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Why I've stopped eating fermented foods

I'm finally getting answers about weird health problems that have kept coming and going over the years for no reason I could ever explain: pounding heart, bloating, insomnia, heat intolerance, intolerance of high-fat meals, and getting winded easily even though I'm physically fit. These health problems all came roaring in at once this spring when I did a huge landscape project, pushing through it even while I had a cold. The yard looks fabulous, but I ended up with
  • A three-week cold
  • Post-viral syndrome for another few weeks
  • An ongoing cough 
  • Insomnia (tired but wired late at night)
  • A puffy face, especially in the morning and after eating foods I’d previously tolerated (including SIBO yogurt)
  • 6 pound weight gain
  • TATT (tired all the time)
  • Being easily winded
  • Having a hard time cooling off
  • Being sensitive to sunlight

Grok (X’s AI feature) said this could be mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS). Mast cells are immune system cells that put out pathogen-fighting and other substances such as histamine when they sense a threat. Under a great deal of stress or illness or with certain foods, they can become overactive. Some people (like me) are born with more sensitive mast cells. My symptoms, along with others I've had previously like terrible allergies and acid reflux, and the fact that they come and go for no obvious reason, fits the pattern seen in MCAS.

As far back as December, I was clearly inflamed. Here I am right after I got out of bed in late December, telling viewers how to stratify seeds. My face got even more puffy in the morning over the next few months. 


I bit off too much with the landscape project: 170 new plants, digging out invasive/aggressive plant patches, refreshing the raised beds, putting down canvas mulch, and putting up wire fencing, among other things. I carried on the project while I was sick with a cold for three weeks. 

Foods I'd eaten for years (SIBO yogurt and peach flavored magnesium) began to immediately make me puff up. I told all of this to Grok and I added some genetic info. Grok immediately mentioned mast cells and later added, "You now have a solid cluster of variants ... that tilt toward stronger TLR [toll-like receptors that are part of the innate immune system] signaling."

Grok offered some advice:
  • Dust/vacuum the house well
  • Get a higher MERV furnace filter and run the HVAC fan
  • Pause fermented foods
  • Reduce outdoor time and keep the house cooler
  • Get bright light early in the day for about 15-20 minutes
  • Try an allergy probiotic (I went with Life Extension Florassist Immune and Nasal defense with EpiCor (a product of S. cerevisiae) and L. rhamnosus CRL1505)

Could all of this be a recurrence of SIBO? Grok said,

In your case, SIBO could be playing a role (especially if you’ve had long-standing gut issues or the heavy stomach feeling after yogurt), but it’s probably not the whole story. Here’s a more balanced view based on what you’ve shared:

  • What’s Likely Happening: Your TLR/Neanderthal gene cluster gives you a naturally hyper-reactive innate immune and mast cell system. That’s the bigger foundational piece.
  • Recent post-viral state + spring pollen overload sensitized everything.
  • The L. reuteri in the SIBO yogurt is a known histamine producer. When your mast cells are already primed, even a yogurt you tolerated for years can suddenly cause facial puffiness, warmth, and tiredness.
  • Dairy itself (casein, lactose, histamine content in fermented products) is a common trigger for people with your profile. So it’s more of a perfect storm than pure SIBO (emphasis added).

This lollapalooza effect of a bad cold, big landscape project (while working FT except for a week of PTO) and an easily triggered immune system leading to MCAS makes more sense to me than SIBO.

I’ve been taking Grok’s advice for about a week. The puffiness is mostly gone and I’m starting to feel better. I'm down four pounds, my pants fit better, I'm usually tired at bedtime and mostly sleeping through the night. My cough is slowly going away. And I finally have some answers.


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