Last September I had the opportunity to hear Dr. David Katz speak at Harvard Medical School Coaching in Leadership and Healthcare Conference and he was phenomenal.  He spoke about the obesity epidemic and the need for more awareness of the role nutrition plays in our health and wellness.  He showed the above video which features his three children and is one of his projects with http://www.TurnTheTideFoundation.org.  It seems that these days more and more professionals and celebrities popping up to help shift nutrition for children. When the house is on fire, everyone responds but when the house appears to be stable, we often do nothing.  Right now attacking obesity and the onslaught of Type II diabetes in children is the hot topic.  Dr. Katz, Jaimie Oliver, Michelle Obama, and the list goes on and on.  Not feeding kids flavored milk and cookies at school is cool and all but what about when they get home?  What happens then?  The shift to unjunking our kids is to unjunk ourselves.  Ugh, I know, but it really comes down to there is no easy fix.  So what to do, what to do, what to do about all these food allergies??  Where are they coming from?

In my post What’s Up all the with food allergies? we started the discussion about the energetics of food and health.  I suggested that it could be helpful to see the link between the food we eat, how it makes us feel and whether it brings us towards wellness. In this post I also spoke about silent inflammation and its connection to disease. Food allergies can cause a lot of symptoms that are distressing but not necessarily always take a person down.  Many people are functioning with mid level UGH everyday but keep on keeping.  We have gotten to a point of expecting that these things just happen as a result of getting older, being stressed, having a busy, hectic life.  Well all that stress could be contributing to the UGH but it is quite possible that your diet is playing a large role as well. I previously discussed that doctors have limited, if any, education on nutrition.  This article from the New York Times discusses the limited training that doctors get in this very crucial area of health http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/16/what-doctors-dont-know-about-nutrition/?_r=0.  So it makes sense that food allergies would not be the first thing on their mind when you come in reporting your symptoms.  If we want to help the children of America, first thing is first, we need to start with us older folks, the role models.

You may be wondering…what the heck is gluten and why is it so bad?  Gluten is the protein in wheat that has been extracted and used in the processing of almost all processed food including most condiments. Gluten sensitivity and intolerance has become more widely accepted as a real issue.  Celiac disease or gluten intolerance causes a wide variety of symptoms including, bloating, diarrhea, gas, constipation, arthritis, muscle tension, decreased concentration, and foggy brain.  A blood test ordered by your PCP can determine if you have celiac disease. Gluten sensitivities are tricker as they are not picked up on a blood test.  The tricky issue comes with people who have a sensitivity as this is not picked up on the blood test. I know this first hand.  I asked twice to be tested both times…nada.  I thought that was an awesome heads up to keep eating bread.  That thinking kept me in that mid level ugh which changed when I stopped eating wheat for real. Once I made the change I saw what was really going on. Gluten sensitivity has similar symptoms as celiac disease and is more widely prevalent. Allergies to dairy are another big problem in the American diet. This is due to the steroids and antibiotics fed to most cows.  Dairy congests the body creating mucus which can lead to “sinus infections,” digestive disturbance and acne. More prevalent than lactose intolerance is an allergy to casin which is the protein in milk.  Soy can be challenging as it also is used as a filler in most processed food and is also often genetically modified. Making a commitment to taking time away from foods that are highly allergic can give one a whole lot of information.  The variety of food allergies are no joke.  They are so prevalent because our intake of processed food is increasing all the time.  We have gotten further and further away of knowing and consuming real food. Teaching our children to embrace real food is a wonderful campaign and this can happen by beginning to increase the consumption of vegetables and fruits in our diet on a daily basis.  The more they see adults loving real food, the more likely they are to as well!.

Taking steps to unjunking yourself  is a process that can begin in the simpliest of ways. More and more info is coming out about dangerousness of artificial sweeteners.  Cutting down and eventually eliminating soda from your diet is one huge step forward.  Also watching the consumption of using artificial sweeteners in coffee and other foods.  Adding water into your diet is crucial to increasing energy and overall wellness.  Baby steps forward will help set you on the path towards reaching your full potential. Eat junk, feel like junk. Eating beautiful colorful real food makes you feel beautiful from the inside out.   Enjoy the last bits of gorgeous summer fruits and veggies by shopping at your local farmer’s market.  Nothing tastes better than a local peach freshly picked and juicy!

Have a beautiful, wonderful day and remember Dorothy got home by following the yellow brick road.  It really is that easy.  Just listen to your body, it knows:)

Cheers!