What do food sensitivities have to do with your mental and emotional health?
Maybe you have done everything to have healthier emotions, yet you are not experiencing the results you want.
Most of us try medication, therapy, and various self-help programs. We don’t try changing our eating. We don’t realize that what we eat affects every system and can cause emotional problems.
Do you have hidden food sensitivities?
My food sensitivities
Since my training has been in psychology, NLP, and hypnosis, I am not an expert in nutrition. I do have a strong personal interest. I have a number of food sensitivities, including, gluten (found in wheat and other grains), soy, sugar, and some dairy.
Giving up these foods changed my physical and emotional health for the better.
If you are struggling with emotional issues and nothing seems to be helping, you may have hidden food allergies or sensitivities. They are more common than you think.
Food sensitivities and the nervous system
The information in this post comes from Primal Body, Primal Mind: Beyond the Paleo Diet for Total Health and a Longer Life (2011) by Nora T. Gedgaudas. This book covers a number of issues, including food sensitivities. Highly recommended.
When we think of food sensitivities, we normally think of a stuffy nose, digestion problems, or inflammation. Yes, these are all symptoms, but there are many more.
Food sensitivities have been linked to learning disabilities, autism as well as behavioral, emotional, and neurological problems.
Here are just a few symptoms:
Hyperactivity
Inattentive behavior
Nervousness and irritability
Moodiness and depression
Easily hurt or upset
Short tempered
Insomnia
Do any of these sound familiar?
Even worse news. According to Gedgaudas, “Gluten can cause many common psychiatric illnesses including anxiety issues, ADD/ADHD, bipolar disorder, depression, dementia, and schizophrenia.”
What can you do?
I want to start this section with two quotes from Gedgaudas. “You cannot have healthy cognitive or psychological functioning without a healthy properly nourished body.”
“Take charge of your own mental, emotional, and physical health and recognize that anything is possible.”
Here are my recommendations:
1. Educate yourself on food sensitivities
2. Find a healthcare professional who understands these issues
3. Discover your own sensitivities
With food sensitivities there seven common culprits: gluten, dairy, corn, soy, sugar, peanuts, and eggs. But you can be sensitive to any food, even supposedly healthy ones like blueberries.
Testing for food sensitivities can be confusing. Gedgaudas recommends two methods: testing from a lab that specializes in food sensitivities or an elimination diet. I do not have personal experience with lab testing but there are recommendations in Primal Body, Primal Mind. I used an elimination diet with great success.
My first goal with this post is to let you know about a serious issue affecting many people, maybe even you.
My second goal is to encourage you to release the past and become the person you were meant to be. Click here to read more.
Don’t give up! You can become the person you were meant to be.
(Image: Moyan Brenn @Flickr)
