Are the two mutually exclusive though? Hold that thought, let me clarify.
I should have been more specific in my original response, but I wasn't referring to the OP having food allergies i.e implying that they were might have celiac disease/similar. It's just that a lot of the common food allergens seem to be liable to developing a strange relationship with our bodies and are able to produce food intolerances/induce strange digestive quirks. I think that the major difference is that there is a scientific explanation for a food allergy, whereas with a food intolerance there is no conclusive cause/effect, whilst most could both be quite destructive (and possibly modern), problems.
The best explanation I've read is that bad gut microbes lead to a permeable intestinal tract which allows certain chemicals to pass through the intestinal wall, causing all kinds of problems. Either way it seems like the two go hand and hand.
I really need to consider addressing the microbe problem - it's something I put off because I didn't want to go full candida diet. Same with the fermenting. Is there anything in particular that is good (and nice) to ferment? I really need to make ground on this front, so cheers for the reminder!
yeah you certainly have a good point about these compounds possibly being bad for your digestion and granted I should have added that my view also consists of my opinion, not established fact, but the way I see it, many people who have bad eating habits and thereby wreck their digestion get into the idea that one single cause is to blame for their issues, making it easier to make a change. It is probably healthier to abstain from dairy products than to keep on drinking a liter of milk everyday, but even then, making more wholesome changes to your diet might be more effective than isolating a single cause. it also means that you don't have to completely abstain from anything which might make your life happier regarding your relationship with food.
also this new fad of completely abstaining from stuff you are not actually allergic to creates new problems... people put themselves under pressure and cut out more and more things and in the end they can't eat anymore dairy, milk, gluten, onions you name it. and to be honest, in many of those cases, emotional distress and the placebo effect is the most probable cause.
think about it like this: you have some problems with your gut, intestines, whatever. so you stop taking in lactose. via placebo you feel better initially, but this won't last. so you cut out gluten and so on... this is especially relevant since psychological problems can easily cause digestion problems by themselves. I have known a lot of people to start obsessing about their diet so much as to make me believe that this by itself might be a cause of their problem in the first place.
as to fermenting stuff, I am also new to this, but I have made three batches of sauerkraut already, which is actually pretty simple. you can also play a lt with the flavours.... last batch was spiced with chili, ginger and turmeric, went very well along with maki :D.
today I pickled some cauliflower and carrots... excited to see you this will turn out. it will probably be finished fermenting in two weeks or so. apparantly you can ferment most vegetables.
Again, I feel that fermented stuff and decent bread is a huge improvement for anyone's diet. get yourself some literature on the topic. making quality produce for yourself is also lots of fun by itself!
Thanks for the replies, I appreciate the help.
My diet consists of this:
* one foot long turkey breast sub with cheese and honey oat bread. This is from Subway.
* two pan fried pork chops with peppered seasoning.
* one portion of fries
and I have the same thing every day as a sort of ritual.
well there you got it... if this is really what you eat everyday, I am not surprised that you have problems with your digestion. make some change man, more vegetables, decent grain, loads of fibre. and mix it up a little, it's not a good idea to eat the same stuff everyday. you might miss out on lots of beneficial stuff coming from a variety of vegetables, herbs and spices.
