You may have food sensitivity.
In the photo above, I’m holding two products that I’ve been pretty excited about lately.
One is Daiya vegan cheddar cheese. It has no casein, no dairy, and no soy (foods that many people are sensitive to). It tastes fantastic! It’s made from pea protein, and makes an excellent garnish over vegetables, or within any recipe in which cheese is called for.
The other is Go Raw sprouted pumpkin seeds. I use them in my smoothies in place of nuts. Sometimes I’ll even just eat them by the handful after a workout.
Food Sensitivities
There is new hope for those of us who are looking to improve our health even more and increase our energy to higher levels! There so many great-tasting products available these days that we can use to replace those foods that we normally have sensitivities to.
What do I mean by “food sensitivities?”
Many people experience reoccurring “alarm signals” from their own bodies, yet are unable to find the root cause. These signals present themselves as mild discomfort, and even chronic pain.
Even just mild feelings of physical discomfort can becoming discouraging when they are relentless.
Some Symptoms
- Fatigue or “low energy”
- headaches
- stiff joints
- skin irritation
- red eyes
- digestion difficulties
…all of these can begin to erode daily quality of life when they elude diagnosis!
once you set sail on this journey
toward increased understanding
of what your body actually likes and
doesn’t like you’ll start feeling
more vital and youthful”
Recently, I posted a theory of mine about the standard American diet and “mild food allergies.” At the time, I was just speculating. Now I’ve done a little follow-up research and learned some new and fascinating information.
I discovered that, what I had called “mild food allergies” are actually classified as food sensitivities or intolerances. A food allergy produces a specific immune response. A sensitivity produces a less violent reaction with a slower onset.
Food sensitivities to things like gluten or lactose have been part of the public consciousness for years now. There are many possible causes of these intolerances. They range from organic chemicals found in some vegetables, cheeses, and meats, to man-made preservatives, flavorings, or dyes.
Though diagnosis involving blood-testing and systematic elimination of certain foods can seem like a tedious undertaking, it may be necessary to optimize your diet.
Your Body is Trying to Tell You…
I’ve found that when I listen to my body and avoid the foods that it doesn’t metabolize easily and naturally, I feel more balanced and ready to take on new challenges.
Once you set sail on this journey toward increased understanding of what your body actually likes and doesn’t like, and as you develop sharper “hearing” for what your body is trying to tell you, it actually gets easier. And as you start feeling more vital and youthful, it gets more fun!
For more information about food sensitivities, I find the Life Extension Foundation website to be helpful. You can check them out, here.
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Daiya is awesome, I had it on my salad two hours ago and I’m still happy.
Last year I went to a nutritionist after having a terrible case of colitis and finally realizing I didn’t know what the heck was going on with my body anymore. She told me I had two sensitivities that I needed to just eliminate from my diet completely: gluten and dairy. As an Italian American girl, I was unhappy to hear the news, but figured I’d give it a month to see what happened.
It was amazing. I felt the difference in weeks. After a month I told the nutritionist I was a believer and I would stay away from these foods. It has been almost a year now and I have lost 38 pounds without adding any exercise to my life, simply by changing the foods I eat. I think my body was INFLAMED from so many years of eating things that it was reacting to.
To be honest, if I hadn’t gotten so sick before hand, I don’t think I would have gone for what the nutritionist said – it would have seemed ludicrous to me, but a sick person doesn’t argue. And a healed person is a believer – now I just keep trying to tell everyone exactly what you have said in this post! I am actually planning another post on the topic in my food blog, Searching for Sustenance (http://searchingforsustenance.blogspot.com) this upcoming week.
No one should suffer. Find out what your body is reacting to and give your body a break!
Thanks for the post! Great stuff! (I have been looking all over for that Daiya!!)
You don’t have to suffer. I had this problem but NMT fixed me.
http://chimac.net/2009/11/15/sick-in-chicago-have-you-tried-nmt/
Dealing with food sensitivities which were found when I landed flat on my butt last year with adrenal failure after 25 years of fibromyalgia. I’m using a great Naturopath who also is a Pharmacist and a Registered Dietitian. I’ve learned so much and the whole things has “forced” me to slow down…. all worth it, though.
Thanks for sharing this part of your own nutritional journey, Noreen. I recently began consulting with a naturopath, too, and, like you, we’re looking at restoring my adrenals as one of our goals. I think many people are in the same boat these days: in our fast-pace, over-stimulated, over-caffeinated, high stress culture, the adrenals can sometimes fatigue!
{ twitter = @danenow }
David ~ I’m a believer in applied kinesiology for determining what foods our bodies’ find strengthening. There are some nutritional consultants who have a gift for this.
Joel ~ It’s true, sometimes it takes experimentation with various foods and combinations in order to eventually pinpoint the best matches for our own body’s unique chemistry.
{ twitter = @danenow }
I tried using applied kinesiology for beer and tried really hard to keep my arm strong and failed
LOL! Sean! So funny!
A sense of health and well-being is a thing easily taken for granted, and definitely worth the effort to maintain or recapture even if it means some months of trial and error.
How effective is muscle testing (applied kinesiology) to detect food sensitivities, Dane?