Beat constipation by: Diagnosing and removing foods you are allergic or intolerant to.
Due to the unnatural food that has become part of our culture and the increasing toxic load we are exposed to and have to adjust to, food allergies or intolerances are now so common that it is estimated that 1 in 3 people have them, often without knowing they have it. Food allergies develop when partially digested foods move through the gut wall and trigger an immune response. Strong immediate reactions occur when an IgE antibody immune response is triggered. If you have an IgE allergy you were probably born with it and you will know about it. These allergies are often for life and are rarer. More subtle and delayed reactions occur when an IgG immune response is triggered. These allergies are often not diagnosed and are more frequent. Common signs of an IgG food allergy include headaches, depression, sinus troubles, fatigue or hyperactivity, irritable bowel, flatulence, constipation or diarrhoea, asthma, water retention, discolouration around eyes, itchy eyes, facial puffiness, skin problems and joint pain. Does this sound like you? Good news is that IgG allergy symptoms disappear 3 – 14 days after the offending food is no longer eaten. More good news is that it is possible to complete heal yourself from IgG allergies.
Common food allergy culprits include: wheat, dairy, yeast, gluten, nuts, eggs, oranges and chemical additives in foods. Less common food items such as strawberries or iceberg lettuce and others can also cause allergenic reactions in people with compromised digestion and a permeable or leaky gut. There are a number of methods used to test for food allergies. One is to avoid the suspected food for 14 days. On the 15th day measure your resting pulse rate and then eat a good helping of the suspected food. Measure your pulse rate again 10, 30 and 60 minutes after your meal. If your pulse rate has gone up more than 10 points and your symptoms start to return over the next day or two you are probably allergic to the food item. A more accurate test can be done by measuring your body’s IgG antibody levels for specific foods. In South Africa this test can be done through wellpro or through Synexa. Once the offending food item has been identified it is best to completely avoid the food item for 3 – 6 months. In this time your IgG antibodies lose their memory of the allergenic food. This time can be used to focus on improving digestion and healing the lining of your gut wall. (more about this further on in this ebook). After the time period is over and you have healed your gut lining you can eat the food again, however it is recommended that you do not eat the food item daily basis as IgG allergies can reoccur.
A word on the two most common offenders, dairy and wheat. The reason for the high allergenic reactions with these products is two-fold. The first is their excessive dominance in the modern diet. The second reason is the form in which they are sold to us in the shops is very difficult to digest. We have discussed dairy products on our food review page, let’s now take a closer look at wheat. Wheat contains a protein called gluten that is sticky and helps bread to rise by trapping air pockets. It makes bread light and fluffy, however it also gets stuck in your bowels and is hard to digest. Undigested gluten molecules can trigger the immune system, resulting in an inflammatory response in the bowel. Inflammatory immune cells attack the gut wall resulting in gut permeability or leaky gut, increased inflammation and IgG food allergies. Some people are sensitive to gluten. These people may also be sensitive to other foods containing gluten including oats, barley, rye and spelt. If you suspect this is you try cutting these grains out for a while and see how you feel. You can eat corn, rice, buckwheat, millet or quinoa in its place.
The other problem with wheat is the refining process that wheat grains are put through destroys its enzymes and most of their nutrition. Healthier options are whole-grain stone milled wheat products or sprouted wheat products (available at some health shops) or sourdough wheat products. Whole stone milled wheat flour needs to be fresh, kept in the fridge and still has the wheat’s enzymes and full nutrition. Sprouting grains transforms them from a dormant seed to a growing plant. In the process the digestibility, enzyme content and the availability of nutrients is increased. Sourdough products break up some of the gluten in the wheat. This said there are some people who do not feel good on grains never matter how they are prepared. If that is you, cut them out! There are plenty of other nutritious foods to eat.
