Quote from somuch4food on April 8, 2019, 6:12 pm

Quote from Judy on April 8, 2019, 2:00 pm

Quote from somuch4food on February 14, 2019, 12:26 pm

I was so focused on fruits and veggies that I kinda forgot that grains, nuts and seeds are potential problems too.

So, after reflecting as to why I was feeling so low in the last 2 weeks, I started connecting dots today. The 4 foods that I suspected (nuts mix, flax seeds, chia seeds and pasta) to be responsible for my downfall turn out to all be sources of lutein, a carotenoid, that I seem to be super sensitive to.

The most problematic nuts I identified in my nuts mix are pistachios (not much in the mix, but really high in lutein) and cashews (a lot in the mix, but not too high in lutein)

I just want to point out that flax has the highest amount of plant estrogen of any food. It is linked to birth defects and miscarriages and more (one woman who had had 7 miscarriages sent me a Tweet with a recipe for flax bread. Another one had 3 miscarriages in 1 year after starting a Paleo diet with lots of flax. After she stopped the flax, she had a successful pregnancy.) Plants produce mammalian-like hormones as a way to defend themselves from predators, like us, who would eat their seeds.

I had heard about the estrogen in flax. I was too focused at that time to look at the bigger picture.

Flax really is not food for humans. I was using about half a teaspoon of ground flax with my oatmeal or on top of toasts. Lutein content would be minimal, but the estrogen is really high so even a small amount could have a profound effect.

Anyway that was my second stint with flax and both ended up badly. I'm done with them.