That’s me. Those are cupcakes. Exquisitine cupcakes from the SeaBird’s Food Truck in San Diego, CA. “Be careful crazy-man”, I tell myself, “Be very careful!!”.
I’ve tried virtually every allergy drug possible – by prescription and over-the- counter -- including Allegra, Allegra D, Claritin, Claritin D, Benadryl, Sudafed, Cetirizine, Loratadine, Zyrtek, Alavert, Boiron, and Tavist. I’ve tried home and homeopathic remedies including vinegar, water with baking soda (yuck), and pure alkaline water (from an ionizer). I’ve tried to pinpoint food allergies by avoiding gluten, wheat, beer & wine. I don’t eat meat or much dairy so I knew that couldn’t be the problem. I tried acupuncture and/with NAET (http://www.naet.com/). Nothing worked. I mean NOTHING. I could go through a whole box of Kleenex in one day.
Finally, years later, after half-assed, intermittent food diary attempts, a pattern began to emerge. A pattern, which gradually became so clear, I could almost set my watch by it. These attacks, which – strangely enough – seemed to always show up just in time to wreak havoc on our planned weekend events. And please understand, when I say “allergies”, I mean a debilitating runny nose, watery eyes, constant sneezing (probably 100+ times a day!) and total lethargy. During a full-blown allergy attack, I could do nothing but sit in one place to try and calm them down. Sometimes they would morph into sinus infections, or worse, walking pneumonia.
So, the pattern that emerged was this: excited for the weekend, I would eat dessert on Thursdays and Fridays. Sometimes I would eat delicious cookie after Eddy’s Vegan cookie, ignoring the fact that I was eating most of the bag in one sitting. Inevitably, Saturday morning would roll around, and it would start with mild congestion then, by lunchtime, a full-blown attack. Depending on how many sugary treats I consumed, the resulting outcome might be mild sneezing attacks or full-blown, multi-day, knock-down-drag-out battles.
Yep. Sugar. Sweet, seemingly benign sugar. Even organic sugar and treats weren’t immune. I can guarantee 100% -- despite the denial of doctors and those around me – it’s sugar – specifically, fructose. It wasn’t until I realized this did I do some research on the real harm large amounts of fructose can impart upon your body. Fructose is essentially found in all processed sugars. It’s also naturally contained in fruits, and can still be detrimental if you eat too many sweet fruits or drink too many real-fruit drinks. Some contend that our bodies react to sugar, when in sufficient quantities, as though (or because) it is a harmful substance. Apparently, eating too much of the tantalizing sweet stuff can cause: chronic, low-level inflammation, inflamed blood vessels, weight gain, abdominal obesity ("beer belly"), decreased HDL, increased LDL, elevated triglycerides, elevated blood sugar, and high blood pressure. I can tell you for a fact, it can cause allergies; allergies are an inflammation reaction to foreign substances in our bodies.
After some additional research my final hypothesis is this: sugars not only cause inflammation but also turn into food for Candida (gut bacteria), which in turn promotes Candida overgrowth. This overgrowth releases toxins which the body interprets as foreign invaders -- and hence your body attacks itself. Viola, allergies!
If you want to learn more about how dastardly sugar can negatively impact your metabolism search Amazon to see how many highly rated books there are about eliminating allergies, regaining health, and losing weight by limiting your sugar and processed food intake. Sugar is extremely addictive as well. I would recommend Food of the Gods by Terrence McKenna (http://a.co/bt8moZm - not a paid referral link) for a brief history on sugar and its detriment to society over time.
My sugar intake now? Drastically reduced, but not 100% eliminated. I haven’t had a full-blown allergy attack in years (after previously having them for almost 20 years). Since this significant lifestyle change, I’ve noticed that I can have a dessert here and there without risking a major episode. Even when I do go a bit overboard, my attacks are less severe, as long as I haven’t been eating sweets consistently. Sometimes I even get short hot flashes or an itchy mouth almost immediately after eating something with a lot of sugar it in. Strange.
Since cutting back my sugar intake, my quality of life has improved by leaps and bounds. No more knock-down allergies and I have my weekends and my health back. If I could just get our favorite grocery store to stop carrying Justin’s Dark Chocolate Organic Peanut Butter Cups, I could be 100% cured! Anyhow, that’s my story – I hope it helps others struggling with allergies – I feel your pain!
Anyone else have similar experiences? Comment below and share your story!
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