Do you have fond memories of biting into a cob of buttered sweetcorn? Delicious flavour, texture with friends around a barbecue? What most people don’t realise is - corn is loaded with a troublesome protein called zein. Corn is a low cost ingredient – so it is added to thousands of products – it is even used to make plastics because the protein is so durable (read ‘indigestible’).

Before I joined the dots - I used to suffer massive headaches – along with sinus pain which turned into sinus infection calling for antibiotics. Years of serious misery.

Of course I took pain relief tablets, paracetamol (hundreds of) and when that stopped working I moved to codeine. But three hours relief doesn’t get you through the day. One dose got me through my teaching duties – then more were needed at home with my children. Dose by dose, one half day at a time. For years.

And yes of course I consulted doctors – but it was not helpful. Some became determined to find something – so I was sent for MRI and CT scans, ultrasounds, endoscopy, gastroscopy, x-rays and lung capacity tests – not to mention a barrage of blood tests. These all took many weeks, making me quite distressed waiting for results ... but nothing was found. Then came the questions about my mental health and whether I might be imagining the headaches – which were now often migraines.

The revelation that I could be suffering from corn toxicity only occurred to me after I had been gluten-free and dairy-free for two years. This diet had tipped me into eating much more corn: corn crackers, corn thins, corn chips, polenta, nachos and corn flour for cooking. But then my research of the medical journals revealed the possibility of corn sensitivity – in particular the protein zein.

All my symptoms seemed to match – so I experimented with being corn-free too. And yes - results! At last I was free of the dreadful pain . . . most of the time. It would come back suddenly out of the blue.

The reason is – corn is tricky to avoid. It is added to thousands of processed food and frozen foods. I read all the labels carefully but manufacturers were not cooperating. They had started using something called ‘E numbers’ instead of the names of ingredients. And that made it so much more difficult to identify the culprit.

Food ingredients listed on labels as E1400 – E 1414 are thickeners and stabilisers used widely - and derived from any of corn (maize), tapioca, wheat or potato. But the problem is – many products do not stipulate which one. Best to avoid all.

Once I figured out how to what the numbers meant things improved. I was so much better and my husband and I left on an overseas trip.

It was in Florence that I made a most shocking discovery. I suffered a little bit of allergy in a strange city – but I only had cold and ‘flu relief tablets with me. I took some  - and the sneezing runny nose stopped. But the very next morning it had turned into terrible sinus pain.

I took some more of the same tablets and enjoyed a half day’s relief. But again the next morning the same old sinus pain returned.

Then a brainwave happened. What if there was corn in the tablets? What if it was taking a day to work through my digestive system, get into my bloodstream and into the sinuses?

Once I realised what was going on – I decided to put up with the pain for a day – and took no tablets. And the next morning, lo and behold - no sinus pain!

It took a lot of searching on the dial-up internet in our apartment – but I discovered that corn is used frequently in tablets – for no therapeutic purpose at all.

Pharmaceutical companies add maize thickener (which causes sinus pain) to medications designed to relieve sinus pain!

Surprisingly - another source of corn toxicity is baby powder. Many brands have now abandoned talcum and have substituted it with cornflour.

This is how stealthy food toxins are. There are all kinds of ways to ingest them – and without careful attention you could be suffering for years. Haven’t you ever wondered why headaches are so common?

Now if I need over-the-counter cold relief I choose liquid capsules – or bottles of liquid medicine. Children’s varieties are usually liquid – so do not contain corn, gluten or lactose. Adults just need to take a bigger dose. If I need prescription medication I ask the doctor and pharmacist to ensure they are gluten-free, dairy-free and corn-free.

Anything to stay free of sinus pain!

Learn how to avoid food toxins with the unique LoTox Express program