I am a true fan of hard science everything from astronomy to genetics. It has a real power to inform and improve peoples lives. You need a lot of help in this when you have allergies and chronic diseases. Yesterday I came across some bad news that I have dangerous deletions in my mitochondrial DNA sequence. I had been researching it for genealogical purposes when up popped a national institute of health article related to genbank about those sequences controlling proteins, some relevant to neurotransmitters. According to my checkup with the hemotologist my levels are within range still though the hemoglobin is a little on the high side. This means I won't be needing transfusion until next spring. So yes, I certainly believe in the effect of science.Last night I had a horrible dystonia event which lasted 3-5 hours. Since it was with extreme abdominal pain I can tell it was from a stimulant allergy. Of the suspect materials I encountered one was just an old soda pop I used to enjoy and then we ordered from a new Chinese food location which may have had MSG. In the past MSG has set off fevers and my irritable bowel. Yet that was days ago so what could be the problem.
I came across some pretty convincing research just now that my culprit maybe good old Mt. Dew. For one thing it has twice as much caffeine then Pepsi which I can tolerate within reason. High amounts of caffeine make my heart palpitations prominent and of course sets of my dystonia. (I didn't intend to buy it but a delivery man substituted it for another flavor.) The question I have as an allergy sufferer is why only some foods?
I already discovered this year that some brands sell wheatbread that is actually white with dye. This is in contrast to my poor tolerence of whole grain bread which is most certainly all wheat. When companies lie about ingredients it puts allergy suffers in danger and confuses their loved ones. I can drink some "caffeinated" drinks but not others, so why Mt. Dew? When I was tested by my rheumatologist she discovered I was still suffering from active Hashimoto's Thyroiditis. Since my visit with her my thyroid medicine has been doubled and I now have less symptoms.
Looking at the list of Mt. Dew ingredients we find brominated vegetable oil. There is a good chance that its soy based which I have mentioned before I have poor tolerance for. More importantly, "Bromide is a halide which has been shown to inhibit thyroid function by blocking the uptake of iodine. When in an iodine deficient state and bromine is supplied, the thyroid gland will take it in because it's *appears* to be a close substitute for iodine" (Buist, 2008).Why is bromide there? It suspends the soluble citrus in the drink. Having a serious thyroid condition however makes this a dangerous element to ingest. Yellow dye#5 Tartrazine has also been questioned because of allergic reactions to it. Not only does it cause itching and asthma symptoms it also can cause moderate psychological effects such as sleep disturbance if you are sensitive to it.
Does this mean I am saying its poison? No, but I remind those with suppressed immune systems, food allergies and unusual allergies to pay attention to what your body tells you. Stay safe with what you eat.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_Dew#Ingredients
http://www.naturalthyroidchoices.com/MtDew.html
http://www.epicurious.com/archive/blogs/editor/2014/04/5-things-you-need-to-understand-about-whole-grains.html