“What is food to one person, may be bitter poison to others.” - Lucretius
Do you sometimes feel that there’s too much information available these days on how to stay healthy or get better if you are ill? It can be so overwhelming and confusing that it’s enough to make your head explode several times over. How do you decide between one “healthy” option and another? Are they all really healthy for YOU?
I’m the queen of health strategies, having tried just about everything under the sun. Eventually, I discovered that some very, very “good” things, are very, very bad for me. Still, inculcated with so many strong concepts about what is “good,” it took me a very long time to stop harming myself with a number of “healthy” foods. I just couldn’t quite believe that eating vegetables could be bad for me. Finally, it became painfully obvious.
Here are two examples to illustrate the point.
Natural food chemicals
It may be mind-boggling for you to learn that fruits and vegetables contain a wide variety of naturally occurring chemicals for the purpose of protecting themselves from predators. These are not additives or synthetic chemicals applied to the produce, but the natural chemical structures of the plants themselves. Most people can process these natural chemicals without a problem. However, a segment of the population has trouble with one or more of these substances due to an altered biochemical process in the body. When not processed efficiently, these compounds can build up in the body and initiate a range of symptoms. This is called “food intolerance” and is different than classic IgE mediated food allergy, although some compounds can contribute to the release of histamine in the body thereby contributing to allergy-like symptoms.
Allergists at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital Allergy Unit in Australia explain how food intolerances are not immune-related, but rather:
“They are triggered by food chemicals which cause reactions by irritating nerve endings in different parts of the body, rather in the way that certain drugs can cause side-effects in sensitive people.”
These reactions are dose dependent, meaning they depend upon the amount of the substance that enters and accumulates in your body. Symptoms will not necessarily occur after eating a particular food once, although they might if you have developed severe intolerance, but rather when your threshold is reached. This makes food intolerances confusing and difficult to evaluate. The Allergy Unit goes on to explain:
“…Some people are born with a sensitive constitution and react more readily to food chemicals than others. The tendency is probably inherited, but environmental triggers — a sudden change of diet, a bad food or drug reaction, a nasty viral infection (for example, gastroenteritis, glandular fever) — can bring on symptoms at any age by altering the way the body reacts to food chemicals.”
….It’s important to realize that the natural chemicals in many ‘healthy’ foods can be just as much of a problem for sensitive people as the ‘artificial’ ones used as food additives.”
So you may be able to eat anything and everything for a good part of your life and then gradually or even suddenly food intolerances appear. Due to the dose dependent nature of food intolerance, you may be able to tolerate a food one day, but not the next when you ate a larger amount or several foods containing the same food chemical. You have symptoms, but you are scratching your head without a clue as to what might be triggering them. Your doctor can’t figure it out either.
The culprits
What are these potentially nasty substances that occur in seemingly healthful foods like broccoli, spinach, tomatoes, nectarines, kiwis, grapes, and the list goes on and on? This is a list of some, but not all of them.
- salicylates
- amines, which includes histamine
- oxalate
- sulfites
- free glutamates
- aspartate
- benzoates
- sorbates
- nightshades
These compounds can trigger symptoms like headaches and migraines, muscle and/or joint pain, mouth ulcers, nausea, stomach pain, bowel irritation, hives, eczema, other skin rashes, asthma, and others. Behavioral problems in children can be aggravated by natural food chemicals.
Most “healthy” fruits and vegetables send me into a spiral of pain and distress, and I’ve now met many others who experience the same untoward effects.
Janice Vickerstaff Joneja, Ph.D., RD. explains food intolerances in great detail in her book Dealing with Food Allergies: A Practical Guide to Detecting Culprit Foods and Eating a Healthy, Enjoyable Diet (2003 edition). She outlines a number of special diets for eliminating one or more of the offending substances. For example, the Histamine Restricted Diet details which foods include histamines and which ones will trigger histamine release in the body. Joneja recommends an elimination diet as the best method for detecting compounds that may be causing problems for you. This is not a classic elimination diet that involves rotating foods by food family, but rather a diet low in natural food chemicals.
Raw food
There are many proponents singing the praises of a raw food diet, but is it the right approach for everyone?
In traditional medical systems like Ayurveda and Chinese Medicine, individuals are seen as having a basic constitution. Your constitution explains a great deal about your strengths and weaknesses physically, emotionally, and mentally. Thus knowing your constitution provides invaluable information about the best foods, activities, and environments for you. For example, in Ayurveda there are three basic constitutions as well as combinations of the three. One’s constitution can also be impacted by illness, adding another layer of complexity. Of the three constitutions, people with a predominantly Pitta constitution are able to handle raw foods far better than those with either a Vata or Kapha constitution. A raw foods diet may be a perfect fit if you are a Pitta, but it could trigger a digestive nightmare for a VATA.
The main lesson
This main lesson is a simple one. Your will only find the right health strategy by listening to your very own body. While it’s always positive to be receptive to new ideas about health, ultimately you are the one that knows yourself best. Tune in and follow the wisdom of your own body rather than someone else’s health agenda.
Related reading
- Dealing with Food Allergies: A Practical Guide to Detecting Culprit Foods and Eating a Healthy, Enjoyable Diet (2003 edition), Janice Vickerstaff Joneja
- Prakriti, Your Ayurvedic Constitution, Robert Svoboda
- Plant Poisons and Rotten Stuff - an overview of the Failsafe Diet
- MSG Truth – All about free glutamates from a former Food Process Engineer and Scientist
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I thought that fruits and vegetables are very healthy and have no harmful compounds. I eat lots of broccoli because of the many benefits to our body but I guess I have to make it minimal.
Walter, Please don’t stop eating broccoli on account of this article! Fruits and vegetables are very healthy for most people, but SOME people have trouble with them. The point I was trying to convey is the importance of tuning in and listening to your own body. I’m not saying that broccoli is bad. Most people can process these compounds without any trouble at all. Apologies if what I wrote was confusing. I hope you are well and that your wonderful blog is thriving.
Hi
Once again very intresting reading..There is always something new to learn. There are so many ways and articles about what to eat or not, LCHF dietes, Do not eat to much of fruit they said, too much of sugar in. I have learn since I was a child one apple a’day keeps the doctor away.
I have also learn that green vegetables if you have medecine for the blood like Varan /I do not know if the English name is right/, then the green vegetables can be problems….
PS Very nice little Lotus Flower for your blog!
Have nice day!
Thanks for your comment, Kojiki. We are all learning together! There are so many different opinions and ‘research’ about diet alone, as you point out. The arguments all sound very logical and rationale. The only way seems for us to find our own way. Hope you have a beautiful day too.
Hi Sandra Lee,
I too love the tiny lotus flower. It’s the perfect color too.
I am aware of most of the excellent information you have provided. Your accurate summarize is so helpful to me. Most particularly I approve of “The Main lesson”.
In my own case keep a brief record of whet I eat and how I think it affects me. I love nightshades but have to be very cautious to eat only small quantities, and not to eat more than one nightshade like tomatoes or potatoes in any single day. However, when it comes to spinach, kale and broccoli I don’t have to be as cautious.
I’m really enjoying your blog.
Bests wishes always,
TiTi
Time Thief, The simple food diary you mention is a great idea for helping to see more clearly the effects of food on our well being. It’s inspiring to see how well you know yourself and your body and act accordance with this self-wisdom. It’s truly the only way to go. I’m glad your food options are not so limited. It seems insane with how few foods I eat, but I am having a relapse of gut problems these past weeks. I’m going to try to do an elimination diet, which has never been easy for me, to see if I can quell the tide. It makes me happy you are enjoying my blog.
I appreciate your comments.
Sandra, I have tried so many different diets too. I hope this does not come out wrong but I am just curious: do you believe in the Ayurveda types of people and the recommended types of diet/food for each type? I took the test once, pressured by my dear friend, and when it was asking the colors of my eyes, skin and hair, I had to laugh.I could not see how that relates to what my body type needs….I also LOVE raw foods but cannot be a complete 100% raw foodist…..!!
Farnoosh, This is a great question. Yes, I have found the Ayruvedic system of medicine and body constitution to be very illuminating. However, it’s an ancient system of ‘medicine’ and, as always, there’s a lot to learn and understand. There are plenty of online tests that claim to tell you your constitutional type, but it’s not so easy to ascertain someone’s type by just taking a quick, simple test. If there’s illness, that can provide an additional layer of complexity making it more difficult to see your true type and the best way to treat. Also, most of us are mixed types and therefore are expressing a mix of constitutions. We are still each unique even if there are constitutional types as a basis. I’ve found it an extremely helpful system and easier to understand the Chinese system of medicine, although I have a naturally tendency toward the latter. Robert Svoboda’s book on constitutional types is one of the best I’ve read. Robert Svoboda was the first westerner to become an Ayurvedic doctor. I understand why some of the questions may seem silly to you! Be assured that your hair color (etc.) is only one among other indicators of your type, and it’s not so cut and dried. I would place some bets that you have quite a lot of Pitta in your constitution due to your wonderful intensity and passion! I have had several friends who went to Ayurvedic clinics for treatment and found it very rejuvenating. But each to their own, we are all different and need to find what resonates and fits for our self. Thanks for your comment.
P. S. BTW, even though PITTAS can generally handle more raw foods, that doesn’t mean they should eat a 100% raw foods diet by any means. Raw foods are not eaten so commonly in India, the home to Ayurveda. Plus, if there are digestive issues that needs to be taken into consideration.