3 Natural Ways to Treat Food Allergies
Posted on: 15 June 2015
Living with a food allergy can be difficult. The discomfort that comes from eating certain foods is discouraging, but there are some ways you can treat a food allergy without relying on a significant amount of medication.
Here are three natural ways you can begin to heal any food allergies you might have in the future.
1. Increase your stomach acid levels.
Your digestive system is complex, but doctors are beginning to understand the important connection between stomach acid levels and food allergies. Many food allergies are caused by protein molecules that don't get completely broken down during digestion. These unprocessed protein molecules then enter into the bloodstream as allergens, resulting in a food allergy.
It's estimated that 80% of people who suffer from food allergies aren't producing enough stomach acid naturally, so taking a supplement that provides extra pepsin (the enzyme in stomach acid that digests protein) can help you alleviate your food allergy symptoms.
2. Identify which foods trigger your discomfort.
Food allergies can be difficult to identify, since the dishes you consume on a regular basis often contain a variety of ingredients. In order to isolate the cause of your discomfort, you need to engage in an allergy elimination diet. This diet requires you to strip any foods that you suspect could be the cause of your allergic reaction from your diet for two weeks. Common foods to eliminate include milk products, gluten, soy, and legumes.
Once you have gone two weeks without eating these foods, you can add them back into your diet one at a time. If you add milk products into your diet and you notice your discomfort returning, you can conclude that milk products trigger your allergies. By adding a single food back into your diet and monitoring your reaction, you will be able to identify the foods you should avoid to prevent discomfort in the future.
3. Take an L-glutamine supplement to help heal your gut.
A condition known as "leaky gut" could be the cause of your food allergies. When the mucous lining of your intestinal walls becomes compromised, molecules in the foods you eat can escape into your bloodstream during digestion. Healing the mucous lining to repair a leaky gut could help eliminate some of the discomfort that accompanies a food allergy.
Glutamine is the substance used by your body to maintain the mucous lining inside your intestines. Taking an L-glutamine supplement each day could help you reduce your discomfort when eating certain foods in the future.
Living with a food allergy can be uncomfortable at times. By making the choice to supplement your diet with a dose of pepsin or L-glutamine, or opting to identify trigger foods through an allergy elimination diet, you can begin to take control of your food allergy in the future. For more information on food allergies, talk to a professional like Alidina Laila MD.
Share