What did your doctor or allergist tell you when they discovered that you had a food allergy? Were you told to simply abstain from your allergic foods, or put on a rotation diet? Do you think that you are forever condemned to avoid eating these foods, which often happen to be your favorites? Allow me to spill the beans on the REAL cause of food allergies, and what you can do to remove them for good!
Spoke With Your GI Tract Lately?
Your GI, or gastrointestinal, system, is where food allergies originate. These allergies manifest themselves in the form of an upset stomach, acid reflux, cramping, psoriasis, eczema, anaphylactic shock, and more. If you have food allergies, you already know your symptoms and how unpleasant they are. A poorly functioning GI system is the reason that these allergies exist.
Over time, the population of beneficial bacteria found within your GI system has been depleted. The most common causes of this are: poor diet, alcohol consumption, and the use of antibiotics and over-the-counter medications. Once the population of good bacteria is depleted severely enough, the stomach cannot do an efficient job of digestion. Then, foods that are commonly eaten begin being rejected by the GI system, for the body falsely accuses these foods for the poor digestion that is taking place. Then, when the foods are eaten, the walls of your intestines become inflamed. This is known as Leaky Gut Syndrome.
So What, Now I'm Leaking??
Well, your belly is. This often manifests itself as a burning in the stomach after eating. Sometimes, it can be a delayed reaction to foods that doesn't happen until 2 or 3 days later. When the walls of your intestines become inflamed, this creates tiny openings through which undigested foods leak out. When they do, they enter the bloodstream and circulate through the body. The immune system does not recognize foods that are not fully digested. Therefore, when it detects these food particles, they are labeled as foreign invaders. This triggers the release of histamine. Histamine is what causes your allergic symptoms. It is what ANTI-histamines attempt to suppress, yet this is merely putting a band-aid over your problem.
How to End Your Food Allergies
First of all, you must avoid the foods that you are allergic to. It is likely that you have already obtained a food allergy test, and know what those foods are. Temporarily abstaining from these foods is necessary to allow your GI tract some time to heal.
Secondly, begin restoring the population of beneficial bacteria within your GI tract. This involves taking a quality probiotic. Visit your local health food store and purchase a probiotic that requires refrigeration, to assure that you are consuming live cultures of bacteria.
Third, avoid the use of antibiotics, and over-the-counter anti-inflammatory medications (such as Tylenol, Aleve, etc) as much as possible. These kill the good bacteria in your belly. I'm not saying to ignore your doctor's advice if you have an infection! But, if use of these products CAN be avoided, it is important to do so.
Lastly, give yourself a break for a while. Lay off the booze and heavy meals. Up your intake of fruits and vegetables significantly. Meat and cheese are tough on the digestive system. Dairy products are the biggest culprit in causing poor digestion and GI damage, and they should be avoided entirely if you want to heal much faster.
Remember that your food allergies are a chronic health condition. This means that it took quite a while for them to develop. Your GI system was able to take quite a beating, but now it is down for the count. It may take a while to heal. Accepting this isn't easy, but be grateful for the knowledge you have to heal yourself, and optimistic about your future as a much more healthy individual. This sucks, but it is good that you caught it before something more serious developed.
DISCLAIMER
I should add that I do not recommend that you jump right into eating foods that you were previously allergic to after taking some time to heal your GI system. It very well may work, but if you have a serious food allergy, such as one that causes anaphylactic shock, it is not safe to go out and eat shellfish simply because you are on a probiotic. Talk with your allergist about safe ways to test your allergic response and slowly incorporate these foods back into your diet.
Thanks so very much for reading, and please let me know what YOU think about food allergies!
To the BEST of health,
Brian
**credits go to the amazing holistic doctor, Dr. David Dahlman, for teaching me the information found within this article. Visit his website at drdahlman.com to learn the RIGHT way to heal yourself from numerous conditions, including IBS, acid reflux, and many more!
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