katarzyna said...
I personally do not like carrageenan as well. Although, it doesn't upset my intestines as some of you have mentioned for a long period of time, at least. But if I recently stopped bleeding, it will start again and basically I will have some pains for a few days.
You guys are like a tornado. If only you had some socker boppers or something ~
My experience was more of the low-grade kind as well. I consumed the non-organic silk soy milk brand as a dairy alternative regularly, without going through the ingredient listing and without fully comprehending what was happening to my body. I was in "clinical remission" and ate what I wanted, so I guess you can say I was more or less enjoying life. One day, I decided to try the exotic low-fat flavor of the milk. Guess you can say it was good marketing because it didn't taste all that great. Didn't notice anything at first, and then one day it hit me like a storm and I suffered through possibly my worst flare ever - the colonoscopy later confirmed severe pancolitis, with ulcerations throughout the whole colon. I guess stress was the final trigger because I was finishing up some projects in college, but going from a non-diseased colon to a heavily ulcerated one in such a short frame isn't something I'd like to call a coincidence. I don't believe in medical coincidences anymore.
I was put on the max dose of azathioprine, mesalamine and prednisone following the experience because my doc didn't want to throw the surgery word around. To top it off, I had to take a fairly high dose of prevacid (60 mg), which messed up my stomach acid production after discontinuation. It's an experience I don't intend to repeat and it took a good year to recover from. I know other such people who don't have colitis, but have issues with carrageenan, though I guess they would classify as more on the IBS spectrum.
It was only after researching the ingredient and going through the studies later on that I learned how problematic it is for many people, and more so for certain populations like the Ashke**** jews. Knowing what I know now about
some of these ingredients and along with my genetic susceptibility to certain conditions, there's no way I'd pull the trigger and risk it again. I'm not sure if I'd be able to recover as fast now. I was 18 or 19 when it happened, but the body loses it's ability to heal as it ages.
Even despite all of that, I didn't suffer anything as bad as losing my hearing or something permanent of that nature. The FDA knows these ingredients are problematic and they refuse to do anything about
it. Anytime someone writes about
it on a non-profit site like cornucopia institute, the lobby hires people to regurgitate the same letter on its so-called safety. It's pretty disgraceful IMO and shows how far corporations are willing to go to protect profits. There's also a pretty strong suppression movement on these forums.
There is good news, however. Companies are complying and phasing out problematic ingredients thanks to strong consumer demand. Before that, we just believed that it was okay for us just because the FDA approved it, but people are as distrustful as ever now. I like that because it promotes change for the better.
The reason that individuals like foodbabe are so ruthless about
these things is that everyone has a personal journey to share in regards to foodstuff causing serious issues. In her case, she needed life saving surgery to remove her appendix. Doctors gave her the same spiel in that it was a coincidence and that foods had nothing to do with it, but she never accepted that and her health is tremendous now.
And it's the thank you posts on this forum that keep me going. I should have bolted a while back, but I'm fascinated with all the death to life stories. InSoFla no longer posts here because the same 4 users continue to harass her whenever she posts, but she's done enough good on these forums and benefited so many people (see the LDN threads). I have respect for people like her and she's an inspiration to me. I never really paid attention to her posts until about
a year ago because I refused to accept the role that foods played in inflammation.