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I heard from one person who has really similar food reactions to mine -

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I completely know what you mean about the back clenching around the
kidneys.  It reminds me of braxton hicks contractions when I was
pregnant, except higher up and more in the back than in the front.  Its
really annoying!  I dont know what they are doing to the corn these days,
but it seems as though my reaction to corn is almost more severe than
gluten!  I get the red eyes and the itching too, itching mostly in the
front of my lower legs.
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and a number of people who had some similar symptoms.

What I was trying to find out was something like, whether other people
have had similar food reactions and how they were diagnosed, and I didn't
find that out.  A lot of my
symptoms seem like IgE symptoms.  Hives, certainly.  Red eyes aren't
usually a food intolerance symptom.  Itching is more an IgE symptom I
think. It's really unsettling, right now i am finding a new food allergy
about every other day, and if it is IgE reactions, those can be dangerous.
I mean, I'm allergic to *fish* apparently - I didn't know that!  and fish
is one food that can cause anaphylaxis.  Years ago I ate some slightly off
shrimp and I got a horrible rash over all of my legs - food rashes seem to
appear on people's legs a lot, something about how the blood circulation
works in distributing the allergic reaction.  I thought it was not a
shrimp allergy for years, because i've eaten shrimp since and nothing
happened - but now I wonder if, when you have hidden
allergies/intolerances, your body masks allergic reactions - and now and
then, something breaks through the masking.  So, i am afraid to eat
seafood!

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I wonder if you and I have the same issue.  I notice my kidneys ache
after I eat corn also.  My nose runs, and swells up.
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For me, it's not just corn, a lot of foods cause a similar reaction.
There are differences - strawberries and rose hips made me incredibly
itchy and gave me hives, as well as wooziness and back pain.  I think it's
an allergic reaction, not something about the corn in particular.

Lots of people told me i might have a bladder/kidney infection.  I'm sure
my reactions are food reactions.  Just to reassure those who were
concerned about it, I did go off to the doctor earlier, when I thought I
was corn-free and I hadn't yet realized I was sick from my other food
allergies getting exposed.  I had bladder infections symptoms, but no
bladder infection.  No, part of the allergic reaction is a faux bladder
infection.

Lots of people told me they have the irresistable appetite from food
reactions - gluten and other foods.  I can easily see how people would
get fat from hidden food allergies.

Also, the many people who gain weight on low-fat diets and so go for
low-carb, i.e. high-fat diets, may be suffering from hidden food
allergies.  I've found that the food allergies cause carbohydrates to
stimulate my appetite.  The food allergies don't affect satiety from fat,
which works in a different way.  *On average*, low-fat diet is better for
weight loss, and if someone finds a low-fat diet doesn't work for them -
look for hidden food allergies.

I have been delighted to find my feeling of wanting to eat all the time
and restraining myself from eating, getting better after eliminating foods
i am allergic to.  It seems like I may end up having a peace about eating,
just eating when I feel like it and not getting fat because of it.  As
long as I eat a low-fat diet, which does satiate me fine if I'm not eating
foods I'm allergic to, I might just not have to worry about restricting my
eating.

People who are overweight and gluten intolerant would do well to look into
their hidden food allergies.  I have info on doing this at
http://www.lightlink.com/lark/elimination.html

There's been a good deal written here and there about hidden food
allergies causing weight gain.  No research to prove it, it's just on the
grapevine ...

Laura

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