What Is the Allergy-Addiction Syndrome?

It is often the case that the foods people are most addicted to are the foods they are most allergic to. While a food allergy may come without addiction, food addiction is almost always accompanied by an allergy. So food addicts are not only addicted to the food they crave, but they are very often allergic to it as well. The phrase coined to describe this phenomenon is "allergy-addiction syndrome."
Up until recently, the relationship between allergy and addiction has been missed because the allergic part of addiction, or the allergy symptoms, are frequently masked or delayed. This means that you may not experience immediate signs, symptoms or feedback from your body that you are allergic to something, or the symptoms may be misdiagnosed as something else.
Have you ever eaten certain foods--let's say a bunch of chocolate chip cookies or your favorite deep-dish pizza--only to feel even hungrier not long after you eat them? Or do you frequently find yourself feeling overwhelmed by cravings to eat certain foods and just can't be satisfied by anything else? What about this: Are you just simply fat and can't seem to lose weight? If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, then you probably have a food allergy.
At present, it is estimated that more than one-third of the population in industrialized countries suffer from allergy-addiction syndrome.
Symptoms of allergy-addiction syndrome can include an inability to give up certain food groups, significant weight gain, stomach upset, bloating, constipation, headaches, mood lability, anxiety, sleep disturbance, sexual dysfunction, memory and concentration problems, hyperactivity, hypoglycemia, vasculitis, edema, chronic pain and fatigue.
The most common allergy/addictions are to sugar, wheat/gluten, dairy, white potatoes, coffee and corn. Other common allergy-addictionsinclude eggs, corn, peanuts, citrus and sometimes soy.
The best way to determine if you have a food allergy or allergy-addiction syndrome is to eliminate the suspected food or food group from your diet for several weeks, possibly for a few months. Give you body a chance to recover and heal, and see how you feel. Then, one at a time, re-introduce the food or food groups you have eliminated and see what happens. If you notice the reintroduction of these foods has a negative impact on your overall health--physically, mentally or emotionally--then it may be in the best interest of your overall health and well-being to give up the offending food or food groups from your diet once and for all.
The long-term consequences of untreated food allergies or allergy-addiction syndrome includes a long list of some of the most debilitating and painful chronic illnesses. Arthritis, chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome, thyroid and other endocrine system dysfunction, morbid obesity, diabetes, heart disease, autism, ADD, OCD, Alzheimer's disease, depression, bipolar disorder and even schizophrenia or other psychotic disorders are just some of the conditions that can develop.