Ultimately, this inflammation spills over into other tissues, just as it does with sinus allergies. Since no body tissue works well when inflamed, food allergies end up undermining the function of other organ systems beyond the gut. In addition, since the gut is such a big organ, creating all of this inflammation requires a lot of energy and resources. The resources that get used up to maintain all of this inflammation have to get pulled away from other tissues and organs, further impairing their function. In this way, food allergies have a deleterious effect on almost every organ system in the body.

At the end of the day, food allergies make your body do just about everything less efficiently. So how do you get rid of them? It’s pretty simple really: stop eating the foods you are allergic to. You can identify these foods with laboratory blood tests that your doctor can administer, but there is an easier way. 95% of people with food allergies are allergic to most of the same foods. If you do suffer from food allergies, and you eliminate these foods from your diet, in general you’ll notice a remarkable difference in just two weeks.

Your gut is one of the most resilient organ system in your body. Your whole gut actually turns over, replacing every single old cell with a new cell, every three to six days. As a result, your gut can heal very quickly once allergy triggers are eliminated. The most common allergy inducing foods are sugar, wheat, dairy, eggs, soy, and unnatural food additives like preservatives, canola oil, food dyes, and trans fats. If you suspect you might have food allergies, try cutting out all of these foods for two weeks. If your sinuses clear up, you stop experiencing gas, bloating, and reflux, and you find that you have more energy and sleep more deeply at night, it's pretty much a sure bet that you are allergic to one or more of these foods.

But how do you figure out which ones? And if you are allergic to a given food, do you have to avoid it forever? Figuring out which food you’re allergic to is easy. After your two weeks on our “hypoallergenic” diet (a detailed description follows), reintroduce one of the foods that you cut out - we recommend starting with eggs. Have a few soft boiled or poached eggs for breakfast (soft boiled and poached eggs are the most nutritious and easiest to digest), and see how you feel as you go about your day. If you feel gassy, sluggish, or experience any other dramatic symptoms within 3 or 4 hours of eating eggs, you are almost certainly allergic, and you’ll have to avoid eggs for a while (not forever!).

Assuming you don’t have any reaction to eggs, wait a few days (it's best not to eat eggs during this time just to avoid complicating things) and then try another one of the foods that you eliminated. We recommend trying dairy next. Have some milk for breakfast, and watch for any reaction. If you have a reaction, milk will be off the menu for a few months.