5 Tips to Safely Celebrate When You Have Food Allergies

Gathering with family is an important part of the holidays for most of us. If you suffer from food allergies or eat a restricted diet due to a health conditions, it can be especially tricky to navigate. I'm putting together a short list of tips and tricks to get through it safely and make sure you still have a wonderful family get-together!

Here's my top tips for celebrating with family if you have some dietary restrictions.

1. Talk to the host prior to the event - Ask ahead of time what is on the menu and if the host would like you to bring something. If possible you might ask them to prepare the main course in a way that fits your dietary needs. You should also figure out if there will be enough dishes that you can eat to fill you or if you will need to bring your own food. By all means, do offer to bring a dish or two that you know you can eat and then share the love with everyone! I'm always tickled if family raves over my grain-free paleo-style dishes.
2. Know what it's swimming in - I've found that most of the common food allergens come in the sauces, dressings or marinades. These culprits frequently contain gluten, dairy, egg, soy, or sugar. You may ask the host to hold aside a portion of undressed salad or fix your piece of chicken or fish with no marinade or sauce. I usually ask for olive oil, salt and garlic ...It's delicious every time and I know I'm not getting any hidden gluten or dairy in the sauce.
3. Send a package ahead of you - if you're traveling to an area where there is no Whole Foods or natural grocery nearby to accessorize your diet, you can often ship ahead a small box of essentials. You can either pack them yourself or you can use a service, like Amazon or Vitacost and have them ship the necessary items. I frequently do this with non-perishables, like coconut milk, sunflower nut butter, chia seed, and high quality coconut or olive oils. Plus you can leave any of the gourmet leftover items with your host to enjoy! Better yet, order enough to get free shipping and include a hostess gift of some special gourmet food item that he/she cannot purchase locally. Organic dark chocolate or specialty cooking oils are a wonderful gift idea!
4. Don't go hungry - When we are hungry our brains may bypass the filter of what we know to be a better choice. We'll often we end up eating too much and pick foods that we'd normally avoid. This is why I vow never take my husband grocery shopping on an empty stomach... you just never know what will make it's way into your shopping cart! ;-) Eat a small protein snack prior to heading out, like nuts/seeds, guacamole or jerky. If you know there will not be any safe options, it's ok to eat your entire meal before you go and just enjoy the company and not the food.
5. BYOBF (Bring your own back-up food) - whether traveling by plane or car or just driving across town for a holiday get-together, you can never go wrong by having a few nonperishable snacks or options with you. You never know when you'll get stranded in the car or in the airport for longer than expected. I carry things like packets of sunflower nut butter, coconut butter and shredded coconut, a piece of fruit, dried organic beef or bison jerky, Alter Eco 85% dark chocolate bar, and/or packets or tins of wild salmon or sardines. I can't tell you how many times I've been stranded somewhere longer than anticipated and hungry and so thankful for my little stash! As the true saying goes, "Fail to plan and plan to fail..."

Wishing you a most delightful and delicious holiday season making many memories with your loved ones!

How to Heal a Leaky Gut, Part II

Did you miss my first Leaky Gut Article?! Read more here

So now you may be wondering if you have leaky gut...

Food allergies, toxins, sugar, antibiotics, parasites and stress can wreak havoc with your gastrointestinal system, upsetting the balance in your intestine as well as allowing harmful substances to enter the system. Gas, bloating, diarrhea, constipation or abdominal discomfort may be the first clue that something is wrong with the digestive tract, but did you know allergies
or even lack of energy and fatigue can often be traced to digestive problems as well?

Normally the gastrointestinal epithelium provides a semi-permeable barrier with allows nutrients to be absorbed while preventing larger molecules from crossing into the bloodstream. When this lining becomes inflamed or damaged, then the barrier becomes "leaky". The fallout results in larger, undigested food molecules and other “bad stuff” (yeast, toxins, and all other forms of waste) that your body normally doesn’t allow through, to flow freely into your bloodstream.

Causes of increased intestinal hyperpermeability or "leaky gut":

• Medications (NSAIDS) like ibuprofen and motrin
• Microbial overgrowth or infection
• Parasite infections
• Fungal overgrowth (Candida)
• Ingestion of allergenic foods
• Maldigestion/malabsorption (pancreatic insufficieny or low HCl)
• Radiation therapy or chemotherapy
• Stress
• Aging
• IgA deficiency
• Chronic alcohol intake
• Excessive or strenuous exercise
• Inflammatory bowel disease - Crohn's or Ulcerative colitis

The small and large intestines contains numerous dietary and bacterial products with toxic properties. These include bacteria, bacterial cell wall (LPS), peptides, and bacterial antigens capable of inducing antibodies which may cross-react with human tissues.... when these antibodies react, they may form systemic immune complexes which can circulate and deposit in tissues far away from the gut.

Abnormalities of the gut lining barrier lead to increased uptake of inflammatory molecules and pathogenic bacteria. With inflammation & injury to the gut lininng, mucosal absorption of normally-excluded substances increases dramatically. Intestinal inflammation enhances the uptake and distribution of potentially injurious bacteria and proteins .

Leaky Gut is seen in disorders such as:

• Inflammatory bowel disease (Crohn's & Colitis)
• Inflammatory joint disease
• Food allergy
• Celiac disease
• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Ankylosing spondylitis
• Reiter’s syndrome
• Eczema & psoriasis
• Bipolar, depression and schizophrenia
• Allergies and asthma
• Autoimmune thyroiditis
• Multiple sclerosis
• Autoimmune liver & gallbladder disease

So how do we test for "Leaky Gut"?

Small molecules (glucose or mannitol) readily penetrate cells and passively diffuse through them. Larger molecules such as lactulose are normally are normally not able to diffuse through the cell. If the tight junctions between the cells are functioning properly, they will prevent the lactulose from leaking through. The Intestinal Permeability Test directly measures the ability these two sugar molecules—mannitol and lactulose—to permeate the intestinal mucosa.

Mannitol is readily absorbed and serves as a marker of transcellular uptake. Lactulose is only slightly absorbed and serves as a marker for mucosal integrity (ability of those "tight junctions" to keep out the bad stuff) The test is a 6 hour urine test that compares ratios of the two substances.

For more info:

Genova Diagnostics Intestinal Permeability Assessment
You will need to contact your functional medicine physician in order to order the test.
Now for some treatment options for this leaky gut!

Nutritional Support

1. Glutamine, an amino acid, has been shown to reverse intestinal mucosal damage from various insults. Glutamine is the principle fuel used by the upper intestinal tract to repair and heal.
2. Agents that stimulate protective mucus secretion may also help with the healing. Some common ones I use are marshmallow root extract and deglycyrrhizinated licorice (DGL) extract.
3. Probiotics are essential! Lactobacillus casei, bifidobacter species, and saccromyces boulardii, a beneficial type of yeast are all important to restore gut health.
4. Fish oil can be very helpful in the treatment of intestinal inflammation by decreasing inflammatory prostaglandins. EPA and DHA should be used in the range of 2-4gm daily
5. Quercetin functions as a natural mast cell stabilizer and decrease release of histmine which contributes to inflammation & injury. To be effective, quercetin should be used in powder form and taken 3-6gm daily.
6. Vitamins A and D are critical to supporting secretory IgA function and restoring the mucosal immune system. Ask your doctor for specific doses...

To Decrease Toxic Load:

• Eliminate all known foods that you are sensitive to. This can be determined through a comprehensive elimination diet or IgG/IgE food tests on the blood.
• Avoid alcohol, NSAIDS (ibuprofen, motrin, alleve), and minimize other medications.
• Bentonite clay is a well-known intestinal adsorbent which absorbs numerous toxins, endotoxins and bacteria. Its value in permeability alterations may result from lowering the toxin load in the lumen, thus facilitating repair. I also frequently recommend Upgraded charcoal tabs for the same purpose.
• HCI and digestive enzymes such as plant enzymes, pepsin and pancreatin might help to lessen the antigenic load or toxic molecules being presented on the intestinal lining.

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Constipation Trouble? Here's 5 Tips to Get You Going...

Photo courtesy of www.freedigitalphotos.net

Here's 5 Simple Tips to Keep You Going...

Constipation is one of those topics few like to talk about. If you've suffered from this problem, though, you know it can be both painful and frustrating.

Almost everyone gets constipated at some time during his or her life. It affects approximately 2% of the population.  Women and the elderly are more commonly affected.

You are considered constipated if you have two or more of the following for at least 3 months:

• Straining during a bowel movement more than one-quarter of the time
• Hard stools more than one-quarter of the time
• Incomplete evacuation more than one-quarter of the time
• Averaging less than one normal formed, but soft stool daily

Common causes of constipation include:

• Inadequate water intake
• Inadequate fiber in the diet
• Disruption of regular diet or routine
• Traveling
• Inadequate exercise or immobility
• Eating large amounts of dairy products
• Stress
• Resisting the urge to have a bowel movement too frequently
• Overuse of laxatives (stool softeners) 
• Low thyroid hormone
• Neurological conditions, like Parkinson's disease or multiple sclerosis
• Too much calcium in supplements or antacids
• Certain medications, anti-depressants, pain killers, and iron supplements
• Depression
• Eating disorders
• Irritable bowel syndrome
• Pregnancy
• Colon Cancer

If you simply treat the causes and the symptoms go away!

Here are five simple natural suggestions to "keep you going":

1. Probiotics - When the wrong bacteria or yeast gain control of the bowels, they slow things down to ferment foods just how they like them. A good quality probiotic like, lactobaccilus or bifidobacter can help change that. You'll want to take a dairy-free brand with at least 25 billion cfu's per capsule daily
2. Dehydration - Without enough fluids to move things through the intestinal tract, the feces becomes hard and your digestion slows way down. Drinking a large glass of water upon waking improves bowel movements in most cases. Drinking a large glass of water few hours of the day can also alleviate IBS symptoms.
3. Fiber - For both constipation and IBS, dietary fiber is the first line of intervention for symptom relief. I usually recommend patients add 2 TBSP of ground flax seed or chia to their breakfast or smoothie.  Another way is to use psyllium caps or powder. 
4. Vitamin C - One symptom of vitamin C deficiency is constipation. Taking vitamin C in amounts just below bowel tolerance (gas, bloating or diarrhea) can definitely improve bowel movements and regularity. Start slow with 3000 mg spread throughout the day and every 2-3 days add another 1,000 mg to the regimen. When you reach bowel tolerance and stools loosen up, back off a little and maintain the dose that works for you
5. Magnesium - if patients I see are complaining of difficulty with constipation, the first thing I usually recommend is adding magnesium citrate at bedtime.  Many patients sleep better, have less muscle pain and bowel function dramatically improves with a little magnesium.  Doses typically range from 300-600mg but may go upwards of 1000mg daily.  

Still no relief?!  If the five suggestions above don't relieve your constipation, then you might have food sensitivities...  A common symptom of food sensitivity is constipation. Studies show that milk can cause constipation and a more recent study also implicates gluten. Constipation is more likely to occur in children fed gluten at at less than six months of age with a 35% increased risk of constipation.  You might try doing a three week elimination diet avoiding the common culprits:  gluten, dairy, sugar, and soy. 

If you have slow moving bowels, bowel pain or both, find the cause and fix it! Treating the symptoms only hides the causes, allowing your problems to grow into bigger problems.