Day 5, Week 1

weight 108.8 lbs.
waist 2" below the belly button 30.75"
waist at the belly button 28.5"

I am so ready for the arrival of Monday. An unusual statement, yes.

Monday marks Day 1 of Week 2 in this latest go round of my food allergy experimentation. All week I've been quite careful to avoid the top 20 most common food allergies. And come Monday I will reintroduce yeast.

My results in the previous months have varied a bit, dropping weight, stopping medications, though they have not been entirely conclusive. The second go round (when this blog began) I was allowing yeast and garlic, two common ingredients that I did not suspect myself allergic to. The yeast, of course, I was most frequently consuming in the form of wine--without realizing, oops! Plus I was enjoying daily bits of goat's milk cheese. But since decided to eliminate all dairy until the week of reintroduction.

This past week, I believe I have been better than ever, avoiding wine, dairy, yeast, garlic as well as the other common food allergens. I have, as a result felt as though my tummy has slimmed, and all systems seem to be functioning quite well. The only oddity, my asthma. It seems to have built up over the past couple of days: today producing the most annoyance. Could it be Red Bulls?

I do hope not, as I quite adore the stuff. Sure I was once a skeptic, especially back in college when the caffeinated company came asking our Marketing department how to best become the mixer of choice in collegiate bars across the country. It seemed dangerous, people suspected it could actually injure a person--or change personalities. All of which I am now sure made it perhaps a bit more appealing. Hmmm, did Red Bull start those rumors itself--what amazing PR that'd be. Anyway, I digress.

So then, is it possible that my favorite focus enhancer is triggering my asthma? And if so, what ingredient is to blame. Well, I have been doing some wiki research and listen to this: Taurine is a derivative of the sulfur-containing (sulfhydryl) amino acid, cysteine. Taurine is the only known naturally occurring sulfonic acid

Is this enough sulfur to cause a reaction? Does my sulfur allergy continue to hunt me down? Has it now allergified my favorite carbonated beverage. Please say it isn't so!

Holy sh*te! I've just found an interesting article linking wine and Red Bull (my two favorite beverages!) to allergies due to sulfur. And for the past 15 years I have been marking on doctors' charts "sulfur" next to known allergies, i.e. doctors discovered years ago that I react badly to sulfa drugs. So could the taurine have enough sulfur to be triggering my asthma?

Okay, no, apparently sulfa and sulphur are unrelated. But still, taurine is derived from sulfur as are sulfites, so I guess the likely culprit in my case is sulfur. So yes, that would make me allergic to sulpha and sulphur derivatives.

Here is a link to the article I just referred to, though I warn you, I am not sure of the reputability of the source. I will keep searching and let you know what I find. I will also now be even more curious to see what happens when on Monday (i.e. yeast reintroduction day) I sample some sulfite free wine. I'll also have to try some other form of Taurine and see if that is the trigger.


Here's what kept me going yesterday:

Breakfast
Quinoa

Snack
Rice Cakes with Allergy Free Chocolate Chips

Lunch
Bestest Buffalo Burger

Snack
Rice Cereal
Allergy Free Chocolate Chips
Sugar Free Red Bull

Dinner
Bestest Buffalo Burger with Lemon Potato Chips (cooked in olive oil)