Corn-Tamination Series – Slide 06 – Alcohol*

Alcohol should be approached with extreme caution, whether it’s at the bar or your topical antibacterial wipes. Alcohol is created through fermentation processes and more often than not it is corn-based alcohol being mass-produced and manufactured for everyday items and beverages. Not all alcohol is corn-derived, it can be made with grapes, potatoes, grains and so much more. Fermented products can be a danger for those with histamine sensitivities in general. Alcohol is a known health degrader as well if you’re consuming it on a regular basis. Topically, it can really damage your skin. If you’re allergic to it, not only will it dry your skin out – a rash can form and be long-lasting. Alcoholic beverages you consume that are not necessarily corn based alcohols, they can still be laden with preservatives, fillers and flavorings that are nothing but corn derivatives. Mix your allergy with alcohol and you’ll find out really quick how crappy a night and week you can have.

Alcohol was actually one of the major leaders in helping me figure out my allergy in all honesty. On my journey, I was a bit of an alcoholic in my earlier years. From 21 on to my diagnosis and a little after it, I was known to drink a 6 pack a day of Blue Moon or some New Belgium-style brew. Fat Tire was one of my favorites on top of Blue Moon. I’d end the night off with shots of vodka, whiskey, or tequila. Some days I’d start the day with some Bailey’s in my coffee. I had some things I didn’t want to address sober, so I drank. It literally amplified every single reaction I had. As time went on and the allergy development worsened, those closest to me would stop me while we were drinking and point out the absolutely unmistakably huge hive patches going from my face, all the way down the rest of my body. I’d shrug it off, take another shot. Whatever! I’m having fun, I’m living the life! What I didn’t realize is alcohol doesn’t just amplify the effects of medications – it will amplify the effects of health complications too in ways you wouldn’t even begin to fathom. 

This would turn south in a matter of months for me as the allergy became more sensitive. Food poisoning would happen any time I drank and well after I’d been drinking and had already sobered up. I’d wake up the next day feeling like I couldn’t even move for an hour. I’d begin getting sick with fever every other week. The hives would turn into lasting eczema patches. Acne patches would surface. Lymph Nodes would stand out the size of golf balls. My body would get so sickly, I’d be out of work with ‘Pneumonia’ or something like the ‘Flu’, over and over again. Migraines would be crippling. IBS would look like a culprit but not be what reflects in the litany of tests I would undergo. Eventually, they’d find that the Level 1 Corn allergy was contributing to absolutely all of this and I was forced to quit drinking by doctors’ orders for a while until we could identify what was going on even more. Alcohol would interfere with the medications she had me on so it would be a no-go. I would quickly find out that my health bounced back to some really positive points when not drinking. After research and time, I found that the only alcohol I could do safely without consequence was Ciroc and some Tequilas. 

Any time I drank any kind of beer or corn-based or laden alcohols, I’d be super sensitive to anything in the air, foodwise I’d get sick really easy and after a night of drinking, I’d be sickly for up to 2 weeks after. It really sucked. Going to a bar and having a safe shot of tequila would turn bad because of food smells and corn oil being burned off in the kitchen of the bar. I’d find myself with a mood swing a couple of shots in that was not natural at all whatsoever, not something that happened at home either, and then a headache. The headache would last too sometimes, the worst ones are the ones that were brief but would leave me feeling off. I don’t get hungover or sick off one shot of Ciroc at home, or one shot of tequila at home…so what was causing it at the bar? The other smells and other triggers in the area. Whiskey on someone else’s breath can give me a headache for a couple of hours and even a mood shift if I get too close and in an enclosed space with them. It’s absolutely insane how finicky the reactions can be for me – they’re consistently inconsistent and totally dependent on how well I’m caring for myself overall. I can drink and have fun, but it has to be done wisely and with plans around everything from the food to the setting. 

In 2020 during the COVID19 Pandemic and the hand sanitizer frenzy everyone went on, I quickly discovered just how airborne sensitive I can be when overloaded in an enclosed space. I had to get a respirator, like painters mask status to filter out the cleaners and chemicals. The cloth masks didn’t do anything for me but exacerbate issues – I found out that most of those surgical masks have some kind of corn starch. The acne outbreak was just lovely from that and the rash is still bothering me around my mouth to this day and here we are a year later. I’m pretty sure it’ll take a long time for it to go away completely because I was wearing those surgical masks for about 3 months before I got my Respirator. 

I finally came to the conclusion that I needed it, the respirator, I didn’t want it and I still don’t. But it became necessary. In combination with everyone’s excessive cleaner uses, the company I worked for’s cleaning protocols and chemical mandates on what to use, failure to be able to compromise with my situation – I had to get gloves and a respirator. Too much of all these corn-derived and based chemicals and cleaners in non-aierated spaces is enough for me to develop the equivalent reaction as if I just straight up ate corn on the cob for a whole day from sun up to sundown. It just makes me so very sick, headache, flu-like, can’t move, can’t breathe, hives, and just plain out miserable all the way around. I won’t go into the details on the bathroom trips but they go out of wack too when I get overloaded airborne and then have just a minor bit whether it be a chemical on a banana or berry or something or beef. Typically if my bucket is empty and my diet has been clean and my air not over chemically – I’m fine. Combine all these factors and I’m one sick Ginger. 

I’ve said it before in a previous post, and I’ll say it again, we cannot expect the world to change for us, but we must change and adapt to still be part of the world around us with this allergy. Corn Allergy is NOT FDA recognized, not required for labeling. For booze and what not it’s a different monstrosity with the lax labeling requirements. Matter of fact many things are left off of alcohol and wine bottles as it is not required to label the ingredients they put in your alcoholic beverages. This is also true of sodas and anything labeled with “Natural Flavors” – they’re not required to give you an answer either.  You’re to be assumed that you know what you’re consuming and assume it is safe until you find out otherwise. I feel like this lack of labeling requirements creates too much room for dishonesty in the food manufacturing world and should be more of a concern to the masses than what it is. Most people can be told they’re eating goat butt juice or something atrocious that is in a natural flavoring, and still, just keep munching or sipping away without a second thought about the fact they’re consuming something they would never consume in a million years if it were assembled right in front of them and handed to them. The lack of connection to logic there is just wild to me. 

The “I don’t see it; therefore it doesn’t happen and what I’m consuming is absolutely fine.” mentality is really mind-boggling to me. Even if I could, I couldn’t let myself eat Tyson Chicken knowing what they do to their chickens. It might taste good with all those chemicals and hormones pumped into that meat or whatever, but the meat itself is bad energy consumption. Abused animal energy being consumed leads to health complications too in some studies. There’s a lot of layers and factors and avenues you can go down on the research wagon. I won’t go down that one here, but I’ll drop it in as a side thought. I hope some of you go look into it too. It’s rather disgusting how meat gets to our dinner plates in the fast-paced world we live in. It’s no wonder obesity and all these health complications are so high in the country I live in. 

Anyway, back to the topic of Alcohol. Wine, Liquor, Whiskey, Tequila, all forms of alcoholic beverages should be approached with extreme caution and research when living with any allergy really, not just corn. Go to the FB groups and search your bottle of booze for others experiences before you waste the money. Trust me on this one, research before you drink if you want to avoid hefty reactions and wasting your money. If you’re anaphylactic, I’d suggest not drinking ever again, but that’s just me. I’m not anaphylactic so I cannot speak on that and shouldn’t – that’s not my area of expertise. There are a few references I am going to drop at the end of this journey share and article. I’ve summarized the facts in the slide available and in the first paragraph here.

As a recap: Alcohol is created through a fermentation process and in many cases is corn-based for everything from rubbing alcohol to whiskey. Your drinking beers, liquors and, boozes can be mucked up with all kinds of preservatives and fillers that are not required to be on the label. Research your booze wisely if you’re going to drink. Research your hand sanitizer wisely as well. I use witch hazel in place of rubbing alcohol for 99% of things I would use rubbing alcohol for. If you’re airborne sensitive, a respirator is wise to get even though they’re uncomfortable and unattractive in feeling. What matters is your health. Not your appearance. 

Alcohol amplifies problems, not solutions, it unveils deeper faces, it doesn’t create them. Alcohol uncovers our demons sometimes and we should learn to face them, if you’re having drinks for fun, that’s great, problems, not so much. Drink wisely and if you have a drinking problem – seek help. Get that help you need. I didn’t need counseling or anything for my drinking habit, I knew what I was running from and just finally decided to hit it head-on when this allergy came knocking my life off track. Counseling for other things was necessary, but not the alcohol abuse. I just needed to address what I didn’t want to sober, with some guidance. I suggest you do the same if you’re battling your own scars and demons. It makes you a stronger person to be able to soberly handle your life issues, so don’t drink yourself into a casket. People love you whether you want to realize it or not, drinking yourself into oblivion might feel good to you but you’re stealing from those around you. For me, This allergy makes it very easy to do, very quickly so I opt to drink for fun only. It is not something you want to put the people around you through, so quit drinking if you are drinking for problems and get both your mental health and your allergy in order, and figured out if this too is part of your journey of discovery. You should never drink to run from problems, only to have fun and celebrate this very short life we get blessed with. 70 years goes in a blink of an eye. Alcohol – It should never be daily and should always be done in moderation, with respect. Just some words from the wise as I close this particular post out. 

REFERENCES: 

https://www.alcohol.org.nz/alcohol-its-effects/about-alcohol/what-is-alcohol

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/alcohol-intolerance/symptoms-causes/syc-20369211

Where’s the Corn in Foods?

https://www.ttb.gov/faqs/alcohol-labeling-and-formulation

https://www.ttb.gov/scientific-services-division/alcohol-fact-labeling-methods

https://www.ttb.gov/labeling/laws-and-regulations

https://www.ftc.gov/enforcement/rules/rulemaking-regulatory-reform-proceedings/fair-packaging-labeling-act-regulations-0

Do a little googling, bing and yahoo research on your own about alcohol and how it’s made, used, etc. Adjust your search engine algorithms to really open and expand your research windows past what big tech has set up for you to find and read. 

I have to provide one more slide for this as informational in regards to liquor and boozes – the labeling lax is just beyond me and should be more of a problem to normal people and not just allergy folks. The fillers and preservatives slipped into your boozes are just as toxic to your everyday average Joe as it is to us, it’s just a slower process getting them than it is for us with this corn allergy. Alcohol can be a slow killer, or fast, it depends on your consumption style and rate. It can deteriorate and open the path for any weakness your body has to destroy you on a whole different level in many areas of your life, not just your physical body. Neurological inflammation is something you should look into! I’ll eventually make a post on it, but I fully encourage people to do their own research – don’t just take my word for things. I only know what I’ve found and understood at my level. I have so much more to learn. So does everyone else!