Is it really worth it?
Busy days often mean missed meals or grabbing something ‘on the go’, if you have food intolerance, this more than likely means eating unsuitable foods. The consequences of eating this rushed meal means you suffer from for the next 2-5 days.
Food intolerance and sensitivities, though give alarming and uncomfortable symptoms also have the benefit of reminding you to take better care of your nutrition and to slow down and take the time to enjoy your meal.
During the time I have spent in France renovating our old house, we had a constant frustration: We would rock up to the hardware store to purchase materials. We would happily hand our list over to the guy who was to serve us. It may have only been a short list, BUT, if it was 11.45 am, not a chance!
He would indignantly inform us that it’s not possible, it’s lunch time (well almost, lunch is 12 midday), and to come back at 2 pm after the midday meal. There was no choice but to go back home, have a relaxed lunch a head back to the hardware at 2pm! We even had the experience of a lady at the council office refusing to take a photo copy at 11.45...too close to lunch!
As funny and frustrating as this was, it teaches us an important lesson many of us simple do not even think of in our busy stressful lives. This is perhaps one of the contributing factors to the rising incidence of food intolerance and stress related disorders in our modern society today.
The lesson from our indignant French friends (whom by the way have low incidence of overweight & obesity & related disorders) is to take and make the time to eat in a relaxed way. Not only take time, but make it THE major priority of the day!
Also choose food that you know do not cause reactions and food intolerances. This may take some planning beforehand, such as ensuring you have packed your pantry with suitable healthy, natural foods. Carry a snack pack of suitable, nutritious foods and scope out food outlets where you know you can get a nice feed of food that does not cause reaction.
During times of stress and rushing is the time when it is the most important to stick to your regime, as stress contributes to reactive phases and if your sensitivities have been under control, times of high stress will often trigger them again.
Many clients whom have consulted with me tell of the beginning of their food intolerance coinciding with a very stressful event. This is not a coincidence, there is just so much your body, immune, and digestion can handle, it may then react in a way you do not appreciate with food intolerances and sensitivities.
Do you know which foods you are sensitive to? There are a number of ways to discover which foods are causing your health problems. There are two types of food reactions, one is a full blown allergy, and this involves the immune system and can be tested with a simple drop of blood. Our Nationally accredited laboratory can do this for you more information here: http://www.thehealthnut.com.au/testkits.htm
The other type of reaction is more to do with the organs of the digestive/elimination system. These may not show up with the blood allergy test as the immune system has not yet become involved.
These food sensitivities are best detected with our Nutri-Focus elimination and test diet, it takes around 3 weeks to discover which foods are causing the worst of your symptoms. Visit Naturopath online to set up a consultation where our Naturopath will set up an individual program to help your discover the offending foods. An important part of this program is to restore the vital functions of your digestive and elimination systems with carefully selection herbals and nutritional supplements. Click here to read more: http://www.thehealthnut.com.au/onlineND.htm
