Posts Tagged ‘food intolerances’

Inflammation – redness, swelling and pain

Saturday, September 10th, 2011

inflammation

What is inflammation?  By definition it is …Pathology. Redness, swelling, pain, tenderness, heat, and disturbed function of an area of the body, esp. as a reaction of tissues to injurious agents.

Typically when one thinks of inflammation one thinks of a cut or a sprain that may become red and swell and this is the extent of what one thinks of when it comes to inflammation.  We are here to tell you that inflammation is more than just a cut or a sprain.  Just as the definition above states it is a disturbed function of an area of the body do to injurious agents.  For the purpose of this newsletter we will be discussing areas of the body that are susceptible to inflammation and what exactly are injurious agents.

First of all, any part of the human body can become inflamed.  That means that muscles, nerves, organs and skin are all vulnerable to inflammation.  Becoming inflamed does not just happen from being injured from an accident.  Becoming inflamed as stated above in the definition comes from injurious agents.  What we need all of you to understand is that an injurious agent can come from the food you eat, the beverages you drink, lack of sleep, emotional and physical stress, etc.  Each of these agents can affect your body in different ways but all can end up causing inflammation.

We see so many people that come into our offices not feeling well, feeling tired, knowing that something is wrong with them but yet nothing is found by their healthcare professionals.   More times than not these individuals bodies are trying to fight inflammation and our job is to find the source. We do this by running gut, hormone, liver or food sensitivity testing. Typically what is given to treat inflammation are anti-inflammatory drugs and at times this is necessary but what we want all of you to know and understand is that if the injurious agent is not removed then you are only treating the symptoms and not the problem.

If you would like more information about our in-home test kits or would like more information about injurious agents please feel free to contact us at www.replenishingsoul.com

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Posted in Hormone Health, Nutrition Tips, Prevention information, Stress, Weight Managment | No Comments »

Seared Ahi Tuna & Edamame

Tuesday, June 21st, 2011

seared-tunaSummer is here and so is the hot weather.  Cooking heavy meals and heating up the kitchen are typically items we try to avoid this time of year.   Hopefully you will find this recipe quick, easy & healthy.  This recipe comes from me, Lori, and by no means do I claim to be a chef.  I’m just another working woman who is always playing around in the kitchen to find quick, healthy and easy clean up meals not just for myself but also my clients.  I hope you find this recipe to be one of your favorites.   Let me know how you like.  If you have a quick, easy  and healthy recipe you’d like to share please email it to me at lori@replenishingsoul.com and I will gladly post it on our blog.

What you will need:

  • 1lb. Ahi Tuna Steak (feeds 2 adults)
  • Dark Sesame Oil
  • Sesame seeds
  • 5 Scallions
  • Soy Sauce
  • Ginger
  • Wasabi
  • Edamame (1 package)

How to prepare Ahi:

  • Cut tuna into thin slices or to thickness of your desire - place off to side once all sliced
  • Clean and cut scallions into thin slices including the greens - place off to side
  • Place pan on stove top- drizzle sesame oil all over the bottom of the pan
  • Turn stove top on medium heat and let pan get hot
  • Taking Tuna one slice at a time place in pan and heat for 5-10 seconds on one side then flip. Cook longer if you want less pink to show
  • Place cooked Tuna on a separate plate
  • Once Tuna is all cooked drizzle lightly with soy sauce, sesame seeds and garnish with scallions.
  • Serve with ginger, soy sauce & wasabi

How to prepare Edamame:

  • Bring pot of water to a boil
  • Place edamame in boiling water cook for designated time on package, drain, rinse with cool water and serve with sea salt

Healthy Eating!

Lori

pic by: http://northendfish.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/seared-tuna.jpg

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Posted in Digestive Health, Fish/Seafood, Nutrition Tips, Uncategorized, Weight Managment, recipes | No Comments »

Sesame seed-the latest food intolerance

Saturday, June 19th, 2010

sesame-seeds2Did you know that sesame is sprouting into a major food allergen?  If not, then listen up!  We have talked a lot about food intolerances throughout many of our blog entries but to recap for those of you who are unfamiliar with what a food intolerance is let us reiterate:  by definition a food intolerance is the inability to properly digest or fully process certain foods.  Difficulty to fully process food is not just limited to foods that are eaten but also ingested through our skin such as threw cosmetics and beauty products.

 

Sesame is now becoming a major food allergen, not only because we are consciously eating more of it but because it is being placed in so many other foods and products that one may not suspect such as:  tomato sauce, hand creams, lipsticks as well as progesterone shots for fertility treatment.

 

We are not just eating more sesame these days but it is also being used more and more by pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries because it has many desirable properties such as being stable, nonirritating, heat resistant and non-sweating effects.  

 

Ones reaction is dependant on how sensitive one is to sesame; here are some symptoms one may experience:  hives, itchy mouth, a life threatening reaction that may cause a rapid drop in blood pressure, breathing problems, respiratory failure and possible death.  Other signs of food intolerance may range from bloating, gas, abdominal distention, trouble concentrating and fatigue.

 

Sesame allergies are not yet listed on the Big 8 food allergens list (milk, egg, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, shellfish, soy and wheat) in the USA  even though it is a growing concern.  Our advice to you is if you feel “funny” after eating something, reflect back on what it was that you consumed.  Make a note of it and if you find the next time you eat the same foods and get the same reaction then most likely you may have a food intolerance to something you ate.

 

If you would like more information about food intolerance then join us for our lecture: You are what you eat, where we will be discussing:

  • The impact food has on your body
  • Positive & negative outcomes of food choice.
  • Learn how your body talks to you and what it might be saying!

Lecture will be held Saturday June 26th in San Francisco see our events page for more details.

 

 

Lori Metroka

Nutrition & Wellness Specialist

 

 

Information for this blog entry acquired from Living Without Magazine.

Picture by:http://www.nutsonline.com/images/items/07009lB1.jpg

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Posted in Digestive Health, Nutrition Tips, Prevention information | 3 Comments »

You are what you eat

Saturday, June 5th, 2010

True vitaminsWould you put diesel gas in your car if it takes unleaded? We’re sure your answer to this question would be no and we’re pretty sure you all know why that wouldn’t work. So our question to you is why would you put unhealthy food in your body when it requires healthy vitamins, minerals and nutrients in order to thrive and thrive well.  Gas is the fuel your car needs to run appropriately just as healthy food is the fuel your body needs to run successfully.  So, would you believe us now if we said you are what you eat?

 
  Your body is always talking to you, giving you clues of what it likes and doesn’t like. Those headaches that you suffer from, the indigestion that you feel after a meal and those dark circles under your eyes you wake up to every morning are your body’s way to communicate to you that something you are putting into your body is something it doesn’t like.

 
When you continue to eat food that your body doesn’t like over and over again it becomes a food intolerance. A food intolerance is the inability to properly digest or fully process certain foods.  This inability to fully digest and process food can lead to chronic illness and misdiagnosed symptoms.  What is important for all of you to understand is that an intolerance can also take place from a food that is deemed healthy such as chicken, eggs, avocados etc.  One way of acquiring a food intolerance is from eating the same foods over and over.  
If you or someone you know are suffering from an illness that is not getting better, having difficulty losing weight or unexplained symptoms that bring on a malaise you may benefit from food intolerance testing.  If you would like more information about this subject call us for a consultation or join us for our upcoming lecture:  “You Are What You Eat” Saturday June 26th in our San Francisco location.   

Lori Metroka Yu

Nutrition & Wellness Specialist

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Posted in Digestive Health, Hormone Health, Nutrition Tips, Prevention information | 4 Comments »

The gut connection

Wednesday, September 30th, 2009

Typically people think that stress is about meeting deadlines, being stuck in traffic and having a high stress job.  Did you know though that stress is also placed on your body by eating the wrong foods, eating foods that you have intolerance to and not getting enough sleep?  When these hidden stressors are placed on the body over and over again they can cause hormonal imbalances as well as digestive issues that may lead to more complex illnesses such as autoimmune diseases.  Let us explain.gi-system3

First of all, 80% of your immune system lies within your gut.  Therefore, if you are eating foods that your body cannot handle this places stress on the GI system (gastrointestinal system).  When prolong stress is placed on the GI system good bacteria and flora begin to diminish and over time your protective mucosal lining will also begin to break down.  When your protective mucosal lining (Sig A) breaks down your immune defense breaks down and leads to leaky gut syndrome (visit our blog for articles written about leaky gut).  Leaky gut is when the GI system breaks down and gets porous holes in the intestines. Toxins, rather than be eliminated through the stool can leak out into the blood stream (which is not normal) causing the body to react against itself thus causing an autoimmune disease.  Let us say however, that this is not always how autoimmune diseases happen but if you do suffer from one we do recommend you perform gut testing to rule out food allergies/intolerances.

Going a bit further into the gut connection when the gut is stressed over time the hormonal system will begin to kick in.  Cortisol which is an anti-inflammatory hormone will be released to try to calm down the inflammation that is taking place in the gut.  The hormonal system will continue to release cortisol until the inflammation is gone but if you continue to eat foods that continue to irritate the gut the hormonal system will continue to try to release cortisol.  But guess what?  Your hormonal system will eventually get stressed and eventually your body will run out of cortisol and now not only do you have gut inflammation you now have a stressed out hormonal system and the inflammation continues and can become systemic.  What can be seen when the gut and hormonal system gets stressed are not only autoimmune diseases but one can suffer from skin reactions/rashes, end up with hormonal imbalances leading to low libido, PMS and night sweats as well as difficulty sleeping.

What we would like for all of you to understand from this blog article is that the digestive system, the hormonal system and the detoxification system (the liver) are all linked together.  Anyone of these systems can get stressed at anytime in any particular order and lead to being diagnosed with a disease.  We have helped many people who have come into our offices with an illness.  We run digestive and hormonal testing on all of our clients and each and every time we have found each of these systems stressed.  Each client goes on an individual healing protocol that is specific to their test results.  We help them to eliminate the hidden stressors found through the test results, get them on healing foods that reduce inflammation, we support the hormonal system through supplementation and teach our clients how to listen to their bodies so that the illnesses do not come back.  Gut testing and hormonal testing give many answers and are a great tool for knowing what is going on in the body.  For example a high morning cortisol is a clue that your body is trying to fight an infection. 

If you are one who is suffering from an illness and feel as if you are not getting better we recommend running gut and hormonal testing. These tests can be done in the comforts of your own home.  If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to visit us on our contact us page of our website and remember you become what you eat!

 

Lori Metroka-Nutrition & Wellness Specialist

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Posted in Digestive Health | No Comments »

The Dangers of Gluten

Sunday, March 15th, 2009

-Do you ever experience gas, bloating, loose or oily stools or constipation?

-Do you ever experience abdominal pain, nausea, abdominal distention or flatulence?

-Do you ever experience joint or muscle pain that does not appear to be caused by activity or exercise?

-Do you ever experience an enlarged or inflamed tongue, gastric and duodenal ulcers or esophageal reflux?

-Women, have you experienced difficulty getting or miscarriages?

-Do you experience fatigue, mood changes, depression or anxiety?

-Have you ever been diagnosed with an autoimmune disease such as thyroid malfunctions, Diabetes   Mellitus, Lupus, Rheumatoid arthritis, Childhood asthma or Polymyalgia rheumatic?

 

If you answered yes to any of these questions you may be suffering from gluten sensitivity.

 

What is gluten?

Gluten is a protein that is found in grains, grains such as wheat, rye, barley, spelt, triticale, kamut and possible oat.   It is a protein that is hard to digest and therefore can irritate not only your digestive tract but also your organs.  You can experience symptoms that have been listed above but not always.  You can have gluten sensitivity yet be asymptomatic.  Research shows that as many as 90 million Americans may be negatively affected by gluten and as many as 10 million may have an illness due to the root cause of gluten sensitivity.

How gluten causes disease

When ones digestive system is healthy undigested or partially digested proteins will be eliminated as fecal matter.  However, if ones digestive system becomes weakened due to poor food choices, food intolerances, alcohol consumption, eating processed foods and sugars as well as from the normal day to day stresses of life the ability of the body  to digest  gluten proteins can become difficult.  As a result any of the symptoms listed above will be seen because of the undigested proteins floating through the bloodstream thus causing an autoimmune reaction.  In addition the protective mucus lining of the intestinal track gets attacked as well.  Like the skin on your body, this protective mucus lining is a first line of defense in protecting the body from illness and disease.  When this lining breaks down it leads to leaky gut syndrome (scroll down to read what is leaky gut syndrome and solutions for leaky gut) therefore, making one’s immune system vulnerable and weak.

How to find out if you’re gluten intolerance

To find out if you have intolerance to gluten you can undergo a small intestinal biopsy, stool sample testing or blood testing.  If you would like a less invasive test or a cheaper test for that matter you can take the gluten challenge.  The gluten challenge is to eliminate gluten from your diet for 2-4 weeks.  Then on the last day of your challenge eat nothing but gluten.  For example Breakfast could consist of muffins, cereal or toast.  Snack will be cookies or crackers.  Lunch and dinner may be pasta and see how you feel immediately after and/ or the next day.  Do you suffer from abdominal discomfort (cramping, bloating, and gas), achy muscles/joints, fatigue, irritability or difficulty concentrating?  If so, you are gluten sensitive and should eliminate gluten as soon as possible from your diet!

Acronyms that might spell “hidden” Gluten

Fu- dried wheat gluten

HPP- hydrolyzed plant protein

HVP-hydrolyzed vegetable protein

MSG-monosodium glutamate

TPP- textured plant protein

TVP-textured vegetable protein

Begin to read labels!  For example many condiments such as soy sauce, ketchup and BBQ sauce, just to name a few contain wheat based ingredients.  Instead, I encourage you to begin to either make your own sauces at home or cook with herbs and spices.

If you would like more information about gluten we recommend you purchase the book Dangerous Grains by James Braly, M.D. and Ron Hoggan, M.A.

In addition, if you would like specific lab testing for gluten intolerance you can purchase stool test kits through Replenishing Soul that can be done in the privacy of your own home.  To place your order or to ask us questions you can  us contact through our website at www.replenishingsoul.com.

 

Resources:

Dangerous Grains- James Braly

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Posted in Nutrition Tips | 1 Comment »

Solutions for Leaky Gut Syndrome

Sunday, February 15th, 2009

As you may recall I spoke about leaky gut syndrome a few weeks ago and therefore I would like to take the time to discuss solutions for leaky gut syndrome.  

Just to recap, leaky gut syndrome is when there is separation of tight junctions between the cells of the gut wall.  The separation of these junctions happens as a result of stress, food intolerance and a poor diet.  When these junctions begin to separate, undigested or partially digested food particles cross the gut wall and as a result they land in joint tissues, organ tissues, nerve tissues and anywhere else via the micro-circulatory system causing inflammation and over time causing chronic pain and possibly an auto-immune disease. In addition if you have been diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) you too can benefit from the solutions I list below.

SigA is a protective mucous that lines our entire intestinal tract and when one suffers from Leaky gut syndrome or IBS this protective mucous gets broken down which leads to holes in the intestinal tract.  Leaky gut and IBS can be healed, it just takes awhile to do so.  Below is a list of strategies to get you on track to heal your gut. Even if you currently do not have gut problems you too should do the following for prevention.

  • Start eating right (eat for your metabolic type)… stop the C.R.A.P. eating (caffeine, refined sugar, alcohol and processed foods).  All of these items need to be removed from your diet.  Why, because it’s these items the wreak havoc on the intestinal tract.
  • Begin taking a probiotic. Probiotics are good bacteria.  Your gut is lined with both good and bad bacteria and the ratio of good to bad bacteria needs to be 85:15.  Unfortunately though because of what we eat in this country the ratio is reversed.  There are many probiotics on the market today and with that being said you should purchase a probiotic that contains L. Sporogenes.  L. Sporogenes is a good choice of probiotics because it survives stomach acid. 
  • Begin taking an enzyme to begin to rebuild your protective mucosa.  What you need to make sure you understand is that probiotics rebuild good bacteria but not mucosa lining.  These are two separate items.
  • Depending on the severity of your gut dysfunction you may need digestive enzymes.
  • Manage your stress.  Stress creates hormone imbalances and these hormone imbalances can affect the gut directly.  Managing stress can be done through yoga, qi gong, and tai chi, walking mediation or simply conscious breathing. 
  • Drink water. A general rule of thumb is ½ your body weight in ounces of water.  In addition, your urine should be clear enough to see through. Water is important because it keeps our bodies lubricated.  You should drink 2-3 glasses of water upon awakening.  If you suffer from constipation this may help you to get things moving.
  • Gut testing may be applicable if symptoms persist.

 

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What is Leaky Gut Syndrome?

Tuesday, February 3rd, 2009

When ones diet consists of C.R.A.P. (caffeine, refined sugar, alcohol and processed foods), this wreaks havoc on your gastrointestinal system.  Processed foods are filled with chemical additives, colorings, preservatives and emulsifiers.  You may not even know you’re eating such items because the FDA (Food & Drug Administration) does not require manufactures to include additives on the labels of foods that are exempt, such as ketchup.  Instead of a specific list of what has been added you may see something general such as “artificially flavored”.

Today, there are so many foods that are highly processed that even your own gastrointestinal system can’t recognize the items as food.  Your immune systems job is to react to these chemicals and remove them from the body with the help of the GI (gastrointestinal) system.  Processed foods and sugar leads the body to a stress response.  When this stress response takes place digestion can be slowed down to the point of constipation and toxic bowel.

Constipation and toxic bowel are by no means normal.  Did you know that you should eliminate after each meal you eat?  Yes, you should be going to the bathroom up to 2-3 times per day and the stools should be formed.  They should not be soft or difficult to pass, they should not float or break apart and you should not fluctuate between constipation and diarrhea.  The color of the stool should be brown to dark brown.  If you are passing yellow, green or red stool go see your doctor immediately.  (Note your stool may be red after eating beets.)

As you just read having a poor diet over time leads to disturbances in the GI system and this poor diet overtime can lead to leaky gut syndrome. Leaky gut syndrome is when there is separation of tight junctions between the cells of the gut wall.  The separation of these junctions happens as a result of stress, food intolerance and a poor diet.  When these junctions begin to separate, undigested or partially digested food particles cross the gut wall and as a result they land in joint tissues, organ tissues, nerve tissues and anywhere else via the micro-circulatory system causing inflammation and over time causing chronic pain and possibly an auto-immune disease.

One important point I want all of you to understand is that food particles landing in joint, organ and nerve tissues doesn’t exactly happen immediately.  As I have mentioned in previous newsletters our bodies strive for balance.  Normally, your first line of defense is though sIgA (secretory IgA).  SIgA is a protective mucous that lines the gastrointestinal tract and lungs. When the invaders (C.R.A.P.) enter the GI system its sIgA’s job to protect.  Unfortunately though over time sIgA begins to loose the battle (amount of sIgA depletes) and the invaders win (more processed food and more stress).  Then, before you know it, you’re suffering from inflammation in your joints, organ and/or nerve tissues and what are you then prescribed?

 Anti-inflammatory drugs.

Anti-inflammatory drugs such as cortisone are immuno-suppressants, meaning they shut down the immune system.  In addition anti-inflammatory drugs often produce gastrointestinal inflammation as a side effect and increases inflammation in the gut further leading to additional symptoms and disease. Because pain killers block the body’s signs that something is wrong, further tissue degeneration takes place leading us to possibly experience cancer and autoimmune diseases such as Rheumatoid arthritis, Lupus and or Multiple Sclerosis, not to mention other forms of disease too.  Therefore readers, if any of you are experiencing any type of pain that is not getting better and becoming more chronic I encourage you to begin looking deeper into your lifestyle and contributing factors.

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