By Robert Gilliland, B.S., D.C.
If you have already tried all the drugs and natural remedies but you still have chronic pain or headaches, you may have a hidden food allergy. I see it everyday. Most of my patients are exasperated when they come to see me. They are desperate for answers. When I tell them we need to test for hidden food allergies they look at me like I’m crazy. They say things like “Doc, I have a cast iron stomach, I can eat anything, nothing bothers me.” Or, “I have been eating the same foods my whole life, that can’t be it.” What I have found is hidden food allergies are usually the underlying cause of my patient’s fibromyalgia, chronic pain and headaches.
Hidden Food Allergies Linked to Auto-immune Conditions
Hidden food allergies are responsible for most autoimmune conditions (there are over 100). Autoimmune conditions are the third leading cause of death and morbidity in the United States, right behind heart disease and cancer, and it’s on the rise. If you don’t listen to the warning signs (symptoms), your pain could turn into something much more serious later on.
Genetics and Environment Play a Role
To understand how this happened you have to go back … way back, before conception. That’s right, before you even came into this world. You are the product of your mother and father’s genetic material. You get half your genes from each parent. After conception, the father is basically out of the picture. Your mother, on the other hand, is still heavily in the picture. After all, for the next 9 months your mother’s body is making you from her own body. So, if your mother was in adrenal stress during pregnancy, so were you. If she is exposed to environmental chemicals, guess what, so were you. A recent study showed that there were, on average, 200 chemicals in the umbilical cord blood of newborn babies.
For the first 6 months, you rely on your mother’s immune system to protect you. After that, you are on your own. So, at 6 months, your immune system has to figure out what is ‘self’ and what is ‘non-self,’ any mistakes and you may develop an allergy. If this happened, you may have had symptoms…. colic, asthma, chronic ear infections, chronic upper respiratory infections, eczema, etc., but then, low and behold, after a few years you ‘outgrew’ it. But did you really outgrow it? Or did your immune system just get worn out? That’s the $64,000 question.
How Things Play Out
Typically, this is how things play out. You go through your 20’s or even your 30’s without anything major (Some don’t make it that long, these are the people who get MS, type 1 diabetes, irritable bowel disease, etc.). Then, maybe you start getting headaches. You start using over-the-counter pain relievers or, if that doesn’t work, you go to the doctor. Either way, you cover up your symptoms with medication that does nothing for the underlying problem. A year later, you are eating at an Italian restaurant and get heartburn … only the heartburn doesn’t go away. You go to your doctor who gives you aciphex, nexium, or prilosec to cover up your symptoms. Again, it does nothing to address the underlying cause. Another year passes and you start to get multiple symptoms, you fatigue easily, you can’t lose weight, you start losing your hair, you can’t stay warm, you can’t think clearly, you get depressed, etc.
Now you start to realize you have a problem. You don’t want a pill for everything that’s wrong with you. You know you have to do something because you are going down hill fast. Maybe you started eating healthier, taking vitamins and supplements instead of drugs but nothing is helping. Now what?
The Proper Tests Can Determine What’s Really Going On
It’s time to get the proper tests to find out what’s really going on. It’s time to realize that you may have something that isn’t going to show up on standard blood tests. I recommend testing for hidden food allergies and/or autoimmune conditions. After all, autoimmune conditions are the 3rd leading cause of death and morbidity in the United States. Ask yourself, how sure are you that it’s not responsible for your declining health?
Don’t Suffer Any Longer – Get Tested Today!
I spent 25 years suffering with chronic pain and fatigue because I didn’t know about these tests. That is why I always mention hidden food allergies and autoimmune conditions in every article I write. I don’t want anyone to suffer like I did…. get tested today.
To learn more or to schedule an appointment for a checkup, please call
Southwest Natural Healing Center at 239-444-3106,
or visit us online at www.swfthyroid.com.