Peanut butter reaction

[violetta]

I have had a large increase in body aches today after peanut butter reintro day yesterday.  Is it possible that a spoonful of peanut butter would cause my whole body to be intensely painful?  My back is way sore and my shoulder is in constant pain and it is hard to even get  up out of a chair much less climb up a hill like I usually do.  This feels about the same as I felt before Whole 30, I have not had hardly any pain for 50 days and now I had to go to the chiropractor today.  I did do a yoga class yesterday but I do that 3 times a week and practice in between.  i did take a short walk on pavement about 2 miles but I do that often.  Really?! One spoonful of peanut butter and a little peanut sauce!?  I was also very itchy last night when I went to bed and it kept me awake for a while.  

[jmcbn]

In short, yes.

 

Peanuts are one of the biggest allergens in the Western World, and if you felt like this PRE Whole30, removed the peanuts & felt better, then reintroduced the peanuts and felt like this again then it's fair to say that the peanuts are the likely culprit.

Shoulder pain can often be deferred pain from indigestion/wind in the abdomen (particularly common after abdominal surgery). Peanuts & legumes in general cause me severe digestive distress/wind.

So yeah, my money's on the peanuts.

[praxisproject]

Peanuts also have three levels of irritation, one is the peanut itself, another is mycotoxins which can be present in peanuts and other stored items (not just peanuts) and in most countries, a certain level is considered acceptable but some people are allergic or very sensitive. The third is lectins. 

 

*science geekery ahead, feel free to scroll on by*

 

Outbreaks of high levels in mycotoxins still occur in the modern world, areas of higher humidity or sudden wetter weather are more at risk (as these are a kind of fungus/mold). This is why peanuts are sometimes traditionally boiled before eating or roasted, although some people react to their presence even after boiling/roasting and they can develop further mold after cooking if they are subsequently stored. Some toxins are cumulative, so if you've reached a level of threshold, every additional intake is too much. Peanuts are particularly prone to this due to the way they are harvested in some regions, shelling them (by hand) is easier if the shells are wet.

 

Frustratingly, peanuts are often recommended to reduce inflammation, based on some of their nutritional components like magnesium, but anything in a peanut (even the toxins) are available from other sources, with lower or no levels of inflammation inducing lectins and without such strong links to "leaky gut". Peanuts also have no Omega 3 and quite a bit of Omega 6. Commercially prepared lectin ingredients rarely receive any "old-fashioned" or traditional lectin-reducing preparation methods (such as soaking and rinsing), almond milk is a good example of this. Cooking and lectin-reducing preparation methods can reduce high lectin levels in some foods down to quite low, so raw is not always a good thing for lectin containing ingredients.

 

Lectins have also been implicated (although research is still ongoing) in leptin resistance. 

Leptin resistance has a fairly strong set of evidence that it occurs prior to insulin resistance and is also related to auto immune issues.

[jmcbn]

*science geekery ahead, feel free to scroll on by*

I love it when you go all 'science geek' on us  

[praxisproject]

I hate it when the stuff I read in New Scientist isn't on the interwebs except behind a pay wall 

 

PS. I'm quite fascinated by the lectin > leptin resistance > insulin resistance > diabetes potential stepping chain. If this turns out to be proven this could well explain why so many prevention recommendations really don't work (as they don't even consider lectins) and why so much industrially produced food seems to make people less healthy.

 

PPS. For the Aussies, this would mean the social media storm over #activatedalmonds is extra silly, as activating almonds reduces their anti-nutrient levels, including lectins. Most people soak nuts to remove the enzyme inhibitors (not found in hazelnuts or brazil nuts) but it reduces lectins too.

 

PPPS. If lectins are proven to do this, it would be interesting what other impacts may occur downstream of the other anti-nutrients.

[violetta]

Interesting stuff on lectins.  The pain is mostly gone with some good stretching and time.  That was really amazing, I had no idea one spoonful of a food that I had eaten many times before whole 30 could have that devastating effect.  I certainly will be on the lookout for  peanuts, my only regret is Thai food, my favorite, and peanut sauce.  I wonder if I have to be careful for even traces of peanuts?

[praxisproject]

Trace of peanuts are usually things to watch for the anaphylaxis folks (closing throat, scary puffing up, trip to the emergency room).

 

Most other forms of allergens (non-anaphylaxis) aren't so extreme in tiny doses.

 

I also love Thai food and have found just switching around dishes a little helps, also eating from places with higher quality ingredients (which can help with the mycotoxins, but is of no help at all for things like lectins).

 

Swap your Pad Thai for a Red Curry. There's lots of Thai foods without nuts.

 

Sunshine Sauce is the peanut lovers friend, containing no peanuts and no nuts Some restaurants might even let you bring it (or give them the recipe).

[violetta]

The pain is back and is probably not related to the peanuts any more, but I had terrible reflux both last night and the night before.  The first night I was fasting for a blood draw and couldn't even have an enzyme tablet but last night I could and it was even worse.  This is the real GERD stuff with pain lying down and having to sleep upright on a wedge to get relief.  I have not really felt like this in years.  I did have some silent reflux with coughing and was taking prilosec for a while.  But I stopped that almost a month ago and was fine for a while.  I did stop 5-htp, l-tyrosine and magnesium a couple days ago.  I didn't seem to need them for sleep and decided not to spend more money on them, getting plenty of magnesium in food and using magnesium oil on skin.  Could one of them have been keeping the reflux at bay? I have been eating compliant just like I did before the peanut attack.  I am cooking up some bone broth to try today.  

[praxisproject]

It's possible you're now getting some additional symptoms from the peanuts.

 

I would add back in anything you took out though, if it doesn't go away, you'll know it's not those.

[violetta]

The reflux has mostly gone away, I am trying apple cider vinegar.  I think with the latest news about prilosec, kidney disease and alzheimers, I will try anything else before I go  back to that. 

[azcoolmom]

Day 1 of reintroduction & had 2 tbsp of peanut butter on a compliant wrap. Less than an hour, throat scratchy, nose running, chest congested, feel like JUNK. Peanut butter = definitely NOT worth it!!!

[violetta]

So, a month later, I had peanut stew with a little peanut butter in it and I had forgotten the peanut attack from February.  My leg had been a little sore before I ate peanuts and then after sitting around watching basketball, I couldn't get up, my leg was so sore.  I didn't immediately connect it to peanuts until I read my posts from February.  This is pretty amazing.  I was so achy and had shooting pains down my leg tonight.  I had to take a muscle relaxant, rub some voltaren on my knee and hip, take some tylenol and then sit up in bed with my knee on a pillow after using the massager on my leg before I could stop moaning. The stew also had edemame beans in it and I hadn't previously introduced soy so  I suppose that could be a factor although I have had garbanzo beans and black beans without problems.  

[SugarcubeOD]

KJB, soy is a HUGE disruptor and often those that have no problems with other legumes have nasty problems with soy... you may want to consider doing a bit of a test on soy to check that out because it sounds like you could be quite sensitive. Of course it could also be the peanuts and it could be both of them, which would be a double whammy...

[praxisproject]

Also, if your beans/legumes/soy aren't prepared by you, a lot of industrial legume production isn't soaked or rinsed, so you're getting the maximum load of all irritants, they prep and cook for texture.

 

I get pretty strong reactions to soybean oil and soy additives (except the weird soy lecithin - but I mostly avoid it as the food it's in usually has a better option), lesser to fermented gluten free soy sauce (I still don't eat it much at all) and none from steamed edamame (I suspect ours come from asia rather than USA).

 

I hope you feel better soon, sounds painful!

[violetta]

I think this reaction is from peanut butter because it is so similar to the last peanut attack.  I ended up having to get a toradol injection in my hip, anti-inflammatory.  I am starting to feel better but was diagnosed with trochanteric bursitis.  I think I probably had some inflammation in my hip already from the heavy hiking schedule.  But the reaction to the pb just put it over the edge and made it more painful.  I am kind of glad that it at least has been diagnosed.  All the other doctors said it was my knee but nothing helped.  With the increase in pain yesterday, it was pretty obvious that it was my hip having the problem.  The shot helped temporarily now I just need to figure out what to do about the bursitis.  And stay away from all peanuts.  The doctor was skeptical that a food allergy or sensitivity could cause this level of pain but I am not since it happened before.

[praxisproject]

Inflammation can be a real bugger like that and for some of us, inflammation is our primary response to some things and it's a reaction that's actually pretty common, but often ignored (including by doctors).

 

I suffered with arthritis for years, now without wheat (and generally few grains) I am completely arthritis free, also iritis free (like arthritis, usually just the symptoms are treated). Every single doctor has been astonished that the arthritis is just gone (had it since I was a teen), so gone that now, sometimes I forget I ever had it.

 

I much prefer my pain free new normal