allergies and sensitivities, people are most often referring to either immunoglobulin E (IgE) or immunoglobulin G (IgG) allergies/sensitivities. The differences between the two lie in reaction time and severity:
IgE allergy: An IgE allergy triggers the IgE antibody, which causes an immediate response when the offending substance enters the body. The people who are so severely allergic to peanuts that exposure even to peanut dust can be fatal have an IgE allergy, or classic allergy. Reactions include swelling, hives, difficulty breathing, and even anaphylactic shock.
IgG allergy/sensitivity: With IgG allergies/sensitivities, the IgG antibody response is typically much more delayed and can include headaches, nausea, fatigue, and/or other digestive symptoms and even seizures. These allergies/sensitivities can also contribute to long-term health issues such as irritable bowel syndrome, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, and heart disease.
Three basic types of tests, done by a health care professional, can determine whether you have a food allergy:
Blood test: The radioallergosorbent test (RAST) is a blood test that’s generally conducted after a person has a recurring reaction to a particular food or foods. Signs of a possible allergic reaction to food are similar to other allergy signs: red or itchy eyes, hives, dermatitis (skin inflammation), coughing or sneezing, or stomach discomfort and diarrhea. A positive test doesn’t determine how severe a reaction to a certain food may be, only that you may have a reaction of some kind.
Skin test: A skin test, in which the skin is pricked, punctured, or scratched after coming in contact with a potential allergen, may show preliminary signs of allergy.
Food elimination test: The elimination test is just as it sounds — a test for allergies conducted by first eliminating all possible allergens from your diet. This test takes some time, because you have to make sure you’ve adjusted to a diet without the suspect foods. You give the allergen-free diet at least a few weeks so your body gets used to the missing allergens.To determine which foods may be triggers, they’re reintroduced one by one with three to four days between each reintroduction. After you start reintroducing the foods, you keep a log or journal of what you’ve eaten and what, if any, reactions you experienced. After a reaction occurs, you again eliminate that food to see whether the situation reverses — if you broke out in a rash, for example, you make sure the rash goes away.Your integrative medicine doctor can also test you for food sensitivities using tests that measure IgG, protein levels in foods, or other inflammatory markers including zonulin. All these tests have different levels of accuracy, so be sure to check with you doctor first. It may be better to start with the elimination diet to get a first-hand experience of how food makes you feel. Be sure to replace any vitamins and other nutrients you’d be getting from a suspect food with something else, either a vitamin supplement or another food source, during the elimination period. Common food nutrient deficiencies with food allergies and leaky gut syndrome include Vitamin B12, zinc, and iron.
Working within Your Food Limits to Avoid Inflammation
The best way to avoid the inflammatory responses some foods can create is to know your limits and know what you can and can’t eat. As you discover throughout this book, many serious health issues — diabetes, heart problems, cancer — can be somewhat managed through food.
The key is knowing which foods are good, which are bad, and which are okay in moderation. Here are some tips to help you live with your sensitivities:
Pay attention. Know which foods cause you discomfort and how you’ll react to them. Does your stomach make strange noises after you’ve had a glass of milk? Does red wine make you feel congested? If so, you likely have an intolerance or sensitivity to these items and, depending on the severity of the discomfort, you’ll want to either eliminate them from your diet or limit the amount you consume. Read labels carefully to avoid accidental ingestion of the problem food.
Know your limits and vary your diet. Sometimes the amount of a particular food creates more problems more than the food itself. Research shows that eating the same thing three or more times in a week can cause stomach distress, so mix up your diet. Really liking salad is okay, but limit it to once or twice a week — or eat different kinds of salads — to avoid issues.
Find an alternative. You can almost always find healthy substitutions for the foods on your do-not-eat list; you just have to be open to trying them. Does milk make you bloated or give you intestinal problems? Try almond milk. Have a hankering for some cheese but can’t handle what it does to you? Try some goat cheese, which you may tolerate better than cheese made from cow’s milk.
Change your preparation styles. What if the problem isn’t the food but the way you prepare it? Sure, those fries are great when they come right out of the fryer, but what if you used sweet potatoes instead of white potatoes and then baked them instead of fried them? You’d consume more nutrients without adding trans fats from the oil.
Understanding the Role of Environmental Toxicity
Today’s environment may be toxic to the food supply. In fact, scientists and nutritionists have been saying it for years. But what exactly do they mean? How can the environment affect the food you eat?
As it turns out, the environment can impact the safety of your food and food sources fairly easily. What’s more, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) considers certain levels of particular toxins acceptable, so you don’t always know when you’re eating something bad.
Truth is, a variety of substances contaminate the food supply — either before it leaves its origin or somewhere before it hits people’s plates. Some of these contaminants are due to environmental pollution; some of the toxins are from industrial agriculture, such as glyphosates, arsenic, and other heavy metals, sewer sludge, and other pesticides and fertilizers; still others are from food packaging like plastic-lined cans. Your cooking method is another way toxins can enter your food — through your pots and pans, through the additives and preservatives in your kitchen, or even in the way you cook.
Although some levels of these toxins won’t harm you, not knowing what — or where — they are can lead to real trouble. Some of them can be linked to chronic diseases like cancer, hormone deficiencies, and behavioral disorders.
Knowing where some of these dangers are hiding can help you keep your diet on track and your body healthy. Here are some common toxins found in your foods:
Pesticides: The battle of the bugs has been at the center of the food controversy for decades. But just because you’re aware of it doesn’t mean the danger doesn’t still exist — and many pesticides leave behind residues that can lead to cancer or birth defects. Herbicides, like glyphosates, are also toxic to your food supply.
Bisphenol A (BPA): BPA is a substance found in the coating inside most food and drink cans and has been known to leach out into the foods it’s supposed to protect. Products with a high tomato content — such as stewed tomatoes or tomato sauce — are particularly dangerous because the acid from the tomatoes increases the amount of BPA released into the food. BPA has been connected to cancer, obesity, and heart disease.
Sodium nitrite: This preservative is used most often in deli foods, like processed meats, which you should try to avoid, anyway. Be careful when seeing “uncured” or “no added nitrites” on labels; those words may just mean the producers are substituting celery juice, which is naturally full of nitrates. Nitrites and nitrates have been linked to many cancers.
Heterocyclic amines (HCAs): When you cook your meats
