So, a few months ago I decided to take the step to get personalized vitamins made especially for me through blood work and urinalysis. In the past I have taken Hammer products and the generic vitamins that you find at your local whole foods or GNC. Well, I was getting tired of taking all these vitamins and not knowing whether or not I really needed all that stuff and if I was getting the vitamins I really needed in the right amounts. So I decided to go through a company called Ideal Health and get my home blood work checked and some other testing done ( which you do yourself and then fed ex it to there laboratories). I take their daily vitamins now and was waiting for a few more test results to come back. My gastrointestinal testing came back fine( much to my surprise) and then my allergy testing came back, here is what it said......
The increase in food allergies and sensitivities has been linked to a lot of things but mostly to repeated exposure to a number of the same foods ( often hidden in processed and packaged commercial products), and the increased adulteration of our food and water supply. Under the impact of these influences, the lining of the intestinal wall can become permeable, allowing larger food particles to enter the system. These particles are mistaken for foreign invaders, initiating an immune response. Repeated exposure to the " antigen" ( daily eating of the food) can give rise to a host of issues ( i.e., asthma, ear infections coughing, chronic diarrhea, constipation celiac disease, malabsorption, infections, rashes, exczema, depression, fatigue, headaches, etc.....)
So the test I took ( the AllerTest) detects reactions to the top 10 most commonly reactive foods that are eaten by virtually everyone everyday.
The results looked at beef, corn, egg, milk, mustard, peanut, bakers yeast, soy, tuna and wheat. They scored the results from negative to +3 ( severe).
What the test indicated for me was: negative beef, negative corn, +3 severe egg, +3 severe milk, +1 mild mustard, borderline peanut, negative bakers yeast, +2 moderate soy, negative tuna and negative wheat.
Are you serious, that is basically everything I eat and everything I train with, whey protein shakes, egg white omeletes, most of my nutrition bars have soy in them and some dairy except for my lara bars and I'm not riding 6hrs on them. I am totally screwed, and in a quandry. My gastrointestinal system has never been great since I;ve been little and I'm wondering whether or not this has something to do with it, I don't have blatant IgE reactions where once I eat something I have hives or I immediately need to go to the bathroom but the IgG reactions can occur that day or several days later, so I'm wondering if this is the case. The only thing you can do is eliminate the products for 4-8 weeks ( any foods that are 1+ or above) and after four weeks, you may reintroduce one at a time, obviously keeping a food journal and noting any reactions or symptoms that occur during the 72 hours following ingestion of the food. If no reactions occur after 72 hrs you can add the food back into your diet, but eat it only every 4 days. If reactions do occur, continue to eliminate the food from your diet and try to re-introduce it again in 2-4 weeks.
My question is, is it worth it? Should I go ahead and eliminate all these foods they suggest? That doesn't leave me with a ton of options. It wouldn't be a big deal if it was one thing but I have 5 major groups to eliminate. I am pondering this and also wondering if these allergies might be playing into my performance and training as an athlete. I guess I need to go see a nutritionist who understands these allergies and also understands endurance training and the nutrition and needs of what I do. I guess I will keep you posted. Ugggggg.
