Total Health Breakthroughs: Free Natural Health Newsletter and Alternative Health Articles

Today I want to talk about an issue that ties in with your gut health (the topic of my last article) — gluten sensitivity, which is sometimes also referred to as gluten intolerance. Gluten as you may remember is the grain protein found in wheat, rye, and barley that causes gas, bloating, abdominal pain, diarrhea and other seemingly unrelated symptoms such as headache, joint aches, depression, anxiety, and fatigue in sensitive individuals. All these symptoms arise as a result of an immune system reaction to gluten.

Many consumers have become increasingly aware of this issue and have been trying out gluten-free diets in such record numbers that the medical community has been questioning what in the world is going on that so many people think they are gluten intolerant.¹

The obvious answer is that maybe they really are. And the problem is that currently the only form of gluten sensitivity that is medically recognized is Celiac disease, an advanced form in which the immune cells cause damage to the intestinal villi. But the fact is, gluten sensitivity symptoms can range from a broad spectrum of fairly mild (but bad enough to affect a person’s quality of life), to very severe, like that seen in Celiac disease.

The spike in individuals seeking gluten-free diets shows that we are seeing another legitimate medical condition (gluten-intolerance) in which mainstream medicine’s diagnosis and treatment is inadequately dealing with people’s actual symptoms and experiences. To put it another way, patients are currently ahead of their doctors in dealing with the reality of gluten intolerance.

Did it ever occur to you that the reason you can’t lose weight may be due to the fact that you are eating foods that you’re allergic to? This is a revelation to many people who have struggled unsuccessfully for years to get rid of unwanted pounds.

The prevalence of food allergies is on the rise in both children and adults.^1-2 Allergies can be responsible for a number of health issues including irritable bowel type symptoms³ and migraines.⁴ Very few people are aware however, that immune responses to foods can go on to create a number of metabolic disruptions that can contribute to weight gain.

At LMI where we counsel people to lose weight using our Metabolic Code Diet (MCD) eating program, we see this all the time. We had one patient in our diet group who had tried a very low carb diet in the past, and lost no weight. The reason? She was sensitive to dairy and didn’t know it. On her previous diet, she was eating a lot of cheese. On the MCD, which is a lower carb, low allergen eating plan, she cut out the cow’s milk cheeses and dairy products, ate according to our meal recommendations, and the weight started coming off.

In recent years, we have seen both food and seasonal allergies dramatically increase in adults. Allergies are an indication of gut health, and may be a sign of internal inflammation.

Anyone who suffers from seasonal allergies knows how depressing it is to experience trouble breathing for weeks at a time. But did you also know that science is uncovering a close relationship between those same seasonal allergies and suicide?

Every year with the arrival of spring, I see many patients with bothersome seasonal airborne allergies. The usual symptoms are irritation and redness to the eyes, nose, sinuses, and throat. Many of these people also suffer from respiratory wheezing and mild to moderate allergic asthma symptoms.

Conventional medicine in the US is unsurpassed for the treatment of emergencies. As I’ve often said, if I’m in a train wreck, don’t take me to an herbalist — I’m going straight to Cedars Sinai.

But as good as conventional medicine is at emergency conditions, it is perfectly dreadful at keeping people healthy, or preventing them from getting sick in the first place. And it’s only moderately good at treating chronic conditions — those that linger on indefinitely, sapping your well-being and preventing you from being your best.