What doesn't kill you makes you stronger...
Have you ever heard your Grandma say, "If you have a little wine with your Sunday dinner you'll live longer"? Well she wasn't exactly lying. This is due to a process known as Hormesis, (something that excites or stimulates the body). Hormesis suggests that when you ingest something in a small dose that is otherwise bad for you at a higher dose, your body responds to the stressor with a healing response that is more potent than the ingested toxic substance.
All things in moderation right? Instead of completely avoiding something because it's deemed "unhealthy", you can actually use the substances to strengthen your body’s reaction to irritants. By stimulating your immune system periodically, you're creating an effective immune response to the irritant.
This plays a huge part when it comes to dietary hormesis. Often times we completely cut out what we’ve been told is “bad” for us. Doing this does cause us to become more immunocompromised to these irritants. Instead of going cold turkey and cutting yourself off completely, its important to learn how to incorporate them into your diet in a small dose that is more beneficial than toxic. I’ll talk about my dietary lifestyle for example. I am 90% Organic, Non Dairy, Gluten Free, No Processed Sugars, and very little Processed Foods. Sounds exhausting doesn’t it? But this is what I have found works for me (and many others to be honest). However, let’s talk about that other 10%. If I were to eat the items I avoid, on a daily basis, I would throw my body into an internal stress cycle, due to these irritants being too toxic for my system to function properly. I would cause myself Irritable Bowel, Leaky Gut, Inflammation etc.. So I keep these irritants to the 10% rule. Once a week I will consume one of these irritants. By doing so, I usually never experience any sort of negative reaction. However, I am also strengthening my Gut Immunity at the same time. Happy Gut Happy Life! If you are experiencing leaky gut, IBS etc., then NAET (by Dr. Adam Trager) will help you to desensitize your system to these irritants, this way you can now build a healthy immune response to them.
The more sensitivities and intolerances you have, the more fragile you become. Use food to strengthen and support your system, not just to fill your belly and satisfy your taste buds.