Corn: A Common Food Allergy to be Aware of

Rashes?

I have worked with several patients recently that have started developing rashes on the skin. Many of them have been to several doctors only to find that they don’t ever get a true solution to their problem. If you suffer from such a rash, you understand how frustrating they can be. Most traditional treatments come back to the use of steroid creams. As the story often goes in my clinic, patients are not interested in taking steroid creams. They realize that while they may provide symptomatic relief, they are not addressing the cause of the rash or other forms of skin irritation.

So why are rashes becoming so much more prevalent? There is a good chance that it is related to our environmental exposures, mostly our diet. Our diet has become a source of chronic exposure to highly allergenic substances. This is due to many reasons. I am still astonished as I continue to research all the ways our food supply is being adulterated. This manipulation of food has created substances that trigger our immune systems to become highly responsive against what we eat. So what does this have to do with your skin and development of a rash?

Skin and intestinal proteins are similar

It all goes back to the gastrointestinal tract. As the immune system becomes more reactive against the foods we ingest, particular proteins are isolated . The similarities between the proteins found in the gut and those known to exist in the skin make them both targets of the immune system. The result often ends up being a rash. At times this can progress to named conditions, the most common of which are psoriasis and eczema. However, these are far from the only conditions that manifest. While the link between the proteins of the skin and gut may be similar enough to predispose you to rashes and other skin reactions, it also provides the answer on how to control these problems.

Itching?

That answer is food. Food should be a source of nourishment to our body. However, even the best foods can become toxic to use when isolated by the immune system. By eliminating the most problematic foods, you are likely to find solutions to your skin irritation. Let’s consider the role of histamine. Most rash and irritations of the skin are often accompanied by itching. This itching is not just a routine annoyance, it is a clue. When the immune cells in your gut are triggered, look out, because you are going to see an increase in histamine. Once it finds its way into your circulation, now there is a route to other areas of the body. From here, you begin to notice itching.

The solution

So let me not just leave you with the problem with your skin. I also want to offer you a solution. To address your rash and skin irritation, you must at a minimum do 2 things. These include fix the damage that has occurred to your gastrointestinal tract from exposure to insulting foods, as well as elimination of these foods. Repair of the gut requires specific nutrients such as glutamine in the right amounts. When it comes to eliminating foods that may be the source of your skin irritation, there is no better place to start than the Paleo Diet. The Paleo Diet offers foods that have a very low allergenicity profile, but that also are soothing to the gut. In some cases, using testing to find your problem foods may be the ideal solution. From personal observation, I have seen these two tools be highly effective against even the longest standing of skin conditions.