Onion Intolerance

[confused]

Does anyone else have an intolerance to onions. I know garlic affects me and now im wondering if onions do. Last night i made some guacamole with onions. Well right after I ate them my stomach cramped so bad, i could not move and then my feet started to tingle and my legs felt funny(like i do after gluten) but i laid in bed with the heating pad and i felt somewhat better when i woke up, which i dont feel better if i have been glutened. So could this be an onion intolerance. I also woke up with bad heart burn but now is better.

Does anyone else go threw this with onions.

paula

[kevieb]

onions make me sick---sometimes just the smell of raw onions makes me sick. i am starting to think that garlic makes me sick, too. i hate this, because i love garlic and onions but i am learning to avoid them---especially fresh.

[lorka150]

I'm allergic to the onion family (garlic, onions, leeks and chives).

[covsooze]

If you are intolerant to them rather than actually allergic, you might try experimenting with cooking them. I'm definitely worse with raw onions. Onions that have been well cooked eg in the slow cooker, I am better with. It might be worth a try before you abandon them altogether!

[confused]

If you are intolerant to them rather than actually allergic, you might try experimenting with cooking them. I'm definitely worse with raw onions. Onions that have been well cooked eg in the slow cooker, I am better with. It might be worth a try before you abandon them altogether!

I was just thinking about that. When i made fajitas the other night the onions did not bug me cause they were cooked, but when i had them raw i was in major pain. Maybe i will experiment with it one more time, i love my onions and garlic and i hate that i will have to give both of them up.

paula

[modiddly16]

I'm allergic to onions but not garlic. Cooked or raw, onions will definitely make me sick..might just be that you're sensitive to them, the cooking experiment is a good idea...however it wasn't for me!! It's crazy how quickly you KNOW when there is onions in something too, my dad and I are onion radars, no one can slip it past us, not that they intentionally try but in case they forget.

[Rachel--24]

Onions and garlic are very high in sulfur...same with eggs.

Foods high in sulfur are natural chelators of heavy metals such as mercury. Usually people who have problems with heavy metals will experience some reactions to these foods...as they move the metals around.

I had alot of problems with these foods but now that I'm under treatment I can eat eggs everyday and garlic and onions in small amounts are ok. The reactions are stronger if the garlic and onions are eaten raw.

In addition to being natural chelators they also have antibacterial and antifungal properties. Garlic is very effective in killing yeast and other bugs. That can also result in unpleasant symptoms.

If you have alot of intolerances and ongoing symptoms....it could be that these things might be contributing to that. The biggest source of mercury comes from amalgams....70-90% of the mercury burden in our bodies comes from the mercury vapor released from the fillings.

The symptoms you describe from eating the onions is what I used to experience. Its an indication of mercury being mobilized....toxins circulating and then resettling. It doesnt happen to me anymore because I'm taking things which bind with mobilized metals and removes them from the body before they can get redistributed.

If you continue having problems with those foods....definately avoid them.

[confused]

Onions and garlic are very high in sulfur...same with eggs.

Foods high in sulfur are natural chelators of heavy metals such as mercury. Usually people who have problems with heavy metals will experience some reactions to these foods...as they move the metals around.

I had alot of problems with these foods but now that I'm under treatment I can eat eggs everyday and garlic and onions in small amounts are ok. The reactions are stronger if the garlic and onions are eaten raw.

In addition to being natural chelators they also have antibacterial and antifungal properties. Garlic is very effective in killing yeast and other bugs. That can also result in unpleasant symptoms.

If you have alot of intolerances and ongoing symptoms....it could be that these things might be contributing to that. The biggest source of mercury comes from amalgams....70-90% of the mercury burden in our bodies comes from the mercury vapor released from the fillings.

The symptoms you describe from eating the onions is what I used to experience. Its an indication of mercury being mobilized....toxins circulating and then resettling. It doesnt happen to me anymore because I'm taking things which bind with mobilized metals and removes them from the body before they can get redistributed.

If you continue having problems with those foods....definately avoid them.

i can eat eggs with no problem tho, so could it still be that.

I do have alot of fillings, it kinda makes me wonder now.

I will have to look into this in a few days when i feel better, my kids brought me home the flu and i can barely function today.

paula

[Carol the Dabbler]

Foods high in sulfur are natural chelators of heavy metals such as mercury. Usually people who have problems with heavy metals will experience some reactions to these foods...as they move the metals around.

It doesn't happen to me anymore because I'm taking things which bind with mobilized metals and removes them from the body before they can get redistributed.

Thank you, Rachel -- I never could figure out why onions started bothering me about 25 years ago -- your explanation makes perfect sense! What things are you taking? Are they available at health-food stores, or do they require a prescription? Do they remove all minerals from your body (as intravenous chelation therapy does), or just the heavy metals?

By the way, anyone who is sensitive to onions may also be bothered by the odorizer that's added to natural gas (which is what you actually smell when there's a gas leak). A week or so after the dentist packed a root-canal with amalgam, I was hit by a panic attack that just didn't go away. I chalked it up to stress, but noticed that it got worse whenever I ate onions. Seven years later, I had my house converted to all-electric (in hopes of helping my sinuses), and suddenly realized that the panic attack was over -- except when I ate onions. I had heard the gas odorizer referred to as "onion gas," so I phoned the chemist at the gas company. He told me that onions taste and smell like onions because they contain a group of closely-related chemicals, and "onion gas" is another member of that same chemical family (though he didn't know whether it actually occurs in onions).

I had all of my amalgam removed a couple of years after that (again, in hopes of helping my sinuses). Onions don't bother me nearly as much now, but I still can't eat them in large quantities or on a regular basis. I cook with lots of finely-chopped celery in place of onions, and a little celery seed in place of garlic -- they don't taste like onions or garlic, of course, but they perk up the dish in a similar way.

Even though eggs also contain sulfur, I've never noticed any "onion" problems from eating them.

[CarlaB]

I was going to mention that both garlic and onions have anti-fungal properties. If you have a problem with candida, then they can make you feel bad.

Rachel's answer was more complete.

[Carol the Dabbler]

I was going to mention that both garlic and onions have anti-fungal properties. If you have a problem with candida, then they can make you feel bad.

Since candida is a fungus, it would seem logical that an anti-fungal food would help a person, rather than making them feel bad. Are you talking about a (hopefully temporary) die-off effect, Carla?

[Michi8]

I love onions. In any form, I love them. When I recently figured out I was intolerant to raw onion (painful reflux/heartburn), I was really disappointed, but not surprised, because intolerance to onion is common in my family. I can still eat them cooked, and hope that that doesn't change! 

Michelle

(who is now starting to react to raw carrot too)

confused said:

Does anyone else have an intolerance to onions. I know garlic affects me and now im wondering if onions do. Last night i made some guacamole with onions. Well right after I ate them my stomach cramped so bad, i could not move and then my feet started to tingle and my legs felt funny(like i do after gluten) but i laid in bed with the heating pad and i felt somewhat better when i woke up, which i dont feel better if i have been glutened. So could this be an onion intolerance. I also woke up with bad heart burn but now is better.

Does anyone else go threw this with onions.

paula

[Rachel--24]

Since candida is a fungus, it would seem logical that an anti-fungal food would help a person, rather than making them feel bad. Are you talking about a (hopefully temporary) die-off effect, Carla?

I'm not Carla but yes....it would be a temporary worsening of symptoms. Some people refer to it as "die-off"...I think of it as a redistribution of heavy metals. Yeast and molds bind with heavy metals. If you have a problem with mercury from amalgams...you would very likely also have a problem with fungi.

If you kill the yeast...the metals they were bound to are dumped into the system. This would cause symptoms as the metals are redistributed.

Its best to take something to "catch" the metals. If you take a toxin binder which absorbs heavy metals these symptoms can be greatly reduced.

[Rachel--24]

Thank you, Rachel -- I never could figure out why onions started bothering me about 25 years ago -- your explanation makes perfect sense! What things are you taking? Are they available at health-food stores, or do they require a prescription? Do they remove all minerals from your body (as intravenous chelation therapy does), or just the heavy metals?

You can take binders that are not chelators...they just bind with the mobilized metals preventing them from causing more damage.

The best is probably chlorella (from a good source). Its an algae very capable of binding with metals in the gut. It also has many other health benefits....some people dont tolerate it well though.

I cant take chlorella or modifilan...both are algaes used to detox heavy metals.

Heres a list of toxin binders:

Cholestyramine

[Carol the Dabbler]

Thanks for the list, Rachel! I already eat some of those things, and will keep the others in mind.

Chelation (IV or otherwise) strikes me as a sometimes-useful therapy that needs to be considered very cautiously. Good luck with your session!

[CarlaB]

Carol the Dabbler said:

Since candida is a fungus, it would seem logical that an anti-fungal food would help a person, rather than making them feel bad. Are you talking about a (hopefully temporary) die-off effect, Carla?

Yes. 

[Rachel--24]

Carol the Dabbler said:

Chelation (IV or otherwise) strikes me as a sometimes-useful therapy that needs to be considered very cautiously. Good luck with your session!

Thanks. 

My session went very well...no adverse reactions.

Most definately chelation should not be taken lightly...and it should only be done by a very knowledgeable Dr. with alot of experience in heavy metal detox/chelation therapy.

I've been working with my Dr.'s for over a year now. They would not begin any kind of chelation until my body was detoxing better, pathways functioning well, etc. Originally I was unable to tolerate *any* supplements so they had to go very slow with me and use alot of alternative testing to find things that would work well for me. My body needed alot of support before attempting any kind of chelation.

Its been a year...I'm doing much better....feeling much stronger and FINALLY I got the green light to do the DMPS today. It was a very small amount...they gave me the mimimum dose and only after first testing a small amount under my tongue. I had to wait 15 minutes to be sure there would be no reaction. Then I had a tiny IV of DMPS. 

I've been on DMSA for about 6 weeks now. I havent had any problems with it.

Serious complications can occur if the Dr.'s dont treat each patient as an individual. If given a higher dose then your body can handle you can get very sick. Also if you cant tolerate the chelator and they dont test to be sure ahead of time....bad reactions can occur.

There are many things that can go wrong if not working with very good Dr.'s. All of my Dr.'s have been wonderful...from the start every Dr. said that I would definately require chelation at some point. It was just a matter of getting me there. Its been baby steps for me but in one year I have actually come a long way.

[hrynders]

i am wondering if this has happened to any of you..I have recently developed allergies to nearly everything and my immune system is nearly non-existent. I have been tested for millions of things but now in the last few days i have developed some type of onion intolerance. If i eat ANYTHING with onions I sweat them so bad I can't stand it. My husband could smell me from the next room. Does this happen to any of you? I am sincerely disgusted and just want to know what is going on. Unfortunately I love onions.

[nkieser]

I am experiencing grumpiness and tiredness when I eat onions. My eyes get a little tingly as well.

I'm not kidding when I say this, I literally get grumpy and in a very bad mood when I eat onions. I have narrowed it down to just onions because it is only when I eat onions. They can be raw or cooked. (Not just onions, I should say....it is any allium such as garlic, leeks, chives)

I have searched on many different boards to find something about this kind of an onion/allium intolerance and I don't know what I'm experiencing. I once found a post to a guestbook where similar people had the same symptoms, but I'm really not sure what is going on.

Unfortunately, I have no insurance and I am pretty poor at the moment and cannot see a doctor about this. I have adjusted my whole diet for the past year and I cannot buy anything with onions, onion power, garlic, garlic powder, etc in it.

Any help would be GREAT!

[AliB]

It may be that the damage to your intestines is preventing the formation of or access to, possibly due to an excess of mucous, the particular enzymes needed to digest the onion family.

It may not be that it is the onions that are causing the problem but they are an inadvertent victim in the process.

Do you get any other types of reaction to any other foods at all? Even seemingly unrelated things can indicate a reaction.

I say that only because many of us can't digest carbs properly - again the damage has likely prevented the enzymes from being able either to be formed or to do their job properly and the carbs then become food for pathogens like Candida in the gut. The constant inflammation set up by the immune system as it tries to overcome the pathogens just keeps the cycle of damage going, and we have found that it is only by cutting out those foods that we are finally healing properly.

I found initially that there were certain foods I couldn't cope with at all, but I can eat them now without any problem.

[aimeee]

I am experiencing grumpiness and tiredness when I eat onions. My eyes get a little tingly as well.

I'm not kidding when I say this, I literally get grumpy and in a very bad mood when I eat onions. I have narrowed it down to just onions because it is only when I eat onions. They can be raw or cooked. (Not just onions, I should say....it is any allium such as garlic, leeks, chives)

I have searched on many different boards to find something about this kind of an onion/allium intolerance and I don't know what I'm experiencing. I once found a post to a guestbook where similar people had the same symptoms, but I'm really not sure what is going on.

Unfortunately, I have no insurance and I am pretty poor at the moment and cannot see a doctor about this. I have adjusted my whole diet for the past year and I cannot buy anything with onions, onion power, garlic, garlic powder, etc in it.

Any help would be GREAT!

I also experience grumpiness and a general ill feeling when eating raw onions or garlic. Usually my whole head and sometimes arms experience a very nasty feeling, along with a definite and dramatic mood shift. I don't get this with thoroughly cooked onions, but sometimes with lightly cooked onions or garlic. I also have a pine nut allergy, probably not related, I don't know much on the subject.

I've been searching forums for people with the same symptom, yours is the first I've come across.

[Laura Wesson]

Garlic is in the same genus as onions and whenever I've checked, if I'm sensitive to a food, I'm also sensitive to other foods in the same genus.

So I would not even be eating the onions if I got sick from garlic.

Laura

[NicoleAJ]

I have an alium intolerance/allergy. Sometimes my symptoms are different--if I've been exposed to high quantities, I might actually feel constriction in my chest, extreme abdominal pain, dizziness, etc, but if I have an occasional small amount of alium, I generally won't have symptoms, or I'll just have an upset stomach. It's annoying because a lot of the processed gluten free foods have onion or garlic, but I've modified my recipes so that I can still make chili, meatballs, pasta sauce, and other foods without garlic, onions, or leeks. They are really delicious when you make these sauces and things from scratch--my husband doesn't even notice the difference.

[jstwnttbhealthy]

You can take binders that are not chelators...they just bind with the mobilized metals preventing them from causing more damage.

The best is probably chlorella (from a good source). Its an algae very capable of binding with metals in the gut. It also has many other health benefits....some people dont tolerate it well though.

I cant take chlorella or modifilan...both are algaes used to detox heavy metals.

Heres a list of toxin binders:

Cholestyramine

[gleegan]

I don't have a problem with garlic, but I have a huge problem with onions (raw especially, but cooked also). However, I can eat cooked shallots. I put cooked shallots in many of the dishes I cook and they rarely bother me - they are a milder member of the onion family. I don't know if leeks are considered mild or not, but they started giving me a problem at the same time onions did, so I avoid those too. Hope this helps.