Is your same breakfast every morning making you sick?

We are all creatures of habit and we like routine, especially when it comes to meal times. Breakfast time in particular is a time when we often quickly grab the same old cereal and milk or toast usually because we are in a hurry and don’t have time to think too much about it. I am aware of many people who prepare the same kale smoothie or juice every morning believing it is the best thing they can do for their health. Yes green smoothies are fantastic as they are rich in nutrients that are going to be amazing nourishment for your body, but for some people it can become problematic if you have that same green smoothie every day. One of my clients had ongoing issues with nausea, it was only when she took a break from her morning smoothie that she realised it was contributing to the problem.

Why is this? Unfortunately we are in a situation where the majority of the population have some form of intestinal permeability or `leaky gut syndrome’ and most are not aware of it. Eating the same food every day (even healthy superfoods) is one of the worst thing you can do for your health if you have leaky gut syndrome, as the repeated over exposure of the same foods every day can cause you to develop an intolerance to that food, even to healthy foods such as fruits and vegetables. Rotating your foods on a regular basis can help with this.

What is Leaky Gut?

Leaky gut is a condition that occurs due to the development of gaps between the enterocyte cells that form the membrane lining of the intestinal wall. These gaps allow the passage of substances such as undigested foods, bacteria and metabolic wastes that should be confined to your digestive tract to escape into the blood stream. Once the integrity of the intestinal lining is compromised, there is a flow of toxic substances that leak out into the bloodstream which cause an increase in inflammation.

Food particles that are not fully broken down into amino acids, glucose and fatty acids can leak through the permeable intestinal membrane into the blood stream. As undigested food particles are not supposed to be in the blood stream the immune system recognises it as a foreign antigen and mounts an attack (by macrophages circulating in the blood). Specialised immune cells called T lymphocytes are activated to create antibodies (e.g. IgG) against the food allergen for future encounters so the next time the food (e.g. dairy, wheat, etc. ) is eaten an immune response is triggered which provokes an inflammatory response in the body (e.g. release of histamine). This is how food intolerances and sensitivities manifest.

Over consumption of a limited number of foods often lead to food intolerance reactions as the repeated exposure causes a hypersensitivity immune response which leads to inflammation.

Some of the main causes of leaky gut:

· Antibiotics and other medications such as corticosteroids and the oral contraceptive pill

· Diets high in refined carbohydrates, sugar and processed foods

· Diets low in fibre

· Chronic stress, toxins and infections

· Gliadin protein found in wheat

Some of the most common signs that you may have leaky gut are:

· Digestive problems such a gas, bloating, diarrhoea, Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

· Allergies such as hay fever, sinusitis and asthma

· Skin issues such as eczema, psoriasis, acne, and rosacea

· Hormone imbalances such as PMS and PCOS, recurring miscarriages and infertility

· Autoimmune diseases such as celiac disease, rheumatoid arthritis, Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, lupus, psoriasis.

· Depression, anxiety, ADHD, ADD

· Chronic fatigue syndrome or fibromyalgia

· Candida overgrowth

· Recurring thrush and UTI’s

Rotating your foods everyday is a good idea

To reduce the development of gut inflammation and food intolerances it is recommended to avoid where possible eating the same foods every day. I always recommend to my clients to have 3 or 4 different breakfast options and rotate these around without having the same thing two days in a row. For example if you have a green smoothie on Monday, you could have a home-made muesli on Tuesday, a berry smoothie on Wednesday (made with different smoothie ingredients) and maybe poached eggs on toast on Thursday. Then Friday is back to a green smoothie again, etc.

To start with rotate foods that are the most problematic such as grains, dairy, tea, coffee, chocolate until you get the hang of it, otherwise you may start to feel overwhelmed. Allow yourself to only eat that food in that 24 hour window and then avoid it again for 3 days. Also focus on rotating those foods you have a lot of for example banana in your smoothie, cashew nuts for morning tea, tomatoes for lunch, apples for afternoon tea, etc.

I personally found more benefit from rotating a wider range of foods, including foods I had a mild sensitivity to rather than eliminating these foods completely. I find I might be ok to have a cup of tea twice in one day but as soon as I try and have another cup the next day I start to notice it doesn’t make me feel that great. If I have 3 days in between my cups of tea then I am good with tea. I find this with most of the foods I eat or drink.

Often when people eliminate foods from their diet they often replace it with another food and end up eating a lot of that food as a substitute (e.g. kumara instead of potatoes). This often results in the person becoming intolerant to the replacement food.

Here are some of the benefits of a rotation diet:

Rotation diets may help prevent the development of intolerances to new foods.

Rotating your foods may help to identify intolerances that were not tested or may not be suspected as problematic. According to food-allergy.org `If you eat a food on Monday, for example by Friday when you eat it again the ‘masking’ antibodies your body makes specifically for that food will be diminished. Therefore you will realise you are reacting to it, even though you did not have obvious symptoms when you ate it on a daily basis’. Any foods that you obviously are reacting to need to be avoided for 3 months then introduced gradually using the 3 day rotation plan.

A rotation diet allows you to eat foods to which you have a mild intolerance and which you might not tolerate if you ate it more often.

It help to promote overall health by encouraging a varied diet.

It helps your gut heal by reducing the physical stress caused by overeating and consuming the same foods repeatedly.

Having a 3 day gap between eating certain foods allows your immune system to have a break from over reacting to these food proteins which can reduce the risk of auto immunity.

For further information on the rotation diet there is a helpful article on the website: www.food-allergy.org called `How to Use a Rotation Diet’. Planning your weekly menu and keeping a food diary can help you keep on track of what you are eating and help you identify what may be causing you to have reactions. Food intolerance reactions may not present as obvious gut symptoms. They can manifest as anything from weight gain, skin problems, migraines, depression, joint pain, reproductive problems and issues with sleep to name a few. Also food intolerance reactions are delayed onset reactions so may take 24 – 72 hours to manifest as a symptom so they are sometimes impossible to identify. Rotating your foods is a good way to reduce the chances of these food sensitivities occurring.

Get in contact if you would like further information on the rotation diet and how to heal your gut naturally.

#guthealth #leakygut #foodintolerances #foodrotation