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Food Sensitivity

Food Rotation Diets

Food allergies and sensitivities can wreak havoc with your body. The symptoms can run the gamut from nausea, hives, diarrhea, bloating, weight gain, and mood swings up to and including death. If you are allergic to shellfish or peanuts, you already know about it and know how serious exposure can be. But what if your allergy or sensitivity isn't that obvious? What if you've never had a problem before and now you do?

You might begin to suspect a food sensitivity if you notice that after eating a certain food, you have indigestion, belch more often, have diarrhea or just don't feel quite right. Fatigue, irritability and congestion can also be symptoms of food sensitivity. If this happens, the best course of action is to remove the offending food from your diet for 30 days. Monitor yourself to see if you have those symptoms once you remove the food. Then try adding the food back to your diet, in a small amount, after 30 days. Do the symptoms re-appear? If so, you'll need to eliminate the food again. If it's something you'd like to be able to eat again, extend the removal period to 90 days and try again. If it's something you don't care that much about, then drop it permanently.

For example, if you've been eating eggs every morning and suddenly you start noticing gastro distress or other symptoms every morning after breakfast, you should eliminate eggs from your diet. If you no longer have symptoms after dropping the eggs, you've likely pinpointed the problem. You might be able to add them back to your diet after 30 days but only if you rotate them with other morning protein. Of course, if after a few days of eliminating eggs from your diet you still have the same symptoms, you should investigate further as there might be another offending food.

It is possible to develop a food sensitivity due to over-exposure. Chicken breasts day in and day out can cause a sensitivity to all things chicken including eggs and soup. I personally have to watch my powdered protein exposure as I will develop a sensitivity and if I continue to drink the protein shakes in spite of the symptoms, I can possibly push that protein powder into the never again column.

As with most things in life, not all people will develop sensitivities and some will develop them to such an extent that going on a rotation diet is the only alternative. A rotation diet is one where you divide foods into families and then only eat from each family once every four or seven days.

The websites below go into great detail about rotation diets including offering a sample four day rotation

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Gut Things That I've Learned

If you have a sensitive gut (Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Acid Reflux, allergies or things more serious), you know that it's difficult if not impossible to train when you are in the middle of an episode or outbreak or suffering symptoms. Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and constipation can really take the heat out of your fire.

Here are some things that I've learned over the past two or three years as I've struggled to get a handle on my IBS. Your mileage may vary.

• Talk to your doctor. If your doctor's approach isn't working, if you are still experiencing symptoms regardless of the doctor's approach, request (demand) a referral to a gastroenterologist. I was very ill for several months (sick every single day and at the end I was subsisting on saltine crackers and a little cheese), before I finally got in to see my gastro. He immediately put me on several meds that controlled my symptoms and I began to see some relief. Then he ran me through tests, none of which was enjoyable or pretty, but they were necessary to eliminate other more serious conditions. Do the tests.

• Get on a gut-healing protocol including daily glutamine supplementation and a probiotic like Primadophilus.

• I take Prevacid twice a day for my acid reflux. I train after work but before dinner. On normal days, I take the evening Prevacid right after the workout so that a full 30 minutes pass before dinner. But if I'm suffering pains, indigestion, or burping during the afternoon, I'll pop that Prevacid 30 minutes before my workout. Symptoms clear, workout is good, and I'm still good for dinner later.

• Keep a written list on the refrigerator of things that bother you. If it's something you really like, stop eating it for 30 days and then slowly start adding back a small amount and watch for symptoms. Only add back one bothersome food at a time. If it still bothers you, try dropping it for 60 or 90 days. You might just have to drop it entirely.

• Preservatives are evil. I've talked to other IBS sufferers and this seems to be a commonality. Preservatives in canned and bottled foods can cause severe digestive stress. Canned soup is a huge no-no for me.

• You might not be able to adhere to the latest, greatest diet or nutrition mandates. Personally, after two painful experiements, I had to admit that I cannot do very low carb. My gut requires the soft, yielding density of bread, rice, and pasta in order to do what it's supposed to do without me spending hours every day in the toilet or bent double with cramps. I try to make good choices with my carbs, however, by choosing fresh baked bakery whole wheat bread without preservatives and brown rice. I limit pasta to once every couple of weeks.

• Only you know your body.

• If you are having an outbreak or episode, be gentle to yourself.

• Check out HelpforIBS.com. Heather has a wonderful site, full of information that will help you figure out what foods to avoid as well as what foods to eat during a flare-up to soothe your gut and get you back in the gym.