Allergic reaction to bone broth vapors???

Hello!

I am having issues with making bone broth, and I searched the internet and found no help, so I came here. I appreciate any help or feedback, so thank you in advance.

First, this is not die-off. I haven't even started GAPS yet. Some family history - we have had allergies, asthma, etc. in our family for generations. I am allergic to potatoes, beans, grains (except millet), seeds (mild allergy), nuts (mild allergy), shrimp/crabs/lobster (severe), eggs (mild), chicken (mild). I want to start GAPS to help with my allergies and migraines, plus to help my severe ADD. We already eat extremely well compared to most: organic/pasture raised animal products only, about 80-90% organic produce and the only processed foods we eat are Stonyfield yogurt (both of us) and almond milk (for my son), occasional Lara Bars and rice crackers for him. Everything else, I make from scratch. He is allergic to gluten, soy, some beans and corn. I don't cook with gluten free flours because I am allergic to them, so I typically use coconut and almond flour for him. I am diabetic (diet controlled, no drugs) and he is borderline diabetic (diet and exercise controlled, no drugs).

Ok, so we have both had congestion, sneezing and other mild allergy symptoms to the simmering vapors of bone broth. I always get that from chicken broth, but I am not allergic to turkey and neither is my son, yet here we are, stuffed up and had to open the windows. I even have some very mild swelling in my throat. We can both eat turkey, no problem. Any other method of cooking turkey, no issues. The boiling is the culprit. I am curious to see if this will happen with beef broth.

I really want to do GAPS. It isn't a far leap from what I already do, I just need to cut out sweet potatoes, really, and add in probiotic foods and bone broth - which I should be doing anyway. I bought 3 turkeys because I wanted to make broth with the bones & am allergic to chicken. Is this a sign we shouldn't have the broth? Is this a hidden allergy for us? Is something released in the vapor that isn't in the final product?

Anyway, has anyone else had similar issues?

Thanks again,

Bellanca

Hi, I'm new to the forum, but have been battling allergies, gut dysbiosis, MCS, and CFS (which I think are all related) for quite a while along with my children. I was a member of the GAPShelp yahoo group and it has great people, but the format is dysfunctional. We tried GAPS previously, but have learned a lot about food processing since then and we are finally able to avoid most chemicals including food additives so we are trying again. Your issue is most likely caused by a citric acid or lactic acid wash used when processing meat (even grass fed unless custom butchered). If you don't know, citric acid and lactic acid are produced by the fermentation of corn liquor (or other GMO corn waste products) by Aspergillus Niger mold. It really hurts us and is usually not listed on labels. It is commonly used in bagged and pre-washed produce like shredded cabbage, baby carrots, etc. It is also used extensively in the meat processing industry. We have to buy half a cow and get it custom butchered with nothing but water to avoid the evil stuff. When you weed out all the clutter with an elimination diet, it is easy to notice the ill effects, but most people mistakenly blame the meat, dairy product or produce. They don't have any way of knowing that meat can be sprayed with these washes and even packaged in cornstarch-lined vacuum bags. Also, chickens (even most organic ones in the store) may be water chilled which involves chlorine bleach in the water bath. Since these things are only used for processing or packaging, companies are not required to list them on the label. I'm afraid you will need to do a lot of research to find pure, chemical-free meat, dairy (contains corn oil or polysorbate-80 -corn again- as a way to suspend the corn-derived vitamin fortifications), and eggs (generally washed in chemical detergents then coated with corn oil to replace the natural "bloom").

It can also be the water you are using to make the broth.....most water filtration systems use citric acid as an antifungal in the filtering media. You should try using Voss water to make a batch of broth and see if it helps. If it does, you might need to invest in a Berkey water system with ceramic filters. It is the only one we have tried that doesn't add citric acid to the water when filtering. Are you using table salt? Find a good quality sea salt like Redmond's realsalt or at least canning salt to avoid the additives in it.

If your son is allergic to corn, he is ingesting his allergen with every drop of almond milk (anything enriched is corny) and yogurt (I don't think there is a commercial full fat yogurt that is completely corn-free, but I haven't looked lately). All of your allergies could be attributed to corn as well: potatoes are gassed with ethanol (corn-derived gas) to prevent sprouting, beans, seeds, and grains are usually contaminated with corn during harvest and storage and grains can be further corntaminated during processing (enriched grains contain cornstarch), nuts are very hard to find corn-free and I have found no shrimp, crab or lobster that is free from citric acid (they are dropped into ice laced with citric acid as soon as they hit the boat, eggs (discussed above) and chicken (fed corn and corntaminated during processing). Corn allergy is extremely strange (doesn't require a protein to cause reaction, may not show up on scratch tests) and doesn't generally happen in a vacuum. If your child is allergic to it, you are probably sensitive to it as well. Both of my children are allergic to it as I am and none of us showed any allergies on scratch tests. Elimination and challenge is the way we confirmed it and it took a long time to figure out.

Are you allergic to mold, by any chance? Citric acid is a double whammy for people sensitive to mold and corn. Hope this helps. Also, I just wanted to offer some hope: wouldn't it be nice to eat all those foods you are allergic to just by finding pure sources for all of them? For years I thought I was allergic to dairy, wheat, vinegar, chicken and beef, citrus (waxed with corn wax), avocados (gassed), and on and on.....I was wrong, it was all corn. Another tip: it is much easier to find corn-free lamb because all lamb is grass fed (thus historically low risk for e.coli and other nasty things that feedlot beef is notorious for).

Was happy to find this post! My husband has numerous gut issues/food allergies and has recently been working on parasite protocol. His doctor suggested bone broths. So I started to make them last week. Two batches now. In the meantime, I got "sick" with congestion, losing my voice, mucous, and malaise. Just this morning in talking to a friend of mine who is a nurse she discussed my symptoms and situation as sounding more like an allergy. It started the night I set out my first broth!

Interestingly I do NOT suffer from food allergies, though I live pretty much gluten free because of my husband, and I eat organic foods. I have a very strong constitution. So, this is a situation of the same thing happening to someone who isn't as compromised as others may be in a GAPS situation. It was difficult for me to find info online, so I appreciate this post. I am thinking it is the bone broth!!!! I immediately put it outside and have aired out the house.

I was reading the info from the second poster with interest. Am going to have to figure this out!!!

I am not 100% sure that vapors from the broth are my problem, but before reading this it felt like it was connecting and now finding out that someone else is having this problem adds to my conviction.

I didn't actually have a reaction to the cooking of the broth, but to drinking it. I was JUST diagnosed with early Crohn's disease and am not interested in doing the drug therapy, so I wanted to try and heal my gut naturally. A friend told me about the GAPS diet and I decided to try going on just beef broth for a couple weeks. I had chicken broth from a whole chicken last week and it didn't bother me at all, but last night, one large mug of the beef broth made me sick. It felt like sometimes in the past when I can't digest the fat content of something very well. How do I know if I'm producing enough bile? I felt, at first, like I might throw up, but it worked its way through my system. During the wee hours of the morning I had diarrhea. Since I've learned about the inflammation in my gut, eating has been very stressful since I don't know what is bad or good for me. Yesterday, I only ate blueberries for breakfast and nothing the rest of the day until the broth about 7-8 pm. Maybe it was a worse reaction since my body was so hungry, but I really don't think that's the only reason. Any help? I don't know of another way to naturally treat my inflammation without starting with this bone broth.

I have beef bone broth simmering for a few hours. I am congested, have a head ache, miserable, dry throat and cannot fall asleep. Yesterday I made chicken soup/broth from chicken breast and did not feel well either. This is huge for me—I thought something was seriously wrong with me. I love making homemade broth but these symptoms are just not worth it.

Thank you for starting this thread!

I put on a beef bone broth for the first time last night and during the night the smell filled the whole house and my bedroom - and I woke up this morning feeling absolutely terrible! All the allergy symptoms I usually get plus swollen eyes and swollen throat. I have a known mild allergy to yeast plus a suspected mold/dust allergy.

I am so glad I found this page, I thought it was such a silly idea that bone broth could be culprit! Argh! Allergies suck!