Oh, the adventures of allergies and food sensitivities!
Finding you have food sensitivities and allergies can be a relief. After all, now you know what has been causing your headaches, diarrhea, bloating, gas (sorry), fatigue, yeast infections, skin rashes… very life-impacting symptoms!
On the other hand, the process of finding out how to live, now that you know the cause of the problem, can be totally overwhelming. You probably just got told that you can never eat your favorite foods again, will have to learn how to cook all over… almost impossible, right?
Hold on: Fueled by research, born of love—this site exists to help you find easy, doable solutions.
Usually, if a person suspects food allergies or food sensitivity (or even has had food allergy tests and especially if the tests show a lot of allergies/food sensitivities), the cause is a digestive tract that has to heal.
This takes time! Time is both your friend and your worst enemy. At first it sounds like “I have to change everything, forever!” Common allergenic foods to remove are soy, wheat and other grains, corn (a grain), dairy, eggs, cane sugar and corn sugar (and for some people shellfish and certain nuts), for most of us it is an overhaul of all our habits and routines. And now we have to spend more time planning… yikes!
But it isn’t so bad once you start—and this site is your tool:
Crowd out the “shunned” ingredients. OK – by definition this is an “elimination diet” …
- Add in LOTS of healthy fats (yes Virginia, fats are good and actually help cravings) like Coconut Milk Yogurt and Grilled Jamaican Jerk Salmon.
- Add in lots of greens (high in minerals like calcium and B vitamins that can also help with cravings and mood) like my favorite Alaska Rainbow Chard.
- Make easy substitutions: Check out our recipes for Scones, Nut Meusli, even Sour Cream Without the Cream… this site is your friend J
- Check out our delicious allergy-free treat ideas like Grannie’s Apple Crunch.
- Dip your toe into creating recipes that work for your body.
- Some herbal teas like peppermint and Pau D’Arco have gut healing properties.
The important thing is to do what you can and let time work for you.
Most elimination diets, including the Candida Diet, are great because symptoms greatly diminish—and fast! But since the root cause of the problem is a breech in the integrity of the gut lining, healing takes time—more time than most people give.
When these approaches fail, it is for the following key reasons:
Reason #1: Going back to old eating patterns too quickly;
and the ultimate fatal flaw:
Reason #2: the inclusion of grain based foods. Even the Candida Diet, usually a gluten free, casein free diet, fails in the majority of instances because the disaccharides, or double sugars, present in many carbohydrates including ALL grains—not just gluten containing ones—are a Hey Day, a Food Fest, a Party!! for yeast, “bad” bacteria and other critters (parasites) you don’t want living inside you.
An inflamed, imbalanced gut is often overridden with Candida and “others…”, and is weak, diseased and may even turn cancerous. The cells in the gut need the beneficial gut bacteria to digest and help you absorb food properly. Without these “good’ bacteria, you don’t get the nutrients you need, feel tired, and other imbalances develop.
The critical importance of healthy fats and greens to gut health cannot be overstated! And it tends to be a catch-22. Diets high in grains and sugars, overuse of antibiotics as a child, processed foods, have fed generations of acid-loving bacteria and Candida who are greatly enjoying a constant stream of—more sugar. This, in turn, makes it impossible for the healthful bacteria to live, you remain undernourished and crave (usually sugary pick-me-ups) to address the fatigue of malnutrition.
Candida and other “beasties” who live off the starchy grains and sugars cause gut inflammation and come back quickly when those foods are added back too soon—or, in some cases at all. A leaky gut allows undigested food into the blood stream and this creates food sensitivities and food allergies.
Feed yourself and your family good food and you’ll find you run out of steam less often. Together we’ll make it easy and fun. Ask me your questions in the comments section.
You’ll finally feel focused, organized and efficient in the kitchen… not to mention strong and healthy in your body.
Save time and money
You can skip expensive takeout or prepared meals, and none of these are complicated recipes. I have had to make these work in my busy schedule raising children and with a professional career. Believe me, except for a few special items, if it is tedious; it isn’t here.
Keep it simple and practical
This isn’t about eating goji berries and salba seeds. Seriously. Take 2-4 weeks and get only good, normal, real food that you can find at any standard grocery store—or through the links on my resources page. I don’t have time or patience to run all over town either.
Get some pep in your step
Eating real food will give you energy and you and your family sitting down to hot meals will fuel you like nothing else. Create a rhythm, this creates peace and frees up your energy. Big time.
Do what works for you!
Be busy – of course! Isn’t that what we mean by a full and satisfying life? Vacations, celebrating birthdays, whatever. Enjoy it to the fullest.
I hope this helps —Marie
