Why everything gluten-free? If it isn’t broken, why would you CHOOSE to eat this way? I’ll tell you why….because I do not wish to see it broken. That’s why! I’m talking about headaches, fatigue, pain, discomfort, bloating, congestion, heart palpitations, insomnia, swelling, nausea…all from inflammation.
Research heavily supports the theory that eating meat, smoking cigarettes, drinking alcohol, eating wheat, dairy, and processed sugar all-cause systemic inflammation. For people living with inflammation, it makes sense to avoid the things that exacerbate your symptoms. Thus, people with auto-immune diseases avoid those things and thus live ‘Sensitive’. Let me be clear, there are many causative factors for developing an autoimmune disease; genetics, infection (bacterial or viral) and inflammation that may not be directly linked to diet. However, it’s well known that a poor diet can and does cause inflammation.
While you may not have been diagnosed with an autoimmune disease, but you are experiencing inflammation? The first thing to cut out should be wheat and dairy. Digestively these can cause the most inflammatory response and quickly. By eliminating these ingredients from your diet completely you will commonly feel a shift in symptoms within a week or two. For people who are in the early stages of diagnosis of Chrohn’s or Celiac disease, or are on an autoimmune protocol or AIP diet, then all grains, eggs, legumes, nuts, seeds and processed sugar will also be eliminated and promptly. Paleo takes on allot of these principle changes, however, unless you are vegan paleo there can still be issues digesting meat.
To live Sensitive, or eat a strict anti-inflammatory diet is a marathon, not a sprint. It takes disciple and a whole lot of research, but luckily there are sites like this one to give you ideas and to help you stay on track. Reading labels, buying fresh produce directly from growers and making your own food is really the only way to manage your inflammation successfully with diet.
Herbal medicine can play a role in assisting reduce inflammation, but there are multiple factors that need to be considered such as sufficient digestive enzymes, immune modulation, and organs involved. Herbal medicine plays nicely with diet consciousness so collaboration is key, talk with a Naturopath or Medical Herbalist to support your dietary efforts. You can read about how CBD may assist with pain and inflammation here.
The good news is that inflammation can be managed, whether it’s an autoimmune disease or isolated to digestive sensitivity. But any way you look at it, there’s no getting around the fact that what you eat, most definitely affects how you feel.
