Food allergies or sensitivities can trigger brain fog and forgetfulness in a number of ways. A food particle may leak from the digestive system into the bloodstream without being fully digested, and the immune system sees this harmless food particle as a potential invader.

White blood cells, blood vessels, and even distant organs, such as the adrenal glands,respond to the intrusion by releasing a torrent of biochemicals, including histamines, which produce allergic symptoms. An allergic reaction and its brain symptoms can occur within minutes or hours of eating the offending food, as the chemicals build up in the brain and cause inflammation.

Allergies to foods can trigger a variety of other symptoms, such as headache, sinus congestion, runny nose, cramping, diarrhea, and skin eruptions. Lesser known reactions include edema, sore throat, heart palpitations, anxiety, fatigue, mood swings, joint pain, irritable bowel syndrome, and migraine. Many people who have food allergies can eat the food to which they are allergic, but no more than once every three days—this is called a rotation diet.

Most people think of “allergy” as a violent reaction to something: face swelling up, throat swelling shut, breaking out in hives, etc.  There are many lesser symptoms that also have a heavy impact on the overall quality of your life, however.

Personally, after eating wheat I feel sleepy and lethargic - my entire life I’ve felt like napping after a meal.  This changed when I eliminated wheat from my diet - no easy thing because I LOVE wheat (and anything you feel that way about probably isn’t good for you - think of how an alcoholic feels about a beer).  Consumption of sugar tends to cause me to feel highly irritable and later depressed.  I’ve eliminated sugar (as much as possible - Ben and Jerry are evil dudes and honey too.  Agave nectar is now the preferred sweetener, with no side effects I’ve noticed.

Consult a physician, if necessary, but simply pay attention to how you feel and what you feel after you eat certain foods.  You might be surprised at how much your life is affected by what you eat - physically AND mentally.

If you say that “Your thoughts have a great deal of influence over your sense of health and well-being”, you’d get no argument from me.

This is a terrific video from Byron Katie where she works with someone dealing with allergy problems - this is some pretty deep stuff. Enjoy.