What People With Food Allergies Endure and How Zeolite Can Help

Can Zeolite help people with allergies?

Imagine having to worry about every bite of food. Imagine having to question the contents of every food item. Imagine that buffets, parties, family reunions, holiday get-togethers and potlucks could be nightmarish minefields of food allergies.

That’s what people with food allergies go through. They can’t just sit down at a meal they didn’t prepare and enjoy it. They have to worry that the seemingly innocent ingredients in that meal might make them sick with diarrhea, bloating, abdominal pain, discomfort, even flu-like symptoms.

Dr. Stephen Wangen, a board certified naturopathic doctor licensed in the state of Washington, founder and Chief Medical Officer of the IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) Center in Seattle, is a specialist in food allergies, gluten (wheat) intolerance and digestive disorders. He has firsthand experience too, as he once suffered from IBS and celiac disease, a disorder caused by gluten intolerance.

In a phone interview with the News, Wangen explained that IBS is not an allergy, but that food allergies are a major trigger of IBS.

“There are several hundred causes of IBS,” said Wangen, “but they break down into two categories: Food allergies and intolerances; and problems with intestinal bacteria, yeast/candida or parasites. With a food allergy, there’s an immune reaction. Your immune system is attacking the food.”

Wangen said gluten and dairy intolerances are common and most people don’t realize that wheat and dairy products are in nearly every processed food, not just in the obvious ones such as bread and milk.

For example, dairy’s two key components are whey and casein, found in everything from baked goods and soups to margarine and coffee. Even non-dairy coffee creamer contains casein. And soy sauce contains wheat. Some are allergic to nuts, often peanuts, or eggs, yeast, coffee, even sugar.

Most food allergy sufferers don’t even know they’re allergic. It’s a complicated diagnosis, said Wangen, and specialized tests are required.

“You can actually test with a blood test that looks at the antibodies,” said Wangen, “not the skin-prick test, because with that, you’re not putting food on your skin. “Many people have no idea that they have a food allergy. They think an allergy involves their lips or eyes swelling, or hives, etc. But more often, food allergies cause other reactions: Fatigue, headaches, constipation, heartburn.”

To make things more complicated, he said, it can be difficult to relate the food to the problem because it tends to come and go, especially when foods are combined in processing, as often happens. But how can humans be allergic to natural foods they’ve consumed for centuries?

“There are genetic causes and evolutionary causes,” explained Wangen. “Comparatively suddenly [as a species], we switched to milking cows and raising wheat. We have created an artificial food chain for ourselves. It doesn’t mean these foods are bad, but that we haven’t developed the genetic disposition for them.”

As for eating out and partaking in potlucks and such, Wangen advised caution and knowledge.

“If you know you have a problem with food, it makes it challenging to avoid the temptation. Stay educated as to what’s in all these foods,” he said.

He added that “rich” foods — cookies, buttery foods, sweets — tend to be high in common allergens. When given the choice, it’s a good idea to stick to the vegetables, rice, meat and potatoes. But beware of what’s added to or put atop those … gravy, for example, is made with milk and flour, and vegetables are often topped with butter or cheese sauce.

If one knows one’s host, it’s often better to explain ahead of time that the cream sauce and the dinner rolls are off-limits.

“You don’t want them to take it personally and get insulted because of their hard work,” Wangen said. “But for your own comfort level, explain that your doctor said you can’t eat that, or this food makes you sick, but add that you really appreciate all the trouble they went to to prepare the meal. Ask, ‘Can I bring something to share with everybody that I can eat?’ Or just eat what you can and don’t eat what you can’t.”

If all else fails, advised Wangen, eat ahead of time, take along a snack or eat afterward. “Go, socialize,” he said. “Don’t be a stick-in-the-mud. But just make it work for you.”

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