Demystifying Gluten And Other Common Digestive Allergies
What is gluten? It’s the protein part of wheat which is slightly sticky in nature and if a person has more inflammation in the body, then when they consume gluten, it aggravates the inflammation in the gut. Imagine a red swollen aka inflamed gut dealing with a sticky gluten substance – it basically creates spasms in the gut leading to different immune responses in different people. Some get diarrhoea, some get cramps, some experience constipation and any of these may contribute to pimples on the face especially the forehead, an area which co-related to gut health. While some people may get a cold, excessive phlegm production, experience symptoms of mineral depletion such as lack of concentration, brain fog, fatigue etc.
Gluten is sticky and rich in protein (hence yummy too!) and these qualities allow wheat, a gluten-rich grain to be used extensively as pasta, noodles, dimsums, bread, croissants, other baked goods, etc. Originally eating wheat was considered strengthening and some varieties of wheat were considered healing. However, now due to many reasons – mainly poor quality production of wheat in the world and a devolved digestive tract post-industrialization and commercialization of food, people are not able to digest strong grains as their digestion is not strong anymore!
Digestion is known to be the central system in both Ayurveda as well as macrobiotics. The food we eat is digested to give us energy for the day and for activities throughout the day. If the digestive process is compromised, then we don’t assimilate the nutrients we absorb from the food we eat and hence half our efforts of eating well are futile. So working to make strong digestion is key to improving any kind of allergies.
While peanut, other nuts, milk, and strawberry or pineapples allergies are more connected to the blood quality. If a person gets an allergic reaction by having a nut or say strawberries or pineapples, this clearly shows that the person has poor quality and more acidic blood. This also means that the person has inflammation and also a mineral deficiency. Such people may also often have a swollen belly or a swollen lower lip – depicting a swelling in the lower digestive organs. Allergies such as egg and shellfish also show a highly acidic blood quality. Basically, a more acidic blood quality is already depleted and hence the immune function reacts quickly. While iron-rich, mineral-rich and alkaline blood quality will not react as quickly to something they cannot easily digest. They have enough buffer before they will be depleted and grace time before the immune function will give a reaction or response. My second book named THE ASTHMA CURE, published by Penguin in 2018 and has extensive information about factors that increase inflammation, allergic blood quality and deplete the immune function.
Key foods that aggravate digestive allergies and inflammation in the body are refined sugars (direct or hidden in sodas and other packaged foods), yeast, refined flour, preservatives, colourings and other chemicals found in packaged foods, hydrogenated oils, commercial dairy foods, and pesticide filled foods especially fruit and raw salad as these are consumed raw.
Digestive allergies should not be taken lightly as if unattended they can become a precursor to other diseases. Allergies are a red flag message for us to look at our digestion and immune function more closely.
