When a person suffers from diabetes, throwing food allergies on top of it can make it even more difficult to function. Making it even more difficult is that many health care providers do not bother checking for food allergies when someone with diabetes presents with problems related to a food allergy. Instead, they assume it is a problem related to the diabetes and base therapies around that assumption. By working with a functional medicine provider experienced in identifying food allergies and developing therapies to address them, a person can begin to feel healthy again even with their diabetes.
Food allergies present a unique problem for people with diabetes because a person’s diet is already limited when living with diabetes. Suddenly, when more foods need to excluded, it can make a person feel like they have no options when they go to the grocery store or go to a restaurant. Fortunately, however, this is not the case. A functional medicine doctor can help a person develop a healthy, delicious diet that both helps their diabetes and prevents sickness from food allergies. This way, a person can enjoy their meals instead of feeling like they are extremely restricted or prevented from enjoying themselves.
Another common issue with food allergies is that ingredient labels do not tell the whole story when it comes to nutrition. For instance, a food may have soy in it without properly labelling it. For a person allergic to soy, this obviously presents a challenge. Fortunately, a functional medicine doctor can help a person avoid hidden items in food that a patient may be allergic to, helping them eat without fear feeling sick.
It is important for a person with diabetes to avoid food they are allergic to because their body already has difficulty with sugar. When a person throws in additional pathogens or other problem triggers, it can lead to serious health problems for a person with diabetes. These problems can include poor blood circulation that causes problems in the extremities, which can lead to amputation and, in extreme cases, cause death. By eating a healthy diet free of sugar spikes and free of food allergies, a person can avoid these serious health problems.
A functional medicine doctor will help a person develop a healthy diet, keeping them free of food they are allergic to and free of foods that can cause problems with diabetes. Instead of living with the constant threat of health issues, a person can begin to feel healthy again. In fact, some people report feeling better than they ever have even while living with diabetes.
If you worry that you may have a food allergy and want to get it properly identified, contact a functional medicine provider today. Through a series of tests and a personalized therapy plan, a person can thrive while living with diabetes. To learn more about how functional medicine can help improve your diabetes and prevent food allergies, contact a functional medicine doctor today!
-Dr. Ashley Woyak, Forward Natural Medicine
