Does anyone else out there suffer in ways that need not be mentioned whenever they eat macaroni and cheese (I’m talking the common box stuff you buy for a buck off the shelf and not homemade varieties). I love macaroni and cheese and used to eat it all the time but now I can almost never go without experiencing terrible bathroom issues in the hours following such a meal. I also can’t seem to counter the bowel problems with my typical preventative foods that I try to eat every morning (bananas, yogurt, rice, etc). Why is this? What is it about the simple varieties of easy to make boxed macaroni and cheese that upsets the much sought after balance within my small intestine? Furthermore why aren’t similar foods -- especially similar ‘tear open the box and dump into a pot of water pastas’ -- causing me the same problems? Is it something about the powdered cheese? Is it the combination of powdered cheese, milk and butter? On their own milk and butter don’t give me problems as long as I eat my preventive foods, so I know they aren’t to blame. At the same time I know that interesting changes can happen within foods during the cooking process, therefore I can’t rule them out when mixed with that cheese. Or maybe it isn’t the cheese, though I hesitate to point at anything else. Pasta almost never causes me problems. In fact, it is pretty much a stable part of my diet, something I eat in many different forms all throughout the week without trouble. However, I do know there could be something in the pasta that comes in those boxes, something that may be added by the companies that produce them for nutritional value, or maybe to help people lose weight (such things are horrible for Crohn’s Disease victims to eat because they usually work by limiting what the intestines will digest), something that should be mentioned on the box but isn’t. Whatever the reason I am saddened by the fact that I can’t eat macaroni and cheese all that often because it is one of my favorite foods, and would love to hear some tips from people if they suffer such problems from this as well but have found ways of continuing to eat it.
Well, it's not a surprise that is causes problems considering it has a bazillion ingredients. Kraft Easy Mac has the following ingredients (from their website):
ReplyDeleteIngredients: ENRICHED MACARONI PRODUCT (WHEAT FLOUR, DURUM WHEAT FLOUR, GLYCERYL MONOSTEARATE, NIACIN, FERROUS SULFATE [IRON], THIAMIN MONONITRATE [VITAMIN B1], RIBOFLAVIN [VITAMIN B2], FOLIC ACID), CHEESE SAUCE MIX (WHEY, CORN SYRUP SOLIDS, PALM OIL, MALTODEXTRIN, MODIFIED FOOD STARCH, SALT, MILKFAT, MILK PROTEIN CONCENTRATE, CALCIUM PHOSPHATE, CONTAINS LESS THAN 2% OF MEDIUM CHAIN TRIGLYCERIDES, SODIUM TRIPOLYPHOSPHATE, WHEY PROTEIN CONCENTRATE, CITRIC ACID, GUAR GUM, SODIUM PHOSPHATE, LACTIC ACID, CALCIUM PHOSPHATE, MILK, APOCAROTENAL [COLOR], ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, YELLOW 5, YELLOW 6, ENZYMES, CHEESE CULTURE, NATURAL FLAVOR).
Whey is a common culprit.
Have you tried making it with soy or rice milk and margarine instead to cut back on the dairy? Or you could try another brand, or an organic brand.
I think it's the milk and cheese. I have recently discovered a plethora of food intolerances that I now have that I never experienced before. Milk being one of them. :( I usually just eat what I want and suffer through but I am finding (in my old, old age of 35) that I should just skip it and eat something a little more bowel friendly than fight through the aggravation of eating something that will kill me just because it tastes good. I think our bodies and bowels change their minds a lot so what use to work before won't work now.
ReplyDeleteI have severe Crohn's and when the nausea has been bad cheap mac & cheese is about the only thing I can eat. Have you been tested for gluten intolerance? It could be the glutens in that particular product.
ReplyDeleteI have not been tested for gluten intolerance but am pretty sure gluten is not the issue given that it doesn't cause any problems with any other meals I eat. I'm also pretty sure the milk and cheese aren't the issue either because I have those all the time in other meals without any problem -- unless it has something to do with the powdered cheese. I am at a complete loss as to what may be the reason behind this.
ReplyDeleteI've had more success making my own, real, organic mac n cheese. The fake powdered cheese doesn't agree with my stomach at all.
ReplyDeleteThis is strange because I like live off Kraft mac n' cheese. Its my go to comfort food.
ReplyDelete@William - even if you're able to eat other glutens without issue, you could still have some mild intolerance that isn't being triggered by other foods due to amount or type or something.
ReplyDeleteThis is a good example of how to use the elimination method. What is good about this is that there are some options in the grocery store that can really help. Make homemade macaroni and cheese using basic dried pasta from any grocery store, some basic natural cheddar cheese with only a few ingredients (dont use something like Kraft that has a lot of crap in it) and a little butter & milk...just a few basic ingredients. See what happens. If you are fine after eating that, then its obviously one of the myriad of preservatives, powder, or additives in the easy to make convenience version and now you can enjoy mac and cheese till the cows come home. If it doesnt then its one of the 4 ingredients or the combination that is making you sick and your screwed. No more mac and cheese for you. If you are so inclined to investigate further then you can go to the next stepand try one of the convenience brands that are organic (Annies Organic Mac and Cheese comes to mind) to see what happens. Compare ingredients. The only way to really know is using this kind of elimination method. Trying these two options is a quick way to eliminate some of the major possibilities. Usually though. The answer is simple and is right in front of your nose. Let us know what happens crohny brother!
ReplyDeleteI will try this. I have an 'all organic' store near me and I'm pretty sure they sell Mac and Cheese. I've been kind of wanting to start going the all natural and organic route anyway. I'm not a fan of putting all these different chemicals in our foods. It just can't be good.
ReplyDelete