Ep 045: Itching, Rashes? Are your fave foods at fault?

Itching, driving you nuts? Unexplained rashes and hives? All the scratching keeping you from sleeping? Feel like you are allergic to everything? Skin sensitive to everything? In this episode Doc J explains how the latest foodie trends, stress and modern day vices combine forces to set us up for rashes, hives and chronic itching.

Resources From This Episode:
• Test for Food Sensitivities – in addition to dyes, food additives and medications – Alcat
• Medications that increase histamines in the body by blocking histamine breakdown by DAO (Diamine Oxidase) – NSAIDs, Cymbalta, Effexor, Prozac, Zoloft, Benadryl, Allergra, Zyrtec, Pepcid, Zantac, Enbrel, Humira, Plaquenil, amlodipine, propranolol, metroprolol, Norvasc, Cardizem.
• Foods to Avoid to lower histamines in the body:
o Shellfish, previously frozen fish, fish not caught that day – canned tuna, sardines
o Fermented foods – kefir, yogurt, kimchi, sauerkraut, relishes, soy sauce, tamari, buttermilk, sourdough bread
o Fermented drinks – champagne, beer, wine, kombucha
o Aged cheese
o Processed meats
o Night shades – tomato, ketchup, tomato sauce, pasta/pizza sauce, eggplant, potato, ashwagandha, goji berries
o spinach, avocado, cinnamon, chocolate
o left overs – eat food right as you make it – eat fresh foods
o Dry aged steaks
o Histamine Liberators – bananas, papaya, pineapple, nuts, food additives, artificial dyes, food preservatives, shellfish
o Legumes – red beans, chickpeas (hummus is an issue too), soybeans especially but all have lectins and irritate the gut – prevent DAO from breaking down histamines
o Grains – avoid all unless sprouted, or pressure cooked due to lectins and phytates that irritate the gut – prevent DAO from breaking down histamines
o All nuts and seeds
o Alcohol – blocks DAO from breaking down histamines
o Dried, sulfured fruit
o Citrus Fruit

• Foods to Eat to keep histamines in check:
o Wild Caught that day or flash frozen fish
o 100% grass fed, organic beef, buffalo, lamb, elk, venison – flash frozen, butchered within a few days – get from a butcher
o Pasture Raised, Organic Poultry and Eggs
o All squash, fennel, artichoke, arugula, asparagus, beets, bok choy, broccoli, broccoli rabe, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, collard greens, cucumber, garlic, green beans, all dark leafy greens minus spinach, jicama, kohlrabi, leeks, lettuce, mushrooms, okra, onion, parsnips, pumpkin, radish, rutabaga, rhubarb, sprouts, sweet potato/yam, turnip, watercress, zucchini
o Apples, apricots, blackberries, blueberries, dates/figs, star fruit, quince, grapes, melon, nectarines, peaches, pears, plum, pomegranate, raspberries, watermelon
o Clarified butter – 100% grassfed and organic
o Ghee
o Coconut Oil – unrefined
o Expeller Pressed Olive Oil
o Dried unsweetened coconut

• Bíró T, Tóth BI, Haskó G, Paus R, Pacher P. The endocannabinoid system of the skin in health and disease: novel perspectives and therapeutic opportunities. Trends Pharmacol Sci. 2009;30:411–20. Exp Dermatol. 2011 Dec; 20(12): 959–968.
• Pruritus: an overview. What drives people to scratch an itch?
• Michael Joseph Lavery, Michael Owen Kinney, Hideki Mochizuki, John Craig, Gil Yosipovitch – Ulster Med J. 2016 Sep; 85(3): 164–173.PMCID: PMC5031103
• Molecular and Cellular Mechanisms that Initiate Pain and Itch
• Jialie Luo, Jing Feng, Shenbin Liu, Edgar T. Walters, Hongzhen Hu- Cell Mol Life Sci. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2016 Sep 1. Cell Mol Life Sci. 2015 Sep; 72(18): 3587–3588. PMCID: PMC4534341

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Chronic itching damages your skin and causes your skin to age faster. Curious about other habits that accelerate your aging? Click Below Now!