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l just finished a round of WD a few hours after eating a product (Rice Rollers) that has a short ingredient list: white rice, cane sugar, rice syrup, and agar. The problem has to be the agar. For some unknown reason I was thinking that it was a type of sugar. Actually it's an extract of red seaweed, similar to carrageenan. In fact, agar and carrageenan are used for the same purposes in foods.
I can remember Polly posting that she was sensitive to carrageenan, but I don't recall anyone mentioning agar. I have a hunch that they are similar enough that anyone who is sensitive to one will probably be sensitive to the other, also.
Sooooooooo, I reckon I can add another item to my growing list of no-nos.
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
Tex, thank you for alerting us about agra. This is the first I have heard about this so I will be cautious as carrageenan is a problem for me. I was doing fine until last Thursday when my body decided to start flaring. Can't figure this one out. Missed work on Monday because of nausea and feeling weak, which hasn't happened in five years. Then vomiting last night. It could have been a virus bc I awoke with a severe abdominal pain and once I cleared my stomach, I felt better.
What a nice surprise to see the happy birthday wishes! When I saw that I got so excited! Oh my gosh, I said to myself....they even send birthday greetings!!! I also came across that funny thread from a couple of years ago, "Concerns and trials from one girl with microscopic colitis." Perfect!
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
Thanks, I seem to be pretty much OK today, after what was hopefully the last round of D early this morning.
You may have caught a virus. There was a stomach/intestinal virus making the rounds in my neck of the woods about a month ago, and now there's another 1 going around that seems to be mostly a cold and cough.
I hope you'll be back on track soon.
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
Unless something has changed recently, molasses has always been a byproduct of the process of extracting sugar from sugarcane or sugar beets. IOW, it's mostly sucrose.
Syrup on the other hand, can be made from many, many different sources, and most of the syrup available is based on corn syrup or high-fructose corn syrup, although there are also many specialty syrups.
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
That's an interesting possibility. The product is labeled Gluten-Free, but it comes from South Korea. For all I know they (or one of their suppliers) may have a different interpretation of "Gluten-Free".
Thank you for the link.
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
Hi, Tex. I believe we've been eating the same thing - Bamboo Lane crunchy rice rollers. I didn't notice the Agar before. I have been eating them for some time though and have not had a reaction. Yesterday I believe I ate three of them (I can never eat just one) and I haven't had any issues. I'll keep this in mind in case I do react. The package reads "a truly guilt-free snack." Apparently not! Thanks for the heads up.
Marcia
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My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor and some style. - M. Angelou
I probably learned about them from a post that you wrote and decided to try them. The "funny" thing is, apparently I wasn't sensitive to them at first. That led me to assume that they were safe, so when I began to have some minor symptoms weeks later, I didn't connect them with the Rice Rollers. It took a while for my immune system to begin making antibodies. But after a while, I noticed that if I ate more than 1 each day, I would have a significant gas problem. After I manged to belch though, I was OK, so I continued to eat 1 per day. After a few weeks though, I began to notice that the gas problem was back.
I wasn't sure that they were causing it, because I didn't spot anything suspicious on the label, so I wondered if something else was causing the problem. But after a few more days, the gas was followed by a slight amount of D. It didn't take but another day or so for the slight amount of D to turn into sure 'nuf WD. That's when I decided maybe it was time to look up the agar to see what the heck it was made from and I noticed that it was similar to carrageenan.
Surprisingly, the only symptoms were gas and WD (as if that's not bad enough ). But once the WD started, I was obviously bloated. I'm much better today though, so whether it was the agar or the brown rice syrup, that product is now something that I used to snack on. I should have known that they were too good to be safe, because they tasted too good.
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
Wow, when I get in tune with my body as you Tex and many others have I will be so much better when that happens. My goodness this MC needs an instruction booklet...just like parenting needed to come with one. This learning by hindsight is for the birds a lot of the time.
And because we are all each different it makes this detective work that much more complex! AGGHH!!!
Thank you for pointing out this little but potentially frustrating ingredient to watch out for.
Hugs
Erica
To Succeed you have to Believe in something with such a passion that it becomes a Reality - Anita Roddick
Dx LC April 2012 had symptoms since Aug 2007
Hi, Tex. After reading your post I googled Agar. According to Wikipedia it can be used as a laxative! Wow, I thought it was a form of sugar, too. I just bought some at Costco but I think after this package I'm going to be finished with them as well. I don't want to take the chance of something happening down the road. We truly do learn something new every day, don't we?!
Marcia
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My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor and some style. - M. Angelou
Marca wrote:We truly do learn something new every day, don't we?!
Yes we do. I also noticed that comment about it being used as a laxative, but I was hoping that required larger doses.
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
Are there any kinds of seaweed that you recommend (e.g. for iodine and nutrients)? For breakfast, we're now cooking rice congee (cooked with a chicken foot) and then put a duck egg in at the last minute.
Friends mentioned that seaweed can be very nutritious and add flavor to congee.
). But once the WD started, I was obviously bloated. I'm much better today though, so whether it was the agar or the brown rice syrup, that product is now something that I used to snack on. I should have known that they were too good to be safe, because they tasted too good. 
