An allergy is the body’s autoimmune reaction to a rejected substance. Many of us are, unfortunately, very familiar with allergies. The most common and noticeable type (especially in this region) is seasonal but of course the list of things that make you sneeze and make your eyes itch are seemingly endless. Many people may suffer from fixed food allergies that they’re genetically predisposed to having because their parents were allergic to the same things. The symptoms of these fixed allergies are usually immediate and sometimes very dangerous. However, most people don’t realize that there are other food allergies that are from common foods consumed on a daily basis. You yourself may be suffering from them.

There is an interested connection between food allergies and addictions that could partially explain the alarming increase of obesity in this country. It seems that we are often allergic to the things we crave the most because the initial reaction to ingesting the food is stimulation of the adrenal glands giving us sort of a rush. Shortly afterwards though the body enters the adaptation stage where the rush starts to fade and is replaced by the downside of fatigue, headaches, dark shadows under the eyes, muscle, joint and abdominal pain and discomfort, irritability, feeling spaced-out or nervous, depression and –essentially withdrawal! What most people do is “mask” or blame those symptoms on other things like not enough sleep, eating too much, etc. Eventually the cycle continues because we will continue to consume the very foods that, unbeknownst to us, have caused the conditions that plague us.

If you feel you are suffering from the above mentioned symptoms after meals or snacks the best thing to do is to become more aware of what may be causing the problems. The most common food allergens that cause these symptoms may shock you: wheat, corn, sugar, coffee, milk, peanuts, chocolate, eggs, oranges, tobacco (smoked, of course), tomatoes and beef. These are foods that you are probably eating everyday to avoid the effects withdrawal on the body. It takes several days (about five) to eliminate the allergen and its effects from your body.

Keep a food journal and start to isolate the foods in question from your diet. Remember the five-day rule. Once you notice which foods may be the culprits in your life prepare for elimination. It is said that it is best to eliminate all allergens at the same time to avoid prolonged withdrawal. This will be very hard but only for the first week. Once you’ve eliminated the foods from your diet, you will probably notice a shift in your mood and overall physiology within days. To make this a lasting change in your life, remember what you felt like before when you were suffering after eating these foods. One may think this diet change will put a damper on your home or social life but adjustments can be made and luckily there are substitutions for many of the foods listed. If you’re ready to tackle this change in your life, be prepared to get creative and have fun introducing new foods and substitutions into your diet. Food can be a hard habit to kick but making this shift can be the beginning of lasting change that you’ve been looking for.


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