A Little Citric Acid Could be a Big Problem

Hey y’all,

So, a reaction I had to a few of the foods I’ve eaten confused me. Specifically, I would get hot and sweaty (while just sitting) after eating blueberry syrup (just berries, sugar, and citric acid) and canned tomato puree (just tomatoes and citric acid). This really confused me, because when I ate these foods (usually a little sugar doesn’t bother me, and berries for sure don’t) I didn’t know anything about citric acid.

Since then, I did some digging, and wow, did I learn some crazy stuff about citric acid! Now I know why it bothers me.

Originally, citric acid came from lemons. Now, citric acid is produced in labs as a by-product from black mold (Rain Country, NCBI)!

I’m pretty sensitive to all molds, and everyone has problems with black mold. After learning this I thought, “Well of course it gives me problems!” But I was so confused before. I rarely eat any sort of processed food, so the syrup and tomato sauce were part of treat meals for me. They tasted really good, but I didn’t like that mild anaphylactic shock reaction that I was getting.

Now, natural citric acid is fine. I can eat lemons and other foods containing citric acid with no problem. Lots of natural foods contain citric acid. It’s the unnatural, processed citric acid that’s such a problem. (Citric acid is also used in cleaning to whiten things, so it’s a fairly harsh chemical)

Bottom line: It’s very difficult to find any sort of “clean” processed food. It’s easiest and best to cut out all processed food from your life. Eat whole, fresh foods just like nature intended.