It seems that now days, just about everyone I know is avoiding some food or another because they have developed a sensitivity to it. Just last night I was preparing a buffet-style dinner for my husband’s natural healing class, and in a group of 5 people, there was a person with a gluten intolerance, another with a dairy allergy, another with a sensitivity to apples, baking soda and chocolate, and the menu needed to be entirely vegan. Working within those limitations was extremely challenging! (if your interested in what went on the menu, click here…)

           

How are all these sensitivities developing? What makes people sensitive? Basically there are three ways that a food sensitivity can develop. The first one is over consumption in an unwholesome form, the second is contextual consumption and the third is systemic toxicity. (And of course, I explain about those who are just born with allergies.)

 

When a food is taken out of it\s wholesome form, processed, manipulated, refined, elements that allow us to digest (break down) that food are removed or altered. Take white flour for example. The bran and germ are removed, it is often bleached and then petroleum-based minerals and vitamins are added to ‘enrich’ it. Just by merit of its fiber content, the bran allows the body to move the digested flour product out of the body. Other removed components including oils, vitamins, enzymes and micronutrients are also lost in the refining process, all of which play a key role in allowing our body to utilize the grain. What is left is a complex protein (gluten) and starch. Our body has to produce 100% of the enzymes to break it down! When we consume 6-11 servings (as is recommended by the food guide pyramid) of flour daily for a lifetime you can imagine that this can be taxing to the system. The body becomes weary of all that enzyme production, especially if it is constipated and cannot renew and heal as it is supposed to. Enzyme production can no longer keep up with the consumption rate.

 

When the protein in the flour is undigested, and enters the bloodstream whole, it is viewed as a foreign protein and attacked by the immune system. Presto, an allergy. What does this immune reaction look like? It is gas, bloating, digestive discomfort, swelling, irritability, headaches….the list goes on. Many people react to corn, wheat, dairy products, soy, and peanuts because they are used en masse by the food processing industry. I challenge you to eat at a fast food restaurant and not get some, if not all of these ingredients in the form of cornsyrup, flour, whey or milk powder, ‘vegetable’ (soybean) oil, or peanut oil.

           

I personally have a gluten intolerance. After eating gluten-free faithfully for 3 years, I discovered that I could tolerate sprouted gluten grains, such as wheat, rye and barley. Why? What made the difference? When a grain starts into the sprouting process, it begins to produce enzymes that break down the gluten in the grain. It was doing the work that my body had been exhausted of. With this ‘pre-digestion’ taking place, no foreign proteins were entering my system, and there was no immune reaction.  This is why all the grain in my recipes (Traci’s Transformational Kitchen Recipe Collection) are sprouted.

 

Scenario #2: Contextual Consumption. What if the food you are allergic to is in its wholesome form, such as a fruit or vegetable? I know an increasing number of people who react to potatoes, but these are a wholesome food provided by nature! If a food is eaten in a context where it cannot digest completely, it’s whole proteins can enter the bloodstream too. In chapter 2 of Traci’s Transformational Health Principles (a free download) I discuss the importance of eating fruit alone on an empty stomach. The reason for this is because when fruit comes in contact with proteins it tends to rot, and with starches it will ferment. (hash browns and orange juice) If a food is rotting or fermenting, it is not breaking down for digestion, and foreign proteins again enter the bloodstream, causing an immune reaction. When starches and proteins are combined (meat and potatoes) digestion is slow and incomplete, causing again, the foreign proteins to enter the bloodstream. Cue the immune reaction! Proper food combining (chapter 5 of the Principles book) is very important if you want to avoid contextually triggered allergies.

 

The third scenario takes place when, over a lifetime, a person has just consumed a terrific amount of highly constipating foods (processed, refined, see chapter 1 of the Principles book) and is accumulating toxins in their system that have no out. Then, when they consume or touch something that facilitates elimination, such as a strawberry, it starts drawing the heavy toxins to the surface in the mouth, throat or digestive tract.

 

What about children who are born with allergies? All of the above scenarios can happen to a baby’s mother, and while she may or may not ever manifest the allergy, it can be exaggerated in her baby because it was ‘built-in’ during the formative months in utero.

 

Understanding that food allergies stem from what we eat and how we eat it makes it seem a whole lot more manageable than just having to avoid that food for a lifetime. Heal yourself of disease and allergies by transitioning yourself to a wholesome eating program like that outlined in my Principles book. I compiled Traci’s Transformational Kitchen Recipe Collection to aid those who need and want to make this vital change in their lives and those they prepare food for. Good luck with all you undertake to do!

 

Love from your friend,

Traci