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| Tuesday, March 30, 2010 |
| What are sulfites and why are they in our food? |
For many years, beginning when I was about 10 years old, I would occasionally get ocular migraines. An ocular migraine is a migraine that comes on suddenly and blurs your vision. When I experience one, I am only able to see half of everything. The other half looks almost like the snow you see on a television when the cable is out. The blurred vision lasts from 10 to 30 minutes with a dull headache and some nausea following. I never knew what caused these migraines. I made numerous trips to doctors who told me to avoid chocolate and cheese. Avoiding these things never helped. I just went on living with the headaches. I have sat in class with one, worked with patients with one, taught aerobics with one and been out at parties with one. I just learned to live with them. Until one day during my internship to become a Registered Dietitian, I attended a talk on migraines. I had never met anyone who had the exact migraines I had experienced and I was beginning to think I was the only one. However, during his talk, the doctor put up a slide that showed an ocular migraine. It looked exactly like what I would see when I had mine. He started to talk about things that might trigger these types of headaches. Included on his list was Sulfur Dioxide. That was my “ah ha” moment. The moment I realized what had been causing my headaches all along.
What is sulfur dioxide? It is a sulfite or sulfiting agent that is used as a food preservative. It’s usually used to prevent discoloration in foods such as dried fruit, sun dried tomatoes, maraschino cherries, snack foods and dried or frozen potatoes. It is also used as an antimicrobial in wines and fruit juices. It keeps raisins and other dried fruits from losing their light color by blocking both enzymatic browning and a non-enzymatic browning reactions between reducing sugars and amino acids. The reaction darkens raisins, alters their flavor, and reduces essential amino acid levels. The FDA considers sulfur dioxide to be safe and therefore it is one of the most widely used preservatives in the American food supply. They do state that a small percentage of the population is allergic to sulfur dioxide. Hence my ocular migraines. Check your refrigerator and cupboards and you will most likely find at least 5 items with sulfur dioxide in them. It may be in your salad dressing, raisins or hash browns. While it is safe for most of the populations, sulfur dioxide is not without controversy.
It is known that sulfites inhibit uptake of Vitamin B1. Decreased uptake of vitamin B1 can lead to chronic headaches and memory loss. Most people are unaware of that fact. Sulfur dioxide can also be dangerous for people with asthma. It is directly related to asthma attacks. According to the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), sulfites were responsible for at least 12 identifiable deaths during the 1980’s and probably many more before that. They also report that as a result of pressure from CSPI, the FDA banned the most dangerous uses of sulfites and required that wine labels list sulfites. Since those actions, CSPI has not been aware of any related deaths. The FDA does recommend that if you think you are sensitive to sulfites, you should avoid them. That would seem obvious however many people have no idea that it is sulfites that they are allergic to.
Many doctors and researchers will tell you that sulfites do not cause headaches and many will agree that they do. I know from personal experience that they cause headaches for me. One day I went out of my way to go to a store that sells “sulfite free dried fruit”. Unfortunately it turned out that the fruit was not sulfite free. How do I know? I got an ocular migraine within 4 hours of eating the fruit. I did actually mention it to the manager the next time I was in the store but he just looked at me as if he didn’t know what to say. How about “I’m sorry”? It wasn’t his fault. His provider was not supplying what they claimed to supply and that ended up causing a problem for me. These days I am very careful how much sulfur dioxide I take in. If I eat in a restaurant, I try to eat as clean as possible.
So, what does all this mean to you? Perhaps nothing. However, if you suffer from frequent headaches or a condition such as chronic fatigue, skin rashes and Irritable Bowel Syndrome, you may be sensitive to sulfites. If you or someone you know has unexplained headaches or other health conditions, take a look at your sulfite intake. Many sulfites are hidden in foods and that just might be the source of the problem.
- Jennifer
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Labels: healthy eating, Jennifer, Sulfites
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posted by My Sensei @ Tuesday, March 30, 2010   |
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| 2 Comments: |
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Thanks for the information on sulfites. I too know people who get headaches from foods with sulfites in them. Their doctors said, "No," but doctors don't know everything!
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Always great info & I have read about this too!
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Thanks for the information on sulfites. I too know people who get headaches from foods with sulfites in them. Their doctors said, "No," but doctors don't know everything!