Allergies + Food Sensitivities

Hidden Food Sensitivities

Can A Good Food Be Bad For You?

Sometimes eating whole foods and following a good diet is not enough to achieve good health. It may be necessary to take your wellness program a bit farther by finding foods to which you are sensitive and eliminating them from your diet. You can be allergic to a food that you crave. Sugar cravings, the desire for junk food and the inability to lose weight can be the result of hidden food allergies. This is very different from the familiar kind of food allergies. People commonly think of an allergic reaction as being immediate and severe, like breaking out in hives from eating strawberries.

Hidden allergies and sensitivities donʹt usually have a sudden and obvious reaction. The reaction to the offending food can take as long as 72 hours. People with this type of allergy often have a chronic health problem that they can not link to any particular food. Sinus problems, digestive problems, eczema, headaches, and obesity are examples of the health problems that can be caused by hidden allergies.

The Addictive Allergy

This concept is based on the ideas of Theron Randolph, MD. Dr. Randolph looked at allergies in an entirely new way. Here are some of his ideas.

• A person can take up to 72 hours to react to an offending food.

• Food allergies can cause symptoms of chronic conditions and seem to have nothing to do with consuming the offending food. Symptoms like migraine headaches, sinusitis, eczema, digestive problems, asthma, and obesity are examples of the problems caused by hidden food allergies.

• People with food allergies are commonly addicted to the food that is causing their health problem.

• Commonly, when the offending food is avoided, the individualʹs symptoms become worse initially. Symptoms usually flare up for 4 or 5 days, but this reaction can last longer. After the reaction passes the individual will feel much better—chronic symptoms disappear, energy increases and excess weight begins to come off.

Avoidance Is Not the Only Way to Bring Hidden Allergies Under Control There are many well-documented cases of people who have been exposed to chemicals and developed many sensitivities. Physicians using natural health care are well aware of the fact that these clients respond to vitamin therapy.

Ways to Reduce Allergies

Vitamin C can reduce histamine levels. Trace minerals can support the liver in its effort to get rid of toxins. Supporting the adrenal gland and improving digestion are also useful strategies for bringing allergies under control. In his book, Brain Allergies: The Psychonutrient Connection Including Brain Allergies Today (Keats Publishing, 1988), Dr. William Philpott has some case histories of clients with mental problems who, by removing food allergens from their diet, experienced great improvement in their psychological symptoms. Many of the Clients could tolerate their allergic foods after vitamin supplementation.

Avoiding Common Allergens (one easy way to eliminate most allergens)

Often different people suffer from hidden allergies to the same foods. Allergies to wheat and dairy are especially common. It is not that dairy and wheat are intrinsically bad foods (although many people believe that dairy foods are bad for everyone), but rather that people tend to become allergic to foods that they eat every day.

Poor eating habits, drug therapies, pollution, and other things create problems with liver and digestive function. This causes the intestines to allow things into the body that really should be kept out (leaky gut). The result is that the immune system ends up reacting to foods that are eaten day‐in and day‐out.

Allergies Arenʹt Always Forever

If the thought of never having wheat, dairy or corn again distresses you, donʹt worry. The allergy avoidance part of this diet only lasts for six weeks. After six weeks, challenge your system with your suspected allergens, one day at a time. Six weeks from now, pick a day when you have wheat at every meal—then see how you feel. If you bloat, feel tired, gain weight or have any symptoms, it probably is a good idea to continue avoiding wheat.

Of course, a simpler approach is to use the Coca Pulse Test to find out if any foods are still a problem. Wait a few days and do the same thing for corn; a few days later do dairy and so on. If you tolerate any of these foods, then you can permanently add them to your diet, but donʹt eat them more than once every four days.

What About Other Food Allergies?

Keep a dietary diary. If there is a particular food that you eat every day, there is a good chance that the food is causing you some health problems. You need to avoid it during the first six weeks of the program. Be slightly suspicious of foods that you eat more than three times per week. Notice how you feel after eating. If you feel bloated, tired or your pulse races after eating, there is a chance that something in the meal didnʹt agree with you.

Common Foods that Cause Allergies to Consider

Dairy products:

Milk, yogurt, cheese, cottage cheese, cream cheese, and butter. Read labels—whey, casein, sodium caseinate, and calcium caseinate are all dairy products.

Corn: Corn oil, corn sweeteners, high fructose corn syrup, corn chips, corn tortillas, popcorn. Read labels—vegetable oil is usually corn oil, fructose from unspecified sources is usually from corn; avoid dextrose, glucose and corn starch (common thickener in sauces and gravies).

Wheat: Spaghetti, pasta, noodles, most breads (even rye bread often has some wheat in it), most flour. Durum, semolina and farina are all wheat. Most gravies are thickened with wheat. Flour on a food label usually means wheat flour.

Try a chickpea pasta like this one! You can find it at many grocery stores.

Eggs: Egg whites and egg yolks—many baked products are made with egg.

Nightshades: Tomatoes, potatoes (not sweet potatoes or yams—these are permitted), eggplant and bell peppers.

Refined sugars: Table sugar, candy, soda pop, pies, cake, cookies, etc. Read labels—sucrose, glucose, dextrose, corn syrup, corn sweetener, fructose, maltose, and levulose are all sugar.

Food additives: Additives that are particularly bad are aspartame (NutraSweet), BHA, BHT, THBQ, MSG, brominated vegetable oil (BVO), sulfites (dried fruits, unless otherwise specified, contain sulfite and should be avoided), any color followed by a number (Red #40, Yellow #6, etc), mono and diglycerides, sodium nitrite, potassium bromate, hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oil, artificial colors or artificial flavors. Any packaged food with chemical additives is to be avoided.

Sample 7‐Day Meal Plan

The following program includes a one‐week dietary plan.

While it is not absolutely necessary that you follow this suggestion exactly as presented below, many people find it easier to make dietary changes when all the meal planning is already done for them. You can follow it exactly, or, if you prefer, make selections from the meal selections in the following section. Do not restrict your calories. Eat all meals, especially breakfast. Eat frequently throughout the day. Not eating enough may give you the symptoms of low blood sugar—fatigue, irritability, headache, and too‐rapid weight loss.

Day One Breakfast:

• Apple, cut in quarters with the core removed with almond butter spread on the quarters

Snack:

• Raw almonds

• Apple or pear

Lunch:

• Tuna (packed in water)—Drain water, add virgin or extra virgin olive oil, chopped celery and onions

• Rice crackers

• Large green salad with virgin or extra virgin olive oil and vinegar dressing

Snack:

• Celery with almond butter

• Carrot and celery sticks

• Apple or pear

• Almonds

Dinner:

• Grilled tuna steak or other fish like salmon

• Large green salad with virgin or extra virgin olive oil and vinegar dressing

• Brown rice

Snack:

• Apple or pear

• Almonds