Hide and Seek with Corn Allergy

At three months postpartum, I took the plunge and tested my food allergies (IgG and IgE) and the results were insane! 23 foods total, most being trivial fruits and vegetables I over-consumed while I was pregnant, but the real shocker was that I had a severe response to corn.

IgG immune responses are typically due to over-exposure and if you've been following me for any period of time, you know that corn is not something that I eat often or at all. So this really peaked my curiosity. Was it a fluke or was I being exposed to corn more than I realized?

I began searching my kitchen, reading ALL the labels and looking for anything that could have a sneaky ingredient I didn't know about. Nothing. I'm telling you guys, I keep it clean in the kitchen!! So I chocked it up to a fluke and went on with my life.

A couple of days later my husband and I were getting ready to leave the house when I realized I had forgotten to put on deodorant. I don't use a commercial deodorant everyday because most natural options are coconut based and I REALLY don't want to develop an allergy to coconut (remember, its about overexposure). My daily go to for deodorant is ACS Silver gel and that works great because it kills the bacteria in your armpit that causes the smell. However, when I leave the house, I do use deodorant for good measure because I don't want to smell like the dirty hippie people already think I am. Anyways, I put it on and within 30 seconds, I start to have itchy armpits...So I run back to the bathroom, pick up my deodorant, and read the label:

ingredients: caprylic/capric triglyceride, tapioca starch, ozokerite, sodium bicarbonate (baking soda), magnesium hydroxide, coconut oil, cyclodextrin, shea butter, dextrose, and L. Acidophilus (probiotic)

Cyclodextrin and dextrose are both derived from, you guessed it, CORN.

Moral of the story--It's not all about the food you eat but also about what you put on your body. If you haven't already cleaned up your personal hygiene products (including make-up), it might be time to do so. Remember to look for your food allergies and remove them, it will make all the difference in your health!

Without further adieu, here is a list of corn-based ingredients you might find in your food or in your personal hygiene products:

• corn syrup

• high fructose corn syrup

• fructose

• maltodextrin

• cyclodextrin

• dextrin

• dextrose

• glucose

• malt, malt syrup, malt extract

• excipients – a binder in pills

• GDL - glucona delta lactone - often found in cured meats

• mono-glycerides, di glycerides

• MSG – Mono-Sodium Glutamate is often derived from corn

• sorbitol

• sugar – if it doesn’t say beet (which is mainly GMO now) or cane

• corn starch, starch, modified food starch

• sucrose – though this used to be from cane sugar, some labels have been found to read “from corn”

• Caramel flavoring or coloring – though it can be made from cane or GMO beet sugar, it is often made from corn syrup

• Vegetable oil, vegetable broth, vegetable protein, hydrolyzed vegetable protein, vegetable mono or diglycerides.

• xanthan gum – a thickener often grown in corn

• mediazein – a fiber made from corn