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| ELIMINATING THE FOODS THAT ARE BAD FOR YOU |
By James LaValle, R.Ph, ND, CCN
Did it ever occur to you that the reason you can't
lose weight may be due to the fact that you are
eating foods that you're allergic to? This is a
revelation to many people who have struggled
unsuccessfully for years to get rid of unwanted
pounds.
The prevalence of food allergies is on the rise in
both children and adults.1-2 Allergies can be
responsible for a number of health issues including
irritable bowel type symptoms3 and migraines.4
Very few people are aware however, that immune
responses to foods can go on to create a number of
metabolic disruptions that can contribute to weight
gain.
At LMI where we counsel people to lose weight
using our Metabolic Code Diet (MCD) eating
program, we see this all the time. We had one
patient in our diet group who had tried a very low
carb diet in the past, and lost no weight. The
reason? She was sensitive to dairy and didn't know
it. On her previous diet, she was eating a lot of
cheese. On the MCD, which is a lower carb, low
allergen eating plan, she cut out the cow's milk
cheeses and dairy products, ate according to our
meal recommendations, and the weight started
coming off.
There are several ways common dietary allergens
can keep weight on you. When the body is having an
immune reactivity to food, it can cause increased
stress hormone production. Increased cortisol in
particular can contribute to insulin resistance — and
that reduces your body's ability to process the
glucose from foods high in carbs. And the increased
insulin keeps you from being able to burn fat.
Increased cortisol can also go on to inhibit the
body's ability to convert your primary thyroid
hormone, T4, to the active form, T3. Without
enough active T3, it is very difficult to lose weight. If
you have developed an immune response (an
allergy) to certain foods, it can also go on to cause
autoimmune antibodies which can attack any tissue
in the body, including thyroid tissue. Autoimmune
attacks on the thyroid cause one of the most
common forms of low thyroid, called Hashimoto's
thyroiditis.
So, in a roundabout way, food sensitivities can slow
metabolism and cause weight gain. By decreasing
your consumption of any foods to which you might
be sensitive, you may potentially improve insulin
sensitivity, lower glucose, and promote better
thyroid hormone production.
There are seven foods responsible for almost all
food allergies — peanuts, other tree nuts like
walnuts, fish/shellfish, soybeans, eggs, wheat and
cow's milk. The only two foods we limit initially on
the MCD eating program are wheat and cow's milk
dairy. Why? Through years of clinical practice, we
have found that wheat and dairy are usually the most
problematic. So, we eliminate cow's milk products
and wheat, and anything made from them.
This part of the MCD eating plan can be a challenge
at first for many people. Western diets are so
centered around wheat and dairy there is almost no
red-blooded American who doesn't eat at least
some wheat and dairy every day. But you would be
surprised at the variety of breads, crackers, and
chips that are available wheat-free. (You just need to
be careful to eat them within your limited
carbohydrate portions.) You can even find a wide
array of goat and sheep's milk dairy products in
most supermarkets and health food stores. What
most people find is that they may miss a few of the
eliminated foods at first, but their quality of life
improves so much, that eventually they don't miss
them at all.
We estimate that food allergies contribute to weight
gain in at least 30% of our patients who come to us
for weight loss. Of those, the vast majority doesn't
have to go any further than eliminating wheat and
dairy to jump start their weight loss.
The Metabolic Code Diet is a sensible eating plan
that you can follow for the rest of your life and never
feel deprived or hungry. But most importantly, since
it addresses all the potential causes of metabolic
disruption, it's an eating plan you can count on to get
at the root causes of your weight gain, making it a
better long-term solution for healthy weight loss and
management.
References
http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/545808/
Kagan RS (February 2003). Environ. Health Perspect. 111; (2): 223–5.
Zar S, et al. (July 2005). Scand. J. Gastroenterol. 40 (7): 800–7.
Arroyave-Hernandez CM, et al. Rev Alerg Mex. 2007 Sept-Oct; 54(4):162-8.
Ed. Note: James LaValle is the founding Director of the LaValle Metabolic
Institute, one of the largest integrative medicine practices in the country. Dr.
LaValle is the author of The Metabolic Code Diet: Unleashing the Power of Your
Metabolism for Lasting Weight Loss and Vitality.
