It seems like everyone these days has some form of allergy or food sensitivity. Many think it’s inevitable, hereditary, or that they’re stuck with them for life. I don’t agree. I’m of the belief that it has to do with stress, keeping in mind that there are different definitions of stress and even a poorly constructed diet, excessive screen time or multi-tasking is a form of stress. “Allergies” is a huge topic and I’m not going to address everything in one post. For now, I want to talk about why eating the same foods every day can contribute to allergies or sensitivities.
What foods do you eat every day, or even at every meal? Milk? Wheat? Corn? Eggs? I’d venture to guess at least one of those is a culprit. However, this can apply to consuming chicken, wine, bananas, coffee or anything else that you’re eating on a regular basis. Meal Preppers and smoothie lovers take note since you’re often eating the same foods during the week.
Why does eating the same foods contribute to allergies? According to Allergies, Disease in Disguise, it’s because of enzyme deficiency. When you eat a food frequently, you are requiring specific enzymes to digest that food. For example, if you (or your child) has milk on your cereal, a glass of milk at lunch, cheese on your pizza and ice cream for dessert, you are asking specific enzymes to digest that milk. Over time, you may create a deficiency of that enzyme in your body meaning eventually you can’t efficiently digest that food, meaning you end up with allergies. NOTE: I mention children here because most parents are giving their kids cereal in the morning, a treat in the evening or after school, which often contain milk…or whole wheat (which are the top 2 allergens by the way), and today, more kids have allergies than ever before…to the point that certain foods aren’t allowed in schools.
Why are enzymes important? When you don’t have the enzymes to digest food, it means that your food is not broken down into a small enough particles for your body to easily absorb. These ‘chunks’ of food put STRESS on your other digestive organs to help break it down. In addition, when these large particles get into your blood stream, your blood can’t recognize them and it overreacts in fear because they don’t know what to do with it. This overreaction is the allergic reaction. In fact, the term ‘allergy’ is Greek for ‘altered reactivity’. Emotional stress also impacts your ability to break down food because the classic stress response immediately shuts down digestion so that it can put more energy into saving your life from that so-called stress.
Top Tips:
- Repeat a food/meal every 4 days. Oh, I know…this can wreak havoc for those who have a go to drink/food every morning (ie/coffee, latte, other) and those who don’t have the time to prep. But planning is key. Like Benjanmin Franklin said “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.”
- “When walking, walk. When eating, eat.” This is an old zen proverb that basically means ‘stop multi-tasking’, especially when you’re eating. Remember how digestion stops when you’re under stress? If you’re trying to eat while working, texting or driving, your body is under stress, which means digestion is compromised.
- Consume raw foods (but not excessively). Raw vegetables are loaded with enzymes that can help aid digestion. But please note that our bodies are meant to consume food seasonally and locally so if it’s freezing cold outside, you might be best to have cooked vegetables to keep your body warm, rather than a diet full of raw, pressed juices.
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