Search Results for: immune system

Mimics, Marauders & Masqueraders

October 14, 2016 By Karen Leave a Comment

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.

Is Removing Gluten Always The Answer?

September 30, 2016 By Karen Leave a Comment

Should you remove gluten from your diet?

I get asked this question a lot.

And the short answer is “It depends”.

It depends on what’s going on in your body.

It depends on the signs and symptoms you’re experiencing.

And it also depends on your test results!

Of course, if your tests come back negative, then you’re in the clear – at least for the time being – more on that later.

But it’s super important that you get the RIGHT tests!

And you don’t want to stop there, either.

3 More Environmental Toxin Myths Debunked

September 16, 2016 By Karen Leave a Comment

There are lots of myths circulating about environmental toxicants, detoxing, and whether or not it’s even a necessary thing to worry about.

You can read Part I of this conversation here.

I like to be thorough, if nothing else – leaving no stone unturned!

MYTH #4 – I’ve Already Switched to BPA-Free Plastic

That’s wonderful – you’re already ahead of the curve!

Unfortunately, I fell for the exact same marketing spin when I first learned about BPA in plastic.

I went out and bought all new plastic containers – looking for the tell-tale stickers that said “BPA-Free”.

I thought I was safe.

But guess what?

Manufacturers are smart. They know to replace BPA with something else – other chemicals with names like BPF, or BPS.

Is Gluten Toxic?

September 2, 2016 By Karen Leave a Comment

Do you have Celiac Disease?”

Perhaps the bigger question is “ “Do you have a gluten-related disorder, most often referred to as Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity – or Gluten Intolerance?”

If you answered “yes” to either question, then gluten certainly is a toxin, at least to YOU!

If you’re one of the lucky ones who doesn’t appear to have a sensitivity to gluten – that doesn’t necessarily mean you’re completely off the hook.

According to Dr. Tom O-Bryan, the Gluten-Free Doc, “Everyone should be checked for a gluten sensitivity. And if you have the celiac gene, you definitely want to be checked every two years or so. You might be fine now, but at some point you will likely cross the line.”

Why is that? [Read more…]

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Your Body’s Wisdom – Invitation or Threat?

August 5, 2016 By Karen Leave a Comment

“Symptoms are a signal from the body that it is imbalanced, in distress, or in need of support.”

Kelly Brogan, MD

Your body has it’s own innate inner wisdom.

In other words, with a little help from you – it has the ability to heal (you just need to give it what it needs).

How do you know what your body needs most?

You listen!

What signs and symptoms are your experiencing? How debilitating are they? Are you in pain, or is it more of a nagging discomfort that keeps you from enjoying your life to it’s fullest?

What You Know In Your Gut

June 10, 2016 By Karen Leave a Comment

We all know about gut instinct.

It’s that inner compass that guides you day in and day out – even when you choose to disregard it’s message.

Most of the time, it’s ‘spot on’ – helping you determine whether something might be harmful to you, or not – be it another person, a situation, or even the foods you choose to eat.

You can either honor that innate directive in the moment it occurs or ignore it completely.

All to often you might choose the latter – despite knowing, on a gut level that you really ought to pay attention!

The thing is, you have a direct gut-brain connection in your body – with these two seemingly distinct entities constantly in communication with each other.

Yet while your thinking brain knows how to separate fact from fiction – the brain in your gut (literally your 2nd brain) doesn’t have that ability.

Mimics, Marauders & Masqueraders

October 16, 2015 By Karen Leave a Comment

Do you sometimes feel like there’s a lot of drama going on in your body?

With Halloween just two weeks away, it seems like the perfect time to explore this drama in greater depth, since these so-called mimics, marauders and masqueraders are present 24/7.

Yes, you read that correctly.

You see, even though your body is beautifully designed to deal with these pranksters at a moment’s notice, sometimes your immune system does make mistakes.

Or rather, we think of them as mistakes, but in all actuality, your immune system is simply doing what it’s designed to do.

And that is to protect you.

So, 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.

And the immune system gets confused.

Let me explain.

Is Gluten Toxic?

October 12, 2015 By Karen Leave a Comment

Do you have Celiac Disease?”

Or, perhaps the bigger question is “ “Do you have a gluten-related disorder, most often referred to as Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity – or Gluten Intolerance?”

Did you answer “yes” to either question?

In that case, gluten certainly is a toxin, at least to you.

If you’re one of the lucky ones who doesn’t appear to have a sensitivity to gluten – that doesn’t necessarily mean you’re completely off the hook.

According to Dr. Tom O-Bryan, who refers to himself as the Gluten-Free Doc, “Everyone should be checked for a gluten sensitivity. And if you have the celiac gene, you definitely want to be checked every two years or so. You might be fine now, but at some point you will likely cross the line.”

Why is that? [Read more…]

Filed Under: EAT, HEALTH & WELLNESS Tagged With: Celiac disease, gluten-free, immune system, non-celiac gluten sensitivity, tipping point, toxic, toxins, what's going on in there

Why Your Aches & Pains Are A Good Thing

October 2, 2015 By Karen

Do you sometimes feel like a human guinea pig?

Perhaps you’ve even experimented with different foods, in an effort to figure out what might be a trigger for you.

Let me preface this first by saying – if you have Celiac disease, or an Autoimmune condition, this is in NO WAY a license to re-introduce gluten!

Got that?

However, your dietary triggers could also be dairy, eggs, or nuts – or any number of different foods.

Let’s take a closer look at eggs for a moment.

Are eggs a regular part of your diet?

They use to be for me, too.

I often enjoyed scrambled eggs, or an omelet for breakfast.

And I absolutely LOVED making soufflé! (As fancy as that sounds, it’s not that hard. Seriously!)

At this point, however, it’s literally been years since I last ate eggs.

In recent weeks, however, I decided to re-introduce them – as a human experiment, if you will.

Using me as the guinea pig.

3 Surprising Things In Your Home That Are Making You Fat – Part II

September 25, 2015 By Karen Leave a Comment

Is your skin cream making you fat?

I pose that question partly in jest but the truth is, yes it can!

In a nutshell, it has to do with chemicals in your environment, that are considered “obesogenic”.

And it has nothing to do with food! (You can read Part I of this article here.)

To recap, remember we have three pathways to consider:

Ingestion
Absorption
Inhalation

I covered Ingestion in Part I, and you can read that article here.

This week, I’ll explore the remaining two pathways – Absorption and Inhalation – plus I’ll leave you with a few tips you can incorporate right away.

So let’s dive in!

ABSORPTION – Toiletries & Cosmetics

Chemicals like BPA and PFOA (which I covered in Part I) aren’t just limited to food containers and cookware.

Search Results for: immune system

Mimics, Marauders & Masqueraders

Is Removing Gluten Always The Answer?

3 More Environmental Toxin Myths Debunked

Is Gluten Toxic?

Your Body’s Wisdom – Invitation or Threat?

What You Know In Your Gut

Mimics, Marauders & Masqueraders

Is Gluten Toxic?

Why Your Aches & Pains Are A Good Thing

3 Surprising Things In Your Home That Are Making You Fat – Part II

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