I used to think “organic foods” were just about marketing.
In college, that’s literally what they taught us: organic is just a marketing gimmick, it’s not regulated, and it doesn’t make a difference anyway.
After graduating from college, I started noticing small white spots on my arms. Over time, they gradually expanded, covering more of my arms. Dark splotches appeared on my torso, and my back had both light and dark patches. After around four years, a dermatologist looked at my bare body and said, “Wow, you have the worst case of all forms of tinea versicolor I’ve ever seen.” 🙄 Thanks? Here is what it looked like on my torso when it was not that bad, at the start of 2018:
What is Tinea Versicolor?
Tinea versicolor is a fungal infection caused by an overgrowth of yeast that normally lives on the skin. When the yeast grows out of control, it disrupts the normal pigmentation of the skin, leading to discolored patches. The white spots are areas of hypopigmented, loss of color. The dark spots result from an inflammatory response where the skin produces excess melanin. This condition can be triggered by excessive sun exposure, weakened immune system, and steroid therapy – and from my years of living with it, I can confidently say that my trigger was most likely my immune system. See, my third year of college I experienced a different condition also possibly brought on by a weakened immune system, an autoimmune disease called alopecia areata. I lost a fairly large circle of hair on the side of my head, which luckily did return with some treatment and has not yet returned. And for my whole life, I have been that person that always gets sick. Looking back at the whole picture and how I feel today, I bet my body was struggling with both conditions due to the same root cause.
Back to the spots. My white spots would need to recolor over time to match the surrounding skin, while the dark spots would sometimes disappear overnight which was nice! The white spots could appear overnight though, and stick with me for months if not years.
Once they were not longer “active”, they would then have to slowly tan to match the surrounding skin, so even if they were colored again, they would remain lighter than the rest of the skin. It usually took a full year to disappear, because I would need both a winter for my summer tan to go away and a summer to recolor everything! The white spots on my arms were the most irritating for this reason, as well as getting in the way of my photography work.
Here’s a collection of images from a vacation towards the end of 2019, the humidity took the spots to a whole new level:
I Tried Almost Everything Topical
Despite being extremely hygienic, it kept getting worse. I showered twice a day and tried various soaps, home remedies, and medical treatments to keep the spots from spreading. I even tried showering less to see if that helped (it did not). There was an option to take a heavy-duty pill, but it had side effects and offered only short-term relief, so I declined. Though unsightly, the condition wasn’t uncomfortable, and I resigned myself to having “interesting” skin forever. I was starting to get concerned the spots would spread to my face, as in 2019 they were on my thighs and by 2020 they were reaching up to my neck. Then my body took it to the next level in 2021.
It was Only Aesthetic, Until it Wasn’t
After at least six years with this skin condition, I began experiencing physical discomfort. At night, my skin would prickle like pins and needles, especially on my torso. The sensation was sharp and steady, fairly itchy, and nothing helped except Benadryl (which really just knocked me out quicker). The spots would still sometimes improve slightly, but they were still active and ever changing.
In February of 2022, my thoughts were filled with the possibility that food might be the answer. A food sensitivity test revealed mild sensitivities to seven foods: green peas, wheat, rye, chicken, brewer’s yeast, squash, and baker’s yeast. I switched to gluten-free products to avoid wheat and rye, and never ate chicken or peas, but my condition didn’t improve; it might have even gotten worse. But I noticed distinct prickly days versus non-prickly days, and started paying attention.
My Life: the Experiment
One day, after “cheating” with glutenous pasta, I had no issues. The pasta was organic. This sparked a new idea: what if my issue was related to organic food? Could I eat anything as long as it was organic?!?
Encouraged by this thought, I switched to organic bread, pasta, and chicken. I had fewer prickly days but still couldn’t figure out why I had them at all. I learned there was a threshold I had to stay within. After avoiding non-organic foods long enough, I could occasionally eat regular bread without issues. But if I didn’t give myself enough breaks, my sensitivity increased. Then I had the thought that the food test wasn’t totally comprehensive; maybe other foods needed to be organic too!
Unintentional Testing
Oatmeal is what started me down the path of organic everything. Despite being mindful of our diet and sticking to gluten-free unless we could get organic versions, I became prickly every night after getting into an oatmeal kick. Research revealed that oats are heavily contaminated with glyphosate, which is one of the major reasons to buy organic. We stopped eating non-organic oats, and the prickling stopped.
Next, I discovered nuts needed to be organic. After enjoying pistachios one day, I suffered for the next couple of nights. Organic pistachios didn’t cause any issues. As my diet got cleaner, I had to avoid non-organic corn products too (goodbye Taco Works chips…IFYKYK). Yet, as I became more attuned to my diet, I had more freedom when eating out. Now we try to purchase everything organic that has an organic option, and we don’t go out to eat very often.
Avoiding Non-Organic Foods Worked
Eating contaminated foods makes me feel noticeably more groggy now. The food coma that I am so use to doesn’t seem to happen after an organic meal, for instance, unless it is a true feast. Most notably, my spots started to vanish as we transitioned to organic, and only reappear after extended periods of being “over threshold.”
Today, I have almost no spots! I have some faint speckles on my shoulders from the holiday season (hard to avoid outside food), but they’ll fill in soon with warmer weather as we’re approaching summer.
Looking back at photos, I was still incredibly spotted after moving to our current home in the summer of 2022. But by 2023, my spots were mostly filled in. Now we’re approaching summer of 2024 and my spots are truly in my past. I still marvel at my arms, which are covered in freckles but no more white spots! I am grateful that my body took me on this journey, and as I believe that things happen for a reason I feel strongly that my internal toxin meter was meant to point me in the right direction.
What Do We Do About it?
Our food IS being poisoned, it is NOT just a marketing ploy or conspiracy theorist nonsense. My body is proof that something is wrong with ingesting things like glyphosate. Just because your body might not showcase side effects as blatantly as mine, does not mean you are not suffering the consequences. Fatigue, soreness, arthritis, illness, allergies, literally ANY ailment you experience MIGHT be caused by what you’re eating. And the same goes for our animals!
The truth of organic food is that even some organic food is contaminated – they can’t help when their neighbors are spraying toxic chemicals into the wind. But organic food is less contaminated, and buying organic is your vote in this consumer-run world that we care about how our food is grown.
That’s my story! And these are my photos as your proof. Please consider switching over to organic foods for the health of you & your family – it really does matter.
If you’re looking for organic options for your horse, I feed and love the seed cake supplements from Headley Holistics (the code “NantucketBlue” gives you 5% off). While I am not in a position at this time to be able to provide organic hay for the horses, it is nice to know that I can still provide organic supplements that are packed with great nutrition!
