'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.
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.
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.
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.
Over the coming months, I will be posting about my experiences as I try to rebalance my body with the aim of consuming sulphur again. In the next blog post, I will share with you my 14 day low sulphur food diary along with a range of recipes, tips and tricks to help you if you are also struggling with a sulphur intolerance.
If you click on the recipes within our recipe directory you will be able to see if a recipe is low sulphur or not.
Happy Puzzling!