One thing that's true for all of us is that we need to eat! But WHAT are we eating?! The most important thing to remember when choosing good foods is: How does the food make us feel? Food should give us energy and lift our moods (not just while we're eating but for hours afterwards!). Many people complain of either bloating or fatigue after meals. Does this sound familiar? If so, something needs to change in either your diet or in your digestive processes. Later on this page, we will offer some of the ways you can determine which of these changes is right for you.
Food Allergies vs. Food Sensitivities
We must take a minute to differentiate between these two terms, since there is often some confusion over them.
Food Allergies cause an actual immune-reaction to an allergen (e.g., milk or shrimp). This means that the first time that a particular food is eaten, the person will get symptoms such as hives or breathing difficulties. The next time that this food is ingested is a medical emergency!!! Often this second exposure will cause severe breathing difficulties or perhaps even death.
Food Sensitivities will cause milder symptoms such as bloating, fatigue, headaches, runny nose, itchy eyes, sneezing, or loose stools. Often food sensitivities occur with foods that haven't caused any symptoms for years; however, eating any food repeatedly in the diet can turn into a sensitivity. Unfortunately, food sensitivities can turn into food allergies over time, so it's best to overcome these sensitivities early! The most common food sensitivities in North America are to wheat and dairy. Why is this so? Let's take a look at a typical North American Diet:
Let's start with breakfast. Most people look forward to their first cup of coffee in the morning -- usually with milk/cream and some sweetener of their choice. If there's time, many people will add in something like a slice of toast with butter or perhaps cereal. If there's lots of time (often limited to weekends only!) one might even add in some fried eggs and bacon or sausage... We're clearly off to a great start!
Now it's lunch time. Okay, maybe you don't have a hamburger for lunch, but we have to say that the majority of our patients will still eat a sandwich or a variation thereof (e.g. pita, hotdog, bagel) for lunch. Often some juice or pop or perhaps another coffee is added to the lunch hour.
And finally, dinner. Since it is BBQ-season as this is written, we' re sure that many readers are having some form of BBQ for dinner these days. You might have burgers, steaks, hot-dogs or seafood. And with this, you will probably have some form of wheat. Whether it's surrounding the meat of your choice (burgers/hot-dogs) or whether it's merely an additional "dish." And you might have a creamy pasta or potato salad as a side-dish. Dinner rolls, breaded meats or lasagna may also be part of your dinner choices. Note the theme of wheat and dairy...
Simple Assessment = Simple Solution
So what do you notice? Wheat and dairy seem to be quite a regular part of the diet in North America. How do we change this? We need to have more variety in our food choices. If you are very dependent on grains in your diet, try to be variable in the types of bread that you get. Spelt, Oats and Kamut and Quinoa are good choices for change. You may have never even heard of these grains! But you'll find that most health food stores, many bakeries and even grocery stores are catching this wave of change. So it's not so hard to find alternatives to wheat. If you don't like the taste of one bread that you try, make sure to try other companies or other grains. You will find something that is both palatable and good for you!
Regarding dairy -- here too are other choices. Soya milk and Rice milk are easily available.
The most important thing to remember is that you need to have variety---if you substitute the same alternative as regularly into your diet as wheat or dairy, you will only create a new food sensitivity!
