Food Allergies: Disease in Disguise

In Office Seminar - Register NOW!

Do you suffer from unexplained fatigue, migraines, digestive problems, arthritis, depression or weight gain? Have you tried conventional approaches to treatment with limited success? Did you ever stop to think that your symptom may be the result of an allergy?! Well, it's true! In fact, an allergy can show up as almost any symptom, and if left untreated, it may lead to serious degenerative disease.

Join Melissa Majumdar, Registered Dietitian, as she helps to uncover the root cause of your health concerns by exploring what an allergy is and how it affects the body. She will explore why allergies are so common and how they relate to weight gain, depression, insomnia, digestion, addiction and body chemistry. You will walk away with valuable tools for effectively treating undiagnosed allergies to achieve optimal health! You don't want to miss this valuable seminar!

We look forward to seeing you all for the May 20th lecture on " Allergies: Disease in Disguise!"

Allergies: Disease in Disguise

Learn how to uncover the root cause of your unexplained health concerns. Determine if your well-being is being affected by an allergy in disguise! This seminar will cover:

1. The History of Allergy
2. New Definitions of Allergy
3. How to Recognize an Allergy and its Causes
4. The Secret Life of an Allergen
5. The Symptoms of Allergy
5. Addiction and Allergy
6. Digestion - The Vital Link
7. Fats, Oils and Allergy
8. Additives and Allergy
9. Testing for Hidden Allergies
10. Effective Treatment Approaches for Allergies

Where and When:
EB Nutrition, LLC
6319 Executive Blvd.
Rockville, MD 20850
May 20, 2010
6:45 p.m.

Living Without

The magazine Living Without provides a magnitude of wonderful information for anyone with food allergies or food sensitivities. They always offer wonderful recipes and allergen-free product suggestions - you can even sign up for weekly emailed recipes. Monthly articles are a great resource as well. Living with food allergies can be difficult but the authors give great tips and share experiences. Check out past issues online!

Allergy Resource

If you have food allergies or sensitivities, you know the struggle of eating outside the home. Waiters and waitresses often do not understand the repercussions of serving you a contaminated meal. With an increase in allergies in children and recent developments in diagnoses of Celiac Disease, some restaurants are using "allergic people" as their niche market. 62% of eating establishments consider allergen-free and gluten-free to be a growing, profitable market. It makes sense. If a customer is looking for a safe restaurant to dine at and has a positive experience, they are more likely to be repeat customers. Restaurants are taking advantage of the niche market to wow diners. Look into the following restaurants for specialty menu items:

• 5 & Diner
• 99 Restaurant
• Adobo Grill/da Vinci
• Aurelio's Pizza
• Austin Grill
• Beau Jo's Pizza
• Biaggi's Ristorante Italiano
• Bonefish Grill
• Boston Market
• Bugaboo Creek Steakhouse
• Burtons Grill
• Carion's Italian Grill
• Carraba's Italian Grill
• Charlie Brown's Steakhouse
• Cheeseburger in Paradise
• Claim Jumper
• First Watch
• Fleming's
  
• Garlic Jim's Famous Gourmet Pizza
• Kona Grill
• Lee Roy Semlon's
• Legal Seafood
• Maggiano's Little Italy
• Mitchell's Fish Market
• Outback Steakhouse
• PF Chang's China Bistro
• Picazzo's
• Pizza Fusion
• Red Robin
• Romano's Macaroni Grill
• Ted's Montana Grill
• Thaifoon, Taste of Asia
• The Elephant Walk
• Timber Lodge Steakhouse
• Uno Chicago Grill
• Weber Grill
• Wendy's
• White Chocolate Grill
• Wildfire
• Z'Tejas Southwestern Grill

Italicized restaurants are within Maryland! Check out some of the other restaurants while travelling.

The Buzz on Allergies

By Melissa Bosslet, RD, LN, CPT

Time Magazine published an article last week on allergies, specifically food allergies. Many of you have probably noticed the increase in allergies over the last generation. We never worried about sending our kids to school with a good old PB & J before and we definitely expected a pack of peanuts during air travel. These days there are peanut free zones in planes and some school classrooms have outright banned peanuts.

The article discusses an increase in IgE antibody allergies. These are the allergies that create a histamine response, or pose a threat of anaphylactic shock. There has also been a rise in the harder to diagnose IgG antibodies, creating a delayed response. Symptoms such as headache, frequent infection, stomach pain, sinuses, and joint pain often do not surface for 24 to 48 hours later, making it hard to realize that a food was the culprit. These antibodies are a reaction of the digestive system compared to an immune reaction of the IgE antibodies. EB Nutrition tests for these antibodies through ImmunoLabs. The test panel checks for antibodies for 115 foods. Bercause 95% of the population is sensitive or intolerant to atleast one food or food family, Immunolabs will refund the test cost if the results are completetly negative. The most common allergens I've noticed with this panel are yeast, wheat, cow's milk, soy, nuts, and garlic.

Why the increase in allergies recently? There are a few speculative hypotheses. The most probable explanation is termed the hygiene hypothesis. We have become too clean. We treat conditions with antibiotics, prevent disease with immunization, kill germs with antmicrobial soap, etc. Our bodies end up producing antibodies for food instead because it has no foreign invaders to attack.

Another hypothesis points the finger at early exposure to certain foods, even in utero or through breast milk. On the other hand, one study showed that children who ate wheat, one of the most common allergens, before 6 months of age were less likely to develop an allergy. There is also argument for both sides of the birth process - C sections cause more allergies vs. vaginal births see an increase in allergies. Other researchers believe that an increase consumption of vegetable oils has led to more allergies.

Personally, I side with the hygeine hypothesis but think our food supply also has a lot to do with it. Our food is a lot more processed and chemically treated these days, so allergic reactions are the body's way of defending against those foreign substances. I also think that a lof of these allergies existed in previous generations and just went undiagnosed. We now have the technology to determine why our stomach might hurt after eating pasta or why we have chronic sinus infections. This hypothesis corresponds to the increase diagnosis of Celiac's disease in the last few years.