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At work today, we had lunch brought in for a meeting. Within 30 minutes of having the foods listed below, I experienced nasal/sinus congestion and had a pulsing headache (there for <30 seconds, gone for several minutes, back for <30 seconds, etc.) for about 20 minutes. The congestion is still there.

Anyone experience similar symptoms after eating certain foods, particularly any of these foods? I know some of these (like the nightshades) can cause issues, but congestion?

Lunch:

  • Salad (mixed lettuces, carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes, bell peppers, oil&vinegar - smelled like balsamic)
  • Roast beef sandwich without the bread (roast beef, tomato, lettuce, cheese...maybe swiss?)
  • Fried veggie chips (bananas and sweet potatoes - I don't know what they were fried in)

Thanks for your thoughts!

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6 Answers

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could be soybean oil in the dressing, or, sadly, some of the stuff they put in the roast beef. High fructose corn syrup and dextrose is used, a lot of "spice" used on meat contains msg, etc etc.

"cheese... maybe swiss" made me laugh.

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"cheese... maybe swiss" made me laugh. Me too. Ali, are you sure it was even cheese? Could be "cheesefood"... Or are you just not that familiar? – Barb Apr 19 2011 at 19:23
Totally not making fun- just to clarify :P – Barb Apr 19 2011 at 19:23
hmm, it was really thin and basically plastered on the roast beef, so I'm not sure. The only reason why I say swiss is because it was white...lol...8) – Ali Apr 19 2011 at 20:33
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This may be connected to a histamine intollerance, especially the balsamico vinegar and the cheese. Did you maybe experience other symptoms like: a flush on your face, a feeling of high heat in your body, increased heart beat rate, irritation, trouble breathing?

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I read a post about histamine intolerance and am considering doing an elimination diet to see if certain foods are the cause of my ongoing allergy/sinus issues; however, antihistamines (Zyrtec) did nothing to quell my symptoms (took it for 2 weeks...couldn't stand the side effects after that), so I'm not sure if it's a histamine thing. – Ali Apr 19 2011 at 20:37
I think Histame works for dietary amines, including histamine, but I don't think Zyrtec does. Histame is an enzyme product. – Egk Apr 20 2011 at 1:34
Detecting histamine intolerance through an elimination diet might be a little bit tricky. Histamine itself builds up in every food with age: it's part of the ageing process. At some level histamine becomes toxic for everybody, that's where food poisoning comes from. So if you try to eliminate foods containing histamine, you might just by chance come by a food which itself is low in histamine but has build it up through ageing: e.g. chicken, which has been stored in a warm place. Furthermore you may or may not also react to biogen amines or food which is known to release histamine. – Agata Apr 20 2011 at 14:42
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 For more information try: histamineintolerance.org.uk There is only one sure method: a lab test. Be sure to take both the blood AND the stool test. Only if both come back negative histamine intolerance can be excluded. – Agata Apr 20 2011 at 14:49
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Did you accidentally get some vinegar in your nose or swallow something "wrong"? Seriously. The lining of your cranial cavities (besides your mouth) are extremely sensitive, especially to fairly drastic pH changes like those vinegar would cause. This could lead to some inflammation, some congestion.

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Hmmm, not that I recall. The vinegar did have a very strong smell, though. Maybe smells can cause congestion? – Ali Apr 19 2011 at 20:38
Certainly. Actually, as I recall, I got congested after making a reduction with balsamic vinegar as the base. I remember the smell was extremely strong as the vinegar evaporated into the kitchen. Standing over the pot made my eyes water, a sign of membrane irritation. Same thing must have irritated my sinuses. Smells are just looses molecules binding to your olfactory nerves; those same molecules can enter your sinus cavities and react with the lining as you breathe them in. If you're extremely sensitive to something, it won't take much to elicit a congestive reaction. – becker Apr 19 2011 at 21:04
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I was thinking the cheese maybe, then the oil and lastly, the additives in the meat.

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Ugh forced into Chinese food for a celebratory work lunch and I didn't want to be too "preachy" over a generous free lunch. Now I am paying the price and am having plenty of tea, ACV water, an extra fish oil caplet, etc. Can not wait to get this crap out of my system. I went for chicken with ginger, scallions, and vegetables, and everything I could SEE was entirely paleo...but who knows what was really in that sauce. I'm thinking peanut oil and MSG. Not going to guilt myself, but am considering it a valuable lesson after a very long stretch of strict paleo.

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I know what you mean! I went to a Thai restaurant awhile ago and everything looked fine, but who knows what sauces were on everything. It messed me up for the rest of the day. – Ali Apr 19 2011 at 20:35
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 It is so strange - I feel like I used to work every single day with this "fog" that I am currently battling...sometimes a good hard look into the past is a good reminder of why I love paleo so much. – TS Apr 19 2011 at 21:01
@TS incredible ain't it? – g. Apr 19 2011 at 21:05
cornstarch perhaps – Egk Apr 20 2011 at 1:35
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 I always order anything from Chinese or Thai, steamed with the sauce on the side. Those places use tons of cornstarch in all their sauces to thicken them. They also love to use caramel sauce (thickened HFCS juice), oyster sauce (synthetic oyster "flavor" with lots of HFCS), duck sauce (ha! don't make me laugh), etc... Bad, bad, BAD stuff. An old boss of mine used to call it "Grade D protein-with-sugar-sauce-restaurant." – Futureboy Apr 20 2011 at 6:59
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It could be a billion things aside form what you ate - the air, an old lady with too much perfume. Your car.

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