It has been interesting to see over the years the variety of symptoms that can be caused by food allergies. One of those symptoms often triggered by food allergies is anxiety.
The interesting part is not that people are anxious because they have symptoms caused by a food allergy, which would be expected if you had something like unpredictable or painful bowel habits. The interesting part is that the food allergy itself is triggering the anxiety.
I saw two recent cases of this which reminded me of the impact that food allergies have on our entire health, both physically and emotionally. These patients, one male and one female, were both suffering from a combination of food allergies which were only detectable on IgG food allergy testing. (This is not the kind of testing that you can get from an allergist.)
Once these foods were removed from their diet, these patients began to heal in a number of different ways. They had originally come in for their digestive problems, which completely resolved. However, they also reported that a significant amount of anxiety that they had been experiencing which they had attributed to a troubled emotional life also vastly improved.
There are many case reports in the medical literature of just this type of reaction happening in people with gluten intolerance. But the problem is not limited to gluten. Immune reactions to other foods are just as important and can cause just as many emotional and neurological problems.
If you suffer from anxiety or depression you should be properly assessed for food allergies. It may just be the help that you needed. For more information visit www.CenterForFoodAllergies.com.
4 comments:
I was diagnosed with depression and anxiety approximately ten years ago (which is also when my digestive problems began), and I have been taking an anti-depressant ever since. While my emotional problems at the time were quite severe, I have felt very stable on my medication for the past 3 or 4 years. Do you think food allergies were contributing to my mental health problems, and if so, could I eventually stop taking my antidepressant? Should I talk to my psychiatrist about this?
It is certainly possible that food allergies are contributing to your mental health problems. I have seen this literally hundreds of times and I highly recommend looking into this. Unfortunately, talking to your psychiatrist is unlikely to help. If he or she was already tuned into this issue, then you'd probably already know about it. And I haven't met many mental health professional who routinely consider food allergies as a possible trigger for the mental health issues of their patients.
An allergist is also unlikely to be very helpful, since they have no training in the relationship between mental health and food allergies, nor do they test for the right kind of food allergies. They only look at classic IgE reactions as they relate to hive, anaphylaxis, and environmental allergies.
I have had IGg testing that has shown moderate sensitivity to gluten and soy. I don't have particularly noticable digestive symptoms, but have had generalized achiness and pos-nasal drip, which my diet has helped considerably. I've been on an anti-depressant, primarily for anxiety, for a number of years, but have recently been able to cut my dose in half. I've been feeling mentally very stable. Yesterday I ate two slices of pizza (I know, what was I thinking?), and today am experiencing more anxiety than I have in many years. Do you think I could expect such an immediate and direct effect from a short term change in my diet?
Thanks for your comments, Anonymous. As to your question - absolutely. Trust your instincts on this one. I've seen that exact sort of thing happen many times.
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