Many people do not realize that they may be allergic or at least sensitive to the foods that they are eating on a regular basis. Furthermore, many of the foods commonly available today contain “common allergens,” foods that people are commonly allergic to. These contain but are not limited to: wheat, gluten, dairy, sugar, corn, soy, eggs, peanuts, and nightshade vegetables.
Sally Fallon in her book Nourishing Traditions, talks about why certain foods are hard to digest. She writes:
“Allergy tests have revealed sensitivities to every food commonly eaten, but most prevalent are allergies to milk products and grains… The proteins in grain and milk, namely gluten and casein, are two of the hardest proteins for humans to digest…(pg. 56.”)
The Other Kind of Food Allergy:
It is well known that when someone is allergic to something that their body will immediately react by breaking out in hives or creating some other kind of histamine reaction. These foods or substances can be life threatening to people who have allergies to them and they have to avoid them at all cost.
But some people aren’t aware that there is actually another kind of allergic reaction that the body can produce that is actually a lot harder to figure out, called a “delayed-type hypersensitivity.”
Symptoms created from this type of reaction don’t occur until an thirty minutes or so up to a few days after consuming the food. Plus, a reaction can last for days. This makes detective work rather tricky; in order to figure out what’s causing your symptoms, you have to keep on top of your ballgame.
These reactions can run the gamut of everything from digestive complaints, skin issues such as eczema, headaches, fatigue, insomnia, weight-gain and even depression. Furthermore, there are many digestive disorders which are linked to a person’s diet.
A grim fact: “38 million Americans are victims of digestive disorders, including Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, diverticulitis, celiac disease, IBS, constipation, diarrhea, GERD, candida and food allergies.”
The old adage “you are what you eat” seems appropriate here. Unfortunately in our society today, it seems we are just beginning to wake up to the fact that the “normal” diet that most Americans consume on a daily basis is creating a host of problems.
The more I learn about today’s food supply that most people eat on a daily basis, the more I am coming to the awareness that the epidemic of “food allergies” and the numerous digestive disorders that are on the rise is an intense cry for help from people’s bodies.
If we look at history, these disorders either didn’t exist or were certainly not in the numbers they are today less than a mere hundred years ago. But if we look at the food that is being sold and consumed by the majority of people, it begins to make sense.
What is needed is a return to the traditional ways of preparing meals for our families from whole and nutritious foods the way nature intended and in ways that benefit the whole person, not just the taste buds.
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