Is There a Connection Between Food Allergies and Mental Health?

[Guest guest]

Free-Reprint Article Written by: Balandra ARNP

See Terms of Reprint Below.

*****************************************************************

*

* This email is being delivered directly to members of the group:

*

*

*

*****************************************************************

We have moved our TERMS OF REPRINT to the end of the article.

Be certain to read our TERMS OF REPRINT and honor our TERMS

OF REPRINT when you use this article. Thank you.

This article has been distributed by:

http://Article-Distribution.com

Helpful Link:

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act - Overview

http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/iclp/dmca1.htm

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Article Title:

==============

Is There a Connection Between Food Allergies and Mental Health?

Article Description:

====================

When it comes to the topic of food allergies, many of us think of

young children and peanut allergies. After all, the

sometimes-fatal reactions of those with peanut allergies are

responsible for warnings on food, in restaurants, and other

establishments where one may come in contact with peanuts or

peanut residue. You should know, though, that food allergies go

well beyond peanuts, young children, and physical reactions.

Additional Article Information:

===============================

925 Words; formatted to 65 Characters per Line

Distribution Date and Time: 2008-09-02 11:00:00

Written By: Balandra ARNP

Copyright: 2008

Contact Email: mailto:info@...

For more free-reprint articles by Balandra ARNP, please visit:

http://www.thePhantomWriters.com/recent/author/valerie-balandra-arnp.html

=============================================

Special Notice For Publishers and Webmasters:

=============================================

If you use this article on your website or in your ezine,

We Want To Know About It. Use the following URL to let

us know where you have used this article, and we will

include a link to your website on thePhantomWriters.com:

http://thephantomwriters.com/notify.php?id=6230 & p=load

HTML Copy-and-Paste and TEXT Copy-and-Paste

Versions Of Article Are Available at:

http://thePhantomWriters.com/free_content/db/b/allergies-and-mental-health.shtml\

#get_code

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Is There a Connection Between Food Allergies and Mental Health?

Copyright © 2008 Balandra ARNP

Integrative Psychiatry

http://www.integrativepsychiatry.net

When it comes to the topic of food allergies, many of us think of

young children and peanut allergies. After all, the

sometimes-fatal reactions of those with peanut allergies are

responsible for warnings on food, in restaurants, and other

establishments where one may come in contact with peanuts or

peanut residue. You should know, though, that food allergies go

well beyond peanuts, young children, and physical reactions.

How many times have we all heard the old adage, “You are what you

eat”? Plenty! Americans, especially, hear this constantly, along

with staggering statistics about how obese and unhealthy we are;

how the children of today are expected to be the first to be

outlived by their parents’ generation!

In addition to health risks such as heart disease, diabetes, and

a host of obesity-related illnesses and complications, have you

ever made a connection between foods and mental illness? Not

alcohol or other drugs, but foods. More specifically, food

allergies may be responsible for a significant number of mental

health related issues!

There are actually four different types of food allergies (IgE or

Type 1, IgG or Type 3, IgM, and IgA) that can have an effect on

your digestive system and, in turn, your mental healthfulness.

Type 1 (IgE) allergies are the type of food allergies that get

the most attention. Occurring in roughly 2-5% of the population,

mainly children, these are the allergies that present in

frightening suddenness.

Hives, stomach cramps, swelling, wheezing, and even anaphylaxis

can all occur with Type 1 food allergies. In fact, in the U.S.

alone, approximately 30,000 people with have food-induced

anaphylaxis in a given year, approximately 150 of those resulting

in death. The deaths are usually of adolescents and young adults.

Because food allergies are not completely understood, and

certainly not always identified before they cause a severe or

even fatal reaction, this past June, the National Institute of

Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) announced new grants of

over $5 million to be devoted to further study. In addition, the

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is planning to contribute

another $2 million, spread over two years, to the same research.

Type 3 (IgG) allergies can show reactive effects up to several

days later, so often the connection between an ailment and the

food(s) eaten isn’t even made by the sufferer or perhaps even any

medical practitioners with whom they consult. Shockingly, 45-60%

of the population suffers from Type 3 food allergies, many of

them never being aware of it.

These Type 3 delayed food reactions have been linked to over 100

different allergic symptoms and 150 different medical diseases.

The mental health issues associated with delayed food allergies

include: ADHD, anxiety, autism, chronic fatigue (which can go

beyond just physical feelings and affect mental health, as well),

depression, dizziness (often associated with anxiety),

hyperactivity, lethargy, PMS, tension, weight gain and weight

loss (both of which tend to have an effect on self-esteem).

So how exactly do these food allergies and reactions contribute

to the mental health issues named above? Quite simply, studies

have already shown a connection between stress, inflammation, and

disease. If you ever eat as a result of feeling stress, your

chances of developing inflammation and food allergies is

increased. This then leads to the effects on mental and physical

health.

The most common food allergies include: tree nuts, peanuts, cow’s

milk, hen’s eggs, soybeans, fish, shellfish, and wheat. For most

of us, many of these are foods we eat frequently. And with a

statistic like up to 60% of Americans have delayed food

allergies, it is cause for concern.

There are different ways to test for food allergies. You can ask

your general practitioner to test, you can ask for a referral to

an allergist, there are even home blood and saliva tests. They

can cost up to several hundred dollars but the investment in your

health is well worth it, even if insurance does not cover them.

Other things you can do at home, to decrease your food reactions,

are: exercise, take appropriate supplements, and avoid foods you

think or know are problematic for you. If you find that

eliminating certain food from your diet increases your wellness,

it’s entirely possible you were suffering from delayed food

allergies!

Some of the most common supplements food allergy sufferers use

include omega 3 fatty acids (DHA and EPA), and iFlora probiotic.

It is always a good idea to check with your family doctor before

adding supplements to your diet, especially if you are on any

other medications, prescribed or otherwise. There can be

interactions and other effects that will end up just adding to

your problems. Better safe than sorry, as they say.

There is a wealth of information available on food allergies,

food allergy testing, and food allergy supplements, on the World

Wide Web. Before you begin searching for products, do your

research and focus on .gov and .org sites. A good way to go about

this is to do a Google search using “inurl:” or “ingov:” without

quotes and followed after the colon by the keywords you want.

This is to help safeguard against promise-anything websites that

won’t deliver the results you need to be truly healthy.

In addition, if you plan to use the web to shop for supplements,

the FDA has some research guidelines to help you. Your health is

your responsibility. You owe it to yourself and anyone depending

on you to get informed and make mental and physical wellness a

priority. Food allergies in you and those you love are worth

looking into.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Balandra ARNP, BC is a board certified psychiatric nurse

practitioner and holistic health practitioner. Her Integrative

Psychiatry practice and website offers lab testing to find the

root cause of each individuals physical and psychological

symptoms. For more information on Food Allergy

Testing visit http://www.integrativepsychiatry.net