More than 50 percent of our immune system is found in our digestive tract, which is why it is important to have a well functioning digestive system. Unfortunately most traditional doctors don’t recognize the impact of food allergies, and how it affects those who suffer with celiac, Crohn’s, rheumatoid arthritis, ulcerative colitis, eczema, psoriases, fibromyalgia, lupus or MS.

Food allergies and stress can weaken your immune system and exacerbating your health. Many people who struggle with bloating, gas, indigestion, reflux and other irritable bowel problems are compromising their immune system with hidden food allergies.

Food allergies are a huge factor, because they inflaming our intestinal lining, which interferes with the absorption of the nutrients in our diet.  An inflamed intestinal tract allows undigested food particles to crossover into our systemic circulation, which overworks your adrenal glands and triggers an unnecessary immune response.  In short, food allergies can have a profound negative effect.  The common foods to avoid are dairy, wheat, corn, soy, peanuts, MSG, coffee and artificial sweeteners. 

Some traditional doctors who work with celiac, Crohn’s, eczema, and psoriasis recognize that grains can irritate their intestinal tract and recommend a grain or gluten free diet.  Unfortunately, more doctors don’t realize the grain connection, nor do they realize it is more than just grains that can be affecting their health.

Calming down the intestine’s

The first step in calming down your inflamed tummy is to stay away from ALL offending foods. NO! dairy, wheat, corn, soy, peanuts, coffee, artificial sweeteners or MSG for 2-4 weeks. You need to remove all the above mentioned foods, because if you have more than one offending food and don’t eliminate it from your diet, you may not give your digestive system a true chance to recover and repair. This is not a lifetime ban!  In many cases these foods can be reintroduced after your digestive system has quieted down.

This elimination diet will cause some people to ask, “what am I supposed to eat, you’ve taken everything out of my diet.” For some people this elimination diet leaves them without many choices. This is why I recommend several of the natural health bars, that I know don't irritate and inflamme the tummy. They are hypoallergenic and contain NO dairy, wheat, corn, soy, peanuts, artificial sweeteners or trans fatty acids. They don’t irritate your tummy like many other health bars. They are low glycemic, which helps with keeping your blood sugar stable, but they also provide some of the essential fatty acids that are important in helping reduce inflammation.

Keeping the bad guys out

An irritated and inflamed digestive system weakens the integrity of the intestinal lining. This allows undigested food particles to ‘leak’ across the intestinal lining and enter our systemic circulation. This sets off an antibody, histamine response that overworks your adrenals and sets off our allergies. These undigested food particles are not as harmful as bacteria, viruses, fungus and other microbes but our immune system becomes over-whelmed and confused. This is why many health challenges are called autoimmune diseases. Their body is attacking itself and can’t tell the difference between the good and bad guys.

Stress is the X-factor…

Stress is another factor that needs to be identified, because prolonged stress will cause a decrease production of hydrochloric acid (HCL) which is needed for digestion and breaking down protein. Bloating, gas, indigestion, reflux, etc. is a result of undigested protein due to a lack of HCL. These undigested food particles easily penetrate the inflamed intestinal lining and enter our systemic circulation. Commercial advertisers and uninformed doctors believe HCL is the problem, but HCL has another important task.  It kills off any harmful bacteria, virus, fungus or parasite that may be in your food. Lack of adequate HCL will allow these foreign invaders to enter the body, which is we I recommend a good digestive enzyme with HCL, like Digestin.

Digestion is also effected by stress as a result of elevated cortisol, which begins to erode the intestinal lining and making us more vulnerable to food allergies, and other pathogens such as yeast, fungus, parasites, and candida. Therefore if stress is beating you down, support your adrenals with the Adrenal Support Formula that is specially formulated to help you renourish your adrenal glands.

Eliminating food allergies can go a long way in helping restore your immune system. Failure to address this issue, as well as, supporting your adrenal glands duet to all the stress in your life will only exacerbate a vicious cycle.

Dr. Len Lopez