Is a hidden food allergy harming your bones?

Do you suffer from food allergies?  Knowing the answer is simple enough if you notice that you become congested or have headaches every time you eat dairy products.  The solution is simple too — avoiding the foods that cause immediate reactions to find symptom relief.

But did you know that 80% of all food reactions are delayed — making it difficult to know when you’re allergic or sensitive to what you eat? Hours — or even days — after enjoying a particular food, you might experience a reaction, which can be associated with a wide range of symptoms, including:

•    Fatigue
•    Arthritis and  joint pain
•    Asthma
•    Sinus issues
•    Irritable bowel
•    Autoimmune disease and poor nutrient absorption to fibromyalgia and systemic inflammation

These powerful, yet hidden, reactions turn our white blood cells into virtual Pac-Men looking for something to attack and spreading inflammatory chemicals throughout the body.

Inflammation and its effects on bone

Hidden allergies not only contribute to an array of health problems and increase systemic inflammation, but they also waste the immune system and end up producing serious “repair deficit.” Within bone the combo of tear-down inflammation from an over-active immune system and the ensuing long-term bone repair deficit contributes to skeletal fragility and sets the stage for needless fracture.

5 ways food allergies can damage bone

•    Cause inflammation capable of tearing down bone
•    Increase bone-damaging cortisol and metabolic acidity
•    Weaken immune-system-directed bone repair
•    Reduce digestion and assimilation of nutrients
•    Signal a nervous system that is jittery and worried

A self-help test for delayed allergies/hypersensitivities can be done by eliminating any and all foods you are suspicious of for four days, watching to see if symptoms change, and then reintroducing these foods. Often this simple elimination/challenge test yields symptom improvement. You can find out more about delayed allergy testing with the ELISA/ACT Test here.