scared me far more than the certainty I was having a heart attack.  I lay there, and for the first time, I truly felt I was going to die.  Not to be dramatic, but there was just this deep surety that I was dying.  Tears formed in my eyes due to the pain and fear.

I don't know how long it lasted.  It could have been 5 minutes.  It could have been an hour.  What I do know is I will never forget that feeling - ever.   Slowly I began to be able to move, breathe and the pain in my chest began to subside.  I slowly stood, because I was very dizzy, to call an ambulance.  But by the time I got to the phone, everything was almost over.  The dizziness was passing, the pain was almost gone, I could move normally, etc.  I'd feel pretty stupid for calling anyone or even going to the hospital at that point.  Yes, I know I should have anyhow.

 The following morning I woke determined to figure this out.  I was sick of being sick!  I decided to keep it simple.  I Googled "headache after KFC".   This article caught my attention:

http://www.earthclinic.com/CURES/MSG.html

Which lead me to this site and brochure:

http://truthinlabeling.org/SourcesBrochure.pdf

And I discovered why I've been so sick for years.  IBS is the name of a set of symptoms.  It is not the name of an actual illness.   It's what doctors pull out when they don't have a clue.

I am MSG/Excitotoxin sensitive.  It is NOT an allergy.  It is a toxicity.  My body was being poisoned as is everyone else.  My "poison threshold" is low.  Why such a reaction to KFC?  Over 90% of KFC's menu is loaded with MSG.  It's even in the flavoring that is injected into the chicken.  In fact, it's in the chicken you buy at the store.   I had two chicken breasts, two servings of fries, mashed potatoes, gravy, and a biscuit.  At home I added fresh carrots and applesauce to "healthy" it up.   We also bought the chocolate cake as a surprise for the kids.  I had one slice.  It alone wasn't responsible.  Everything I'd eaten up to that point also contributed. It sent me over the edge in a very scary fashion and left me with a slightly damaged heart.

There is no test for MSG sensitivity.  Diagnosis is trial and error.  I started with the first list.  The "always" list.   While reading it, I recognized the ingredients that "didn't match anything" were, in fact, all MSG.  I went to the second list.  I was hoping I wouldn't react to any of it.  Again, I reacted to about all of it.   I don't even want to attempt the rest of the list. I stay away from it all now.   I printed out two copies of the brochure: one to carry and one to put on my fridge.

This news, while great for my health, ruined my plans to enroll in nursing school.  You see, I can't have vaccines either - not that I'd want to (not going there right now).   Having such a reaction to food, which is partially filtered by my body, is scary enough.  Having a needle loaded with free glutamtes, and other toxins, directly injected into my bloodstream scares the crap out of me.

Then I ate a can of corn.  Just a simple can of corn.  And became sick.  My first thought was "Seriously?!"  More research showed that almost all canned corn is GMO.  Guess what?  Apparently I can't have GMO corn.  See where this is going?   If you're thinking "organic only", you'd be right.  But even organic isn't exempt from having MSG ingredients.   Remember, MSG is a "natural" additive.   Natural my a... foot.

Now, let's add in the fact that I am a biblical Messianic, and eating becomes quite the adventure.  While I do not believe in the "no milk/meat in the same meal", I do believe in biblical kosher eating, so I will not put meat and milk in the same dish like Beef Stroganof.  Nor do I go to the extreme of separate dishes.

Then we discovered that my youngest daughter is allergic to soy.  Oy.  At first I wanted to bang my head on something.  After I researched soy, I was more than happy to cut it out of our diet.  My 7 year old grandson is developing body odor.  After researching soy and seeing how much of it is in his diet, I am not surprised.

The more I researched food, food additives, so-called "healthy" alternatives (which I can't have because they are toxic to me - and you), the more I began to look at blogs and websites to find information and food recipes my family can eat.   However, I have yet to find one that suits my family's eating requirements.

And that is how this blog was born.   Be warned, I am not a professional writer.  In fact, any grammar nazi is probably having an apoplectic fit right now.   But the blog is me.  The writing is how I speak.

It's not about losing weight, though God knows I could use it.  It's not about telling others what they should or should not eat, though if it helps someone - you're welcome. My goal is to record my journey to be healthy.  My goal is to put recipes, articles, and ideas that are biblically kosher and healthy in a spot where I can find them.

Whether or not you join me on this journey - Abi Genunt!