Random Ramblings: Citric scald syndrome

Over the last few years we have been advised that there is nothing more essential to our health than five portions of fruit and vegetables per day. Fruit and vegetable consumption has increased because of this statement and yet in many instances good health has started to crumble. The problem may well be simple. We are all individual with different needs. Some people adapt well to consuming raw fruit and vegetables whilst others stutter and somehow always feel below par.

I have always struggled with salads and so simply stopped eating them. After all, I ate cooked vegetables and raw fruits so that was surely all right.

Fruit is a peculiar food item. It requires separate enzymes to digest it. The body often has difficulties making a good job of this process and the result is a mixture (depending on the fruit) of indigestion, bloating, wind, burping, acid reflux or other uncomfortable reactions that occur usually an hour-and-a-half or more after consumption.

Oranges, lemons, grapefruit and limes or variations of citric fruits cause a separate issue. After consumption of foods containing citric acid some people experience a scalding or burning sensation of the soft tissues. This may be in the tissues of the nose lining, the throat, oesophagus, stomach, intestines, bladder, urethra and anus. It is more common when people have ingested a citrus fruit or drink over a period of two or more days. This is citric scald syndrome, it appears to be harmless but extremely uncomfortable to the person experiencing it. It heals when citrus fruit has been excluded from the diet for a few days. It does however return when these delicious fruits are resumed in the daily diet requiring a person to eat these particular fruits with caution.