Do you feel bloated, tired and have a stuffy nose?

What if you could remove three things from your diet and all this would diminish? Would you do it? You bet you would.

Did you know by eliminating dairy, wheat and sugar you can minimise many of your allergies? These three products can suppress the immune system and be a forerunner for any number of illnesses from irritable bowel syndrome, urinary tract infection, upper-respiratory problems, joint pain and muscle fatigue to even autoimmune diseases and rheumatoid arthritis.

Often eliminating dairy, wheat and sugar improves your digestion leading to a loss in weight, increase in energy, immunity and improving your sleep. Basically dairy is not as good for us as we are led to believe due to the ratios of nutrients it has, allergenic proteins and the difficulties the body has processing it. A better source of calcium and magnesium is cheese, especially goat’s cheese or goat’s milk, which are much better for the digestive system although if you have sinus all dairy products are a bit of a ‘no go’ zone. Easier to take a natural supplement for the calcium and know you are getting the right dosage and not the ‘side effects’.

Similarly Gluten is a protein in wheat and can damage the lining of the large intestine, which upsets the immune system. Our digestion actually controls lots of functions concerning our well being and damage in this area leads to digestive disorders and autoimmune diseases. Gluten is also in other grains but wheat seems to be the biggest problem.

Foods containing wheat gluten include bagels, bread, crackers, cereal, cake, cookies, pies, pasta and noodles. Read labels carefully as wheat cam be listed as wheat, wheat bran, wheat starch, hydrolysed vegetable protein, malted cereal syrup, modified food starch, durum flour, enriched flour, graham flour, semolina or vegetable gum.

Whole-grain breads are much better as they slow the digestion. Other alternatives include rice, arrowroot, buckwheat, rye, tapioca and soy flour.

Sugar, can also disrupt the immune system and this can be seen by the speed with which blood sugar rises after eating carbohydrates. Refined carbohydrates such as white sugar cause a rapid rise in blood sugar, which is linked to increased risk of diabetes and heart disease. All quickly absorbed carbohydrates are destructive which has brought about the low Glycemic Index food plans including more legumes (such as lentils and beans), root vegetables (such as sweet potato and yam) and whole fruits.

So why not try cutting out the dairy, wheat and sugar for a month and see how different you feel. So it does not become too overwhelming try one category a week and the next week another one. Within three weeks you have handled the lot. Odds are you will not feel as bloated, your skin will look better, you will breathe easier, sleep better and not have as many allergies.

Then after about a month or two slowly introduce the foods again and watch the ill health return or the sensitivities all come back. However, if you are conscientious it is possible you will be healthy and sometimes get away with the odd ‘treat’ if you so desire.