A comment from Heather, about citric acid and yeast (see Even Yeast free bread may still have yeast) put me on to learning that some people have a citric acid intolerance.
That lead me to a bit of research, which lead me to Vicy Clarke’s Citric Acid Intolerance page.
The problem with having a citric acid intolerance is that citric acid is so hard to avoid, at least if you eat prepared foods.
Sounds familiar from avoiding gluten.
Citric acid is used as a flavoring, preservative and catalyst for other preservatives. And probably other uses as well.
As with managing any allergy, reading ingredients is a must.
Also, doing your own cooking makes it much easer to manage a citric acid intolerance. This may seem like a drag if you aren’t much of a cook, but the good news is that (a) this forces you towards a more healthy diet and (b) it really isn’t that hard to learn how to cook.
Vitamin B5 may help reduce reactions should you accidentally eat a citric acid containing food. This is confirmed.
External Links
These links are to a static website that appears unmaintained, although it has very useful information. Please let me know if the links stop working.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Thank you
I have citric acid intolerance. Thank you for the links and the information about Vitamin B5!
I too have this intolerance!
I too have this intolerance!
I too have this. Just have to point at bad information on citric free recipes.
In fact, bananas contain much more citric acid than ascorbic acid (Vitamin C). A ripe banana contains 319 mg of citric acid — that’s 29 times the amount of the ascorbic acid in the banana! But the predominant organic acid in a banana is malic acid (425 mg).
I am very allergic to citric acid and was hospitalized twice this year. Intestinal bleeding and vomiting were very scarey and I was thought to have bacterial infections. Expensive antibiotics were used to no avail – it helped but the pain and bloating kept coming back. It appears as IBS and gastritis too. I tried a limited diet of fibers and yogurts (plain or blueberry) just to feel better – not sure yet what was wrong – and had good success. I then ate a salad and lemon juice and tomatoes and immediately had facial pain, mouth pain, itchy scalp and headaches. Then my arm and elbow started aching and of course my intestinal reactions bagen. It became so clear it was the lemon but I never knew about lettuce too. It is maddening when you are trying to eat “healthy” and feel worse. I was so sick all this year. I am very happy to know I can control this source of pain and bloating with my diet. Now I am mourning the loss of diet pop, salads, and so many other foods. Watermelon makes me feel great though! Ginger tea – hot or cold. Yogurt – careful of flavored ones. Glad I can still eat bleberries and sweet pepprers!