Ever feel like there’s a lot of drama happening in your body?
I call these mimics, marauders and masqueraders. They’re present 24/7. The good news is that your immune system is beautifully designed to deal with these pranksters at a moment’s notice, through the.
However, sometimes your immune system gets confused. You might think it’s making a mistake, but the reality is that it’s simply doing what it’s designed to do – protect you. What’s really happening here is that some of these invaders are actually very clever, mimicking or masquerading as something other than what they really are.
Let me explain.
Cross-Reactivity
As you may already know, gluten is a family of proteins found in wheat and is therefore present in any foods that are made from wheat – although it can sometimes appear in other guises, as well.
While many foods contain proteins, the immune system can get confused when these different the proteins start to look similar.
For example, if you have an allergy or sensitivity to dairy – in addition to gluten – that small amount of dairy can trick your immune system into thinking you’re still eating gluten, even when you’re not!
We call this cross-reactivity & it happens because the protein structure in gluten & dairy are almost identical. (Something to keep this in mind the next time you’re eating chocolate, especially if it was made in a factory that also processes dairy).
Your immune system will respond accordingly, and go after the perceived threat – or invader.
(By the way, this isn’t the same thing as cross-contamination – that’s entirely different. Cross-contamination is when you accidentally ingest gluten – or another allergen – because your food wasn’t safely prepared, either during the manufacturing process or even in your own kitchen!)
Your Immune System
Your immune system is involved in these masquerades, by default, because this is where the confusion is happening.
Keep in mind, that by attacking the invaders your immune system is only doing what it’s designed to do. And that’s actually a good thing, because it’s always on the lookout, always scanning your inner terrain so it can protect you
By the way, the immune system isn’t any one organ, but rather a collection of many cells and body systems all working in tandem.
We refer to this web as the innate Immune System, because it’s, well, ‘innate’.
You don’t have to think about it, right?
When you stub your toe, or inhale a crumb of gluten, your body knows exactly what to do.
Of course, with that last example (the crumb of gluten) this is where things can get ramped up to a whole other level.
Yeast, Bacteria & Parasites
Believe it or not, these little critters are present in your gut micro flora all the time.
They’re supposed to be there. But here’s the clincher: they must always be in perfect balance with each – neither too much or too little – or they can wreak absolute havoc throughout your body.
(Think of the unfortunate side effect of taking antibiotics: they kill off both the good and bad bacteria, thus upsetting that delicate balance).
Anyone of these masqueraders could easily be the cause behind all your symptoms.
Which isn’t all that surprising, since everything in your body is so intimately connected with everything else, there’s almost no way these critters could not be involved.
If you’ve believe that a bacterial or yeast overgrowth or infection does not apply to you, you might want to reconsider – especially since the possibility of a leaky gut (an intestinal disorder that is also a lot more common than most people realize) invites a similar reaction.
If you have a leaky gut, there’s also a good chance that a Candida overgrowth or SIBO (Small Intestine Bacterial Overgrowth) have invaded your body, as well.
Hormones & Things
While not the same thing as eating a food which doesn’t agree with you, your endocrine system is also delicately balanced.
Unfortunately, we live in a time when over-exposure to numerous toxins in our environment is common.
We inhale them, we ingest them and we also absorb them through our skin.
These toxins (known as xenoestrogens) have a way of piggy-backing onto your various hormones and causing mass confusion. This is why we call them endocrine disruptors.
Talk about a masquerade!
Even worse, those toxins are also fat-loving! This means they latch onto your fat cells (even if you’re thin), only to be stored indefinitely, from that point forward.
Have you ever gone an a diet, Elimination or otherwise, consider this:
Did you maybe feel sick after a day or two? Did you think you might have caught the flu?
Odds are you weren’t sick – it was simply your body’s natural way of detoxing, and ridding itself of those fun-loving marauders.
And to think it’s all because you were trying to lose weight!
That’s a sneaky little marauder, for sure.
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