In years past, genetic predisposition was a clear and primary contributor to the development of allergies. However, the modern day tendency for children to eat just a few types of foods all the time like pizza, chicken nuggets, mac and cheese, boxed cereal and peanut butter sandwiches is a big reason for the skyrocketing allergy trend. Exclusive eating requires a constant demand for the same types of digestive enzymes over and over which eventually leads to digestive exhaustion, food addictions, and biochemical disruptions.
Poor diet in infancy and childhood which is devoid or low in animal fats such as egg yolks, cream and butter is also a contributor to the development of allergies. Arachidonic acid and beneficial cholesterol in these nourishing animal fats promote development of an intestinal wall that is strong with much integrity.
The nutritionless, carb heavy, rancid vegetable oil laden processed foods most allergy prone children subsist on lead to weakness in the intestinal walls (leaky gut syndrome) which allows partially digested food particles to enter the blood stream and trigger an unpredictable mix of auto-immune and behavioral disorders.
What to do if you suspect a food allergy in your child but you don’t want to take them to an allergist requiring expensive testing not to mention loads of discomfort?
4 Steps for At Home Allergy Testing
As it turns out, it is rather easy to test for a food allergy yourself in the comfort of your own home. The simple steps required include the following:
- Avoid the suspected food for at least 4 days.
- Eat a moderate amount of the suspected food on an empty stomach which means no other food should have been consumed in the previous 2 hours (drinking water is ok).
- Measure pulse rate (beats per minute) before and a few minutes after eating the food in question.
- Calculate the difference in pulse rate. If the pulse rose significantly (more than just a few beats per minute) after the suspect food was eaten, then an allergy is likely even if no other symptoms are noted.
Besides an increased or racing pulse, food allergies can be identified via rashes, fatigue, insomnia, headaches, joint pain, and even hoarseness.
Once one or more food allergies is identified, a diet such as GAPS would need to be followed for a period of time to heal and seal the gut wall. If the allergies are not severe, simply eating a varied and best traditional diet which includes no refined or stimulating foods may be all that is required to put them in remission. “Refined” and “stimulating” foods would include anything made with white sugar, white flour, rancid vegetable oils like canola or soy, sodium, and caffeine.
In addition, a variety of traditionally fermented foods and beverages like home brewed kombucha help tremendously with supplying friendly bacteria and food enzymes to keep the intestinal tract in optimal function. They help maintain the integrity of the gut wall so that no perforations exist for undigested foods and toxins to spill into the blood and trigger allergic reactions.
Ultimately, it is best to never have to “undo” allergies if at all possible. Eating a nourishing, traditional diet while pregnant and breastfeeding and ensuring that growing children receive regular and sufficient quantities of optimal growth encouraging foods such as cream, butter, ghee, egg yolks, fish eggs, grassfed and organ meats for development of a sturdy intestinal system is the best insurance policy against ever needing any sort of special diet to combat allergy or other autoimmune issues.
Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist
Source: Nourishing Traditions, About Food Allergies and Special Diets
Sarah Pope has been a Health and Nutrition Educator since 2002. Her work is dedicated to helping families effectively incorporate the principles of ancestral diets within the modern household. She is a sought after lecturer around the world for conferences, summits, and podcasts.
Her work has been covered by major media including USA Today, ABC, NBC, and many others.
Perfectly Delicious Homemade Breakfast Sausage Recipe
The illustration at the top of your article shows somebody doing a skin test?? Nothing in the text addresses this. I want to know if there is a way of testing this way at home. I get flu-like symptoms from sawdust, fatigue, cough, etc. Allergy tests never indicate much of anything. Could I make up my own scratch test with sawdust?
Incorrect , you might want to do a little research on how humans had to evolve to become lactose tolerant. Naturally we we’re born with an enzyme called lactase that was active in our early born stages, but would deactivate toward adulthood. This is due to the fact that , in our natural state, we were only suppose to consume breast milk. Although as years progressed some women couldn’t produce their own milk and had to rely on out sources this lead to a new phenomenon whose consequences have led up to humans now being lactose tolerate. The idea of dairy nourishing the body is in fact false as well. I would suggest looking into some of the studies done on this topic, a great one would be the one done by Harvard.
I see that you’ve bought into the “dairy is bad” propaganda. While processed dairy is definitely to be avoided, fresh dairy from grazing cattle sustained humans for millennia long before agriculture started. If it wasn’t for dairy, you and I wouldn’t even be here my friend. https://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/dairy-precedes-the-advent-of-agriculture-in-human-history/
Consuming (even high quality, minimally processed) dairy products in early years is the main reason for my digestive debilitation. My family consumed / provided a mostly organic / home grown and home-made from scratch diet until a few years after I started pre-school and my mum began teaching. It was wonderful and amazingly nutritious – especially compared to what the average child consumes in utero and in early childhood – except for those born dairy-sensitive. I have always been sensitive/intolerant/allergic to a host of dairy components: lactose, casein, and whey (modest amounts of milkfat are tolerable). The consumption of dairy nutrients lead to an early disadvantage for the development of my gut biome, and an unpredictable array of mild to severe digestive disorders and other health problems, especially psychiatric issues – most notably, eating disorders. Please do not forget to caution your readers that human breastmilk is the only milk we are intended to consume. Other animals’ milk poses a risk and should always be consumed with caution, not abandon.
You are misinformed about dairy! If what you say is true, then why did many healthy ancestral cultures consume dairy as a primary staple? These were carefully documented in the book Nutrition and Physical Degeneration. Dairy nourished humanity for thousands of years … long before agriculture. Many people do very well on dairy for their whole life (including me). Perhaps you just don’t do well on dairy because of other reasons. Antibiotics as a child is a big reason why many people develop terrible digestive issues. Don’t blame dairy when the reason or your digestive problems is from modern environmental causes.