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1sweetpea
Raw Newbie
Some foods are causing strange skin reactions on my face. I'll get one pink hive on a cheek, or smaller, colourless bumps and lumps that are only mildly itchy, all on my face. They appear one day and are gone hours later or by the next morning. I'm unable to determine what is causing them. I believe it is more than one food or ingredient. I got little bumps near my mouth yesterday from eating two organic Ambrosia apples. Today, I can't say for sure what it could have been. I ate a pomegranate, spinach salad, butternut squash and green (flat) beans (which I cooked because they were terrible raw). I also ate a small amount nuts (5 Brazil nuts, less than an ounce of pecans, one macadamia and a few pine nuts). I used organic miso and fresh lemon and lime in the dressing for the spinach, along with organic olive oil. Obviously, the sheer variety will make it tough to determine the cause of today's breakout, but I'm disconcerted at the regularity with which I'm breaking out in odd lumps and bumps. These aren't pimples and the skin is never broken. It's just swelling that hangs around for a few hours, then goes away. I'd chalk it up to more detox fun and games, but the episodes seem to be directly linked with foods.
Last week, after a pretty bad weekend of overindugence in cooked food, dairy and wines at a gourmet food and wine expo in Toronto, I spent two days eating minimally and drinking lots of water, to flush it all out. By the second day, I looked jaundiced. My friend, who is a shiatsu therapist, suggested that the dairy and wine are very damp foods that cause dampness in the body, an abundance of which could account for the yellow skin. It only lasted the day, so I'm not worrying too much. The dairy indulgence was a huge mistake. I won't do that again anytime soon. It ground my digestive and eliminative system to a halt. I do enjoy wine, but I rarely drink more than a glass or two. However, the jaundice was something I've never experienced in my life. It was certainly strange to look in the mirror and see a yellow face and neck. Thankfully, the lighting in the restaurant I went to that evening was very dim.
So, the real question in all of this is: am I exhibiting true (mild) allergies or sensitivites to a variety of foods and will this continue, or is there some element of detox that is causing the strange reactions to foods, that might settle down at a later time? If I'm no longer detoxing, say, a month from now, will the same two apples or whatever I'm sensitive to today still be an issue?
Comments
its time to reduce your self to foods that don't or rather Didn't cause any problems before... Then Add New Foods on a weekly basis until you find the one that is causing the problem...
I think you've missed my point RawNewOrleans. I wasn't particularly sensitive to any foods "before". At this point, pretty much anything could cause a flare-up and the oddest part is that even the flare-ups are inconsistent and unpredictable in appearance and location.
Hi 1sweetpea,
I have the hives your talking about for years, I thought for a long time that I am alergic to different things like gluten, lactose, and many others......It's only about 2 months ago, when I realized it's fat I am reacting to. I found out this by trying raw food for a while, and I was reacting to nuts, because they're oily. And the reaction is a delayed one. You're eating now, you react hours later...if you eat something fatty at evening, the rush comes out the next morning, right before you even have time to have breakfast. this is what i experience. I am not sure what is the cause, but it's closely related to the liver and the gall blader, I guess. The jaundice you experienced is definitely from a bad functioning of this two organs. I am in the same boat as you; and I would really need some advice regarding this.
I do belive that a raw food diet, would detox the liver. And this is not gonna happen over night, we have to be patient. My question is how low can we go on fat, without creating more damage to the body. I really hope there someone out there who can help us with this. Right now, I am not in a raw food diet, but I found out the digestive enzymes help a lot, when I am having fatty foods. Look for a formula that has a big number of lipase component.
By the way, dairy is fat.....that's why you reacted that bad.....I got into something similar, by having raw cookies (which, of course, contain lots of nuts-fat) and I had a really bad weekend, although I didn't turn yellow. I am sure I was very close to it. Try NO FAT for a couple of days, and let me know if you still got the hives. I bet you will not have them at all.
wow, I just read your bio, and I am Joanna too. Just written differently: Ioana.
OMG! That would explain so much! I try to eat mostly fruit and veg with a bit of cooked grains, but there are times (nearly every day) that I get really hungry and eat some nuts. It seems like a small amount to me, but it's a lot of fat ... and all at one time. Aside from that, the only fat I eat on a regular basis is just oil in my salad dressings or oil in any prepared dishes. I rarely use more than a couple of teaspoons or a tablespoon at most, but it could very well be that the many years of abuse I heaped on my poor body as a result of bulimia and (to a lesser extent) anorexia, have taken a toll on my liver and gallbladder. It may take a year or more before my body "heals" from the damage I did to it.
I will look into the digestive enzymes. I, like you iana, would be very interested to hear others weigh in on this topic, preferably someone with either firsthand experience or someone trained in one of the various health fields. The strange skin eruptions are daily right now (this week, anyway) and I've been careful to eat different fruits and vegetables each day. The one constant has been the nuts and seeds (Brazils, pecans, pine nuts and a few pumpkin seeds -- all raw). I'll avoid all three for the next little while and see whether my face is still reacting to the remaining foods.
I'd love a straight answer on how much fat is the ideal amount to be healthy, but not overfed. What is the minimum needed to keep everything in good working order? I know Doug Graham and the 80/10/10rv diet believes that no more than 10% of calories should be coming from fat. But then, the next logical question is: how many calories should I be ingesting on a daily basis? I'm only 5'1.5". I'm a small person. I'm moderately active, but inconsistent about daily exercise. I have good weeks and lazy weeks. I believe that the 80/10/10 concept works best for high energy athletic types. I don't think I'm anywhere close. My intentions are good, but in practice ... well, I'm up and down. If someone has a suggestion of a website that can give me a realistic calculation of caloric needs, that would be great. I've really tried to steer away from calorie and fat gram counting, but maybe it's necessary for my/our situations.
Thanks for the response, iana. You've given me some food for thought.
Everything I've just told you came from my experience .....(I've been through years of frustration of "what the hell is the cause of those hives?) I am sick of doctors trying to figure out what I have....I discovered it all by myself.
I am a small person too, I have never been fat, but now, because all this is going on for a while, I've became really skinny, to the point that I got very worried. And the worse, it seems that I cannot put the pounds back. Also I have another big issue (let me know if you have the same symptoms) : carbohydrates are creating eruptions on my face, acneea, and my cheecks are all redish and bumpy. This happens all because of carbs......I noticed that if I stay away, I clear up. I research the internet about this, and it seems it's because of liver/gall bladder disorder.
Let me know more. I will be back online, later on this evening.