We are all faced with challenges in life. The challenges my family and I have been given are allergies. I have researched for the last seven years all the most current information, studies and basically anything I could get my hands on. What I have pieced together over the years is a really great theory that has been brought together by Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride in her book Gut and Psychology Syndrome (GAPS).

In her book she puts the pieces together for me by explaining how allergies are created and passed down from one generation to another. That leaky gut is the culprit.

When your gut is leaky, you are unable to totally digest your food. When you are not totally digesting your food, undigested material leaks into your blood stream. When this material travels through your bloodstream, your immune system reacts by creating antibodies to these undigested materials. As your immune system creates more antibodies over time, it will begin to react to the whole food as soon as you consume it.

So, our challenge is to fix the leaking gut that leads to the production of the antibodies. I am unsure of the science behind eliminating the antibodies….It may have something to do with the absence of the allergen for an extended period of time.

The allergies that we deal with daily are gluten, milk and milk derivatives. My husband has a general lack of ability to digest and create energy from the food he eats, and he must be very careful with his diet due to liver issues from taking ritalin while in elementary school to deal with the symptoms of ADD.

I have mentioned in past articles that my family and I are changing our diet by following the Introduction Diet that has been developed by Dr. Natasha. It’s the perfect time of year to do it, as the majority of the diet is soups, broths and non-fibrous vegetables, perfect for slowcooker season! It will mean that I take more time preparing food for my family, however I see it as a major push toward ultimate health. If we get serious now, our youngest (10 weeks) may never have to deal with allergies at all and our oldest (3 years) may be able to enjoy ice cream without running to the bathroom. It means I may never again have to make a special cake for my children to take to birthday parties “in case” they have an icecream cake. The benefits for us far outweigh the sacrifice.

If you are interested in following along or participating, please join our facebook group called Heal Your Gut.

That’s all for this week. I have some cooking to do
Cheers,
Jessica Smalls