Q. Several years ago I began having debilitating headaches in the morning. I could not even think, much less work.
I had started eating prepackaged shredded cabbage for snacking and in salads, thinking I was doing something good for myself. It turned out that I am extremely sensitive to the sulfites used in some prepackaged salad ingredients.
When I quit eating any of the prepackaged stuff, the headaches went away as if by magic. I had an elderly friend who started having severe headaches at times. We looked back on what she had eaten, and it always appeared that she too had eaten prepackaged veggie ingredients such as carrots or salads. She stopped eating them and the headaches went away.
A. Sulfite sensitivity refers to a reaction to the preservative that used to be applied to fresh veggies to keep them from turning brown. The FDA banned sulfites from salad bars in 1986 because of serious adverse reactions, including more than a dozen deaths.
Such chemicals may still be found in other foods, including baked goods, condiments and precut or peeled potatoes. Sulfites may also be used in dried fruit, vegetable juice or guacamole and in wine making. Shellfish such as shrimp or crab may also be treated. Look on the label for the words sulfite, bisulfite or metabisulfite.
Sulfite reactions may include symptoms such as hives, shortness of breath and digestive distress. Headaches are not common, but others have also reported trouble with this reaction.
