food sensitivities

Many people have food sensitivities that they are not even aware of. There is a point of contention as to the actual percentage of people that have these sensitivities but that doesn't actually matter. What does matter is whether you have any of them or not. The best way to find out is through an elimination diet. That is because unless you have a full blown allergy to these foods the tests available have poor sensitivity meaning a high percentage of false negatives. So the best way find out is by eliminating the most common culprits. Many people decide to eliminate them completely and find alternatives while others will eliminate them and then add them back in one at a time to see which ones they are sensitive to and which ones can remain as part of the diet. 

The most common food sensitivities are to gluten, dairy and the nightshade group. Gluten products mainly encompass anything made from wheat including breads and pastas. Dairy includes anything made from pasteurized milk, and the nightshade group includes tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, eggplant, and tobacco products. 

I know! I know! that is probably 60-70% of your diet if you are currently eating the Standard American Diet. But this isn't as hard as you think. You just have to plan ahead and focus your diet on meats, lots of veggies that don't include the nightshades, fruits, nuts, seeds, rice, and quinoa.

For ideas of what you can eat and make during this elimination period make sure to check out many of the Paleo diet sites and recipes on the internet as that is the basis of the movement. Paleo has become widely popular since it is very effective at reducing inflammation, pain, helping people lose weight and overall feeling better. There are now hundreds of cookbooks out there that can show you many different ways of preparing wonderful meals while sticking to this elimination concept. 

Give it a try for 30 days and see if you don't notice that you have more energy, are sleeping better, have less aches and pains, less sinus and allergy problems, less digestive distress, etc.

An additional note: If you find that you do have a sensitivity to gluten and/or the nightshades in particular then you cannot eat them! This is because sensitivity to these foods causes a release of immune system factors that creates inflammation and if you consume even a little bit, those immune factors will be raised for up to 6 months meaning that you will create inflammation in your system for as long as the immune factors are present. This also means that as long as you stick to the elimination diet that you will see even more improvements in your health past the 30 day mark.

---