Gluten Free is NOT the Answer!
We inherited some challenging genetics and found that we have serious food sensitivities. For example, soy products cause immobilizing migraine headaches, gluten causes rheumatoid arthritis like symptoms requiring the use of crutches to walk. Dairy causes the same problems if the animals are grain-fed. Gluten in another family member causes migraines and in another members, it causes acid reflux and tonsillitis.
We thought that excluding gluten from our diets would end our digestive distress, however there is more to adopting a gluten free diet than excluding wheat, rye, barley and oats. We learned that MANY psuedo-grains such as millet, amaranth and buckwheat, and also corn/maize and rice AND legumes contained certain proteins that the intestinal tract can't break down. We learned from medical journals, that grains even cause an opiate like effect that can become addictive in the same way that cocaine is addictive! People can feel hungry soon after eating, despite having eaten a large meal because of the addictive type of action from the wheat product in the meal.
Some members of our family have had to make the decision to become not just gluten free, but also grain free, soy free, nut free and dairy free - out of necessity. Not knowing what to eat was quite daunting and we had to learn a whole new way of eating and a whole new way of food preparation, but we did it through trail and error - but we survived and thrived.
We hope that if you are also faced with crippling reactions to food intolerances and sensitivities, our experiences and recipes might be of some assistance to you as they are to us.
To see a basic explanation of why just going gluten-free might not help some people, feel welcome to watch the video "The Gluten Free Lie" below or on Youtube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdjPP88t3vo
We thought that excluding gluten from our diets would end our digestive distress, however there is more to adopting a gluten free diet than excluding wheat, rye, barley and oats. We learned that MANY psuedo-grains such as millet, amaranth and buckwheat, and also corn/maize and rice AND legumes contained certain proteins that the intestinal tract can't break down. We learned from medical journals, that grains even cause an opiate like effect that can become addictive in the same way that cocaine is addictive! People can feel hungry soon after eating, despite having eaten a large meal because of the addictive type of action from the wheat product in the meal.
Some members of our family have had to make the decision to become not just gluten free, but also grain free, soy free, nut free and dairy free - out of necessity. Not knowing what to eat was quite daunting and we had to learn a whole new way of eating and a whole new way of food preparation, but we did it through trail and error - but we survived and thrived.
We hope that if you are also faced with crippling reactions to food intolerances and sensitivities, our experiences and recipes might be of some assistance to you as they are to us.
To see a basic explanation of why just going gluten-free might not help some people, feel welcome to watch the video "The Gluten Free Lie" below or on Youtube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdjPP88t3vo
What About Rice?
Food Intolerance
When our family experiences symptoms as a result of a bad reaction to something we’ve eaten, we use some helpful remedies.
Download the Word file by clicking on the button above.
Symptoms
CNS symptoms – dizzy, brain fog, irritability etc
Remedy We Use
Liver flush with carrot, beetroot and lemon juice – Drink up to 1 litre
Recipe: 12 carrots, 1 large beetroot, 1 large lemon
(Do not take this remedy if there are blood sugar or hemachromatosis/iron issues)
GI tract symptoms – diarrhea, gas, bloating, stomach pain, acid reflux
Remedy We Use
Intestinal Detox Formula#2 –
Drink 1 tsp in a glass of filtered water
Suspect Problem Chemical -
Additive/s from:
Sulfites - Canned foods (leeched from white lining of can), grapes, processed foods, fruit juices
Symptoms
Tight chest, shortness of breath, asthma
Remedy We Use
Epsom salts bath
Preventative
Wash fruit/veg in hydrogen peroxide before eating; avoid grapes & processed/canned foods
Suspect Problem Chemical
salicylates
SymptomsBreathing difficulties, Wheezing, Headaches, Ear infections, Changes in skin color, Nasal congestion, Itching, skin rash or hives, Swelling of the hands, feet, eyes and face; Stomach pain, Hyperactivity, Lethargy, Inability to concentrate, Mouth ulcers, or red rash around the mouth; Nasal polyps, Coughing, Rhinitis, Sinusitis, Cognitive and perceptual disorders.
Remedy We Use
Epsom salts bath
Preventative
Avoid high salicylate foods for a while
***
amines
Symptoms
Irritability, migraines, depression
Remedy We Use
Beetroot, carrot, lemon juice
(Do not take this remedy if there are blood sugar or hemachromatosis/iron issues)
Preventative
Avoid high amine foods for a while
***
glutamates
Symptoms
Headache, depression Irritability, migraine
Remedy We Use
Beetroot, carrot, lemon juice
(Do not take this remedy if there are blood sugar or hemachromatosis/iron issues)
Preventative
Avoid high glutamate foods for a while and MSG forever; avoid glutinous foods such as rice for a while
***
histamines
Symptoms
Itchy skin-rash, watery itchy eyes, blocked ears, other allergy type symptoms
Remedy We Use
Vit C 1 teaspoon of Sodium Acorbate powder, Vit B3 – take both forms:
100 mg nicotinamide (B3)
50 mg niacin (B3)
(Will result in flush/red rash)
Preventative
Avoid high histamine foods for a while
***
tannins
Symptoms
Headache, migraine
Remedy We Use
1. Drink up to 1 litre of beetroot, carrot, lemon juice to flush liver
(Do not take this remedy if there are blood sugar or hemachromatosis/iron issues)
Preventative
Avoid high tannins foods for a while
***
Cow milk products
Lactose, Casein
GI Symptoms
1. Lactose intolerance- GI symptoms: Tummy pain, gas, bloating, diarrhea, cramping
2. Casein problems
CNS Symptoms:
Dizzy, headache, brain fog, fatigue
Remedy We Use
(Do not take this remedy if there are blood sugar or hemachromatosis/iron issues)
1. Avoid all cow milk products and try rice or nut milk products instead
2. Avoid casein in all dairy products
Symptoms - Overview and Other Information
CNS symptoms – dizzy, brain fog, irritability etc
Remedy We Use
Liver flush with carrot, beetroot and lemon juice – Drink up to 1 litre (Do not take this remedy if there are blood sugar or hemachromatosis/iron issues)
GI tract symptoms – diarrhea, gas, bloating
Intestinal Detox Formula#2 –
Drink 1 tsp in a glass of filtered water
If troubled by food intolerance symptoms – stomach pain, gas, bloating – Intestinal Detox Formula#2
In our experience and from our research of medical literature, it seems that food intolerance and additives to food can play a really big part in causing asthma, sinusitis, migraines and other things that people in our family suffer from.
I contacted Dr Anne Swaine at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney who specialises in food intolerances and allergies. Dr Swaine wrote a book on her experiments with food intolerances, which I purchased. http://www.sswahs.nsw.gov.au/rpa/allergy/research/students/1988/anne.cfm
Dr Swaine talks about natural chemicals in food causing some people trouble. These chemicals are called salicylates, amines, glutamates, histamines and tannins and they occur naturally in foods. The hospital created a special elimination diet to find out what food is causing problems for each person. http://www.sswahs.nsw.gov.au/rpa/allergy/resources/foodintol/handbook.cfm
It is amazing that simple food can cause such horrible symptoms. There are a whole lot of articles they have written about this here http://www.sswahs.nsw.gov.au/rpa/allergy/research/pubs.cfm
Sue Dengate is an Australian lady who has done a lot of study into food intolerances with the Royal Prince Albert Hospital. She has produced a DVD on food intolerances and she gives a lot of information about asthma and allergies and how the chemicals in food trigger these conditions. Anne lists the Australian products that are free from salicylates, amines and glutamates and sulfites. Her website is http://fedup.com.au/. Sue Dengate's website that said that soaking or even spraying yourself in Epsom Salts (Mg2SO4) gives the liver the proper sulphur it needs to detoxify sulfites.
Salicylates and amines and other food chemicals can build up in your body until a certain level is reached. So you might be able to eat a lot of salicylate-rich foods one day with no symptoms, but the next day when you try to eat the same foods, you can get symptoms as your levels are too high now. This is why it is so hard to find out what food chemicals are actually causing our bodies to react to foods. Apparently the liver is unable to digest or break down the food chemicals fast enough. Apparently you can help break down glutamates by eating food high in glycine which is another amino acid that the body changes to glutathionine and makes energy. Migraines can be caused by glutamates but food chemicals can cause other problems too.
Salicylates - Chemicals in Fruit and other Food
Salicylates can cause a lot of problems because they give you symptoms but only when they build up past your tolerance level. So one day, you can eat a tomato and it's okay, but the next day if you eat another tomato your liver can't cope with the salicylates which have built up in your body from the day before and now you might become breathless or get asthma. Knowing this fact helped us a lot.
Chris Kuykendall put together this helpful list of symptoms that salicylates might cause in people who are sensitive to them. This list comes from http://pecanbread.com/new/sal.html .
Symptoms of the salicylate sensitivity may include:
Breathing difficulties
Wheezing
Headaches
Ear infections
Changes in skin color
Nasal congestion
Itching, skin rash or hives
Swelling of the hands, feet, eyes and face
Stomach pain
Hyperactivity
Lethargy
Inability to concentrate
Mouth ulcers, or red rash around the mouth
Nasal polyps
Coughing
Rhinitis
Sinusitis
Cognitive and perceptual disorders”
Chris Kuykendall also says that "Some other things that I have found help with salicylate tolerance are Epsom salt baths and magnesium sulfate cream. I get our cream from http://www.ourkidsasd.com. The sulfate helps the salicylate pathways in the body. Since most phenolic compounds lie close to the peel, peeling or doubling peeling fruits and vegetables can help reduce these compounds. (Peel first and then peel again removing the outermost layer of fruit flesh). Vitamin K can also aid the salicylate pathways. We tried synthetic vitamin K2 and could not tolerate it. We instead use butter oil (casein free) that contains natural vitamin K, also called X-factor, (because the cows consume green grass). This really helps our salicylate issues as well. We get ours here: http://www.greenpasture.org/products/butter-oil/1000 "
One of the children in our family had a problem with salicylates and his cheeks were always an unhealthy rosy colour and many of these symptoms are familiar to us. We found that when we removed the cow’s milk products from his diet and the gluten, his problem with salicylates disappeared.
Rick Williams - No Sulfites http://www.learningtarget.com/nosulfites/
Rick Williams is an engineer who is super sensitive/reactive to sulfites. He has put a lot of his experiences and information on sulfites on his website: http://www.learningtarget.com/nosulfites/
Sulfite is a preservative that is added to food to make it look fresh, but there are also natural sulfites in some foods such as grapes. Rick Williams' website is really helpful because in our family, some of us react to sulfites with asthma within minutes while others get migraines. Tinned food set off our symptoms and we found the reason for that is not the food in the can, but that some cans are lined with a white lining that leeches sulfites into the food. Typical reactions after eating food from these white lined cans are a tight chest, irritability and shortness of breath.
We know that sometimes sulfites are sprayed onto raw fruit and vegies so that they remain ‘fresh’ looking. This is dangerous for people who are sensitive to sulfites. We can’t see it or smell it so we don't know if it's on our food or not, so we don’t have the option to eat out often. Rick Williams believes that the sulfites can be washed off fruit and veggies using hydrogen peroxide (H2O2).
We have had some limited success trying to wash sulfites (and other chemical sprays) off fruit and veggies. It seems to be very effective at removing the chemicals from thick skinned food like mangoes, but not with thin skinned fruit like figs. Perhaps the sulfites/chemicals penetrate through the thin skin in some fruit and become systemic, so washing the fruit outside doesn't remove the chemicals that have been absorbed through the skin/rind into the fruit.
If we unavoidably ingest sulfites, we spray ourselves with a liquid solution of water and Magnesium Sulphate (Espoms Salts). Apparently the Epsom Salts supply the proper form of Sulfur which somehow seems to expel the injurious type of sulfites. We can also soak in a bath for a faster reaction as it penetrates through the skin all over us.
DISCLAIMER
Information on this site and in this article is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent disease.
A decision to use/not use this information is the sole responsibility of the reader.
Please see your doctor or health care professional for medical evaluation.
When our family experiences symptoms as a result of a bad reaction to something we’ve eaten, we use some helpful remedies.
Download the Word file by clicking on the button above.
Symptoms
CNS symptoms – dizzy, brain fog, irritability etc
Remedy We Use
Liver flush with carrot, beetroot and lemon juice – Drink up to 1 litre
Recipe: 12 carrots, 1 large beetroot, 1 large lemon
(Do not take this remedy if there are blood sugar or hemachromatosis/iron issues)
GI tract symptoms – diarrhea, gas, bloating, stomach pain, acid reflux
Remedy We Use
Intestinal Detox Formula#2 –
Drink 1 tsp in a glass of filtered water
Suspect Problem Chemical -
Additive/s from:
Sulfites - Canned foods (leeched from white lining of can), grapes, processed foods, fruit juices
Symptoms
Tight chest, shortness of breath, asthma
Remedy We Use
Epsom salts bath
Preventative
Wash fruit/veg in hydrogen peroxide before eating; avoid grapes & processed/canned foods
Suspect Problem Chemical
salicylates
SymptomsBreathing difficulties, Wheezing, Headaches, Ear infections, Changes in skin color, Nasal congestion, Itching, skin rash or hives, Swelling of the hands, feet, eyes and face; Stomach pain, Hyperactivity, Lethargy, Inability to concentrate, Mouth ulcers, or red rash around the mouth; Nasal polyps, Coughing, Rhinitis, Sinusitis, Cognitive and perceptual disorders.
Remedy We Use
Epsom salts bath
Preventative
Avoid high salicylate foods for a while
***
amines
Symptoms
Irritability, migraines, depression
Remedy We Use
Beetroot, carrot, lemon juice
(Do not take this remedy if there are blood sugar or hemachromatosis/iron issues)
Preventative
Avoid high amine foods for a while
***
glutamates
Symptoms
Headache, depression Irritability, migraine
Remedy We Use
Beetroot, carrot, lemon juice
(Do not take this remedy if there are blood sugar or hemachromatosis/iron issues)
Preventative
Avoid high glutamate foods for a while and MSG forever; avoid glutinous foods such as rice for a while
***
histamines
Symptoms
Itchy skin-rash, watery itchy eyes, blocked ears, other allergy type symptoms
Remedy We Use
Vit C 1 teaspoon of Sodium Acorbate powder, Vit B3 – take both forms:
100 mg nicotinamide (B3)
50 mg niacin (B3)
(Will result in flush/red rash)
Preventative
Avoid high histamine foods for a while
***
tannins
Symptoms
Headache, migraine
Remedy We Use
1. Drink up to 1 litre of beetroot, carrot, lemon juice to flush liver
(Do not take this remedy if there are blood sugar or hemachromatosis/iron issues)
Preventative
Avoid high tannins foods for a while
***
Cow milk products
Lactose, Casein
GI Symptoms
1. Lactose intolerance- GI symptoms: Tummy pain, gas, bloating, diarrhea, cramping
2. Casein problems
CNS Symptoms:
Dizzy, headache, brain fog, fatigue
Remedy We Use
- Drink - 1 tsp x Intestinal Detox Formula#2 in 1 cup water.
- Drink up to 1 litre of beetroot, carrot, lemon juice to flush liver
(Do not take this remedy if there are blood sugar or hemachromatosis/iron issues)
1. Avoid all cow milk products and try rice or nut milk products instead
2. Avoid casein in all dairy products
Symptoms - Overview and Other Information
CNS symptoms – dizzy, brain fog, irritability etc
Remedy We Use
Liver flush with carrot, beetroot and lemon juice – Drink up to 1 litre (Do not take this remedy if there are blood sugar or hemachromatosis/iron issues)
GI tract symptoms – diarrhea, gas, bloating
Intestinal Detox Formula#2 –
Drink 1 tsp in a glass of filtered water
If troubled by food intolerance symptoms – stomach pain, gas, bloating – Intestinal Detox Formula#2
In our experience and from our research of medical literature, it seems that food intolerance and additives to food can play a really big part in causing asthma, sinusitis, migraines and other things that people in our family suffer from.
I contacted Dr Anne Swaine at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney who specialises in food intolerances and allergies. Dr Swaine wrote a book on her experiments with food intolerances, which I purchased. http://www.sswahs.nsw.gov.au/rpa/allergy/research/students/1988/anne.cfm
Dr Swaine talks about natural chemicals in food causing some people trouble. These chemicals are called salicylates, amines, glutamates, histamines and tannins and they occur naturally in foods. The hospital created a special elimination diet to find out what food is causing problems for each person. http://www.sswahs.nsw.gov.au/rpa/allergy/resources/foodintol/handbook.cfm
It is amazing that simple food can cause such horrible symptoms. There are a whole lot of articles they have written about this here http://www.sswahs.nsw.gov.au/rpa/allergy/research/pubs.cfm
Sue Dengate is an Australian lady who has done a lot of study into food intolerances with the Royal Prince Albert Hospital. She has produced a DVD on food intolerances and she gives a lot of information about asthma and allergies and how the chemicals in food trigger these conditions. Anne lists the Australian products that are free from salicylates, amines and glutamates and sulfites. Her website is http://fedup.com.au/. Sue Dengate's website that said that soaking or even spraying yourself in Epsom Salts (Mg2SO4) gives the liver the proper sulphur it needs to detoxify sulfites.
Salicylates and amines and other food chemicals can build up in your body until a certain level is reached. So you might be able to eat a lot of salicylate-rich foods one day with no symptoms, but the next day when you try to eat the same foods, you can get symptoms as your levels are too high now. This is why it is so hard to find out what food chemicals are actually causing our bodies to react to foods. Apparently the liver is unable to digest or break down the food chemicals fast enough. Apparently you can help break down glutamates by eating food high in glycine which is another amino acid that the body changes to glutathionine and makes energy. Migraines can be caused by glutamates but food chemicals can cause other problems too.
Salicylates - Chemicals in Fruit and other Food
Salicylates can cause a lot of problems because they give you symptoms but only when they build up past your tolerance level. So one day, you can eat a tomato and it's okay, but the next day if you eat another tomato your liver can't cope with the salicylates which have built up in your body from the day before and now you might become breathless or get asthma. Knowing this fact helped us a lot.
Chris Kuykendall put together this helpful list of symptoms that salicylates might cause in people who are sensitive to them. This list comes from http://pecanbread.com/new/sal.html .
Symptoms of the salicylate sensitivity may include:
Breathing difficulties
Wheezing
Headaches
Ear infections
Changes in skin color
Nasal congestion
Itching, skin rash or hives
Swelling of the hands, feet, eyes and face
Stomach pain
Hyperactivity
Lethargy
Inability to concentrate
Mouth ulcers, or red rash around the mouth
Nasal polyps
Coughing
Rhinitis
Sinusitis
Cognitive and perceptual disorders”
Chris Kuykendall also says that "Some other things that I have found help with salicylate tolerance are Epsom salt baths and magnesium sulfate cream. I get our cream from http://www.ourkidsasd.com. The sulfate helps the salicylate pathways in the body. Since most phenolic compounds lie close to the peel, peeling or doubling peeling fruits and vegetables can help reduce these compounds. (Peel first and then peel again removing the outermost layer of fruit flesh). Vitamin K can also aid the salicylate pathways. We tried synthetic vitamin K2 and could not tolerate it. We instead use butter oil (casein free) that contains natural vitamin K, also called X-factor, (because the cows consume green grass). This really helps our salicylate issues as well. We get ours here: http://www.greenpasture.org/products/butter-oil/1000 "
One of the children in our family had a problem with salicylates and his cheeks were always an unhealthy rosy colour and many of these symptoms are familiar to us. We found that when we removed the cow’s milk products from his diet and the gluten, his problem with salicylates disappeared.
Rick Williams - No Sulfites http://www.learningtarget.com/nosulfites/
Rick Williams is an engineer who is super sensitive/reactive to sulfites. He has put a lot of his experiences and information on sulfites on his website: http://www.learningtarget.com/nosulfites/
Sulfite is a preservative that is added to food to make it look fresh, but there are also natural sulfites in some foods such as grapes. Rick Williams' website is really helpful because in our family, some of us react to sulfites with asthma within minutes while others get migraines. Tinned food set off our symptoms and we found the reason for that is not the food in the can, but that some cans are lined with a white lining that leeches sulfites into the food. Typical reactions after eating food from these white lined cans are a tight chest, irritability and shortness of breath.
We know that sometimes sulfites are sprayed onto raw fruit and vegies so that they remain ‘fresh’ looking. This is dangerous for people who are sensitive to sulfites. We can’t see it or smell it so we don't know if it's on our food or not, so we don’t have the option to eat out often. Rick Williams believes that the sulfites can be washed off fruit and veggies using hydrogen peroxide (H2O2).
We have had some limited success trying to wash sulfites (and other chemical sprays) off fruit and veggies. It seems to be very effective at removing the chemicals from thick skinned food like mangoes, but not with thin skinned fruit like figs. Perhaps the sulfites/chemicals penetrate through the thin skin in some fruit and become systemic, so washing the fruit outside doesn't remove the chemicals that have been absorbed through the skin/rind into the fruit.
If we unavoidably ingest sulfites, we spray ourselves with a liquid solution of water and Magnesium Sulphate (Espoms Salts). Apparently the Epsom Salts supply the proper form of Sulfur which somehow seems to expel the injurious type of sulfites. We can also soak in a bath for a faster reaction as it penetrates through the skin all over us.
DISCLAIMER
Information on this site and in this article is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent disease.
A decision to use/not use this information is the sole responsibility of the reader.
Please see your doctor or health care professional for medical evaluation.