I am a food intolerant person (male, age 40) and was first diagnosed about 6 years ago. I have problems with amines, salicylates, and wheat causes blood clots to appear in the rectum. These and some other things like egg yolk etc. cause migraine headaches and facial neuralgia on the left side also tiredness and sometimes minor psychological change. The headaches showed up sometime after I had my tonsils out at age 27. In the “Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine” for food problems, migraine and digestion problems, they recommend “digestive aids”. These are products like hydrochloric acid capsules, pancreatin, bromelain, and papain. Do you think they are correct in this assumption?
Is there a possibility that these preparations could cause complications and worsen the situation?
My food situation has been in a very slow and gradual decline. I am seeing an immunology allergist and of all the people I have seen so far no one has mentioned the word cure and improvement which seems to be a possibility, is for some is an unknown quantity. I would like to hear your opinion.
Glad to hear you are seeing an allergist as that is the type of doctor who can best address your symptoms. Before starting on these digestive aids, I would recommend discussing them with your allergist.
Who arrived at the conclusion that you don’t tolerate amines, salicylates or wheat?
Salicylates are aspirin-like compounds. It would be very difficult to isolate salicylates in foods. I haven’t found a laboratory tested list of foods that contain salicylates. Years ago there was a diet for hyperactivity (Feingold Diet) that eliminated salicylates, however, the foods omitted by the diet did not contain salicylates when tested.
An amine is derived from amino acids which can be found in every food with protein. Even fruit has some protein. Some internally produced amines are thyroxine (hormone secreted by the thyroid gland which regulates the metabolism), epinephrine (same as adrenalin – hormone which causes blood vessels to constrict and is secreted by the adrenal glands which sit on top of the kidneys), norepinephrine (maintains blood pressure during shock) and melatonin (hormone secreted by pineal gland in the brain which induces sleep. Melatonin is derived from serotonin (regulates sleep, appetite, mood, pain and causes blood vessels to narrow). BTW, amines need a nutrient called pantothenic acid to be metabolized. Pantothenic acid is found in chicken, beef, potatoes, oats, cereals, tomato products, liver, kidney, yeast, egg yolk, broccoli and whole grains.
Wheat intolerance is not an allergy, but an immune disorder and often accompanies other grain intolerances (rye and barley) which can result in celiac disease which is a gluten intolerance. Have you been tested for this? It’s a simple blood test which would indicate if you need a small bowel biopsy to confirm.
Egg yolk allergies are not the norm as they are mostly fat, but egg white allergies are. Usually, people who are allergic to eggs are sensitive to the proteins that are in the whites, but migraine headaches and neuralgia (facial pain) are not typical symptoms. You need to have these symptoms evaluated by your allergist doctor.
Hydrochloric acid is normally produced by your stomach in response to the smell or taste of food. Hydrochloric acid supplements are helpful for people who don’t produce enough stomach acid for digestion (ahydrochloria) because a deficiency can cause anemia (Vitamin B12 type). This more often happens in senior citizens than a person of your age. The effect of hydrochloric acid pills would produce the opposite of taking an antacid and if you have gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), hydrochloric acid supplements would not be recommended.
Pancreatin is an extract from cattle or pig pancreas. It breaks down starch, lipids, and proteins. Pancreatin can be used as a digestive aid but would be deactivated by the stomach acid unless the pills were coated so they could reach the intestines intact.
Haven’t a clue what bromelain is. Bromelin though is a protein-digesting and milk-clotting enzyme that is found in fresh pineapple juice and is used for tenderizing meat. Since it is an enzyme and protein based, it would be denatured by the acid in your stomach and never reach your intestines. FYI, fresh pineapple juice cannot be added to gelatin recipes because the gelatin would never set since bromelin would denature the protein in gelatin. Canned pineapple or pineapple juice can only be used in gelatin.
Papain is meat tenderizer and is extracted from green papaya fruit and leaves. It breaks down protein including other digestive enzymes inside or outside the body. Taking papain without food would be like sprinkling meat tenderizer on your stomach lining which I would not recommend. Since papain is an enzyme, it will be inactivated by the acid in your stomach unless you produce insufficient hydrochloric acid.
Bottom line is any hormone or enzyme that you take by mouth will be denatured by the hydrochloric acid in your stomach. That is why hormones and enzymes are instead secreted by your body into your blood or intestines respectively. You would be wasting your money to take hormone or enzyme supplements by mouth.
Rather than complicating your symptoms, I would recommend holding off on adding anything new until your doctor can perform some tests and diagnose you. In fact, I wonder if you shouldn’t start from scratch with elimination nutrition therapy (only includes foods no one is allergic to like lamb and rice) then more foods are added back in every 3 days until you experience symptoms. I would recommend you see a dietitian who specialized in food allergies and Australia has many competent dietitians.
