Ice Cream and Sinus Infections: The Link to Artificial Flavorings

I haven't had a history of sickness, and I believe I have a fairly good immune system. A few weeks ago, ice-cream was on sale, so I bought two packs. After finishing the first (chocolate), I opened up the last pack last Saturday, this was some three flavour (I never really care what I buy, like I said I've never really had any major problems). The next morning I had what seemed like a cold. I ignored it, had some cold medications and went off to work, from there it was downhill. I thought it might just be the weather, I bought neo-citran to end the pain in my ears (sore throat). It helped me sleep, but my lungs were full of mucus the next morning. Its been a few days now (10 days). I haven't fully recovered, it is getting better. But atleast now I know, whats wrong, its a great relief, having read this post. I just wanted to post my experience here so that people realize this is not a fluke, it does and is happening.

Ice cream and sinus infection: Thanks for this info - interesting stuff. I had good quality ice cream from Waitrose last night and woke up with bad sore throat, and this morning my sinuses were blocked. Not sure its definitely the dairy connection though as I ate a whole baked camembert cheese the other day and nothing happened. Maybe it's the particular way ice cream is made - as one post had suggested. Would never have made this connection myself. Thanks Earth Clinic.

Look into the benefits of using oil of oregano for similar symptoms.

I just found your page while looking for home cures for sinus infection (which I have right now) and surprise! I did have ice cream just before I came down with this. I wanted to inform you that I do not eat any ice creams that contain any artificial additives. Most of what I buy I get from Wholefoods. I just thought that you might want to add this to your statistics for narrowing down the culprit.

It's interesting to find this. I noticed several years ago that if I had a MacDonalds milkshake on my way home (a 45 min. trip) I would cough and have to clear my throat constantly. I concluded (after a couple of instances of this) that I must be alergic to something in their milkshakes. I didn't get the flu or anything, but I stopped drinking the milkshakes all the same. It was just too unpleasant, and I feel sure it was the shakes causing my problems.

I was babysitting my niece and had a craving for some strawberry ice cream. We went to the store and bought some generic ice cream with the Neopolitan flavor. About 4 hours later I am having trouble with my sinuses & throat and keep clearing them. I am getting the feeling like I am coming down with a sinus infection. Is this connected to the discussions regarding this topic? I'm not sure, but this is very weird. I'm going to do a sinus rinse to see if this clears up. Thanks for the help Earthclinic!

I also do not drink milk or eat ice cream anymore. I used to LIVE on it, and I had around the clock sinus infections. I have had two sinus surgeries that didn't seem to help. But recently we started a very WHOLE FOODS diet, we are hardly eating anything that isn't completely fresh. We were drinking raw milk until we couldn't drive to get it anymore and it didn't seem to cause any problems for us. I haven't had any sinus infections.

Then recently I made potato soup with the main ingredient being heavy cream. I had it 3 times in two days because it was so good! It didn't have too many artificials in it, I checked. I have a RAGING sinus infection, and both my kids are sick, and it happened the day after eating this cream based soup. I just looked up a similar heavy cream and here are contents: Heavy Cream, Contains Less than 1% of Each of the Following: Mono and Diglycerides, Polysorbate 80 and Carrageenan.

I eat Carageenan in my almond milk so I know that isn't the culprit. I really believe it is the actual CREAM itself not the artificial flavors. Now organic yoghurt does not give me this problem, so I'm wondering it is something with the hormones they give cows? Or maybe its the way that cream is produced. I don't know. I just know that the cream seems to have promoted this infection in all of us.

I could feel the sinus infection coming on, why oh why didnt' I start the ACV protocol right away? I know that would have helped keep it from developing. Oh well. I'm sipping ACV now.

Lisa, thank you for posting about Starbucks. My Friday ritual is usually a Starbucks latte, but yesterday I had a Starbucks coffee frappuccino, and I haven't had a frozen Starbucks drink in maybe 3 years. Well, I woke up feeling so sick today, and the coughing started last night. My sinuses hurt so bad, that even my ear canals hurt, and my stomach is upset. I feel so bad, I can barely write this--must go back to bed. I am going to try oil pulling, as I am one of the very few people who has bad effects from ACV. Incidentally, the frappuccino was kinda yucky--did not taste like real food.

I am thrilled to find this thread about ice cream!!! I do not know where to post this so I wanted it as close to the top as I could get it... ACNE!!!!!! If anyone here suffers from ACNE look into the ice cream connection!!! Growing up I rarely had a pimple and I mean rarely. I have very fair skin with really no visible pores. It never occurred to me to care until I woke up one day and thought a bug had bitten me in the middle of the night because I had a giant hard knot-like thing on my chin... It took weeks for it to go away. Thus began the nightmare of CYSTIC ACNE!!! It took me years to pinpoint it down to ice cream because it was taking 3 months to even begin to heal from breakouts, I couldnt trace the cause. Nobody ever believes me if I tell them "no thanks it makes my skin break out really bad". Not even my husband. I can have relatively clear skin and if I eat it within a couple of days my face is INFECTED!!!! Like no joke infected!!! Itchy scabby bleeding with pus coming out of huge pimples that are as big around as a quarters. (yeah sorry about the visual). I had some cysts that stayed on my face for years without ever coming up or going down or healing. Sometimes they would literally stick off my face like gigantic lumps... It was absolutely disfiguring!!! now my face is wrinkled and dry and oily at the same time after years of tying to get rid of it. It will probably never be nice per se again but at least it's not like that anymore!!! Funny it wasn't a food allergy just the ice cream.

What in the world could they be feeding us?! Nuclear waste!

This makes me so mad... Those poor employees. All I had was a horrendous case of cystic acne. They got a life sentence.

We eat ice cream like once a year well we went over to Cold Stone for ice cream cones. Well when we arrived I drank my usual apple cider vinegar before bed. But my husband did not he woke up the next day with fever and chill he felt sick. NO more chemical laden fake ice cream for us!

I believe my 5 yr old is definitely feeling the correlation right now. He was on day 3 of his zpak for his sinus infection and feeling so much better. On day 4 he ate a child-size chocolate frosty from Wendy's. Today, day 5, he became feverish and his sinuses are hurting him terribly. He is miserable and keeps waking up crying. I am definately going to keep my eye on his reaction to ice cream and the likes from now on. So glad to have found this thread. Thanks.

Yes. I think dairy could be the culprit. I am 36 years old and have had allergies and asthma from about 4 years old to almost recently. Now, I do not need my inhaler.

All this helped me so I thought I would share:

• I cut out all dairy except yogurt (non homogenized but yes pasteurized brand name Erivan Yogurt) which I noticed gives me a subtle boost of energy around 3 PM. Interestingly, Eating yogurt in the morning or noon makes me tired.
• No wheat. I eat organic spelt, basmati rice, brown rice, oatmeal. I eat no butter but yes to ghee.
• I eat organic...
• If I get mucusy, allergy symptoms I take Solgar Vitamin B12 and Modifilan (I open the capsule for my son when he gets colds/allergies and he loves to eat it from the plate). Vitamin B12 in the morning and Modlifan is wakame seaweed which absorbs toxins.
• Also Vitamin C only when cold or allergy symptoms come on... But be really careful with children. And maybe opt for a food version high in Vitamin C for a three year old. Google "foods high in Vitamin C"
• Mushrooms also supply the body with immune enhancing goodness and vitamin D which converts naturally to the usable Vitamin D with a little sun exposure.

My son had anger tantrums and ADHD pretty bad. The dairy (or rather the way most companies process it and what the add to it) was wreaking havoc on his little body. He was hitting and punching me and his dad. We did not punish him like some relatives and friends were encouraging us to do. And I'm glad we did not. Because we found the root to his behavior (dairy and sugar).

Just took it out of his diet and he still has some lingering behaviors but no where near the stress we were having.

A little dairy or sugar for my 3 year old would make him lose his mind.

Hmmmm... makes me think about the mainstream media and their advertisements about what's healthy for us.....

Body's need calcium, even for ADHD and for asthmatics. And magnesium...

I am looking for some farm fresh yogurt becasue Erivan is about $2 per cup.

Good luck and keep reading. You'll find the answers you need. Be well.

The same thing happened to me I had 2 scoops of 31 flvaors icecream and the next day woke up congested with phlem in my through and other flu symptoms.

I got a 'regular' cold just before Christmas 2011. I did my sinus flush and all, and I was back in business by Monday evening. Of course there are the lingering affects, but I can deal with the symptoms individually. As long as I can sleep, I can recover. Then comes Jan 4. After a long day, I head home, and stop in at Wendy's to get my favorite chocolate Frosty for the trip home. It was delicious as always. Thursday I started feeling the down hill crash and by 5pm, I was toast. I'm just today beginning to feel better (Monday, Jan 9). Head still has tons of gunk. I'm still sinus flushing. Started researching for sinusplasty or something to get rid of this when I came across this article. I think I will be avoiding Wendys et al for a while.

One thing I do plan on trying: Homemade Ice Cream. I want to see if I have a similar reaction. I don't think I will, and I have an excuse for ice cream!

Hi. I think you guys are up to something. I went for a walk with my kids and stopped at Coldstone Creamery. I walked with a stroller so I worked hard to get my 150 lb of kids, stroller and pumpkins back home but on the way back I realized one of my nostrils is stuck. Long story short within the next 3 hours both of my nostrils became completely obstructed and I developed fever and extreme fatigue. I did not want to move. I also had Mexican shredded cheese on my tortilla and also on pasta couple hours before the walk. I think all that dairy did me in. I tend to have no problem with milk, sour cream and coconut icecream. I buy organic whenever they have it.

It took a lot of ACV, cayenne pepper, honey, humidifier, neti pot with salt and lots of baking soda to get this outta me. The frontal sinuses headache was intense. Nothing was moving for about 3 days, now I'm much better but I slept within 10 in. from a humidifier turned on HIGH. No more ice cream for me, darn it. I love it so much!

Fats are not the worst components of food. Some good fats are important and necessary for the body.

Ka

Hi Debbie, Because we don't have truth in labeling in Australia we won't ever know the full list of ingredients. It can be fun for your son to help you make ice cream. The cheap ice cream makers can work quite well providing you remember to have the bucket pre frozen. This way you can use the milk and sweetener that suits you. You can even add a little colour with a teaspoon of beetroot juice. I have not done it but I can't see why you could not add a teaspoon of wheatgrass/barley powder to get a tinge of colour. All the best.

If my husband eats ice cream before bed I can be sure he will snore for at least half the night.

I finally got him to realize this, and things are much quieter now. If he wants to eat dairy now, he eats it much earlier in the day.

In my opinion dairy products are generally not tolerated well be a lot of people who do not realize it is the dairy causing thier issues. It may be an allergy, or lactose intolerance, but the results are really icky. :-p

After my son had a soft cream ice cream from a well known multi national, his nose was blocked all night. He had "NEON green" discharge from his nose the next day. I googled "neon green discharge to see what was going on, and was amazed at how many people had flu like systems and neon coloured discharge after eating ice cream.

What on earth are they putting in the ice cream?

Your amazing. I have been looking this up for years! I am so glad I am not the only one who gets this. About 95% of the time after I eat ice cream I come down with flu-like symptoms, first it starts off as a light sore throat, then a feverish headache, then nausea, upset stomach etc etc. I never got a runny nose. I was convinced that the doctors that removed my tonsils nearly 14 years ago messed up in some way that spoiled my fun of eating ice cream whenever I feel like it, but I have never heard of anyone having that problem after getting their tonsils out. Should definitely look into this more!!!!! I am beyond interested in what's causing this.

I agree with most that you said about dairy, but definitely not about soy milk and calcium suppliments. I have read that gluten sensitivity is #1 and casein (another milk protein other than whey) is molecularly similar to gluten, and may have a cross-reactive response in some individuals due to its similar structure. Soy has many problems even if not organic/non-GM. Most people do not need additional calcium, but they are lacking other minerals that help with its absorbtion. Soft tissue calcification may be exacerbated with excessive supplementation of calcium for someone who is prone to it.

Im very happy to find this article. I thought I was imagining things. 3 days ago on sunday I had a vanilla shake at in n out burgers in LA and immediately, while I was drinking it even, I started to have flu symptoms. Now its almost full blown: runny nose, cough, etc. I very rarely eat fast food, once a month usually. And I only eat in n out. But this time I went 2x in the last two weeks. This had never happened before, so I thought I was hallucinating or something. Thats when I turned to the internet for answers. I'm a pretty healthy person, been living in japan for the last decade, but came to america a year ago on a promotion tour for my book black passenger yellow cabs. Living in japan, one cant help but eat healthily, so my body is just not accustomed to artificial flavoring. thanks to you guys, the mystery is solved.

Kirk, is devon house ice cream artificially flavoured?

i too just had a similar experience at in n out in LA. 3 days ago, I had a vanilla shake and started having flu symptoms while drinking it. I thought it was impossible and that I was nuts. Til I started to search on the internet and found this article. By the way, what is ACV? I have to get on a plane to ny in 3days and this is just gonna make life very very difficult.

I think there is a correlation dairy as well, Not just Ice Cream. Ever since I was a little kid I have had issues drinking milk, & eating ice cream due to bloating in stomach as well as sinus issues. Now as an adult I try to cut out both. I drink silk and keep ice cream out of the house. But I realize that even drinking a small amount of creamer in my coffee, makes my sinuses act up. I am on my way to the store rt now for ACV.

I came online to find a natural remedy for a sinus infection that I woke up with this morning (drinking apple cider vinegar as I type, thank you). Last night I ate a pint of ice cream (Ronnybrook Toasted Hazelnut Crunch), so I was very surprised to see a correlation between the two posted on your site. Pretty amazed actually. I wanted to list the ingredients of the ice cream that I ate because, from what I can tell, there are no chemicals in it. It's from a local dairy farm here in NY, and although it's not certified organic, it's produced without hormones or antibiotics and is supposedly all natural. Maybe there's a connection beyond the chemical additives, a correlation to dairy, sugar, and sinus infections, or something else. I'm certainly not discounting the ill effects of chemical additives. I just thought my experience could be of use in better understanding this connection between ice cream and sinus infections.

I am rarely one to come down with a cold. And once a cold gets me I can't remember too many times it lasting for more than one are two days. My girlfriend and I are really conscious about the food we buy and avoid fake food as much as possible. We like organic and real ingredients. But I admit I can slip from time to time. For instance working with my friend before Christmas. The 22nd and 23rd of December I ate at McDonald's with him. Then Christmas eve I did it... Ate some Eddy's Ice cream. What ensued were symptoms so much like described in your article. Its scary. 'Cept the order may not be exact. Christmas day I got the stuffy nose and feeling awful after taking a afternoon nap. That night runny nose and I started taking notice - I may have a cold. I went to sleep that night and mucus dripping into my throat gave me a painfully sore throat. We practice Netty pot nasal washes - my girlfriend more than I. So I cleansed my nose. And went back to sleep to wake with symptoms worsening. By the second night, Dec 26, I am flu like. With constant blowing of much mucus, even though I am cleaning my nose with a Netty pot.