My Cause of Acid Reflux Disease-like Symptoms
 

I've been experiencing "Acid reflux disease"-like symptoms,
lately, and believe I have traced it back to frozen food
products I've bought. When I don't eat them, I don't have the
symptoms. (Not just mere heartburn, but persistent
milk-scoffing acidic drip.)

Here's a list of the ingredients that two of the boxes have in
common. Unfortunately, I've already thrown out even two more,
so I can't round it down any more than I am about to:

Oh no, the third box is gone now, too. Lemme see if I can
locate the products on the 'net.

Well, I found the company... http://www.zapasnack.com/

Hmm, going over the ingredients, I don't see anything out of
the ordinary except maybe the artificial flavoring, which
contains propylene glycol. Lemme look that up, now, to see if
it has a bad rep.

http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/tfacts96.html

FOUND IT!

"Ethylene glycol affects the body's chemistry by increasing
the amount of acid, resulting in metabolic problems. Similar
to ethylene glycol, propylene glycol increases the amount of
acid in the body. However, larger amounts of propylene glycol
are needed to cause this effect."

Yeah! BULLSHI'ITE! The government is allowing us to be
poisoned! I NEVER have heartburn which defies a glass of milk.
This stuff defies FOUR glasses of milk and vanishes when I
stop eating ZapaSnack products. I will certainly be on the
look-out for propylene glycol, now!

UziUzi posted 09-09-2002 03:42 PM CST (US)
--------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------
And to think that if I went to the doctor, they'd try to
prescribe a drug, when the solution is this simple! Farking
Aesclapians! If my doc wasn't a Cohen(of Jewish priestly
line), I wouldn't go!

Re: My Cause of Acid Reflux Disease-like Symptoms
 

  > I've been experiencing "Acid reflux disease"-like symptoms,
  > lately, and believe I have traced it back to frozen food
  > products I've bought. [...] I don't see anything out of the
  > ordinary except maybe the artificial flavoring, which
  > contains propylene glycol.

That is, the solvent used for a very minor ingredient -
flavourings are not going to be more 1% of any food.

  > "Ethylene glycol affects the body's chemistry by increasing
  > the amount of acid, resulting in metabolic problems.

You are only going to get that effect if you drink the same
sort of quantities of the stuff as you would of alcohol. The
acid produced is not the one found in your stomach
(hydrochloric acid) and which causes reflux problems, but
propanoic acid, which is much weaker. And it won't be formed
in your stomach but in your bloodstream. The symptoms it
causes are hangover-like.

What seems more likely to me is a food sensitivity of some
sort: maybe to the flavourings, but an immune reaction rather
than a metabolic one. Allergic reactions often lead to
histamine release in the stomach, with the histamine in turn
triggering acid release.

  > I NEVER have heartburn which defies a glass of milk. This
  > stuff defies FOUR glasses of milk and vanishes when I stop
  > eating ZapaSnack products. I will certainly be on the
  > look-out for propylene glycol, now!

Which also points in the same direction. Any adult with a food
sensitivity who would even consider drinking four glasses of
milk at one hit has most likely got a masked allergy to dairy
products as the underlying problem (i.e. triggering both milk
cravings and allergic reactions to other foods).

Try cutting milk (and all dairy products) out of your diet for
a few weeks to see what happens. My guess is you'll be
climbing the walls like a junkie within four days and feel
like shit for more than a week (usual for dairy withdrawal).
Then things will start to get better. After a month, a *lot*
better, though sporadic cravings will continue for months.

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========> bounce. <========
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food intolerance data and recipes, freeware logic fonts for
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Re: My Cause of Acid Reflux Disease-like Symptoms
 

  > Which also points in the same direction. Any adult with a
  > food sensitivity who would even consider drinking four
  > glasses of milk at one hit has most likely got a masked
  > allergy to dairy products as the underlying problem (i.e.
  > triggering both milk cravings and allergic reactions to
  > other foods).

Not at one sitting, but as symptoms persist. It takes this
many glasses to finally alleviate the symptoms.

  >
  > Try cutting milk (and all dairy products) out of your diet
  > for a few weeks to see what happens.

And what do you recommend for the heartburn that follows
bananas, food with tomatoes, and chocolate?

I'm not going to suffer for months for some wellness you
promise but which may never materialize, not when I can forego
these products and quell heartburn with sometimes nothing more
than 1/4 a glass of milk.

Thanks for your advice, help and concern.

--Uzi

Re: My Cause of Acid Reflux Disease-like Symptoms
 

  > I think propylene glycol is an ingredient in anti-freeze

So is water. Water is also an essential ingredient in germ
warfare munitions and nuclear reprocessing plants, is given
off by burning tyres, and is used in death cells for preparing
lethal injections. Gonna avoid that too?

The original poster was talking about metabolic acidosis.
Whatever other side-effects propylene glycol may be capable of
producing, it will not cause that one except on an intake
about a thousand times higher than he's getting.

This is the same sort of screaming howler Rich Murray makes in
every one of his posts and same the sort of bollocks you get
from the neo-Nazi anti-fluoride loonies. Mention a toxic
effect of a substance and then lie by omission, failing to
state that it will only occur at a dosage level far higher
than any conceivable dietary intake. You might as well try to
discourage people from taking a spoonful of blackstrap
molasses every morning by quoting the Boston Molasses Flood at
them. (It's a kind of sophistry not unknown in government
regulatory bodies as well).

========> Email to "jc" at this site; email to "bogus" will
========> bounce. <========
Jack Campin: 11 Third Street, Newtongrange, Midlothian EH22
4PU; 0131 6604760 http://www.purr.demon.co.uk/purrhome.html
food intolerance data and recipes, freeware logic fonts for
the Macintosh, and Scots traditional music resources

Re: My Cause of Acid Reflux Disease-like Symptoms
 

I have been having heartburn problems. Two of the standard
prescription meds seem to make it better, but it is still a
dull pain whenever my stomac is empty, and sometimes when it
if full. I decided it had started when tomatoes ripend in our
garden and we began eating them raw. I had always eaten canned
tomatoes with no problem. However, stopping all tomatoes
didn't seem to help, Somebody back there mentioned tomatoes,
bananas, and chocolate as a cause. Oh woe! I eat a lot of
bananas, one to three a ay. Also three squares of Hershey'a
chocolate a day. I hate to think of stopping them. Also, I
have eaten bananas for years, and the chocolate for a year or
more. The problem started about 2 months ago. I might try
dropping the chocolate, a small sacrifice. I would be very
miserable if I had to give up bananas. Bicarbonate, or a
couple of teaspoons of olive oil, give temporary relief. Maybe
I'l just go on using them and the prescription med. My doctor
operates on the principle, "one symptom-one medicine. If that
doesn't work, two medicines. another symptom, a third
medicine,and so on" I am taking 8 different prescriptions, and
a relative who is a doctor says I am seriously overmedicated.
If I to the doctor again, it is one more medication. Changing
doctors is possible but awkward.

Re: My Cause of Acid Reflux Disease-like Symptoms
 

  > I have been having heartburn problems. Somebody back there
  > mentioned tomatoes, bananas, and chocolate as a cause.

Distinctly possible. All three contain substances with
neurotransmitter activity.

  > Oh woe! I eat a lot of bananas, one to three a ay. Also
  > three squares of Hershey'a chocolate a day. I hate to think
  > of stopping them.

It is very common for a food allergy to produce cravings for
what's causing you problems. The stronger the craving the more
likely it is you're allergic.

The bad news is that the best way to find out would be to
eliminate these foods *completely* for a while to see what
happens. Chances are you will feel terrible for few days and
then things will start to improve.

The not-quite-so-bad news is that often allergies diminish in
intensity after withdrawal and you can reintroduce the food
again a few months later, albeit at a lower level (e.g. one
banana every three days).

========> Email to "jc" at this site; email to "bogus" will
========> bounce. <========
Jack Campin: 11 Third Street, Newtongrange, Midlothian EH22
4PU; 0131 6604760 http://www.purr.demon.co.uk/purrhome.html
food intolerance data and recipes, freeware logic fonts for
the Macintosh, and Scots traditional music resources

Re: My Cause of Acid Reflux Disease-like Symptoms
 

Think you need to reread the response and rethink what you
were being told. If you find out you are allergic to dairy or
more likely wheat and gluten products your digestion will
start to work properly and you will not suffer will all the
other foods.

I have food allergies also to tomatoes, chocolate and bananas
and all the other easy to point out foods but if I cut out the
wheat and glutens I can tolerate a fair bit of any of them
without any bad effects.

Hard but well worth it.

"Uziyahu / Clif" <NOSPAMMuziyahu~hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:2vdf9.198669$Rx4.2167820~twister.tampabay.rr.com...
     > > Which also points in the same direction. Any adult with a
     > > food sensitivity who would even consider drinking four
     > > glasses of milk at one hit has most likely got a masked
     > > allergy to dairy products as the underlying problem (i.e.
     > > triggering both milk cravings and allergic reactions to
     > > other foods).
  >
  > Not at one sitting, but as symptoms persist. It takes this
  > many glasses
to finally
  > alleviate the symptoms.
  >
     > >
     > > Try cutting milk (and all dairy products) out of your diet
     > > for a few weeks to see what happens.
  >
  > And what do you recommend for the heartburn that follows
  > bananas, food
with
  > tomatoes, and chocolate?
  >
  > I'm not going to suffer for months for some wellness you
  > promise but which
may never
  > materialize, not when I can forego these products and quell
  > heartburn with
sometimes
  > nothing more than 1/4 a glass of milk.
  >
  > Thanks for your advice, help and concern.
  >
  > --Uzi