As a child my parents would say that I had an 'iron stomach'.
Spicy curry had no effect on me and I could eat as much cheese, dairy and Mexican food as I wanted.
Even when I caught sick bugs at school, I could usually hold it.
So you can imagine my surprise when I started moving extreme gas and abdominal pain for the first time in my life after moving from the UK to the US a few months ago.
First I assumed that it was stress or a mild winter bug, something temporary that would disappear by itself.
But this took weeks.
And I use the word 'extreme' not lightly.
During these 'attacks' I would pass gas dozens of times per hour, which was not only physically, but also incredibly embarrassing.
Work meetings and restaurant dinners became anxious inducing.
As a child, Charlie's parents would say he had an 'iron stomach' (stock image)
But then Charlie moved from the UK to the US and something strange happened to his belly (stock image)
At the time there were no obvious triggers and there seemed to be only one pattern: the worst attacks came at night and in the morning.
It became so bad at one point that my wife insisted that we were stagging our sleep times.
I started going to bed 30 minutes before her, so I would sleep (and the flatulence would stop) by the time she followed.
Something had to be done clearly.
What would I tell friends and family if our six -year relationship crashed because I smelled the apartment?
So I started to look even better at my diet – did I have an allergy that I didn't know? Did I not cook something well?
Adding the confusion was the fact that I thought I was eating healthier than ever.
Every day I carefully counted my calories to stay with a specific body weight (165 pounds) for a martial arts competition that I had.
But that's where the problem was.
By striving to bring down my weight, I had included 'calorie -rich' versions of popular foods in my diet.
To reduce calorie content without sacrificing taste and texture, manufacturers use many synthetic chemicals.
I resisted two relatively new additions to my diet: a protein bar that I would mix with yogurt and fruit in the morning and a strawberry jelly that I would have on a bagel at night like a sweet snack.
I chose the legendary protein area because it had a measly 180 kcal (a third less than a kind of similar size Hershey's bar, with none of the sugar).
Despite the fact that I had consumed this protein bar every day for weeks, I had never looked at the back of the package.
I was stunned.
The legendary protein cakes were so delicious that I would have it every morning with yogurt and fruit. But it contained 30 ingredients, many of which were linked to intestinal problems and worse … cancer
First of all, the bar has more than 30 ingredients (much higher than the rule of five ingredients that many diet experts preach).
The content also reads more than the stock list for a chemielab than food.
Erythritol, polydextrosis, glycerine, modified cellulose, carnauba -wax, collagen peptides, calcium caseinate, micellar casein … the list continued!
In fact, eight of the ingredients in the bar are linked to intestinal problems.
Erythritol is, for example, a sugar alcohol that can cause a bloated feeling, gas and diarrhea.
In the meantime, polydextrosis is a synthetic fiber used to blow up the volume of the rod and to maintain you on a few calories – but it can cause bloating, gas and laxative effects.
Other ingredients such as soluble corn fibers and the artificial sweetener succralosis are linked to a bloated feeling and damaged intestinal bacteria.
But it turned out that a bloated feeling was the least of my worries – at least seven of the additives were linked to cancer.
The colorings red no. 40, yellow no. 5, yellow no. 6, blue no. 1 and the new forbidden red no. 3 has been shown to be carcinogenic in early studies. And they were all there in that one bar.
In the meantime, some animal studies suggest that Sucralose and Palmpelitie can cause potential carcinogenic effects at high temperatures (that was bad news because I had these bars in the microwave, such as weeks on the packaging, for weeks).
All coloring pages (blue 1) are forbidden one for one or heavily limited in the European Union and my home country, the United Kingdom.
Red No. 3 was also banned by the FDA in January, but that ruling will only come into force in January 2027.
Could it be that my sheltered stomach, which grew up in a country where we are not exposed to so many chemicals, was sensitive to these harmful ingredients?
I had the same horrible reaction when I inspected the label of the jelly that I had spotted every night.
The sugar -free strawberry curts of the Smucker contain only 10 kcal per portion compared to 60 kcal in the normal sugar -like things.
But that is where the positives ended. I knew it seemed too good to be true!
At least three ingredients (Red 40, Sucralose and Maltodextrin) are linked to the formation of tumors, while a few other (polydextrosis, grasshangom, potassium sorbate and calcium chloride) are associated with digestive issues.
The sugar -free jelly of the Smucker seemed to be good to be true … It only had 10 calories per portion! At least three ingredients (Red 40, Sucralose and Maltodextrin) are linked to the formation of tumors
Red 40 was the only ingredient forbidden in the UK.
I stopped eating both items on that day and fascinating the intestinal problems immediately stopped.
With so many harmful ingredients it is difficult to say exactly what exactly my stomach got confused. Maybe it was a combination of different ones.
I still have an extremely sweet tooth that must be satisfied, so I had to make smarter choices.
Honey has replaced the jelly on my nocturnal bagels and I exchanged the protein cake for an RX beam that only contains a handful of natural ingredients: dates, protein, nuts, chocolate and sea salt.
I can't eat that much because they are higher in calories, but that is a sacrifice that I am willing to make for my feelings … and my marriage.
The company that makes the Jelly, JM Smucker Co, told me: 'Please know that delivering safe, quality products is our top priority and our constant ability to meet that dedication has given us the confidence of consumers.
'As part of these efforts, we regularly evaluate our ingredients to ensure that they adhere to all the regulations established and meet the needs of our consumers.
'The ingredients that are referred to have been confirmed as safe to consume and meet the FDA regulations.
“As always, we will ensure that all our products continue to tailor themselves to all legal requirements, while we monitor the consumer's preference to ensure that we continue to satisfy their needs.”
I also got in touch with legendary food for comment, but did not hear again.
