Weight & food allergies

A light bulb just went off in my head! What do all the following foods have in common?

~ oats, wheat
~ seafood
~ soy products
~ nuts and peanuts
~ refined sugars
~ cheese and dairy

These are common foods that many people have allergies to (some are completely unaware but don't have optimal health). AND, these are all foods that exacerbate Kapha in people of any dosha*. I don't think it's coincidence but this seems to be a major correlation between food allergens and gaining excess weight.

A widely held belief by natural health practitioners is that if you have an allergy to a food, it will not be properly digested and cause a host of ill-health consequences, including excessive weight gain. Lo and behold, these foods are common allergens AND Ayurveda categorizes them as Kapha-increasing (weight gaining) foods as well!

For my entire 20's I was vegetarian, the latter half specifically vegan. When I became vegetarian I gained weight, as I ate plenty of wheat and dairy products. As a vegan, I originally lost weight (omitting dairy products was a major factor), but then gained weight again as I increased my soy, wheat and nut intake. A few years ago I went to a naturopath who identified allergies to oats, wheat, dairy, soy, nuts, peanuts, sugar, cheese and dairy. Go figure! So I omitted these from my diet and lost 30 pounds.

* If you haven't read some of my earlier blog entries, Kapha is composed of the elements water and earth. Water and earth in our bodies manifest in various forms, but fat and mass are forms of Kapha associated with excess weight. A dosha is a mind/body constitution according to Ayurveda, and people fall into 3 main types: Vata, Pitta, or Kapha, or a combination of these. Vata is composed of air and space, and Pitta is composed of fire and water.