Gluten, aspritame, food coloring and chemicals

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Hey, I never said it was "all in the mind". I just said that it could be, and you had to make sure it wasn't before you restricted your diet any further. Even when something originates from a placebo effect, it can still have very real physical consequences. With so many people recommending cutting out this thing or the other thing, I feel like I have to offer the balancing perspective--that while it can be dangerous to eat something you can't tolerate, it can be equally dangerous to restrict your diet too much, spend too much time obsessing over it, and end up with malnutrition.

You're right that I had some experiences with this in the past. My mom's obsession extended to me, and I'm pretty sure my growth wasn't as good as it could have been due to that. But my own past doesn't make my opinion invalid. I feel it gives me relevant insight.

I'm not saying that you should never exclude from your diet things that don't agree with you. In fact, that is one of the most straightforward treatments for allergies and digestive intolerance. What I am saying is that this treatment is not without its dangers and side effects, and that you must be careful to balance the risks and the benefits, just as you would when considering any other form of medical treatment.

Are you studying law?

I am gluten free and dairy free. I hate it! Tasteless food...

I'm electro sensitive too, fluorescent lighting, wifi, talking on a cell phone for more than 3-4 minutes

Maybe its time for us poor souls to get a home in the country with a garden and chickens....

The idea of a brand new home with new paint and new carpets, a new car with the new car smell, just gives me the willies.

I ride my scooter with a facemask on [it has 2 carbon filters] or drive the car only with windows up and air con on.

Sensitivity has its positives too I guess. If a wolf or bear was stalking me, I would probably have a better chance of survival.....

just as well I live in the city

Food colouring: Carmine/Cotcheniel (sp) AKA Red Food Dye:
I didnt think much of it as an allegery, just something that happend to me after i would have Red cordial/or red powerade. Instead of going hyper, I would go Hypo (under) become very dorwsie, and even develop a light headache, depending on how much i have had.
As I said i didnt think much of it untill my best aspie friend was telling me about his Red/Yellow food dye issues, and the same thing happends to him.
I am much more allert since ive stopped consuming thinsg with Red dyes in them.

I figured out in college I'm allergic to sodium phosphates, a preservative in a lot of prepared foods, and oddly enough in toothpastes and mouthwashes. If I don't get a high dose the reaction to a little bit on accident isn't so bad (and benedryl helps) but if I don't notice it in toothpaste I'll get blisters usually. I seem to be fine with nitrates, another preservative used in foods in a similar way. People sometimes seem to think I can't have any preservatives when it's just combinations of this one. But it is simpler to buy preservative free lunchmeats and stuff to avoid it.
I used to have a terrible blinding migraine reaction to low number red dyes (#4,5,6) but they seem to have been taken off the US market years ago. I don't have the same problem with red 40, or 44, which is what is used now.
I do have a problem with sugar once in awhile, but I have diabetics on both sides of the family. Asparatame/equal definitely makes me more migraine prone. Saccarin's ok. MSG is another additive I avoid for the same reason, but I'm not obsessive about avoiding it when I eat out. However most of the things I choose probably don't have it. I don't keep anything with MSG in it around the house. Both MSG and asparatame make your nerves fire faster and having migraines that border on seizures I don't need that sort of thing in my food. They are also said to make pain more intense too, just like MSG doesn't have a flavor itself but it intensifies other flavors.

(edited here) I apparently set myself up this past week to realize that I am not a big bread and pasta eater because I may have a gluten-mood issue, but not a gluten allergy. I had thought it was casein (milk) protein causing the problem but I did something atypical and when I realized what I'd done I knew I'd done it on purpose subconsciously for some reason. I don't miss details like that on accident, ever. I ate pizza, and then I got all the gluten out of my system...WOW, what a difference. And I thought I didn't have a gluten problem because I'm eating cereal with no issues...but I checked and it's *corn* cereal...no gluten! I've been sorta avoiding bread and pasta and most things gluten for a long time and it never occurred to me (consciously) that it might've been because I didn't like the way they were affecting me emotionally. So now I get to try this theory out and see how it works. The good news is I drank my vitamin/protein mix in milk last night and it didn't cause problems. So I might have been mistaken about the source of those problems all along.

Callista, you have a good point with the diet restrictions causing their own problems! I've realized lately that I haven't been doing it on purpose, and recently it's not so much through food avoidance but lack of appetite, but I haven't been eating right...enough to steadily lose weight. The lack of proper nutrition is affecting how I think and feel. Part of the problem was taking not 1 but 2 meds that wreck my appetite. 1 started causing problems in multiple areas so it had to go, and I'm just starting to get a little bit of appetite back. I almost need to set a timer to remind myself to eat, and I've studied nutrition enough that eating the right things shouldn't be a problem if I would just do it.
A multivitamin is also on the agenda, because I realize no matter how hard I try I'm stuck on 1 medication that suppresses my appetite and I have sensory issues with some foods, so I need something to fill in the gaps I know are going to be there.

I get headaches from aspartame, and I'm lactose intolerant. Other than that I have no food chemical sensitivities as far as I'm aware.

I am electro sensitive which I see as part of my general sensitivity ( I see sensitivity as my central issue, as described in intense world theory ).