Ice Cream and Sinus Infections: The Link to Artificial Flavorings

Having just finished an antibiotic for sinus infection, I was prompted to comment. I think I have had an infection for a long time, and it raises it's ugly head when I eat ice cream, milk, cheese or food with dairy in it. When I get these responses, usually within two hours, I get a feverish face, pain in the sinuses, post nasal drip and an overall ill feeling. The doctor called it an allergy, but I think many of us, like me, have a low-grade infection all the time, but don't notice it much until we eat dairy. I know that there are antibiotics given to cows that are a product of the genetically modified group of antibiotics. When we drink cows milk we are consuming these genetically modified products. These have been shown to cause allergic reactions in many people. I haven't found a satisfactory substitute for milk and I've tried most products. Using half/half Horizons Organic Milk in my morning coffee (and no milk for the rest of the day) still has some reaction but again, I have an underlying infection. I am taking grapefruit seed extract tabs for it since the antibiotic didn't work well. Willard Water (diluted) also helps in a spray bottle to dissolve the mucus. But our sinuses are complicated, and it takes awhile I think to clear all the infection out once we do have one. So, my point is that many of us are over-reactive due to the underlying infection and the GMO is not helping, for sure. I wish they would ban GMO's. Also, the cheaper ice creams have derivatives of seaweed in them, the guar gum, the carageenan and some others for thickeners and I never can eat that stuff. Plus stuff no one heard of. Just my few cents worth of opinion here.

I have been a fan of this site for a long time, but this is the first time I have looked up "sinus infection". I will have to concur on the ice cream connection. I got a cold 6 days ago and it was beginning to subside UNTIL I had a Dairy Queen Mocha Moolata on day 5. I now have took a turn for the worse and have a sinus infection.

Despite what the American Dairy Council says, milk products absolutely cause the production of mucus and should be avoided if you have a cold, sinus infection asthma etc. According to the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, cow's milk is the number one-cause of food allergies in children. In addition, milk allergies can develop in adults. In a study conducted at the New York University School of Medicine, people with asthma experienced a decrease in lung function after drinking whole milk.

To many people with lactose intolerance, a couple of glasses of milk will wreak havoc on their digestive systems. Milk may alter the effects of some drugs by interfering with their absorption and elimination. Milk decreases the absorption of iron into the body.

Think Soy milk and calcium supplements!

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.

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 am so happy to have reached this site. I am a longtime sinus sufferer and because I suffer so often and it has caused me to be so sleepy that its disrupting my life. I sleep too much. So I decided to check the web for anykind of relief. I stumbled upon this site and immediately realized one of the culprits. The other day, I had an icecream cone from Baskin Robbins. No sinus trouble that day before the icecream cone. Literally the next day my nose was so stopped up I couldnt breathe out of no where I had sinus trouble stopped up nose and acheness. I drank apple cider vinegar and used steam, almost immediately or within hours everything subsided. So while I was surfing the web today I was eating a bowl of icecream when I came upon this site. I am definately going to see if my symptons come back tomorrow night. and will be glad to tell you. - but thank you for this information. If I find the icecream is linked to my symptoms I am going to cut it completely from my diet. unless it is organic if such a thing. thanks again. your information is valuable for those of us suffering constantly.

i had a cold for about a week and felt like i was beating it up until about two days ago my sinuses felt all swollen. i thought it was maybe because of the super windy day we just had. until i stumbled across this theory...i bought dreyers icecream 3 days ago and have been eating it everday. i started to feel run down again, and the sinuses bugging me again (pressure, itchy, tingling) flushed my nose with salt water this morn and noticed it was almost neon yellow! sorry..kinda gross i know...but that struck me as odd so on-line i go to do some research and well how bizzare! i'm chucking that dreyers and never buying it again! if we buy icecream its usually haggen daas or ben jerry's and never had a problem. guess ill keep flushing with salt water and drinking apple cider vinegar. ok...strong reminder of all the chemis and crap in convience food and why i should avoid at all costs.

ICE CREAM and Flu and Sinus Symptoms

I cannot believe this. My 5 yr old daughter had a LARGE pink ice cream treat during a long car ride home. Well, a few hours later, at about 3:00am, she was throwing up all pink from the ice cream. She was fevered and ended up throwing up once more that night. Her fever remained for more than a day. Now, she has been fighting this lingering bullcrap sinus/upper respiratory thing that just doesn't want to go away. She is now on antibiotics (of course-what else is new?) and she still has the sinus problems. I came onto the web to search for natural remedies for her and I stumbled upon this UNBELIEVABLE info on your site regarding ice cream and flu symptoms. I would NEVER, EVER have thought it would cause flu symptoms- I always knew it causes mucous- but had no clue about the fever, etc. Unbelievable to me. This site is amazing and I thank you soooo much for bringing this ice cream problem to my attention. Unreal.

Hi Heather, Thanks to this wonderful site, I found another. Go to knowthecause.com, and you'll get a lot of info on what causes various diseases, including respiratory ones. Between earthclinic and know the cause, I have solved a lot of my family issues. Still working on them.

Hi again! I've been thinking about fibromyalgia and fluoride and I'm wondering if the ice cream/sinus infection thing is related.

Could both problems be caused by the known chemical reaction between fluoride and dairy? Some ice cream must be processed with fluoridated water problems. And the best selling brands are probably processed at more than one plant. Perhaps some are on fluoridated waterlines and some aren't...

This might explain the hit and miss aspect of both problems i.e. why some get fibromyalgia and/or sinus infections and some don't.

Calcium reduces the amount of fluoride that is absorbed by the body but dairy products are contra-indicated for fibromyalgia sufferers. So, where are they getting their calcium? What about blackstrap molasses? Non-dairy PLUS lots of calcium.

I also found that activated charcoal won't bind fluoride but DE (diatomaceous earth) does.

This all seems garbled but I'm going to send it anyway. Could be important.

Could this possibly happen with pizza? I had a pizza two days ago. Hours later I felt like I had the flu. Blocked sinuses, feverish and feeling rotten. Today I (56 y/o) didn't link it to the pizza because I try to eat healthy as much as I can until my son (36 y/o) called today I told him how I was feeling. He immediately told me that he has been fighting off this sinus infection ever since a Pizza, from a totally different place, same symptoms as mine. Could this be happening with other types of fast foods?

By the way I got some relief washing out my sinuses with a plastic bottle (a la neti pot) with some bicarb and sea salt, which I learned from this wonderful site.

My household just had this same problem, we had pizza and ice cream as a special 'blue moon' night of indulgence as we're moving and the kitchen is packed.

I have asked my doctor, and the nurse said everyone is catching a flu, that something is going around the city right now. We got pizza out, and often workers in restaurants won't call in sick and don't wash their hands or cover their faces properly. So when something is making the rounds, eating out can increase your risk of catching something. We usually don't order take out when this is the case, we just had no idea that a flu or cold was making its way round town!

My husband and I were craving ice cream and decided to go to the Dairy Queen. I had already read about this sinus infection connection with ice cream. As we were going through the drive -thru I decided to test this theory. It had been a really long time since having ice cream so I thought I'd see if it was a contributor to my chronic sinus troubles.

I had a Mocha Moolatte. About 2 hours later I began having pain in my frontal sinuses and the back of my neck. I started to feel a sensation of fatigue.

About 6 hours later my sinus passages felt swollen and the mucus had turned into thick sludge.

About an hour after the congestion started, body aches and pains began. In my arms, legs, feet, etc. Then came chills. I was certain I had a fever going, so I took my temp and it was 98.1 degrees, normal. I began having sensations of feeling cold, then warm, and back to cold again, while the aches in my body continued to worsen.

I no longer have my doubts about this theory now, as I can sincerely vouch for the fact that I'm ill and cold as I type this.

Here's what I've done to try and counter my trouble: 1/4 cup diluted in 8oz of water. 1 (concentrated) cranberry tablet to offset any possible UTI from the sugary dairy. 3 Advil for the pain. 1 Maximum strength Mucinex to thin down this congestion. 1 drop tea tree oil in pure water in a spray bottle, 1 spray up each nostril to open the nasal passages quickly.

It took about an hour for the Mucinex and Tea Tree nasal spray to make a difference. My head hurts less, but the chills and flu feelings are hanging on.

I had discovered in my adult years that food allergies can trigger sinus infections. for me at one point it was citrus, but in my later years was still plagued with sinus infections 3 to 5 times a year. A year ago, I read a similar article on ice cream and sinus infections, and decided to stop eating ice cream. I have only had 1 sinus infection this past year. I do believe this theory is true.

Amazing article re ice-cream & sinus infection - I love ice cream, and have just had a bad cold followed by bad sinus infection!! No more ice cream!!! Many Thanks, Keith McCormick

I don't eat much ice cream but had a chocolate malt about a month ago and have had a sinus infection AND a craving for more ice cream ever since. This is just plain despicable.

I am convinced that ice creams with artifical ingredients are the cause of my sinus infections. For me it only took 1 taste (teaspoon) of a Jack-In-The Box milk shake and 48 hrs. later I started to feel the flu-like symptons and sinus infection. This was confirmation for me. A few months prior I had the same think happen when I ate an over the counter ice cream... 48 hrs. later, same symptons. I'm convinced!!

May 12, 2008, I fell ill at church once again with nausia, fever and back aches and shortness of breath. I had just taken my 2 1/2 year old to Wendys for a lite snack before church about 30 minutes prior to attending. My son & I went for a short walk just when service was starting, it was nice and warm out, but I began noticing I started feeling really hot and it was hard to breathe. I have had sinus problems before - especially when the weather changes from hot to cold. Mostly when it is cold, I get congested. But I knew something was wrong. That night, I was sicker than a sick dog. I was in literal pain and the cold hurt if it touched my skin. I called in to work. That Monday, 12th of May, my mother rushed me to the Hospital -Long Beach Memorial ER. They did blood work, cat-scan of my blood, pumped me with fluids, including liquid motrin. I was still in pain. I couldnt figure out what happened. I thought about what I ate, until it hit me, slowly, as I recalled earlier in the week, I craved the enfamous, Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia (vanilla, black cherry, chocolate chunk mix) & I had Haagan Daz vanilla ice cream, both in single mini cup serving sizes.

I noticed that the Haagan Daz made my throat tingle a bit, then when I ate the Cherry Garcia, I noticed a stinging when I chewed a chunk of chocolate. A note to the wise, I am an avid lover of eating ice cream, but this is just mean! I purposly stopped eating Breyers & Dreyers Vanilla Bean ice creams because I noticed the actual vanilla bean specks occassoinally got caught in my throat giving me an allergic reaction and the sinus issues started then a rash. My eldest son, 16, noticed the same thing and will not touch any ice cream with the vanilla bean specks.

So getting to my point of illness, which kept me laid up for 7 days, my doctor kept me out from work till the 19th of May, I still have symptoms that flaired up w/ sinus congestion. Also note that during the 7 days of agony and viral symptoms - I had not one problem with my sinuses until after I started feeling better.

I have tried the Apple Cider Vinegar for my scalp - contact dermatitus/psoriasis per doctor diagnosis. And it seemed to have worked the first time I tried it. But will try again tonite. Also I had tried drinking the solution before But I think I used too much ACV with water. I have heard many times in the past that this remedy has worked for numerous ailments and plan to continue using it to heal both of my conditions, skin and nasal.

Also, I have tried the water, cayenne pepper and lemon remedy - cleansing. I stopped because my throat felt raw, which I found is one of the signs of healing part of the remedy. (Yellow Book - Master Cleanser).

Anyway, I know this is long but I hope to find out more info from my next Dr visit on June 4, 2008. The ER said my test showed that I was healthy. If so, then why couldnt they tell me what was wrong with me other than a viral infection? There has to be some other tests, other than just general ones that can be taken to rule out hidden ailments and diseases and allergies.

Thank you again for this wonderful website.
Yours Truely,
Peijay in Long Beach.

WOW...I stumbled on your site because I had come down with a cold 5 days ago and it turned into a very painful sinus infection. I hadn't eaten ice cream for 2 or 3 years. I also haven't had sinus problems for a few years but...I too had ice cream 3 nights in a row before this sinus pressure and thick mucus showed up. I have always believed dairy wasn't designed for human consumption. The brand was chocolate blue bunny. The hydrogen peroxide and ACV did wonders for me within 6 hours...mucus is returning to clear and I have much less pressure around my eyes. Thank you so much for this info. I know a 3 year old who is struggling with asthma...could dairy be the culprit??

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.

I have had a sinus infection for the past 6 months. I have gotten breaks by taking antibiotics. No doctor said not to eat ice cream or cut dairy or anything like that!! I am surprised at the number of people using faulty logic and saying that because they don't eat ice cream that no one could get a sinus infection because of eating ice cream. I'm going to give this a try and see what happens. We don't have a Baskin Robbins in town & I hate DQ, but I often have a shake at McDonalds, Burger King, Wendy's & Arby's. I know Red 40 gives my daughter headaches, maybe it (or one of the MANY other chemicals) gives me sinus infections.