The
choices you make about the foods you eat may be doing far more than adding a
few pounds to your hips each year. From irritated bowels and mild allergic
reactions to constant exhaustion and lack of sleep, your food choices may be
affecting your health in a variety of ways. In some cases, the cause may be
simple vitamin deficiencies, and in others, allergies. Either way, adjusting
your diet in the right way can do wonders for your well-being.
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Studies
show that eating more blueberries,
ensuring you never skip breakfast, eating more oily fish, and drinking the
occasional cup of coffee, all offer benefits to your cognitive functions.
Studies also suggest that moderate consumption of alcohol can reduce your risk
of developing dementia.
Fire up your immune system
The
same goes with fats, some of which are essential to produce the compounds that
help to regulate the immune system. While saturated fats from animal products
can reduce the ability of white blood cells to tackle bacteria, healthy fats
such as olive oil will actually boost your immune system.
Banish back pain
Another
factor, often linked to a high consumption of sugar, is excess weight. The
extra pressure placed on the spine can be a significant contributing factor to
a host of problems. Losing as little as 15 per cent of excess weight, along
with making the necessary changes in diet, can help to alleviate many of the
issues and may even cancel out the need for surgery in the most severe cases.
Beat bowel issues
Sufferers
of irritable bowel syndrome may experience a range of symptoms including cramps
and severe abdominal pain. Certain foods may help but everyone is different so
what works for one person might not necessarily work for another, in which case
you can also try dietary supplements aimed at reducing the symptoms. You can
learn more about them here.
If
your IBS is being triggered by certain foods, you can try to identify them by
following an elimination diet. Four of the most common culprits are chocolate,
nuts, coffee, and foods containing insoluble fiber, but it's best to eliminate
any food you suspect of being problematic from your diet. Cut out one of the
foods completely with no exceptions for a period of 12 weeks at a time. Keep a
note of your symptoms during this time to see if there is any change, and over
the period of a few months you should be able to remove many of the key foods
linked to your condition.
Tackle histamine intolerance
Do
you sometimes get headaches for no reason? Or suffer from anxiety attacks? Does your face turn bright red when you drink red wine, or does your tongue
itch and nose run when you eat avocados or bananas? If the answer is yes, you
could be suffering from a histamine intolerance.
Increasing
your consumption of onions, which contain a natural antihistamine called
quercetin, can improve your tolerance. Pomegranates can help to ease the
symptoms of allergies and have an anti-inflammatory action, while olive oil is a
great source of oleic acid, which can boost your level of diamine oxidase, the main enzyme in the gut responsible to breaking
down histamine. If you suffer from an intolerance to histamine, it's likely
your levels of diamine oxidase are low. As well as watching what you eat, you
should also keep a close eye on your stress levels. The more stressed you are, the
more histamine your cells will release into your system, potentially
eliminating any reductions you have made by changing your diet.
If
you do find that you have a specific food allergy, you’ll need to adopt a
series of strategies to ensure you don’t accidentally consume any of the
offending items in the future. The first step is to get into the habit of reading the labels for every food product you purchase. You should do this even if you
have bought the same item in the past on numerous occasions, as manufacturers
will occasionally change the formulation of their products and may include
something that triggers your allergic reaction.
Depending
on the severity of the allergic reaction, you’ll need to be careful when
cooking at home in order to avoid cross-contamination. In the most extreme
cases, the person with the allergy should have their own set of utensils.
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