Investigating common food allergies or intolerances and the diseases they can exacerbate.
Based on my own personal struggle to find relief!
This site is a personal endeavor inspired by my own struggles with bad health and explores the treatments and tests which I have found invaluable in my quest to better health. I hope this information is insightful and helpful for others. Below is a video which describes some of the highlights of my breakthroughs.
The food intolerance test which relieved many of my own symptoms.
Foremost in my mind is the food intolerance test offered in the UK by a company called Yorktest.com who are one of the only companies in this sector who offer such a service and their test is unparalleled in its elegance, simplicity and value. This is literally the most important step I believe anyone can take to understand more about what could be holding them and their health back.
Their food intolerance test can be ordered from almost anywhere in the world and is a simple test which can be done in the comfort of your own home, it consists of a simple pin prick to the finger and a few drops of blood. The food intolerance test is almost unique in its ability to provide exact information to isolate from 113 food groups which of those could be causing a host of health conditions you may be having.
Reactions to food intolerance's may not be felt immediately and can take up to three days to manifest after ingesting intolerable foods! This makes the process of finding and eliminating culprits almost impossible without scientific testing. This is far more effective than keeping a food diary and trying an 'ad-hock' food elimination diet, simply because the number of foods consumed within the period increases the potential for confusion. (more...)
Genetic testing for Gluten intolerance and Celiac disease.
There are two specific genes which were detected by genetic testing which showed that I am genetically predisposed to develop an intolerance to gluten and suffer with celiac disease. These genes are passed down from ones parents and if you are positive these will be passed down to your children also.
The genes detected in me are called HLA-DQB1 Molecular analysis, Allele 1 0302 - which predisposes me to celiac disease and HLA-DQB1 Molecular analysis, Allele 2 0501 - which predisposes me gluten intolerance. Another way to describe these markers is: Serologic equivalent: HLA-DQ 3,1 (Subtype 8,5) - which basically means the same thing.
These tests can be ordered from anywhere in the world and cost $149 from a company called Enterolab. The test is a very simple and managed from the comfort of your own home with a swab taken from inside the mouth on a cotton bud to collect skin cells. It then takes about 3 weeks to get the results. (more...)
Corn allergies or intolerances and where corn or maize is found
One of the first things people do when they cut out gluten is to lust after all the old snacks and goodies which they used to enjoy so much. Happily for many their are substitutes of gluten free food made in most part with corn as a primary ingredient. All will be fine in most cases, but in some rare instances people will have an intolerance to corn too. This is automatically checked with the York test!
In such a scenario the prospect for an 'easy life' by just simply substituting gluten based products for corn based products evaporates. More importantly life gets very complicated. See corn, like wheat has its sub ingredients used in many many hidden places. To give you some examples, most white rice is washed using a corn based cleaning product.
There is an extensive list of corn allergens which will raise the eyebrows of even the most patient sufferer of intolerance's. Again just when you was feeling overwhelmed there is yet another list of corn related products to avoid. With the extensive list of places corn and its derivatives are used, generally the prospect of an easy life is over, the only thing to do is to study as much as possible and to eliminate the biggest offenders and then rotate your diet, while eating only fresh whole foods which have not been processed in anyway whatsoever. (more...)
List of places where allergenic foods could be hiding
Everyone is different and we will all have slightly different food intolerance however there are often hiding places where allergenic foods can commonly hide. This is a list which I found useful posted by another person suffering with food intolerance's and it may provide some insights to others:
Baking Powder
Binders
Blue Cheese
Brown rice syrup
Caramel colorings or flavorings
Cereal fillers, protein or starch
Citric Acid
Coatings
Colorings
Corn Starch
Curry Powder
Dextrins
Dispersing Agents
Emulsifiers
Excipients (in prescription medications, for consistency)
Extracts (in grain alcohol)
Fillers
Flavorings (in grain alcohol)
Flours made from wheat, barley, oats, and rye
Grain alcohol (beer, ale, rye, scotch, bourbon, grain vodka)
Gum base
Homeopathic remedies
Hydrolyzed vegetable protein (HVP)
Malt or Malt Flavoring (barley malt, malt vinegar)
Modified starch, Modified food starch (made from wheat)
Mono- and di-glycerides (made using a wheat starch carrier)
Natural flavorings
Oils (wheat germ oil and others with gluten additives)
Preservatives
Soy sauce (when fermented with wheat)
Spices (if anti-caking agent used)
Starch (modified food starch, edible starch)
Textured vegetable protein (TVP)
Vegetable gum
Vegetable protein or starch
Vinegars (white, or malt)
Vital wheat gluten (common in soy products)
Vitamin E oil
My anaphylactic shock to whey protein isolate confirms my dairy allergy
Because of my low weight I decided to experiment with some whey protein which is commonly used by body builders to gain bulk. I had long since cut out many forms of dairy such as milk because I was concerned I had an allergy to it, though to what degree I had no idea. Also I was still consuming some forms of dairy by way of cream, butter and some cheeses as these were all good forms of fat and they didn't seem to immediately effect me too negatively to a large degree.
So concerned about allergy I bought the highest quality most potent whey isolate on the market that I could locate. It had no allergens listed and I suspected with the highly processed nature of it, I may get away with any allergy problems, how wrong I was. Upon receiving the whey I tried a small dose to start. I must have put a full table spoon of whey powder into a glass of water, then had about one mouthful.
Within a few minutes I was in a very bad way, obviously starting to have an anaphylactic shock, 15 minuets in and I was feeling absolutely terrible. I managed to pace around and for a few hours the severity would come and go in waves every 10 - 15 minutes or so. The overall shock lasted around 4-5 hours and I was unsettled for a few days afterward. (more...)
How autoimmune disorders are commonly affected by food intolerances
I found a direct correlation between my symptoms of the autoimmune disease Reactive arthritis (ReA) which I was diagnosed with in 1998 with and the foods I was eating. Back then there was much antidotal evidence that diet affected the condition and there are some very interesting books and supporting information substantiating the hypothesis than many incurable conditions can be helped by the correct diet.
The first book I came across was called Breaking the Vicious cycle by Elaine Gottschall. This book advocated a 'specific carbohydrate diet' and there is a list of foods on the website which are classified as either legal or illegal foods.
While advocating the one size fits all approach, unfortunately this method failed to be solution which would work for me personally given many of the foods listed as 'legal' I was already aware I had an intolerance towards (such as dairy), leaving very little left. (more...)
How I cured my so-called incurable autoimmune disorder Reactive Arthritis also known as Reiters syndrome
Another maverick and possibly one of the very first Doctors to advocate antibiotics as a treatment for many forms of arthritis such as rheumatoid arthritis and who is somewhat of a legend in the arthritis sector is Thomas McPherson Brown, MD who inspired the book The New Arthritis Breakthrough and The Road Back Foundation which also has an active Yahoo support group of followers of the antibiotic Protocol (AP) that you can find details of Here.
The Road Back Foundation, the book The New Arthritis Breakthrough by Henry Scammell and the Rheumatic Yahoo support group are all fundamental resources for anyone who is challenged with any form of so-called autoimmune related arthritis!
Firstly I want to voice my personal skepticism about the legitimacy of many so-called autoimmune (AI) diagnoses. By definition these conditions are categorized as idiopathic (no known cause) and incurable. However, based on my own experience, having being diagnosed with a so-called incurable autoimmune disorder called Reactive Arthritis (ReA) otherwise knows as Reiter's syndrome and what I have subsequently leaned about about this and other similar AI conditions, I believe that for many, these diseases are generally neither incurable nor the result of 'friendly fire' (the classical definition of AI disorders). (more...)