When Food Attacks!

I'm in the thick of Thanksgiving prep today, but on my lunch break I found this story waiting in my inbox. As someone who can end up sick for days following the euphoria of feasting, this comprehensive look at trigger foods hits close to home.

I can say from personal experience that dietary change can profoundly affect your overall feeling of wellness. I wouldn't claim a change in how you eat will prevent you from contracting a disease or open your mind, but no question, it can relieve you of the distinctly uncomfortable symptoms of things like acid reflux, heartburn, bloating, indigestion, gas, and so on.

I've identified spicy foods, raw garlic, and coffee as three triggers for my unpleasant digestive symptoms, and an overabundance of citrus can do me in, too. Eating too much food also brings me pain -- something to keep in mind for tomorrow, I suppose.

Read on to learn what foods might be causing your pain.

ABC News: 10 Foods That Bring on the Pain: “While an estimated 40 million Americans live with what they describe as chronic pain, many more suffer from acute bouts of pain, such as acid reflux and headaches. But be it chronic or acute, pain is something we'd all like to live without.

Dr. Neal Barnard, founder and president of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine and president of the Cancer Project in Washington, D.C., believes that pain-free living could be a dietary change away.

"What we know is that when people eliminate certain foods from their diets, their symptoms are eliminated or reduced, so we know that there is a link here," says Barnard, who is an outspoken advocate of vegetarianism. The link could be a number of things, ranging from a reaction to certain proteins found in particular foods, to an increase in cholesterol, which can irritate the lining of our arteries, he says.”