Vegan Eats Vitamin A and Citric Acid
when i first went (mostly) vegan there was no problem whatsoever. but it wasn't that long before my cockiness turned into concern. about month, maybe a month and a half. symptoms began to sprout. mysterious ones which google and yahoo answers could not explain to me.
i researched like no one has ever researched before on the Internet, but found very little, if any answers. so i just wanted to detail some of my issues in case some others out there have similar problems, perhaps they might find some insights more easily that i did.
the first issue that showed itself was the same amount of citric acid I'd always consumed was suddenly way too much. i didn't even know there was citric acid in diet soda and coffee until this started happening. orange juice became problematic. as did canned tomatoes which use it as a preservative.
my symptom was that overnight while sleeping the mucous in my ears wouldn't drain. i guess my Eustachian tube swelled up or something. after being awake awhile it would start to slowly go away.
i can still eat foods containing moderate amounts citric acid, but if i have too much soda or coffee during the same day - doom.
but the way more annoying problem was the too much vitamin a. when one tries to eschew animal foods one tends to eat a lot of vegetables. and lots of vegetables have a lot of vitamin a. the too much vitamin a also made my ear swell up. i know. what the fuck is up with my ear. all my issues seem to occur in my right ear. it's weird.
this time it wasn't just a night time drainage thing. the canal would just fatten up and consequently i would hear strange whistling and tinntinus like sounds in it. it was peaceful during sleep, but an all day affair otherwise. when i eased up on the veggies it began to settle back down.
i hadn't realized broccoli and sweet peppers and cabbage and leafy greens like spinach all contain such vast amounts of vitamin a. so i was getting a heck of a lot of it. when i took a vegan multi-vitamin to try to increase my b5 (pantothenic acid) intake i only made the problem worse, since even just half a vitamin has 25% rda of vitamin a and i was already consuming so much. on top of that, vitamin a is one of those fat-soluble vitamins, so it sticks around and isn't depleted everyday.
everyone is different. some people can tolerate more of a vitamin than others. but i just wanted to put this out there in case there's someone else like me, confused how eating healthier is causing more issues than just eating crap all day.
I'm still investigating on the correlation between a no dairy, no land animal diet creating a lower tolerance for citric acid. there's not a lot of info that i can find out there. i read the whole acid/alkaline food spiel. but it just doesn't jive. cuz both alkaline and acid forming foods are giving me the problems (orange juice, lemon juice concentrate, too much tomato, too much cola, too much coffee).
the only thing I'm pretty certain about so far is that garlic really helps, but it has to be raw garlic. i love garlic. raw garlic is hard to eat, but though it's very hot, i enjoy it. i think avocado also helps. just don't make it with lime or lemon juice. try mixing the mashed avocado with some chopped raw garlic and a few tablespoons of white vinegar. it's good. also basil or cilantro make nice herbal additions. of course add some salt and pepper.
it's really a mystery. i never had any problems with these foods until i stopped eating dairy and meat. i often wonder if i were to just be vegetarian and eat some milk and cheese if the issue would disappear. i did freak out and have a turkey and cheese sandwich the other day. my ear was driving me crazy. the swelling was so much and the noise was driving me to madness. but i regret that. sadly, i do believe it helped with the citrus acid issues. i had lots of coffee and a little soda the next day and the effects were very minimal. i wish that weren't the case, but i calls it as i see it. still better to eat less citric acid and no dairy or animals, in my opinion. which i plan to do. i get the feeling though, that it's somewhat of a transition. that given enough time i will be able to tolerate more citric acid without compromising my principles.
i hope so. time will tell.
Any input from anyone with similar experiences and helpful suggestions is certainly very welcome.
i researched like no one has ever researched before on the Internet, but found very little, if any answers. so i just wanted to detail some of my issues in case some others out there have similar problems, perhaps they might find some insights more easily that i did.
the first issue that showed itself was the same amount of citric acid I'd always consumed was suddenly way too much. i didn't even know there was citric acid in diet soda and coffee until this started happening. orange juice became problematic. as did canned tomatoes which use it as a preservative.
my symptom was that overnight while sleeping the mucous in my ears wouldn't drain. i guess my Eustachian tube swelled up or something. after being awake awhile it would start to slowly go away.
i can still eat foods containing moderate amounts citric acid, but if i have too much soda or coffee during the same day - doom.
but the way more annoying problem was the too much vitamin a. when one tries to eschew animal foods one tends to eat a lot of vegetables. and lots of vegetables have a lot of vitamin a. the too much vitamin a also made my ear swell up. i know. what the fuck is up with my ear. all my issues seem to occur in my right ear. it's weird.
this time it wasn't just a night time drainage thing. the canal would just fatten up and consequently i would hear strange whistling and tinntinus like sounds in it. it was peaceful during sleep, but an all day affair otherwise. when i eased up on the veggies it began to settle back down.
i hadn't realized broccoli and sweet peppers and cabbage and leafy greens like spinach all contain such vast amounts of vitamin a. so i was getting a heck of a lot of it. when i took a vegan multi-vitamin to try to increase my b5 (pantothenic acid) intake i only made the problem worse, since even just half a vitamin has 25% rda of vitamin a and i was already consuming so much. on top of that, vitamin a is one of those fat-soluble vitamins, so it sticks around and isn't depleted everyday.
everyone is different. some people can tolerate more of a vitamin than others. but i just wanted to put this out there in case there's someone else like me, confused how eating healthier is causing more issues than just eating crap all day.
I'm still investigating on the correlation between a no dairy, no land animal diet creating a lower tolerance for citric acid. there's not a lot of info that i can find out there. i read the whole acid/alkaline food spiel. but it just doesn't jive. cuz both alkaline and acid forming foods are giving me the problems (orange juice, lemon juice concentrate, too much tomato, too much cola, too much coffee).
the only thing I'm pretty certain about so far is that garlic really helps, but it has to be raw garlic. i love garlic. raw garlic is hard to eat, but though it's very hot, i enjoy it. i think avocado also helps. just don't make it with lime or lemon juice. try mixing the mashed avocado with some chopped raw garlic and a few tablespoons of white vinegar. it's good. also basil or cilantro make nice herbal additions. of course add some salt and pepper.
it's really a mystery. i never had any problems with these foods until i stopped eating dairy and meat. i often wonder if i were to just be vegetarian and eat some milk and cheese if the issue would disappear. i did freak out and have a turkey and cheese sandwich the other day. my ear was driving me crazy. the swelling was so much and the noise was driving me to madness. but i regret that. sadly, i do believe it helped with the citrus acid issues. i had lots of coffee and a little soda the next day and the effects were very minimal. i wish that weren't the case, but i calls it as i see it. still better to eat less citric acid and no dairy or animals, in my opinion. which i plan to do. i get the feeling though, that it's somewhat of a transition. that given enough time i will be able to tolerate more citric acid without compromising my principles.
i hope so. time will tell.
Any input from anyone with similar experiences and helpful suggestions is certainly very welcome.
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