Diet and Allergies
Let your food be your medicine
Food is our fuel. Without food we cannot live. Often we only think of our taste buds or foods as abdominal fillers and calories, but each part has an important role to fulfill for the function and health of the body. Everyone can eat a healthier diet.
Choose nutrient-dense foods, preferably organically grown (KRAV), our body has difficulty handling chemicals. Feel free to buy locally grown groceries and think about the season, what foods are available here and now. Fruits and vegetables that are picked prematurely to cope with transportation contain very little nutrients, even though they may taste good. Avoid semi-finished products and refined products.
Why are some foods better than others? A food is valued from the outside; nutrient density, nutrient balance, how easily the body can digest and absorb the content, fatty acid content, low GI, i.e. the rate at which carbohydrates are converted into sugar, fiber content and toxicity.
Foods that are not so good are those that are; refined, contains a lot of sugar and salt, preservatives, dyes, unbalanced fat content, contains trans fats, has allergenic properties, high GI, nutrient poor, grown with spraying agent, genetically manipulated or irradiated.
Diet can also be used therapeutically, but then it must be adapted to the symptoms, and combined for the right proportions.
Food allergies and hypersensitivity
A lot of people have problems with food hypersensitivity. There are also many who are allergic to certain foods. Those who are allergic to any food usually know about it because contact with the substance gives a direct reaction. The eyes, nose or throat swell and it can be difficult to breathe, or you get a rash on the skin. This type of problem is often diagnosed by a so-called IgE test.
However, those who have problems with food hypersensitivity do not get a direct reaction, but the symptoms come with such delay that it is very difficult to put in connection with the ingestion of certain foods. This hypersensitivity does not manifest itself on an IgE test.
One advantage, however, is that hypersensitivity is easier for the body to heal than allergies. However, the difficulty is to find which foods you react to. Common symptoms of hypersensitivity include headache, fatigue, depression, anxiety, hyperactivity, muscle pain, bloated stomach, etc.
The most common sources of hypersensitivity reactions are; Milk, cereals (mainly wheat), citrus fruits, the solanin family, soy products, sweeteners, dyes and preservatives. There are several ways to test hypersensitivity and allergy to food. What you can do on your own is elimination testing and heart rate testing. Only you know how to react to different foods. Learn how to listen to your body.
Elimination testing means that for a week you eat as clean food as possible, only vegetables, fruit and meat. It excludes all dairy products, all cereal products, fish and shellfish, citrus fruits, the solanin family, soy products, sweeteners, dyes and preservatives. After a week, you introduce one “new” food at a time every other day. If you get a reaction to any food, you exclude this from the diet in the future.
Another way is heart rate testing. Knowing your own heart rate is an easy way to get to know yourself. For a week, take your heart rate every morning in bed before getting up. Your resting heart rate should be quite similar every day. If raised, it may be a sign of an upcoming cold or infection. Determine an average resting heart rate. The next step is to take the pulse before the meal, and 30, 60 and 90 minutes after dinner. If the heart rate has risen more than 16 beats per minute compared to the resting heart rate, make a note. That meal most likely contained something your body is sensitive to. To move forward, you get to test each food item from that meal for yourself, in the same way as before. The methods have the advantages that you can perform them yourself at home, all that is needed is a clock with a second viewer, paper and pen. The methods can be combined with even better results.
Dietary diary
Keeping a dietary diary doesn’t have to be complicated. However, it takes some time, a couple of minutes after each intake to write down what and how much you ate. It is important to write immediately after the meal. Memory is not always reliable. By writing down everything you eat for one or two weeks, you get an idea of what your eating habits look like. What we think we eat and what we actually eat is not always the same thing. It is common for people to both overestimate and underestimate their intake of food. It’s important to be honest with yourself.
