Health Food /Raw Products with corn in them?

I've just found out that I'm allergic to corn. Being on a raw food diet, it shouldn't be too hard to avoid! But i just want to know if there's any supplements, vitamins, protein powders, superfoods, sweeteners, etc which contain corn ingredients so I can be aware and avoid them as well. Thanks! BTW, I just printed off a list of corn derivitives and corn-containing products, and it's four pages long! But I'll just put a very very basic list here:

dextrose

dextrin

maltodextrin

corn syrup

glucose

glucose-fructose

fructose

invert sugar

corn starch

modified starch

starch thickener

corn oil oil

vegetable oil oil

margarine oil

shortening

xanthan gum

xylitol

yeast

Comments

  • joannabananajoannabanana Raw Newbie

    well, our bodies need glucose to function and it's the simplest form of a carbohydrate so you have to eat it. besides the glucose (dextrose) and fructose, if your diet is primarily fruits and veggies, i don't see how you could eat corn. if you're buying vitamins or supplements, you can always look at the ingredient list to make sure.

  • freewitheftfreewitheft Raw Newbie

    There are a lot of supplements that contain corn - it's usually listed as maltodextrin. Luckily, many manufacturer's are labeling what their products are "free of" in much more detail these days. Be diligent on checking labels every time you buy, sometimes they change ingredients, or there will be corn in the 1000IU vitamin D but not the 2000IU vitamin D from the same company!

  • camiheartsrawcamiheartsraw Raw Newbie

    I was shocked to find out that almost ALL vitamin C is derived from Corn. I was pretty happy when I found NOW Foods has "tru-C" in vegan caps that is corn free. (and soy, dairy, gluten, yeast free) I have lots of allergies, so I sympathize with you there. Unless a supplement specifically says it does not contain an ingredient, I don't usually get it without calling the company that manufactures it.

    I do have a pretty extensive article on what foods have corn, wheat, and soy hidden in them on my blog (under the "allergies" tag). It's a good thing we are on a raw diet.

    http://healingfromlupus.blogspot.com

  • jakkrabbitjakkrabbit Raw Newbie

    Wow, and here I thought they'd be deriving it from oranges and grapefruits. Doubt I have to worry as I can get all my vitamin C from fresh produce. Guess I should check the labels of my liquid multivitamin and calcium supplement though. I'm unsure how hypersensitive my allergy is. I reacted severely to the canned formula for my stomach tube, which has both corn syrup and maltodextrin, and I reacted a lot to peanut butter with maltodextrin, and I'm guessing that each of those had quite a fair amount of the corn syrup/maltodextrin. But I don't know if I would react to say vitamin C in a multivitamin or touching plastic packaging made with corn - I'll just have to see how it goes and see how extensive my allergy is. I'll definitely check out that article, thanks! And now I know even more how good a thing it is that I'm transitioning to raw!

  • freewitheftfreewitheft Raw Newbie

    The thing with those IgE allergies is that the quantity that's ingested doesn't really matter. If it was enough to get into the bloodstream and cause the immune reaction, then it was enough. I have had reactions to the small amount of corn in supplements. :( The best bet is to completely avoid the offending food for a full year, then try re-introducing it on a limited basis.

  • jakkrabbitjakkrabbit Raw Newbie

    Oh wow, you have a corn allergy too? I'm so new to this and I feel a little lost, considering the vast amount of products corn is in. Apparently it's even in some plastic packaging, and in the wax used to shine fruit! I think I should be fairly safe sticking to my high fruit low fat raw diet as there's basically no processed foods in there, but i had thought of adding in some supplements/superfoods... which ones had you tried that you'd found had corn in them?

  • freewitheftfreewitheft Raw Newbie

    Yeah, I have lots of allergies. So does cami, who posted up above. lol One of the supplements was my natural food store's private label, the other was a Country Life product. I have missed something before, because I read the label too fast and it looks like it's "free of" everything, then I find out later. So now I have to tick it off in my head and check for gluten, dairy, soy, egg, and corn. ugh

    I keep a food diary (2 years now!) to help me pinpoint when I'm having a reaction to something but it's also good to have an ELISA done if you can. Right now, I'm suspecting pecans and tomatoes but I haven't worried a whole lot since I'm having blood drawn for my first ELISA next Tuesday and I will find out for sure soon. I don't have insurance at the moment and it's really expensive out of pocket, but one of my local chain grocery stores does health screenings where you can get labs done without doctor's orders - CBC, chem panels, thyroid, etc. I'm getting a 90-food ELISA panel done for $109! I know it's silly, but I'm actually excited. lol

    If I wasn't getting the test, the way I would check for a new allergy is to eliminate the food for a full 2 weeks, then test it on a day when I know everything else I'm eating is safe.

  • camiheartsrawcamiheartsraw Raw Newbie

    Just for future reference, I *think* Metagenics medical food may have corn in it too hiding as fructose. In the past I went on that and it made things worse over time instead of better. I believe it's vegan, but it does not agree with me, so there's something in there and it doesn't specifically say No Corn.

    Corn is a REALLY common allergy. We're not really equipped to digest it anyhow, so I don't view it as a huge loss.

    I prefer provocative skin testing over blood testing for allergies. It seems to catch more - blood work only works if you're eating a lot of it prior to the test and then it can be a bit off... It's good for a baseline though.

     

Sign In or Register to comment.