Food Intolerances, allergies and your body

Could the food you are eating be making you or your children sick?

A vast majority of the population live with a range of debilitating and less than healthful symptoms.  Consistently I have found that many of these symptoms can be explained and managed through modifying people's diet.

One of the biggest culprits is food intolerances.  Basically you eat something and you don't get anaphylactic shock type allergy but they do trigger an immune response in your body and you certainly experience with symptoms that clearly show your body is not happy.  These symptoms can include: itchy nose or ears or eyes, ringing ears/tinitis, runny nose, sneezing, diarrhea, IBS, skin breakouts or flair ups, psoriasis, eczema, bloating, bladder incontinence, bed wetting, ADD/ADHD, unexplained fatigue, inflammation, joint pain, headaches, indigestion and cramping, feeling "hungover".  And the problem is with food intolerances, sometimes the symptoms are delayed... so you may eat something and then 24 hours- 3 days later experience the unsavoury symptoms, making it very difficult to isolate the culprit.

One of the most effective ways to test for food intolerances is with a blood test, you want to get tested for IGg 1, 2, 3, 4 through ELISA testing. While it is more expensive than RAST testing, I do find it more useful and it does test for delayed onset reactions and not just immediate onset.  Some of the other tests can be rather limiting and some are even inaccurate.

I have a few "favourite" labs that I use to perform the testing.  Prices range from $250 for around 93 foods tested to $750 for around 300 foods. (These are the lab fees, of which I take no percentage). This may seem like a big initial outlay, but I can honestly say it was one of the best investments I have ever made, when I had myself tested years ago in response to some frustrated health problems that wouldn't go away.  It gave me peace of mind, choices and took the guess work out.  I have 3 serious food intolerances, and I suffered for many years, with hundreds of tests and time in doctors rooms... when I removed my trigger foods from my diet, I felt the benefits immediately. 

I am not a purist, so of course, sometimes I do have a little cheat, but at least I can prepare myself or make an informed choice.  If you are going to have to experience diarrhea or acne, would you like a bit of notice?

I can't eat eggs, pineapple and vanilla.  Obsure intolerances that a food elimination diary would have struggled to isolate, often times these foods are present in other foods.  So, I generally now avoid these foods, but on my birthday if I fancy a piece of chocolate cake, I indulge, usually with food intolerances if you let your body recover and you avoid the foods for sufficient time, sometimes you can tolerate small amounts again with less severe symptoms.  So I choose, how much do I want this chocolate cake?  Sometimes I want it enough to put up with the symptoms... and then most of the time I don't miss it.  Reallly there are SOOO MANY FOODS out there to eat.  I know I couldn't eat them all in a month, so now that I am in a routine, I barely notice.  This is the place I work with my clients to get to.  Many of them report freedom and peace of mind and importantly:  DON'T even mind or mostly don't miss the foods they need to avoid.  I support them through the initial preparation and changing patterns and habits and process and eventually they are comfortable and confident to direct themselves.

I have had such great results with clients when we take them off the foods that don't agree with them that I wanted to share that with you.

I was very excited then to come across this table, that shows clinical results revealed from the difference that removing food intolerances can make to a range of symptoms.

Have a look and then have a think about your body.  Don't underestimate the power of nutrition is all I can say.

Check out the table of  percentages of improvements people have experienced through eliminating foods that make them sick.

Please contact me if you have any questions about food intolerances or allergies, or if you and your family are suffering with unexplained symptoms, I may be able to offer some guidance.