Hello again, Karen &c!
My apologies for the late follow-up; the experiment - and getting back to the website - took a bit longer than I'd anticipated.
Eliminating the brewer's yeast from my diet seemed to make no difference - I was pretty sure it was a long shot, but I figure I need to take any differences between my diet at home and my holiday diet and try to experiment with them one-by-one.
Years ago whilst taking a niacin supplement I developed a mild sensitivity - not exactly an allergy, as I didn't break out in hives or swelling, but my skin suddenly turned super-dry and itchy. I stopped the niacin supplement (which had already been listed as potentially causing flushing / skin irritation in some people) and within a week or so the problem disappeared, hence, cause-and-result.
Brewer's yeast is loaded with B-vitamins, including niacin (B3). Since the difference in my tinnitus isn't (apparently) whether or not I have brewer's yeast, that doesn't appear to be the problem, and the next thing I'm looking at is food additives.
Many years ago (is this a common theme for me? lol) I found that takeaway from our local Chinese restaurant could give me pounding migraine-type headaches. It took awhile to pin down the cause, but eventually I found it was down to the MSG they added to some of their dishes. Requesting "no added MSG" did the trick. In the ensuing years, nearly all restaurants have discontinued its use -
in America.
Equally, since many people have sensitivities to MSG (and hypertensives predominate amongst them) its use as an additive in processed foods has also been curtailed in food production -
in America. My personal guess is that in turn many companies have simply increased the added salt to boost flavour - don't get me started. Still, perhaps it's better than MSG.
At any rate, the high sodium content of foods in the UK has come under scrutiny recently, and now there are calls to address the ever-soaring amounts of salt added to processed foods. Personally, I'm all for it: as someone with high blood pressure, I'd prefer to add any salt or flavourings if and when I choose to.
This morning I read that in Britain the catch-all "flavourings" so often found on ingredients panels can contain, amongst other things, MSG. Now, that's interesting.
On holiday in the States for two weeks, the tinnitus abated. Back in the UK for a week, week-and-a-half, the tinnitus returned.
Is the difference to be found not in the foods I eat (which remain generally the same brands / types), but in the differences in the compositions of those foods, i.e., US versions as opposed to UK versions?
Confession here: I do eat processed foods. No, not a lot, but even so, several times a week, because I use Quorn products. I also have low-cal frozen ready-meals once a week or so. And of course foods like dry cereals and even yoghurt have additives of one kind of another, even though they are usually minimal.
Quorn is available in the US, and indeed, I had it several times whilst away. Same with the brands of fat-free yoghurt I eat. If the formulation of such foods there is MSG-free, but the formulation here has even a small amount of MSG--? Would a low dose of MSG throughout the week result not in the pounding, tight-sensation headaches of yore but rather a constant underlying chronic condition presenting (in my case) as tinnitus?
It's a new line of thought that has only just occurred, and I will need to do more thinking - and research - before I decide how I'll experiment with this. Or maybe I'm over-thinking. Regardless, this time I'll try to check in more frequently to keep you posted--!
[I realize this is a lengthy post, and those of you who've read it through, I salute you, lol. Posting more often will hopefully result in shorter posts.
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Help! It's very debilitating.
