One man’s meat is another man’s poison.

It has been known for ages that food can either be the best medicine or a tenacious poison.  These days - it is evident that we are facing many threats to our health because of our poor food supply.  The food we eat today is vastly different from the food from our grandparent’s time and before.  Chemicals, poisons, and pesticides riddle our food and fillers are found in almost everything.

On August 1st, my family and I committed to eating gluten-free & cow-diary free and the change has been incredible.  We no longer feel lethargic after a meal and we’ve had the bonus of additional weight loss too!  But one problem still hung around: my eczema.  It has reduced in the number of flare-ups, but it is still here and still a huge problem for me.  After trying every cream on the market along with different medications, I made the decision to have a full panel blood test done to test for intolerances to food, food additives, food colorings, molds, environmental chemicals, functional foods, and medicinal herbs.  This test will tell me which foods are good for me and which ones are not and hopefully aid in making my eczema disappear forever!

It took about 1 week for me to get my results in the mail and when they arrived I was almost too scared to open them.  A million questions raced through my mind - What if I couldn’t eat my favorite foods anymore? What if all my “OK to eat” foods were foods I don’t like? What if I’m intolerant to chocolate?  As I sat there and stared at the unopened package, I realized that whatever the results turned out to be, I would find a way to make it work for me.  So, I poured myself a glass of wine and started to review my results.

My Results:

1. YOU HAVE A SEVERE REACTION TO GLUTEN/GLIADIN.   This was the very first thing I saw when I opened my envelope and boy was I surprised!  Thank you Diamond Dallas Page for getting me off gluten as soon as possible.
2. SEVERE & MODERATE INTOLERANCES (AVOID FOR AT LEAST 6 MONTHS):  There are 22 in total, but here are the one’s I’m freaking out about: Basil, Blueberries, Garlic, Lime, Strawberries, and Tomatoes.  These 6 foods may not seem like a lot to some people, but to me they are foods that are in almost every dish I make.  I use fresh basil to season my omelets every morning along with my famous basil pesto.  I eat blueberries & strawberries in my smoothies.  Garlic is in almost every dinner I cook. Lime is in my famous guacamole and margaritas and then there are the tomatoes.  Tomatoes are in my pizza sauce, pasta sauce, ketchup, salads, and almost every Mexican and Italian meal I make.
3. MILD INTOLERANCES (AVOID FOR AT LEAST 3 MONTHS):  There are 43 in total ranging from Almonds to Zucchini Squash and although there are quite a few things I like on this list - I’ll be OK with omitting them for a while.
4. ACCEPTABLE:  There are a ton of items on this list.  I’m most grateful for stevia leaf, agave, grapefruit, and quinoa.

All in all - I have to say that’s it’s pretty cool to have a personalized menu from my DNA.  The advice given from the testing facility is to eliminate everything you’re intolerant from (ranging from 3-6 months) and then add them back into your diet on a rotation plan to see if you have a reaction.  I believe I will do just that, but it’s going to take some time for me to adjust too.  Knowledge is Power - and so I will use this to my benefit.  The one thing I’ve learned over this journey is that health is everything and sometimes you just have to put on your big girl panties and deal with it!