Dear Foods I loved…

The time has come to bid you adieu.

I wonder how many people reading this are aware that the everyday food you consume might actually be toxic?  When I say foods you consume, I’m not talking about the obvious (McD’s, Burger King) but things that seem so ordinary (milk, eggs, wheat).  I had no idea that there were any food allergies in my family but I recently had blood work done to test a gambit of foods and found out that I’m not just allergic to milk and eggs but that allergy is off the charts.

To give you an idea:

If you look in the “Result” column, it lists a number which indicates the level of allergy (obviously “0″ being none) to the food tested.  Anything in the low is not of concern, inflammation starts in the “moderate” and is damaging over time in the “avoid.”  Check out the numbers for dairy…I’ve been eating that MY WHOLE LIFE!!

This is just one page; there were four pages of results.  It boiled down to the major ones I need to avoid and then a few that I should use moderately (once or so a week).  When I went to my fridge tonight I found mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese, creamer for my coffee, milk, a dozen eggs, egg white liquid and cheese strings.

I was told by the HMD that quite often people are drawn to the foods they’re most allergic to.  I can’t remember the reason why, but clearly I was in some respects.  I also found out I’m allergic to lentils, beef, navy beans, kidney beans, peaches and pineapple; all foods I hardly ever eat so it is obviously not the case across the board.  Those, however, were only listed in the “moderate,” I was regularly consuming foods I should avoid.

Needless to say, I visited Starbucks today and informed my barista’s of the new change in diet.  It was sad to say goodbye to the peppermint mocha I once knew and the vanilla mistos I regularly consumed (I’m also allergic to vanilla).  Yet, the chance at a longer, healthier, life trumps the foods I once loved (yes, I am choosing to think of it as past-tense).  Here is to a new future and to finding new foods I love just as much…hopefully more!!

**I strongly recommend food allergy testing, as prior to this test I had minimal signs of inflammation and in most cases it was easily dismissed as “life.”