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currently process food, and routinely add chemical cocktails to enhance it for the ultimate purpose of generating more money, food sensitivities are now inevitable. I almost guarantee that you have heard someone from the baby-boomer generation comment that “no one was allergic to peanuts in my day.” I’m not saying that nut allergies are new, but they are definitely more mainstream. So are wheat, gluten, dairy, seafood, corn, and soy. And egg. And food coloring. And . . .
    Let me explain. Because of the western world’s incredible obsession with convenience, we have inevitably begun to eat some of the same foods several times a day in ways we are often unaware of. We are constantly inundated with wheat, corn, soy, sugar, salt, and casein products, as well as a wide variety of chemicals such as MSG (monosodium glutamate), food coloring, and artificial flavoring. These ingredients are present in almost everything processed, andbecause we consume so much of them, and they come to us in such overly processed forms, our digestive system eventually decides that it has had enough, and so challenges our immune system to a duel. En garde!
    This is especially true for those of us who already have a slight sensitivity to one or more of these ingredients. We can only expect our digestive systems to take on so much, and after that, we feel the refusal. For example, I can abstain from cheese for a month and feel great, and I can eat a little bit here and there without feeling the negative effects, but if I decide one night to chow down on an entire wheel of brie with my beloved olives (something that I have unfortunately done several times), I always pay for it. It’s like my body grudgingly will process bit by bit until I overdo it, and then it shuts down and becomes terribly inflamed. I always regret it.
    Cheese is my boyfriend that I know is bad for me in every single way, but I keep coming back for more despite the very predictable consequences. If I had a cheese therapist, she would tell me to break the cycle. You break it, too!
    “Let food be thy medicine and thy medicine be thy food.” 62
    —Hippocrates, father of modern medicine
    So many of us are living with food sensitivities like this and don’t know it; it’s hard to make the connection when pain is unpredictable and sometimes random. I personally only discovered my dairy issue when I cut out meat. Because the heaviness of meat was out of the picture, and my inflammation was greatly reduced, I was able to feel the other foods that made me feel bad, too. Wheat, dairy, and meat all make me feel swollen, bloated, and in pain. It sounds like a lot that I’ve had to remove from my life, but the difference in how I feel can only be described as amazing, and for me, it’s undeniably worth it. I also welcome other fabulous side-effects of this diet, such asbeing able to stay at my desired weight effortlessly. For me, it’s just not worth it to eat the foods that make me feel bad. I love feeling good, and I sure as hell love feeling good in a bathing suit!
    Besides the ones previously listed, foods high in acidity, such as tomatoes and animal meat, can trigger a sensitivity-like effect. In addition, food additives, such as artificial colors, flavors, nitrates, and MSG can cause small reactions that you may not even be aware of. Take note of what makes you feel badly, log it in your “foods-that-make-me-feel-like-shit” book, and try eliminating it for awhile. See how you feel. Reintroduce it and notice if it has an effect on you. You can also get an allergy/sensitivity test done by a local naturopath.
    Chronic inflammation is scary. It means that your body is overreacting to something that is bothering it on a consistent basis. It should be a warning sign to you if any part of your body is always inflamed. For me, and many other digestive disorder sufferers, inflamed intestines are a very real deal. IBD, IBS, lactose intolerance, and diverticulitis, in particular, are