Call Us (219) 531-1234
Many years ago I was going through my favorite grocery store, Al’s, and saw a spaghetti called Bella Terra. Everyone in the family liked the taste of the noodles. I had not really put too much interest into noodles until I actually tasted a difference. Then it became a habit. We only bought Bella Terra until one day my wife was with the kids at a tennis tournament and it was up to me to have dinner ready. In a rush at a different grocery store, we will just call it the generic spaghetti that came home with me
My youngest son must have been 5 years old. He and his siblings were good and hungry patiently waiting for dinner, a bowl of their favorite spaghetti dish. Pierce gets his bowl and takes a big mouth full, stops in mid eating, and screams. “What is wrong with the spaghetti?” I said, “Nothing, it’s spaghetti.” He shouts back in his 5 year old defiant voice, “There is something wrong with the spaghetti, why can’t we have our normal spaghetti?” He could taste the difference in the noodles and oh was he angry, he was looking forward to his favorite food and I had made it taste bad. This was now a losing battle. All five kids chime in, “If Pierce isn’t eating it we aren’t going to eat ‘bad’ spaghetti either.” No one is eating and my wife looks at me and says, “Don’t look at me you raised them this way.” One by one the kids run out of the kitchen and my wife smiles at me and says, “You can eat all the ‘bad’ spaghetti you want, we are getting pizza.”
The moral of the story buy Bella Terra spaghetti and listen to your kids when they tell you they do not like a food.
God works in funny ways, I eventually met the owners of Bella Terra; Rae and Andrea, and talked to Andrea about noodles. There is a difference in grain. The Europeans produce what is called a soft wheat and is lower in gluten than the American hard or red wheat. The lower gluten has a taste difference and is easier to digest. It is a thought that a lot of gluten sensitive people have this issue because of the red wheat. The higher gluten content stresses the digestive system causing havoc.
When kids or adults say they do not feel good after eating something there is a real reason. Sneezing, having a runny nose, or can’t breath right after eating means there is an allergic reaction. The person who says they have a hard time concentrating or staying focused, it is their brain that is inflamed from an allergic reaction.
We have these very large protective white blood cells called Mast Cells and when they explode they release an inflammatory particle called Leukotriene. The Leukotriene causes the bronchial tubes in the lungs to close down leading to airway restriction, asthma.
There are many inflammatory particles in the blood stream when the white blood cells explode and they are very irritating. The Adrenal Glands respond to the inflammatory particles by alerting the brain that there is something wrong. The brain goes on high alert. When you watch a scary movie your brain is on high alert from the scary event. To help the brain recover the scary movies put in a non scary event right after everyone screams, it gives the brain time to adjust back to normal. If you have a movie where it is one stressful event after another your brain gets exhausted and you do not like the movie.
Imagine if the brain was in a high stress state constantly with no break. That is the hyperactive ADHD brain, the foggy can’t concentrate brain, and the stressed anxiety person. The exploding white blood cells are stressing the Adrenal Glands and the Adrenals make stimulating hormones called Adrenalin and Neuro Adrenalin telling the brain to be on alert. Eventually the brain transmitter, Seratonin, just runs out and the brain begins to lose the ability to process information.
In the case of asthma, white blood cells in the lining of the bronchial tubes begin to explode with little or no allergy stimulation. The chronic asthma person can have constantly exploding white blood cells leading to endless breathing issues.
There are seasonal allergies to deal with but the majority of the allergy culprits are foods, chemicals, and preservatives. In the all year long sufferer it is not the airborne allergens we worry about, it is things we eat, drink, and chemicals we breath.
Typically the airborne allergens like trees and weeds are activated by an immediate immune response called Secretory Immunoglobulin A. There are some immediate foods and that is the immediate reaction to peanuts as an example.
The chronic asthma and brain dysfunction issues are primarily effected by the other half of the immune system. The Delayed Reaction complement activated Immunoglobulin G,M,A, and D. These are delayed allergic reactions I eat something and do not notice a difference in how I feel for hours or days later. These are very difficult to identify when the exposure was Wednesday and you do not start exploding white blood cells until Sunday morning waking up with brain fog or asthma.
The goal is to identify what has overloaded the immune system. We need to reduce allergy burden by removing the delayed onset allergen foods. Then we detoxify the person from the chemicals that have been identified as immune reactive. Next we focus on repair of the injured areas of the body and on repairing the intestine so we do not make new allergens.
As the injured body repairs the immune system also repairs. The large volume of exploding white blood cells stops happening. The immune system learns to respond normally to irritants and will stop sending the person into a crisis. It is very enjoyable to see the airborne allergens minimize and in some cases go away entirely as you get real immune system repair. It is a process of testing, detoxifying, and repair.
I hope this is helpful and please do not buy the wrong spaghetti.
Enjoy the weekend.
Dr. Brian McGuckin