• Food Allergy self test: Wait at least a half an hour after eating any food. When you are in a relaxed state of rest, take your pulse counting the number of heart beats in one minute. Then eat a food you suspect as an allergen. Now wait twenty minutes and take your pulse again. If your pulse has increased more than ten beats per minute this food can be considered an allergen. Remove it from your diet altogether for 90 days, take note of how you feel in that time, and then slowly re-introduce it into your diet and re-evaluate. If the food is still a problem, more healing of the digestive system is necessary. It is also possible that a food or substance will never again be tolerated by the digestive system and body and will have to be eliminated permanently.
• Foods that are eaten everyday on a regular basis have an increased potential to become allergens. Therefore variety in the diet is very helpful.
• It is possible for a person to crave a particular food, beverage, or even something like nicotine, caffeine, or alcohol, as a result of an allergy to that food or substance. It is for this reason that allergies are thought to play a role in addiction.
• Diet in general is critical for dealing with allergies of any kind regardless of the source. Diet affects the whole person including the immune system. Of course it’s important to clean up the diet and eliminate anything processed and loaded with chemicals. Go raw and organic as much as possible. Focus on foods with healthy enzymes and probiotics for digestion and improved immune function. Fiber plays an important role in healthy digestion and in removing toxins from the body. Most importantly when dealing with allergies through diet, focus on nutrients and foods that do two things:  Reduce inflammation and /or Provide antioxidants. This not only provides relief from symptoms but can help provide long term healing.
• The most common contributors to hay fever are tree pollen and grasses.
• A skin rash can be the result of a food allergy and a headache as a result of an allergen to the skin. This condition is called Atopy, whereas the allergic response itself is affecting part of the body not directly in contact with the allergen.
• It’s possible for allergies of any kind especially food allergies to affect the mood of a person of any age. In fact the allergic reaction can be so severe that the person could become violent and possibly self- destructive until the effects of the offending food or substance has dissipated.
• Allergies are on the rise worldwide. What is fascinating is that allergies of all kinds, especially food allergies, are exploding in more developed countries as compared to far less incidence in underdeveloped countries. This fact seeks to suggest that the more modern and advanced the society, the more processed and sterilized the environment the food supply, the more allergies are possible.  Whereas less advanced societies have a more raw and unprocessed food supply and less incidence. Additionally, children growing up in rural environments with regular exposure to barn yard animals and their droppings, dirt, dust, and even non-chlorinated water are less susceptible to allergies than their urban counterparts.
• In the case of food allergies, reading food labels is certainly important. But keep in mind that if something like corn is an issue, additional education is important. For example: Corn can show up in a variety of ingredients such as food coloring, maltodextrin, food starch, and fructose.
• The segment of the population most at risk for developing allergies is young children. A young child’s digestive system and immune system is not fully developed. Example: A young child’s digestive system lacks certain digestive enzymes such as lactase needed to properly digest cow’s milk. Additionally, cows’ milk is typically homogenized which makes it more challenging to digest and pasteurized which means it also lacks healthy enzymes for digestion. Feeding a child cow’s milk at a young age sets the ground work for food allergies that can challenge the immune system and overall health of the child. With the digestive system and immune system both compromised there is room for more allergies and conditions to follow. Conversely, children that have been breast-feed and or given enzyme rich milk substitutes tend have much lower incidence of allergies.

Written by DMK of Seven Grains