The Sensitive Issue

'Oh my GAWD! You are so SENSITIVE!!!!'

How many times have we heard that, said that or thought of that statement?

We say this when someone's feelings get hurt too easily. Someone whose 'emotional skin' that is paper thin. Someone whose 'emotional skin' that is not thick as an elephant's hide. Someone who takes every statement to be insulting. Even when it is not. And cries buckets and waterfall amount of tears when pricked by hurt the size of a needle. And some become vindictive and revengeful and lash out at others before they could produce another 'sensitive' statement.

For people like me, the word 'sensitive' concerns our health. It concerns our well-being. It concerns our life. It can be akin to the 'emotional sensitivity'. It is our body, our system that gets hurt instead.

The word 'sensitivity' in the medical world can be interpreted as an adverse physical reaction when exposed to triggers in a susceptible person. In other words, a 'sensitive person' or a 'hypersensitivity'. A few examples of the triggers that can create havoc in a sensitive person are salicylate, glutamate, aspartame, amines, food colourings, preservatives, and food dye.

A sensitivity involves no immune system response, BUT it can yield results which are similar to allergy-induced reactions. A hypersensitivity is a result of the inability of certain individuals to metabolically process the offending chemical in food substance.

People with IgE-mediated food allergy MUST avoid the offending triggers (food, dust... etc) altogether. Where else people with non-IgE-mediated food hypersensitivity can OFTEN eat SOME of the amount of offending food without developing symptoms. The threshold of each individual varies. Some can tolerate low amounts of the offending food, others cannot.

Sad to say, there are no tests today which are available for people with hypersensitivity. The only setting that is available is through food challenge studies in a controlled environment.

Food hypersensitivity can be diagnosed by using the elimination diet, followed by food challenges and gradual reintroduction of foods and food chemicals. It is VITAL that this is conducted by an allergist who is familiar with this procedure as the re-introduction of food and food chemicals could trigger an anaphylactic attack!

In the event of proper food elimination, proper intake of anti-histamines and other medications, the threshold or tolerance levels of individuals can improve. Again, it is vital to work with an allergist (and sometimes together with a dietitian) who are aware of hypersensitivity and the danger it poses and is equipped with the knowledge of this ailment.

So in future, if you come across people like me, but you cannot fathom or understand what we go through, put yourself in this situation. Think back during the time when you had a VERY high fever. And  your joints and limbs were aching from the raging fever. And someone comes and grabs you at the places you hurt most and you scream out in pain. And then that person retorts and say, 'Oh my GAWD! You are so SENSITIVE!!!!'

Chemical Free

When I clicked on Google search to look for the definition of 'chemical free', I found the most laughable statements.

Before I go into that, let's get to the basics. Let's have a look at Wikipedia's definition of 'chemical free'. 'Chemical free is a term used in marketing to imply that a product is safe, healthy or environmentally friendly because it only contains natural ingredients. The term is a misnomer, as nothing that physically exists is free of chemicals.'

In my opinion, this term 'chemical free' has been misused and has misled many people. Many times when I go into organic marts, they have descriptions about their products being chemical free AND organic. In that case, anyone who uses their products can be akin to be drinking from the fountain of youth, health and immortality!

So what does chemical free actually connotes?

Chemical

The word chemical, according to the Collins English Dictionary, can be defined as a noun where it is a substance with a distinct molecular composition that is produced by or used in a chemical process. According to the American Heritage Science Dictionary, chemical can also be defined as an adjective where it is relating to or produced by means of chemistry.

So chemical is a material which is produced by or used in reaction which involves changes in the atoms and molecules structure.

So in other words, WE are chemicals too! Why? Because most of the composition of the human body is made up of water! Human cells consist of 65 to 90 percent of water. Which is H2O. And if I recall correctly, my chemistry teacher taught us that hydrogen IS a type of chemical. And almost 99 percent of the mass of our human body is made up of oxygen, hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, calcium and phosphorus. (Click here.)

Man-Made Chemicals

So man became smarter (lazier and greedier, in my opinion). Man in all their ingenuity came up with ideas in tweaking the DNAs of chemicals and combining them and thus made potent fertilisers, herbicides, pesticides, bombs and explosives, food stabilisers, preservatives, artificial colourings, artificial flavourings, artificial fragrances, detergent with toxic ingredients, softeners and many more to make life easier and more profitable. Everything is instant, express and with-no-effort. Which results in man becoming sicker and weaker in the immune system as the days go by.

I am sure that when people say that they are selling chemical-free products, they mean that they are free of the list above. Right? And for your information, naturally derived and natural flavouring is NOT chemical free either. Anything that is processed has gone though a chemical processing stage. (That will be discussed in another post.)

Thus, when I say that I try to live a 'chemical-free' life as much as possible and use 'chemical-free' stuff as much as possible and eat 'chemical-free' food as much as I can, it means that I try to eat food which has no or little fertilisers, herbicides and pesticides. I also try as much as I can to eat food with no food stabilisers, perservatives, artificial colourings, artificial flavourings, MSG, food conditioner, and food additives. I make my food fresh, from scratch. From the barest of basics. And I try to use products that has as little artificial fragrance as possible or fragrance-free products or products with the least toxic ingredients.

So in my humble, little opinion there is no such thing as 'chemical free'. It depends on how much contamination where the toxic chemicals are concerned and how stringent and honest the people who make the products are. So if they screw up, WE are screwed up. But then again, isn't the air that we breathe in everyday, every minute and every second toxic? Maybe we should start selling 'chemical-free air' in oxygen tanks! I reckon I could be richer than that Facebook guy!!!! *Ahem*

My chemically fueled life is an interesting read. So is chemical-free nonsense.

So I guess Superman was a chemically sensitive person too (with all his bulging muscles, super-spectacular-Herculean strength and laser eyes). Krypton is a chemical element after all!

Anyone up for some chemical free flower pots, chemical free mattress, chemical free water and chemical free shaving?