{"id":2040,"date":"2016-02-08T18:01:45","date_gmt":"2016-02-09T00:01:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/?p=2040"},"modified":"2016-02-08T18:01:45","modified_gmt":"2016-02-09T00:01:45","slug":"corn-everywhere","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/corn-everywhere\/","title":{"rendered":"Corn is Everywhere!"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you have an allergy to, or intolerance for, corn, trying to avoid it can seem like wandering through a maze \u2013 there’s corn all around and it’s hard to find a good path through it because corn is everywhere!
\n\"corn\"
\nI’m experiencing an allergic reaction. I have huge red spots on my face, an itchy rash on my neck and my lips are burning like the worst chapped lips you’ve ever had. Benadryl is making me sleepy. I know that the quickest way to feel better is to avoid the allergen.
\n\"allergy\"
\nThe problem is that I don’t know what triggered my reaction. That means I’m eliminating any possible culprit from my diet and one of those possibilities is corn. In order to eliminate corn, I’m making a list of the things I need to avoid. Some of those are obvious like corn, corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, corn oil, corn meal, corn chips, corn bread, corn dogs, Corn Flakes, Corn Chex, tortilla chips, corn tortillas, corn flour, popcorn,<\/strong> and cornstarch<\/strong>. <\/p>\n

Other things containing corn may not be as obvious. Cheetos, Cheerios, Frosted Flakes, Tums, baking powder<\/strong> and confectioner’s sugar<\/strong> fall into that category. Many gluten-free pastas<\/strong> contain corn. Hominy, grits,<\/strong> and polenta<\/strong> are all made from corn. Most of these list corn on the label, but then there’s the ever present food starch. It may contain corn and be listed on a label as food starch, modified food starch,<\/strong> or pre-gelatinized starch<\/strong>. The word corn is never mentioned. <\/p>\n

To make things even more confusing, familiar products contain a multitude of ingredients that may or may not contain corn and labeling requirements do not require that corn be listed on the label as an allergen. For instance, natural flavorings, xylitol, xanthan gum, citric acid, distilled white vinegar, maltodextrin, ethyl alcohol, fruit juice concentrate, maltose,<\/strong> and even IV dextrose<\/strong> may contain corn. It’s a fairly steep learning curve when I’m not even sure corn is the culprit.<\/p>\n

Luckily, I have lots of practice reading labels and researching ingredients that will come in handy while I try to isolate the allergen that’s bothering me. I don’t plan to eat any processed food or at restaurants until I get this under control. Cooking is an easy way to know what I’m ingesting and with my lists at hand, I can leave out any questionable ingredients. I’m not the only one who follows this approach. To quote UAMS Registered Dietitian, Meghan Dixon, “These skills, cooking skills, are really life-changing. These are the skills that develop lasting lifestyle changes for people,…If you learn how to cook, you’re not outsourcing your health.” <\/em>(1)<\/p>\n

While the itching isn’t fun and I don’t love looking like I just got out of the boxing ring…as a loser…using those skills, I feel confident that I can make progress quickly. <\/strong><\/p>\n

If you have experience with corn allergies, let us know what triggers your symptoms. If you are struggling with a corn allergy or intolerance, you may want to peruse the more comprehensive lists available on these sites:<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.cornallergens.com\/list\/corn-allergen-list.php<\/a><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.healthline.com\/health\/allergies\/corn-allergy-symptoms
\n<\/a><\/p>\n

1) Storey, Celia. “Food and Medicine Meet for Dinner.” Arkansas Democrat Gazette [Little Rock] 08 Feb. 2016, Style sec.: n. pag 1. Print.<\/p>\n

Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you have an allergy to, or intolerance for, corn, trying to avoid it can seem like wandering through a maze \u2013 there’s corn all around and it’s hard to find a good path through it because corn is everywhere! I’m experiencing an allergic reaction. I have huge red spots on my face, an itchy … Continue reading “Corn is Everywhere!”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4],"tags":[818,1211,1176,1206,49,106,281,1217,1212,1210,1216,1204,1214,819,1208,1207,1213,1209,1205,1215],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2040"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2040"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2040\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2049,"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2040\/revisions\/2049"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2040"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2040"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2040"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}