We hear so much these days about allergies to food, sensitivity to foods, intolerances for food, celiac disease (intolerance to gluten) and on and on. These reports are confusing as is everything we read about as we explore being well or trying to be well. Are allergies increasing? Or are intolerances and sensitivities increasing? Or are we aware of how we feel and want to take charge and understand our bodies as much as possible more than ever?
It’s pretty common to have a reaction to a certain food, but in most cases it is intolerance rather than a true allergy. Although food allergies can be more serious and even life threatening, food sensitivities and intolerances can greatly affect our quality of life.
Clues to help you figure out if it is an allergy or intolerance are that food allergies usually come on suddenly. Even small amounts of the food can trigger a reaction. The reaction happens every time you eat the food. The reaction can be life threatening.
Food intolerance usually comes on gradually and may happen only when you eat a lot of the food and eat it often. It is not life threatening.
Food allergies and intolerances both can cause nausea, stomach pain, diarrhea and vomiting. When a food irritates your stomach or your body can’t properly digest it, that’s intolerance. You may also have gas, cramps, or bloating, heartburn, headaches, irritability and/or nervousness with intolerance to foods.
The most common food intolerance is lactose intolerance. It happens when people can’t digest lactose, a sugar found in milk and dairy. Another kind of intolerance is being sensitive to sulfites or other food additives. Sulfites can trigger asthma attacks in some people. .If you have food intolerance, you’ll need to avoid or cut back on that food in your diet. For lactose intolerance, you can look for lactose-free milk or take a lactase enzyme supplement. What about a gluten allergy? While celiac disease — a long-lasting digestive condition that’s triggered by eating gluten — does involve the immune system, it doesn’t cause life-threatening symptoms.
These triggers cause about 90% of food allergies: Peanuts, Tree nuts (such as walnuts, pecans and almonds), Fish, Shellfish, Milk, Eggs, Soy and Wheat. If you have a food allergy, you’ll need to stop eating the food altogether. A food allergy happens when your immune system mistakes something in food as harmful and attacks it. It can affect your whole body, not just your stomach. Symptoms may include rash, hives, or itchy skin, shortness of breath, chest pain, sudden drop in blood pressure and trouble swallowing or breathing. These are life threatening symptoms. You must call 911 immediately.
As we continue to look for ways to promote wellness we get more requests for testing for individual profiles and ways to reduce stress and inflammation in our bodies. We started with being very concerned about stress levels and how stress affects our immune system. We are learning how to relax and our Magnesphere Therapy is helping many to do so. They can now enjoy how their body feels when it is more relaxed. In a more relaxed state, our bodies can heal. We next wanted to explore our nutritional status and determine if we have any deficiencies and what that looks like so that we can replenish using diet and/or supplements. Our blood testing helps individuals know their own needs and make supplement decisions based on data not by just guessing or reading about the latest trends. Our latest testing will be offered within the next 2 weeks. The test is to determine food allergies, intolerances and sensitivities. As you read in this article many symptoms are vague and by determining what foods cause symptoms we may eliminate many of them. Imagine knowing why you feel tired or have diarrhea or stomach bloating. It can happen with proper testing and planning based on the results of these tests.
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