The Allergy Solution: Unlock the Surprising, Hidden Truth about Why You Are Sick and How to Get Well

I have seen dramatic, life-changing results when people remove even just one thing—food or beverage—from their routines. Asthma improves. Headaches disappear. Hard-to-lose pounds melt away. Joint pain vanishes. Digestion becomes easy. Skin stops itching. Depression is lifted. Focus, mood, energy all improve. And that is just the beginning of the list of symptoms that can improve when a problem food is taken off the menu.

As we’ve seen, allergic reactions are self-amplifying chain reactions in which your immune system amplifies the effect of a trigger. One way to think about it is that your body is overreacting to a trigger. With immune system amplification, a tiny trigger can have a big effect. That’s why, in my experience, allergy elimination diets that simply remove a trigger can be so powerful and effective in such a short period of time.

But it’s not the same triggers for everybody. That’s what I’ve learned while applying the science in The Allergy Solution to help so many of my patients with their hidden allergies.

For some people, the problematic food is dairy. For some people it’s wheat or corn or soy or peanuts or wine. For other people it could be one (or more than one) of any number of different foods.

You’ve already used the tools in Chapter 4 to gain a better understanding of your allergic symptoms. Now comes the next step in the process of reversing allergy and restoring your health: identifying and eliminating your problem foods. As you heal, your need for dietary restriction may diminish. But you can’t heal if you ignore the problem food or beverage. I am not saying that once you’re well you’ll be able to eat the kinds of nutrient-depleted, inflammation-promoting junk foods that are responsible for so much ill health, but that you’ll be able eat a wide variety of delicious, nutritious whole foods.

So how can you discover your problem foods? I have developed a method called the Three-Day Power Wash that is based on my clinical experience and research into nutrition science. It’s a first step toward discovering hidden intolerance to foods.

The Three-Day Power Wash is not meant to be an ongoing maintenance diet. That’s why I call it the Power Wash. It’s the first stage of a three-stage process, in which you “clear the tracks” by cleansing your body and reducing the most common allergenic foods. Once cleansed, you’ll move on to the second stage, the Re-entry Food Challenge, and reintroduce foods one at a time to determine which ones you need to avoid. In the third stage, you’ll discover the Immune Balance Diet: a delicious, diverse eating plan, designed to support your immune system and sustain your well-being, that you can follow for as long as you like.

For most of us, everyday life has become hectic, filled with so many things it can be hard for any one thing to stand out. The same goes for our eating: We grab quick bites on the go and push nutrition to the edges of our busy lives. Eating in something of a random manner, we may have a hard time telling what effect any one food has on us.

Detoxification is a process that your body performs spontaneously and continuously. It’s driven by enzymes in your liver, kidneys, lungs, skin, and intestines. The food you eat affects the natural detox process in three important ways:

If you’ve had an allergic reaction to one of the foods included in the Power Wash, don’t eat it. There is no food that someone hasn’t had an allergic reaction to. Always avoid allergens.

If you are allergic to metals like nickel, you won’t be ready for the Power Wash until you overcome your nickel allergy. (Learn more about nickel in food at www.drgalland.com.) If you are allergic to latex or to birch pollen, do not include avocado in your Smoothie. Consult your doctor before starting the Power Wash or acting on any of the information presented in The Allergy Solution.

IMMUNE BALANCE SMOOTHIE

Velvety, creamy, and delicious, this smoothie packs a ton of nutrients in one easy-to-sip beverage. The vegetables simply swirl away into the fruit and avocado, and the result is pure heaven, with just a touch of natural sweetness.

1 cup strawberries, fresh or frozen

1 medium avocado, peeled, with the pit removed

1 cup chopped arugula or baby arugula

½ head romaine lettuce, chopped (6 leaves)

2 tablespoons freshly ground chia seeds

1 cup green tea, brewed for 5 minutes, added hot

1 medium banana, if desired

Place the fruit in a blender and layer the vegetables on top. Add the chia seeds, pour in the green tea, and blend until the mixture is velvety smooth. If you refrigerate it after blending, the smoothie becomes thicker and creamier. Chia seeds are an excellent source of fiber and omega-3 fats.

Note: If you have latex or birch pollen allergy, do not include avocado. Avocados may provoke allergic reactions in people with latex or birch pollen allergy. If you have latex allergy, do not include a banana, as bananas may also cross-react with latex. If you are allergic to strawberries, leave them out. In that case, if you are not allergic to blueberries, you may substitute blueberries. If you are allergic to any ingredient, please leave it out.

IMMUNE BALANCE SOUP

This is a soul-satisfying soup with a delightful aroma, the kind that brings you back to your grandma’s kitchen. The flavors of the vegetables blend to create a delicious broth. This soup is so mellow you can enjoy a big mug or bowl any time of day or night, and it’s an excellent and tasty way to get the nutrients that support healthy immune function. It gives you an abundance of amazing vegetables in an easy-to-make and easy-to-eat meal—four servings of vegetables per large mug. It’s rich in anti-inflammatory carotenoids and flavonoids.

I am excited to share with you one of the Galland family’s favorite recipes, a modern classic that combines the art of cooking with the amazing science of nutrition. Once you start making it, everyone will think you took a class at a healthy cooking school.

3 cups sliced carrots

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 cup chopped parsley (you can include the stems)

2 cups chopped green onions (green parts only)

12 ounces broccoli, cut up small (you can include the tender part of the stalks)

3 ounces baby kale, chopped

1 teaspoon turmeric powder

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (or more to taste; black pepper enhances absorption of the awesome anti-inflammatory flavonoids contained in turmeric)

Salt to taste

1 tablespoon shredded daikon radish, added just before serving

Sauté the carrots in the olive oil for 10 minutes, then add the other vegetables and spices. Heat and stir for 1 minute, then add 12 cups of water and bring the mixture to a boil, stirring as needed. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

Just before eating, add one tablespoon of freshly shredded daikon radish per serving. Uncooked daikon contains a very special enzyme called myrosinase, which enhances the nutritional value of cooked broccoli. (It’s the best-kept secret in nutrition, and a way to make broccoli even healthier, which sounds pretty amazing.) Or, if you like, allow the soup to cool and puree it to a creamy consistency, then reheat it before serving. The daikon should always be added just before eating.

Note: If you are allergic to any ingredient, please leave it out.

If you have any kind of problem with your kidneys, if you have a personal or family history of kidney stones, or if you suffer from chronic vulvar pain or bladder discomfort, check with your doctor before increasing your consumption of kale and parsley, as dietary oxalates may adversely affect some people with those disorders.

ORGANIC OOLONG TEA

Tea has been used as a medicinal beverage for over 3,000 years. Now modern science has discovered that a special type of tea, oolong, may offer unique anti-allergic benefits.

Oolong tea is made from partially fermented tea leaves, giving it a distinctive mellow flavor. Chinese oolong is aged longer than Formosan oolong.

Tea leaves are rich in natural compounds called catechins, which are a family of flavonoids. Fermentation changes the nature of the catechins, which alters the physiological effects of tea drinking.

In laboratory studies, the catechins found in oolong tea were shown to inhibit allergic reactions in rats and were more potent than those found in green tea. In a clinical trial done in Japan, people with allergic eczema that had not improved with medication were given oolong tea to drink for six months. While drinking the oolong tea, the majority of the people in the study experienced a moderate to marked improvement in eczema within one month, with benefits being first noticeable after one to two weeks.

The amount used was 10 grams of tea leaves, equivalent to about three teaspoons of dried leaves or four tea bags, brewed in boiling water for five minutes. According to the Japanese study, the right amount of tea is four cups a day. Do not exceed this amount per day.

To ensure that your tea has a high level of catechins extracted from the leaves, brew the tea in boiling water for five minutes. If the tea is too strong, boil it in a small amount of water and dilute with plain hot water to the desired concentration.

To reduce the amount of caffeine in your tea, first steep the tea leaves in hot water for 30 seconds and discard the water. Then add fresh water and boil for five minutes. Most of the caffeine will be extracted in the initial waste water. Most of the catechins will remain in your tea.

Note: If you are allergic to tea, please do not drink tea. You may have plain hot water, a common beverage in China and Japan.

Getting the Most out of the Power Wash

The Power Wash works well over a three-day weekend. You can start it Friday morning and move on to Stage 2, Re-entry, on Monday. With Re-entry, you begin introducing new foods in a structured sequence so you can identify those that you should avoid.

I want to give you a few key guidelines to help you make this process work.

Track Your Symptoms

As with the Allergy Solution Checklist of Symptoms that you worked through in Chapter 4, tracking your symptoms is essential to understanding the information the Power Wash can give you. Is it headache, itching, rash, wheezing, cough, pain, palpitations, brain fog, diarrhea, bloating, swelling, or any of a hundred other symptoms? Track the symptoms that have been bothering you the most, but also pay attention to minor symptoms that you identified when completing the symptoms checklist. Consult your doctor, who can help you decide which symptoms are most important.

Keep a Journal

For each symptom you’re tracking, establish a baseline: how severe is it on a scale of 0 to 10? Then keep a daily record of how you experience this symptom over the course of the Power Wash, along with a record of what you’re eating. Your symptoms may not improve at first during the Power Wash. In fact, some of them may get worse before they get better. That’s usually a good sign. Improvement may take a week or more and only occur during Re-entry.

Watch Out for a Withdrawal Reaction

People with food allergies are sometimes physically addicted to those foods and may experience a withdrawal reaction. They may feel better when they eat the allergic food and start to feel worse when they avoid it. The most substantial withdrawal reactions I’ve encountered came early on, long before I developed the Power Wash, when I first started exploring the role of food allergy in chronic illness. These are extreme stories, but they illustrate the effects of the addiction/withdrawal phenomenon in hidden food allergy. You should consult your doctor if you experience a withdrawal reaction.

A Withdrawal Reaction

Emily, a schoolteacher in her 50s, had an arthritis flare-up so severe she needed hospitalization. Her hands, feet, elbows, and knees were so swollen and painful that she could barely move. I strongly suspected food allergy as the underlying cause, because her flare-up occurred during Christmas break after she had visited family in different nearby towns and eaten far more food than she normally did.

Because Emily was in the hospital, I placed her on a prescription elemental diet for the Power Wash elimination phase. An elemental diet is a liquid formula made up of amino acids, vitamins, and minerals. There are no food proteins. On the third day of elimination, Emily’s pain got worse than ever and she developed a fever of 101 degrees. I treated her symptoms to get her through the night, and the next day all her pain and joint swelling disappeared. When she left the hospital the day after, she was symptom-free on no medication.

Emily’s case is a dramatic example of a withdrawal reaction. This is what can happen with an elimination diet like the Power Wash that removes allergic triggers.

Staying Stable for Two Weeks

Try to maintain a stable environment for two weeks while you’re doing the Power Wash and Re-entry. This may be challenging because you don’t live in a research laboratory; you live in a world where there are variables you can’t control. If possible try to eat out as little as possible, if at all. Don’t decide to clean out your attic or take a trip or start a new job while you’re doing this. Make sure your kitchen is well stocked with the right foods, which you’ll learn more about as I take you through the Re-entry phase and the Immune Balance Diet in the next two chapters.

Support Your Power Wash Detox

Since you are making the effort to detox and clean your body, I encourage you strongly not to smoke or use tobacco products during this period. In fact, if you smoke, this would be the perfect time for you to quit for good, which would be the best thing.

Alcohol is a toxin, so please avoid alcohol during the Power Wash to help minimize toxins in your body.

Beyond Allergy—Foods That You May Need to Avoid

Now that we’ve drilled down into food allergy, I would like to look at the broader issue of why you may need to avoid certain foods. In addition to allergy, there are a few different ways in which foods and beverages can make you feel worse. For example, you may have an adverse metabolic reaction to a food or beverage. Another reason could be the way food interacts with the microbes in your gut.

Adverse Metabolic Reactions to Sugar or Coffee

There are foods that, for some people, lead to an adverse metabolic reaction, and for that reason they need to be avoided. Two very common examples are 1) sugar and sweets and 2) the caffeine in coffee.

Sugar and Sweets

Many people can’t tolerate sugar or sweets. When they consume these, their blood sugar rises too quickly and then crashes, leaving them fatigued, shaky, and sweaty. This is called hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar, and it’s caused by insulin, a hormone that is secreted when people consume a meal that’s high in sugar. This is not an allergic reaction, it’s a hormonal reaction.

Coffee

Lattes, cappuccinos, espressos. It seems that the whole world is walking around with a cup of coffee. But not everyone. There are many people who just can’t tolerate coffee. For some people the caffeine in coffee can make them feel uncomfortably sped up and anxious and interfere with sleep. Sometimes they are able to drink tea without issues, but others need to avoid caffeine in any form. As important as they are, however, metabolic responses to diet change are different from food allergy.

What’s Going On in Your Gut Can Make Some Foods a Problem

From the moment you start chewing and swallowing, your body begins to process and interact with what you are eating. As the food you consume continues along your lengthy digestive tract, it enters into an incredibly crowded new world where a variety of gut microbes play a major role, one that is sometimes helpful but other times causes problems. Common foods and beverages like milk, fruit, juice, vegetables, and wheat may interact with the microbes in your gut, leading to a variety of symptoms.

Milk

If you suffer from a condition called lactose intolerance, drinking milk may cause abdominal cramps, bloating, gas, and diarrhea. The reason: to be absorbed from your intestinal tract, milk sugar, or lactose, must first be digested to its component parts, which are simpler sugars called glucose and galactose.

Your intestines quickly absorb glucose and galactose but cannot absorb lactose. If you lack the enzyme needed for breaking lactose down into glucose and galactose, the undigested lactose reaches your large intestine, where it is fermented by intestinal bacteria to produce acids that irritate your gut. This fermentation can lead to the abdominal symptoms I noted above.

Fruit and Juice

With another common condition called fructose malabsorption, some people get fermentation in the gut if they eat fruits that are high in fructose, which is often called “fruit sugar.” Humans have a limited ability to absorb fructose, and it varies greatly from person to person. Once you exceed your body’s quota, any fructose you eat will quite likely be fermented in your large intestine. If you have fructose malabsorption, fruit juices and dried fruit of any kind can rapidly overload your gut’s ability to handle fructose. Apples and pears tend to be the most problematic whole fruits.

Vegetables and Wheat

Wheat and some vegetables contain polymers of fructose called fructans. For some people, eating high-fructan foods can contribute to the symptoms of fructose malabsorption.

Most of the patients I see who have digestive complaints when they eat wheat actually suffer from fructose malabsorption. In their cases, we have determined that they are not allergic to wheat and are not sensitive to gluten, which is a major wheat protein. For them the problem is not with the proteins found in wheat but with fructans, which are carbohydrates.

The profound interaction between your diet and your gut microbes is at the cutting edge of nutrition research. During my medical career I have been a leading pioneer in applying this new knowledge of the gut microbiome to clinical practice and teaching other doctors about this in my writing and lecturing. I’m delighted to see mainstream medicine finally recognize its importance.

These interactions are not allergic. But because diet can change the nature of your gut microbes, which in turn influence your immune system, I’ve applied the profound insights of this cutting-edge research on gut microbes and health to the Allergy Solution program. You’ll read more about what’s going on in your gut—and how it can affect you—in Chapter 14.

Conclusion

This chapter served up a special tea, smoothie, and soup that I created to help detoxify the body and supply it with plant-based nutrients that help support the balance of the immune system. I enjoy preparing these recipes in my kitchen, getting all the wonderful vegetables out on the counter and ready for the soup pot and blender! It is a great way to put that kale, broccoli, carrots, green onion, parsley, and other nutrient-rich ingredients to use.

I explained that detox enzymes in your digestive system, liver, and other organs help rid the body of toxins and that vitamins, minerals, and amino acids from food support the work of these enzymes.

I also outlined some non-allergy reasons why you might need to avoid certain foods. For a variety of reasons that I touched upon in this chapter, things like sugar, coffee, wheat, milk, fruit, juice, or vegetables may need to be avoided because they don’t work in harmony with your body.

Before starting on the Three-Day Power Wash, have your doctor take a look at the recipes and instructions and get his or her professional advice on whether or not this program is appropriate for you.