Food Allergies, Neuropathy, and Blood Sugar Control on a Low Carb Diet

Many things can interfere with the success of a low carb diet. Gluten sensitivity or celiac disease, thyroid problems, portion control issues, and food addictions are just a few. Recently, I’ve been looking at food sensitivities and allergies, since inflammation and the resulting water retention factor heavily into the vertigo and ataxia I suffer with. Also, I started having severe itching problems and a rash on my arms, along with drastic weight gain, whenever I ate beef.

Technically, the term “food allergy” describes an IgE antibody response launched by the immune system to a specific food protein. These antibodies interpret the offending protein molecule to be an invader and use mediators such as histamine – which cause the allergy symptoms. The skin, gastrointestinal tract, and respiratory system are the primary organs affected by food allergies.

However, when I was younger, most allergists did not believe in food sensitivities or intolerances. They only believed in food allergies that called forth these IgE antibodies. Skin-prick tests were popular back then, and considered the Gold Standard. So when I didn’t get a positive reaction to the foods, pollens, animals, and dust Kaiser tested me for, the allergist told me that even though my problems clearly fell in line with allergic symptoms, my problem wasn’t food.

“I believe your problem is chemical,” he said. “But I can’t test for chemicals. You’ll just have to go home and figure it out for yourself.”

In those days, the only option available to those with sensitivities and intolerances was an elimination diet. So that’s what I’m used to. For those of us who don't have health insurance, elimination diets continue to be the only course of action we have.

My husband and I did go through our county medical department here in central Utah a couple of years ago, and managed to receive partial funding to get our arteries checked out, our heart monitored, my gallbladder removed, and my bladder repaired. But our portion of the bill put us in so much debt we couldn’t afford to take on any new, additional medical expenses. So we walked away from that experience without actually finding out what was wrong with us.

An elimination diet is where you eliminate the foods you think might be causing the problem, or you cut out almost everything you’re eating for a few weeks, and then begin returning foods to your diet one at a time. When you go for a while without a food you’re sensitive to, and then reintroduce that food into your diet, your body over-reacts to that particular food. Due to the exaggeration of symptoms that results, it’s fairly easy to tell what your body doesn’t want you to eat.

In the 1970s, the Atkins diet functioned as an elimination diet. In fact, Dr. Atkins told those of us on the Atkins newsgroup in the late 1990s, that the initial design allowed only a little bit of salad, because most of his patients had gastrointestinal problems and the lack of fiber helped the intestines to begin healing. In those days, 1/2 cup of cooked vegetables wasn’t returned to the diet until week 3. And they were returned one vegetable at a time – not like they are today.

When I started seeing a strong correlation between dairy products and beef, and the vertigo, ataxia, Neuropathy, and blood sugar issues, I did a little bit of research and found a connection between those sensitive to dairy products, and those sensitive to beef. I talked about that discovery in the following post: Dairy Sensitivity, Beef, and the Atkins Induction Plan.

Since then, I’ve tried to eat beef a couple of times, but reacted to it in the same way I did before I eliminated it back in early May: with severe itching, and a skin rash.

I also bought some organic Monterey jack cheese when I was in Las Vegas a few weeks ago, visiting a friend, and reacted with the same neurological symptoms I used to get: ear swelling and pain, vertigo, tinnitus, ataxia (off-balance), slurred speech, and brain fog – within 20 minutes. Later on that evening, I also got intestinal inflammation and pain.

All that from a single ounce slice (or maybe less) of organic cheese.

Interestingly enough, simply eliminating all dairy products and beef corrected my wacky blood sugar issues within a couple of weeks, without me having to do anything else – probably because food allergies and sensitivities cause inflammation. Inflammation makes you less sensitive to insulin. Remove the inflammation, and insulin resistance improves, or corrects itself.

Now, I’m not saying that my pre-diabetes went away. At least, not right now. Because we recently took a trip to Colorado, and while we were there, I got seriously glutened from the friends we took the trip with. Plus we ate at Taco Bell a couple of times, and I got dairyed on the second day.

Cross contamination when you eat out, despite choosing gluten free dairy free food, is extremely risky, because most folks don’t “get it” – even when you take the time to thoroughly explain it to them. So I ended up living on Fritos and diet Coke for the rest of the trip. Not good for the blood sugar, I know. Not good for the Neuropathy. But at least my intestines and other neurological problems remained safe.

However, within the past week, something else has glutened both my husband and I. So right now, between Colorado and whatever we ate this past week (I’m suspecting the new brand of gluten-free certified macaroni I put in my pasta/vegetable salad), my blood sugar is higher than it has been.

My current numbers wouldn’t be helpful. But I can say that while I used to have to limit myself on maintenance to a mere 15 grams of carbohydrates per meal, or less, I can now achieve normal blood glucose levels eating 30 to 40 grams of carbohydrates per meal – except for breakfast – provided I stay completely away from gluten and casein.

But even better, my weight is now extremely easy to maintain. I’m still sitting at 160 pounds, as the extra weight I gained from the beef hasn’t melted, but the weight fluctuations have disappeared. And that means way less vertigo and ataxia, and no Neuropathy or other neurological problems, even at that higher carbohydrate intake.