Daily Archive

I have updated my post called “Nutritional Healing for Allergic Dermatitis” with new, wonderful news. I hope you’ll take a look.

Nutritional Healing for Allergic Dermatitis

When my youngest began suffering bleeding, oozing, itching eczema all over her body I was stumped. We had allergies in the family, but nothing ever caused this much of a reaction. She was just a year old when her first bout hit. She had been exclusively breastfed for nearly that entire first year, which was my best attempt to stop the allergies before they started. She didn’t react to the plain banana I fed her, nor the plain avocado. The plain egg caused a minor rash. But when she started eating table food, it was a constant struggle of rashes, Benadryl and antibiotics.

We took her to an allergist who discovered three main triggers: dust mites, casein (milk protein) and corn. There were more, but the reactions were minor compared to those “big three.” Our family already had lactose intolerance issues, so milk wasn’t the problem. We covered the mattresses, disposed of the stuffed animals, washed everything we could in boiling hot water, removed milk from her diet, picked up the carpets and installed air filters. The eczema continued to worsen. No problem, said I, we’ll just skip the corn on the cob and cornbread! But her allergies persisted. Aha, I deduced, high fructose corn syrup must be the culprit. We made sure that was stricken from our diet. And the allergies continued. As I studied, I learned that corn is nearly unavoidable in processed foods. Even food you don’t think of as being processed like ground beef can contain enough corn to cause a reaction in highly sensitive individuals, which Rose clearly was.

I continued studying and became more and more frustrated. Corn was everywhere all the time. How was I going to help this child? What did she really need to avoid?

Here’s a short list, compiled by Find Safe Food:

* The obvious (corn, corn starch, corn meal, corn syrup, etc)
* Corn Derivatives (see list below)
* Basically any ingredient that doesn’t specify it’s food source. (For example malt can be from corn or barley. Vinegar… guess what the cheapest source is.)
* Scented things like perfume, candles, air freshener, etc
* Cleaning supplies including laundry soap
* Fruits and vegetables (Many are coated with corn wax or oil or washed with water and citric acid. This includes many organic.)
* Peaches (Corn and peach have a similar shaped protein. Often the two allergies go hand in hand.)
* Iodized salt (Corn is the glue that makes the iodine stick)
* Dairy products (Any milk with vitamins use a corn derivative to help them “stick”. Plus most US milk is fed corn and it does pass through with the protein intact.)
* Meat (Most wrappers are dusted with corn to prevent them from sticking. Also any added colors or flavor solutions often contain corn.)
* Eggs (Corn oil rubbed on the shells, which are porous)
* Bread (Besides the obvious they can be cooked on corn meal so it sticks to the crust… and not labeled as containing corn)
* Medicine
* Gasoline (A lot is now 10% or more ethanol.)

But wait, what about that second item: corn derivatives? What all does that entail? Here’s a more exhaustive list compiled by Corn Allergens:

* Acetic acid
* Alcohol
* Alpha tocopherol
* Artificial flavorings
* Artificial sweeteners
* Ascorbates
* Ascorbic acid
* Astaxanthin
* Baking powder
* Barley malt* (generally OK, but can be contaminated)
* Bleached flour*
* Blended sugar (sugaridextrose)
* Brown sugar* (generally OK if no caramel color)
* Calcium citrate
* Calcium fumarate
* Calcium gluconate
* Calcium lactate
* Calcium magnesium acetate (CMA)
* Calcium stearate
* Calcium stearoyl lactylate
* Caramel and caramel color
* Carbonmethylcellulose sodium
* Cellulose microcrystalline
* Cellulose, methyl
* Cellulose, powdered
* Cetearyl glucoside
* Choline chloride
* Citric acid*
* Citrus cloud emulsion (CCS)
* Coco glycerides (cocoglycerides)
* Confectioners sugar
* Corn alcohol, corn gluten
* Corn extract
* Corn flour
* Corn oil, corn oil margarine
* Corn starch
* Corn sweetener, corn sugar
* Corn syrup, corn syrup solids
* Corn, popcorn, cornmeal
* Cornstarch, cornflour
* Crosscarmellose sodium
* Crystalline dextrose
* Crystalline fructose
* Cyclodextrin
* DATUM (a dough conditioner)
* Decyl glucoside
* Decyl polyglucose
* Dextrin
* Dextrose (also found in IV solutions)
* Dextrose anything (such as monohydrate or anhydrous)
* d-Gluconic acid
* Distilled white vinegar
* Drying agent
* Erythorbic acid
* Erythritol
* Ethanol
* Ethocel 20
* Ethylcellulose
* Ethylene
* Ethyl acetate
* Ethyl alcohol
* Ethyl lactate
* Ethyl maltol
* Fibersol-2
* Flavorings*
* Food starch
* Fructose*
* Fruit juice concentrate*
* Fumaric acid
* Germ/germ meal
* Gluconate
* Gluconic acid
* Glucono delta-lactone
* Gluconolactone
* Glucosamine
* Glucose*
* Glucose syrup* (also found in IV solutions)
* Glutamate
* Gluten
* Gluten feed/meal
* Glycerides
* Glycerin*
* Glycerol
* Golden syrup
* Grits
* High fructose corn syrup
* Hominy
* Honey*
* Hydrolyzed corn
* Hydrolyzed corn protein
* Hydrolyzed vegetable protein

take a breath…

* Hydroxypropyl methylcellulose
* Hydroxypropyl methylcellulose pthalate (HPMCP)
* Inositol
* Invert syrup or sugar
* Iodized salt
* Lactate
* Lactic acid*
* Lauryl glucoside
* Lecithin
* Linoleic acid
* Lysine
* Magnesium fumarate
* Maize
* Malic acid
* Malonic acid
* Malt syrup from corn
* Malt, malt extract
* Maltitol
* Maltodextrin
* Maltol
* Maltose
* Mannitol
* Methyl gluceth
* Methyl glucose
* Methyl glucoside
* Methylcellulose
* Microcrystaline cellulose
* Modified cellulose gum
* Modified corn starch
* Modified food starch
* Molasses* (corn syrup may be present; know your product)
* Mono and di glycerides
* Monosodium glutamate
* MSG
* Natural flavorings*
* Olestra/Olean
* Polenta
* Polydextrose
* Polylactic acid (PLA)
* Polysorbates* (e.g. Polysorbate 80)
* Polyvinyl acetate
* Potassium citrate
* Potassium fumarate
* Potassium gluconate
* Powdered sugar
* Pregelatinized starch
* Propionic acid
* Propylene glycol*
* Propylene glycol monostearate*
* Saccharin
* Salt (iodized salt)
* Semolina (unless from wheat)
* Simethicone
* Sodium carboxymethylcellulose
* Sodium citrate
* Sodium erythorbate
* Sodium fumarate
* Sodium lactate
* Sodium starch glycolate
* Sodium stearoyl fumarate
* Sorbate
* Sorbic acid
* Sorbitan
* Sorbitan monooleate
* Sorbitan tri-oleate
* Sorbitol
* Sorghum* (not all is bad; the syrup and/or grain CAN be mixed with corn)
* Starch (any kind that’s not specified)
* Stearic acid
* Stearoyls
* Sucrose
* Sugar* (not identified as cane or beet)
* Threonine
* Tocopherol (vitamin E)
* Treacle (aka golden syrup)
* Triethyl citrate
* Unmodified starch
* Vanilla, natural flavoring
* Vanilla, pure or extract
* Vanillin
* Vegetable anything that’s not specific*
* Vinegar, distilled white
* Vinyl acetate
* Vitamin C* and Vitamin E*
* Vitamins*
* Xanthan gum
* Xylitol
* Yeast*
* Zea mays
* Zein
PLEASE NOTE: In addition to the items on this list not including everything that contains corn, not everything on this list will contain corn. It is that they can contain corn, and therefore may need to be outright avoided or used cautiously. Read more about this on the Corn Allergens as Ingredients page. The items identified with an asterik * are the most common items that might not always contain or be derived from corn. Proceed with caution!

Now, I’m not throwing all this information at you to scare you. Chances are if you are facing a loved one with a corn allergy, not all of these items will cause a reaction every time. The reason I’m posting this gigantic list, in addition to calling your attention to a couple really outstanding websites, is to let you know how far our food has come. You can no longer look at a piece of meat, an egg, a vitamin pill or a cup of vinegar and think, “Oh! I know what’s in this!” because chances are you don’t.

Despite a traditional, almost entirely homemade-from-scratch diet, my daughter will still have an occasional reaction the cause of which is a complete mystery to me. There will be times that her allergies are so bad we resort to Benadryl, which contains corn, just to give her some relief. We try very hard not to consciously feed her anything containing corn, but as you can tell from the lists, it’s a difficult walk.

Finding single-ingredient food is a luxury for the foodie; a way of life for the traditional eater and a matter of life and death for the allergic.