Do you remember back in grade school, there was always that one kid who was extremely allergic to peanuts? Always a buzzkill right? Ruined every PB and Fluff and Kudos bar you'd brown bag in for lunch. Well as it turns out, you might be that kid and you just don't know it.
Ever since I was a kid I've loved eggs. The only problem is I would have massive stomach aches whenever I would eat eggs. My mom, being the angel that she is, would always remove the yolk for me, and boom no stomach problems. From then on I would always get egg whites even though they lack the taste and nearly all the nutrition is in the yolks. But here's the thing...I don't love egg whites...I love the yolks.
I've been on a mission to try just about every kind of egg to find one with no side effects. Fom pastured, to free range, to omega enriched, to conventional, my body responded anywhere from stomach cramps to deep painful acne to the various types. It got to the point that even though I knew I would have some type of reaction, I would willingly eat eggs even though I knew the pain was coming. So why would I do this to myself have this when clearly my body is reacting to it?
Often the food you can't give up is one you're most allergic to.
Most people when they ask me about dieting say they can give up most things butttt there is always that one food they can't live without. In my experience, it's usually some form of bread or dairy. Ice cream and cheese people are especially attached to. The problem is....that this could be the one thing they are most allergic to.
You think you love cheese, you love the pain stopping chemicals your body releases when you eat cheese.
Your body is looking out for you. You're exposed to thousands of toxins and intruders every day and your body fights most of em off without you noticing. Sometimes you might have a big reaction, like the peanut kid, but often most of your day is pretty smooth sailing. The problem is, with food allergies especially, your body can release these little tiny chemicals called gluteomorphins...and yes they are exactly what they sound like....morphine. Your body releases little bits or morphine-like molecules to numb you from the pain while they battle against the intruder (food allergen).
You are willingly eating food you're alergic to because you like to get high ;)
Now I'm not trying to kill Santa Claus here if you love yourself some mozerella and tell you you don't actually like the foods you think you like....but wouldn't you like to know for sure? The bigger issue is that over time the allergens can build up histamines in the body which causes inflammation and inflammation causes a whole lot of trouble.
"Some studies suggest that up to 20% of the population may have reactivity to certain foods, and these reactivities contribute to Irritable Bowel Syndrome, headaches, types of arthritis, autism, ADD/ADHD, eczema, chronic ear infections, gut malabsorption, insomnia and many chronic conditions." - Everlywell.com
Subtle allergies can be much more detrimental to your health/life than a peanut sending you into a full fledged seizure. Doctors actually say it can be more dangerous to be skinny fat that obese. An obese person knows at least knows they are obese or not living the most healthy life. A skinny fat person, they remain thin no matter what they eat, can fool themselves into thinking they are healthy when they are just as sick as the obese person.
If you have a strong allergic reaction to a food or something in your environment you know to avoid that thing. If you have a mild reaction to a food or something in your environment you might never notice. Which can be fine. If you're sensitive to gluten, a piece of toast probably won't kill you. But if you continue over and over every morning, symptoms can build over time and you won't know its coming from gluten. So get tested.
The results will suprise you. I mean who the hell is allergic to watermelon...it's like 99.9% water. It is crucial though to find out. Most people fail at dieting, not due to will power, but because they continue to eat things they are allergic/sensitive to and they don't know it.
When your body is constantly trying to fight off stressors, in this case food, that is energy that is needed for proper biological functions.
If you don't want to spend the money to get tested that is OK (The one I took will run you about $120). But I would urge you to try a food ellimation diet with the most common food allergies to see how you feel. Most common food allergens include dairy, soy, wheat, gluten (no "gluten-free" is not a fad it is here to say), shellfish, nuts. Just look at the back of most labels. There is a reason companies put this information on labels...they know its a common issue and do not want you to sue them.
There's also lesser known allergens that can effect your performance greatly too. Things like lentils and nightshades. People like to make fun of Tom Brady for not eating nightshades but Tom Brady one of the top athletes in the world. So we can all poke fun at him for not eating tomatoes but I'm pretty sure he's winning at life. Maybe he knows a bit more about what avoiding food allergens can do for your life than your average joe. I don't have too many hardcore ideologies in life but if Tom Brady eats based off his test results, I think I will too.
Til Next Time,
-Dylan
Get Tested Here the screenshots were my actual results from this past week.
