When it comes to food allergies there is no quick fix, no miracle drug, oil or even a one-time naturopathic cure. To truly begin to heal our bodies we need knowledge and self discipline. It’s also important while researching information to look for facts.
For example, several articles have been posted in a confusing manner on a myriad of web-pages regarding Gluten Cross-Reactive Foods. From what I’ve read most of the information is inaccurate or skewed. The following is an example of a good article.
According to Christina Graves, a doctoral candidate and scientist, in her article: 19 Gluten Cross-Reactive Foods: Busted Myth? she states:
“So where did this information start? The list of “19 cross-reactive foods” is taken from a laboratory array made by a company called Cyrex ... The array is reported to measure cross-reactivity of anti-gluten antibodies to other foods. It was developed in 2011, prior to the release of a paper entitled “Cross-Reaction between Gliadin and Different Food and Tissue Antigens” in January 2013 which assesses this reported “cross-reactivity”. This paper will be referred to as Vojdani & Tarash 2013 throughout the rest of this article.
The basic gist of these above articles is that there are approximately 19 foods that “cross-react” with gluten—that these other foods can mimic gluten. This leads to your body reacting to these “cross-reactive foods” as if they were gluten, making these foods problematic for anyone who has a sensitivity to gluten (either Celiac disease or non-Celiac gluten sensitivity). That is, if you are making antibodies to gluten, those same antibodies recognize other food proteins.
However, just because it’s regurgitated doesn’t make it true.
The sheer number of articles that are circulating with the same information gives readers, naturopathic healthcare practitioners, patients, and the general public a false sense of informational credibility and reliability. It makes us think that because 207 internet bloggers have blogged “gluten cross-reactive foods”, it must have been independently verified 207 times, right? Wrong. Rather, it seems we have many examples of blatant regurgitation and reporting without serious scrutiny. That’s sensational journalism at the expense of analytical thinking.”
Graves sources her information and provides facts and documentation for the reader to do further research.
Once you’ve studied this article you may ask yourself, “Well, I have problems with Wheat/Gluten and I also have problems with other foods. Why?”
In this, the 21st century many individuals have developed several and often severe food allergies. Whether the foods are organic or not, the rate of individuals with food allergies is dramatically increasing. Shouldn’t these numbers be decreasing with all of our modern technology?
American’s are sick, I mean really, really sick and articles are constantly bombarding the internet containing the symptoms, but not the cause. Most Allopathic (modern medicine) doctors treat symptoms instead of the cause. I personally want to understand the root cause of the disorder so I can fix the problem and heal my body.
It is my opinion that the majority of health issues the world now faces are because we are being inadvertently poisoned.
In November 15, 2013, on my Facebook Page,
A Wheat Free Life: https://www.facebook.com/awheatfreelife I wrote,
“Good morning everyone! Today I am going to talk a little bit about potatoes. I have wondered for years why I get sick when I eat regular potatoes, carrots or root vegetables and yet when I eat Organic potatoes, carrots or root vegetables or my own home grown potatoes, carrots etc, I am just fine. Well I finally got it! I am surprised I didn't see it earlier. Potatoes and other root vegetables are simply Roots and what do Roots do? They absorb nutrients from the soil and store it for the plant which is above ground for further use. Well in today's farming practices these crops are sprayed with fungicides, pesticides and sometimes herbicides. So like a good little root should the potatoes and other roots vegetables and plants soak these toxins up and store it like it does with the beneficial nutrients from the soil. So when you eat a potato that is not Organic you are also eating a plethora of chemical concoctions.”
There are more good articles on this topic found at: http://www.karensenergy.com/informative-pdfs
Click on the link and open the PDF files titled: Dangerous Food Toxins; Dangerous Household Toxins; and Dangerous Personal Care Toxins. In the PDFs you can go to the studies the author has cited and continue with your own research.
Dr. Mercola, an osteopathic physician in his article, Research Reveals Previously Unknown Pathway by which Glyphosate Wrecks Health, May 14, 2013 states:
“Dr. Stephanie Seneff has been conducting research at MIT for over three decades. She also has an undergraduate degree in biology from MIT and a minor in food and nutrition, and I have previously interviewed her about her groundbreaking insights into the critical importance of sulfur in human health. Not surprisingly, this latest research also touches on sulfur, and how it is affected by glyphosate from food.
“Here, we show how interference with CYP enzymes acts synergistically with disruption of the biosynthesis of aromatic amino acids by gut bacteria, as well as impairment in serum sulfate transport,” the authors write.
“Consequences are most of the diseases and conditions associated with a Western diet, which include gastrointestinal disorders, obesity, diabetes, heart disease, depression, autism, infertility, cancer and Alzheimer’s disease.
We explain the documented effects of glyphosate and its ability to induce disease, and we show that glyphosate is the 'textbook example' of exogenous semiotic entropy: the disruption of homeostasis by environmental toxins.”
When it comes to toxicity issues, Glyphosate, is just one chemical in a long list of other toxic chemicals that are contributing to the decline of the overall health of the human race in the 21st century.
I’ve suffered from major health issues throughout my life. As I’ve reviewed my journals and memories I found a link to when my health issues increased and when symptoms seemed to abate. At first I noticed a direct correlation to where I lived. When my symptoms increased I realized we were living close to farming communities where the use of pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, etc., is common practice. In addition to this, these chemicals leach into the soil and into ground water that we drink, cook with, and bathe in. I’ve found these chemicals are not only sprayed on our foods they are also within our foods through genetic modifications (GMO’s).
When I lived in Louisiana at the mouth of the Mississippi River the severity of my symptoms increased to the point I became bed-ridden and I was in constant incapacitating pain. Doctors were unable to help my condition. With all the farming that extends from the Canadian border to the Gulf of Mexico and all the chemicals that are used on these crops it is inevitable that these chemicals make their way to the Mississippi River, which then picks up these toxins as it heads down river. By the time it has reached the mouth of the Mississippi it has become a toxic chemical soup. Ground water supplies which lie downstream have been severely compromised and contaminated by hurricanes, tropical storms, and floods. Unknowingly, I was drinking local city water with all of these toxins.
I loved living in the South! I love the people, the culture and the food. Unfortunately, the water, food, and my environment were killing me.
I’m a religious person and so I prayed for a miracle. Then I waited for God’s timing and I received my answer. I had been poisoned by the foods I ate, the water I drank, the personal care products I used to clean my body, clothes, home, and even by the makeup I wore. All of these toxins combined were damaging my liver and kidneys, and they had all but destroyed the beneficial bacteria in my intestinal tract leading to many health problems. With help from inspired individuals I was taught how to change my life. Since this time I have been teaching my family and any who are willing to listen. Knowledge is the key.
A lot of information — and sadly misinformation — available to readers concentrates on symptoms and quick fixes. As I’ve discovered how big the problem is in regards to chemical toxicity I have come to realize there are no quick fixes. Yet, I have found there are things we can do to protect ourselves and live cleaner healthier lives. In future articles I’ll address the things we can do to improve our health and the health of our families.