Foodies Hate Me

Foodies hate me, or at the very least, they see me as their frenemy. Why? One of the many tools in my tool kit is to create awareness about food. Most patients that walk into my practice have a deep-rooted belief that they "eat VERY healthy." Whether they are vegetarian, paleo, keto, no fast food, or a no processed foods, they are eating "VERY healthy," but come in sick and tired, and tired of being sick and tired.

My definition of healthy eating involves one primary notion: Not to consume the foods that you are sensitive to, nor those which create an autoimmune response. When we consume foods to which we are sensitive, the body produces inflammation, and inflammation causes disease in the body. 

I use nutritional response testing to figure out whether a food is a problem for someone. If a food weakens a muscle during a reflex test, it is causing an imbalance in the body. The abnormal reflex response that a food can elicit in a muscle test works with the autonomic nervous system. Staying away from foods that you are sensitive to is probably one of the most significant actions (albeit not the easiest action) anyone can take to improve their health right away. It may not reverse all symptoms, but it is a major piece in the complex health puzzle.

Food sensitivities can change over time. As patients go further along in my protocols, through gut rebuilding and whole body support, I do find that food sensitivities can change and they may be able to return to many foods. When patients come in for maintenance check-ins (usually every couple of months or so), I will test the food that they had shown to be sensitive to, and they may be able to return to eating the food (sometimes eating it not every day, but every other day, etc.). The body is continuously changing. The testing that I conduct reveals what a person is sensitive to at that specific moment in time. Just as what we require changes (vitamins, minerals, etc.), what we are sensitive to can change as well.

Furthering this awareness, I recently started working with natural food chemicals that are in the healthiest of foods. Certain natural food chemicals affect us negatively if we have certain genetic factors, gut imbalances, and diseases. Here are some of the natural food chemicals to which certain people may be sensitive. Certain supplements help the body to tolerate these foods better, but initially, a patient should not consume certain foods for a short period of time.

If you are sensitive to these natural food substances,  you would want to eat them in moderation, but initially avoid them for a short period of time:

• Isothiocyanate: Isothiocyanate is actually healthy for most people, but for some it becomes toxic. Toxicity can be linked to certain neurological disorders. Foods include brussels sprouts, broccoli, cabbage, kale, watercress, mustard greens, turnip, kohlrabi, horseradish, cauliflower, bok choy, spinach, and globe artichoke. The supplement NAC is one supplement that can help to detoxify from isothiocyanate.

• Tyramine: I actually came up sensitive to this one.  This category includes overly ripe bananas and avocados (brown on the inside of avocado and brown on the outside of the banana), sour cream, salamis, sauerkraut, fermented dairy products, pickled herrings, broad beans, liver, caviar, yeast extracts, beer and wine, Thai and Vietnamese fish sauce, chocolate, caviar, and liver. Rosemary can help detoxify tyramine. 

• Salicylates: Over the counter cold and flu remedies, aspirin, drugs for IBS, some ant-acids, sharp green apples, black pepper, coffee, bananas, cherries, strawberries, dried fruit, tomatoes (fresh, pureed, and ketchup), fruit juices, cider, wine, teas except chamomile and fruit teas, peppermints and licorice. The amino acid taurine can help detoxify and negate the effects of salicylates.

• Histamines: You've heard of anti-histamines. If you already have high histamine than you may be sensitive to foods that are high in histamines, such as cabbage, milk thistle, nettles, melon, bass, beer, chicken, cocoa, chocolate, cod, crab, haddock, ham, lobster, mackerel, dairy, mutton, oyster, salmon, scallop, shrimp, trout, tuna, turkey,  and yeast. A natural remedy for this may be Antronex or All Clear.

• Malondialdehyde: Healthy fats are an essential part of a balanced diet, and many of us pour on the olive oil to get our healthy dose. I would be quite happy spending the day doing shots of olive oil. However, olive oil goes rancid quicker than most people realize and produces malondialdehyde. Even some of the best olive oils in the world don't get to our tables until two or three months after bottling. A good percentage of olive oil is rancid by the time it gets to our table.

Sufferers of eczema and psoriasis are specifically more susceptible to the toxicity of malondialdehyde in rancid oils. Olive oil should be stored in the refrigerator and consumed within two to three weeks. Your safest bet is to store all oils in the refrigerator. I have patients bring in their specific olive oil brand, and muscle test it with a formic acid vial to see how they react to the oil. This determines if it is causing a problem for their health. Other oils to be aware of rancidity are flax (which goes rancid days after opening), sunflower, rapeseed, and corn oil.

About the Author

Dr. Louis Granirer is a leading NY Chiropractor who specializes in Nutrition Response Testing and Applied Kinesiology. Learn more about how he finds natural remedies for severe and chronic illness by visiting his website HolisticChiropracticCenter.com