Nutritionist Talks About her Sulphur Intolerance

'While I am 90% back to normal there are still a few lingering imbalances within my body that I am seeking to rebalance and all of them seem to be associated with a sulphur intolerance'

I am a nutritionist who has been on my own health puzzle building journey. By using nutrition and lifestyle medicine techniques I have been able to rebalance my body after a breakdown in 2012 that led me to experience numerous chronic health conditions, including irritable bowel disease, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, agoraphobia and panic attacks.

I have overcome these chronic health conditions by trying to find the root cause/s of each disease. For those who do not know what root cause means it is the one or one of the things that you would need to remove, rebalance or add in order to remove the problem. For example, my Fibromyalgia symptoms significantly reduced when I started to take a supplement containing magnesium and calcium, therefore one of the main things triggering the pain and discomfort within my body was due to nutrient deficiencies. Other root causes that I have taken my time to work on addressing include: removal of heavy metals (specifically high thallium), mould (specifically Ochratoxin A) and stress, as well as seeking to rebalance my blood sugars, hormones, nutrients and gut microbiome.

While I am 90% back to normal there are still a few lingering imbalances within my body that I am seeking to rebalance and all of them seem to be associated with a sulphur intolerance.

Sulphur intolerance symptoms

When I eat foods, drinks or supplements high in sulphur within a few hours I notice some negative symptoms and within a few days I feel very unwell. Here is a list of some of the symptoms that I experience when I eat sulphur:

• Headaches (A feeling of pressure in my head)

• Agitated, anxious and mildly paranoid

• Inability to fall asleep for many hours, your tired but your brain will not shut off

• A feeling of a stimulant flowing throughout for body like an energetic chemical buzzing through your arteries and veins

• Mild changes in bowel movements

• Mild Bloating and wind

Triggers (Foods, Drinks, Supplements)

Some of the high sulphur foods, drinks and supplements that I react to include:

• Eggs

• Dairy (Milk, Butter, Yogurt)

• Red Meat

• Cruciferous Vegetables (Broccoli, Cauliflower, Sprouts, Cabbage, Kale)

• Allium Vegetables (Onion, Garlic, Leeks)

• Fermented Foods

• Sulforaphane (Supplement)

• Glutathione (Supplement)

When I remove these from my diet the symptoms go away and when I put them back in the symptoms quickly build up again. I also have a gluten intolerance and therefore as you can probably imagine this can make it very tricky to eat a balanced diet that is enjoyable.

Keep a look out for my next blog post where I will share with you my 14 day food diary. You will be able to see everything I eat and drink to keep my diet exciting and as balanced as possible.

Sulphur intolerance root causes

While I am a Nutritionist it does not mean I have all of the answers. I have found pieces of my health puzzle that have helped me get closer to overcoming my sulphur intolerance but there are pieces still to find.

Firstly, I will share with you what has not worked for me (but it could work for you):

• Eliminating the sulphur causing foods, drinks and supplements for a few weeks and reintroducing them one at a time slowly.

• Trying to keep consuming sulphur and seeing if I can push through it.

• Hydroxocobalamin (B12) supplementation.

• Molybdenum supplementation (both chewing and swallowing supplement).

• Calcium D-Glucarate supplementation.

• Trace mineral supplementation.

I would highly recommend a book called The Devil in the Garlic if you have or suspect you have a sulphur intolerance.

The Root Cause, But Not The Root Root Cause

Secondly, I have found the root cause but not the root cause of the root cause! That probably makes no sense, so I will explain what I mean.

18 months ago I decided to see a Kinesiologist as I knew that I had a sulphur intolerance but after trying all of the recommendations I could find I still have not found my root cause.

After a few months, I got to experience being free from my sulphur intolerance for the first time in years! I took an antimicrobial supplement called Candibactin (now discontinued) that helped to kill off some of the bacterial overgrowth within my small intestine (also referred to as SIBO - small intestinal bacterial overgrowth) and my large intestine (LIBO - large intestine bacterial overgrowth).

After a 6 week course, I was able to re-introduce sulphur rich foods like eggs and broccoli with no symptoms. I was ecstatic, as not only was I able to eat a more exciting diet again, my energy levels, anxiety and hormone balance had also improved and I felt like the old me.

However...after 2 weeks I started to notice my energy levels begin to dip and mild headaches coming back. I put this down to my menstrual cycle but unfortunately, a week later all of my old symptoms had come back again. The bacteria within my digestive system had built back up again and I was back to square one.

Over the last 18 months, I have tried a range of different antimicrobial supplements, including Oregano, Urva Ursi, Allicin, Berberine and Grapefruit Seed Extract.

In May 2023 I really thought I had cracked it as I got to experience 5 weeks of being free from my sulphur intolerance. However, it came back just in time for my first all you can eat holiday abroad. I did not notice the symptoms as I was away and put the initial poor sleep and anxiety down to being in a new environment. I ate so many eggs, lots of lovely onion rich dishes and little bits of dairy here and there.

It quickly became one of the most traumatic holidays I have ever had. My heart was racing, my thoughts irrational and out of my control, I was unable to sleep, I could not relax and I was getting more and more agitated as the days went on. By the time I was on the plane home, my anxiety was through the roof and I spent the entire flight feeling like I could not breathe.

Once home I realised what had happened, came off the sulphur rich foods and all of my negative symptoms went away. I was once again back to square one.

I have therefore found the root cause of my sulphur intolerance - Gastrointestinal Dysbiosis!

BUT! I do not know the root cause of the gastrointestinal dysbiosis! I have numerous theories of what might be causing the imbalances and I plan to experiment with each of them until I finally find the root root cause to my root cause (see diagram below).

There are numerous potential causes that could be leading the imbalance in bacteria and other microbes within my gastrointestinal system. Some of these I am very aware of as a nutritionist, such as, stress, vagus nerve activity and prebiotics. Whereas, others I have less knowledge about or I might not currently know about at all.

Below I plan to write my progress as I seek to rebalance my body and return to eating sulphur rich foods. Read on to see what I have tried, what has worked and what has not.

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Update 1: Spring & Summer 2024

During spring and summer of 2024, I am going to try out two specific theories:

• A poor functioning gallbladder and pancreas are linked to gastrointestinal dysbiosis (especially SIBO).

• Tension or structural issues within my neck could be pinching my vagus nerve causing messaging issues from my brain to my digestive system and vice versa. The vagus nerve is the largest nerve in the body that links the brain to the gut and sends messages to and from one another. If the correct signals are not being sent to control the digestive system properly it could lead to gastrointestinal dysbiosis.

Some of the things that I plan to do are:

• Take herbal bitters to support the quality and quality of bile being released from my gallbladder.

• Try taking a supplement that contains oxbile and digestive enzymes.

• Seek the support of an Osteopath for my neck.

• Focus more on taking time to eat slowly and try to relax for a short while after eating to help support my digestive system.

So what happened? Unfortunately, I had not luck with the supplements or Osteopath when it came to resolving my sulphur intolerance. However, I am so pleased that I saw the Osteopath as they helped to correct my posture, reduce my neck ache (from too much studying) and highlighted that I was breathing incorrectly. I had previously breathed too much from my check area which lead to panic attacks. In a bid to stop this I had trained myself to breath my tummy in and out as if blowing up a balloon. While this stopped the chest breathing it then led to just tummy breathing. An ideal breath should be into the belly and then a little into the chest. Useful to know but unfortunately the sulphur quest continues.

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Update 2: January 2025

My digestive symptoms became too much (despite not eating sulphur foods) due to microbial overgrowth. I decided to take some antimicrobials to help reduce the symptoms. They did help me feel more energised, less bloated and better able to sleep, but unfortunately no relief from my sulphur intolerance this time.

Looking back to this time last year my health has defiantly improved. My energy levels have increased—enabling me to work full time, go out in the evenings and I have even taken up rock climbing.

I am working very hard at building my business (TheHealthPuzzle.co.uk) at the moment so due to limited time, I will continue more investigations later in the year.

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Update 3: March 2023

Something amazing happened this month that was unexpected. I have been enjoying doing lots of rock climbing with my new partner over the past few months. On some sessions we would spend multiple hours at the climbing wall and one evening when I got home I craved eggs.

Being a nutritional therapist I know that when your body craves something it is typically a sign that your body wants something. I was a little worried to test this out due to the horrible symptoms that develop when I react. However, I found I was able to eat egg on toast with no symptoms.

Over the coming weeks I continued to increase the number of eggs I was eating each week. I was able do this for multiple weeks until I reached my limit and symptoms began to flair. I choose to come off eggs completely for a week to rebalance my system and then have spent the summer playing around with what I can get away with. This is typically 2-3 eggs per week.

While this is not a perfect resolution it is a strong start. I plan to continue playing with this and exercise over the coming months.

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Update 4: September 2025

Over the summer I have been really struggling with my gut. I have spent many an evening sat up until the early hours as my gut ferments my food and air is forcing itself up and out of my mouth (I cannot burp so it just gurgles out). I have also been more fatigued and my recovery from exercise has been less efficient. Interestingly, my symptoms flair the most around my period.

It has been a stressful summer with both work (just launched a practitioner directory and revamped the website) and my the illness and passing of my Nan. I have done less exercise and had less downtime, all of which could be contributing factors.

As once again my symptoms are impacting my work and daily life I am going to refocus on rebalancing my mind and body. I also know that I would like to try for a baby in a few years time and would love to get my body in the best shape possible.

After doing lots of research and thinking about where I wanted to focus my attention this time I have selected three private tests from Regenerus Labs to run.

1. GI360 Complete Stool Test: This is a very in-depth stool test that can highlight any overgrowth or undergrowth of certain microbes, pathogenic microbes, parasites, digestive insufficiencies, and more.

2. Methylation Plasma Profile: Methylation is an important system within the body necessary for red blood cell creation, DNA, detoxification, sulphur metabolism, inflammation and more. I know I have some genetic predisposition to issues with methylation and it isn't something I have tested before.

3. Wellness 360 Female: This is a really comprehensive test that covers stress, sex hormones, liver, kidney, full blood count, thyroid, as well as key nutrient status, such as Vitamin D, copper, iron, zinc, folate and B12.

The aim is to see if there are any underlying causes that I can pick out from these tests, rebalance and imbalances. Keep an eye out for my next update where I will share my key findings and what my next steps are.

If you are looking to run any of these tests you will need to see a qualified nutritional therapist. Here is a list of practitioners that can access, run and analyse this test for you.

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