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YOUR HIDDEN FOOD ALLERGIES ARE MAKING YOU SICK
By Waldo Acebo, MD
The foods we eat are not only making us fat, but worse, they are making us sick.
Do you regularly suffer from headaches, insomnia, stomach upset, dizziness, ringing ears, constipation, or diarrhea without finding a cause to your symptoms? Have you gone from one doctor to another and been told that everything is normal? You are not alone. It is estimated that 45-60% of the general population struggles with an extraordinary range of conditions whose causes cannot be identified. Before you give up, it is important that you know that your symptoms may be a sign that something in your diet is making you feel sick.
As with pollen, dust, and medicines, natural or introduced chemicals contained in foods can activate the immune system and trigger an allergic response. We have all heard of peanuts and seafood allergies. These are classified as Food allergies, and tend to manifest immediately so they are easy to detect and treat. Food sensitivities, on the other hand, take a long time to develop, making them difficult to identify. Think of them as a food allergy in slow motion. Gluten sensitivity is the most well-known example of food sensitivities, and celiac disease is its most serious form; it may affect 1 out of 33 people, and if undetected and left untreated, results in skin rashes, fatigue, severe weight loss, and malnutrition.
Food allergies and sensitivities account for as high as 60% of all undiagnosed conditions. Any system of the body can be affected, resulting in obesity, fatigue, depression, migraine headaches, ADHD, asthma, skin rashes, celiac disease, diarrhea, constipation, gastritis, joint pain and swelling, and the list keeps adding on. These conditions improve once certain foods are avoided. For example, migraine headaches resolve when “trigger foods” such as processed meats, red wine, cheese, chocolate, alcohol and/or caffeine, are not longer consumed. Many children with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) have been successfully treated by uncovering and eliminating the contributory foods from their diet.
Until recently, identifying which of the many foods you consume are responsible for your symptoms was difficult and not accurate. Fortunately, a new cutting-edge diagnostic test, known as the ALCAT test, can help uncover the cause of those “mysterious symptoms”. The test identifies a person’s unique reaction to 320 of the most commonly encountered foods, additives, chemicals, molds, drugs, herbs, and other environmental substances that cause biochemical imbalance in the body.
Avoiding certain foods indicated by the ALCAT test reverses many disease conditions, thus restoring health, normal weight and wellbeing. This does not mean you will never be able to eat these foods again. In most cases, you will be able to add food back into your diet after a period of avoidance. Most food intolerance resolves after three months of strict elimination. As Hippocrates, the father of medicine once said: “Let thy food be thy medicine and thy medicine be thy food”.
For more information, call (305) 403-1035. |
