I was told that you if you eat the same thing everyday for a long period of time, such as having a hard-boiled egg everyday for lunch, your body will develop a toxicity FROM it. Is this true, even of good foods?

No, eating the same things every day - especially healthy foods - won't affect you adversely, and your body won't become toxic as a result. However, it is important to vary your diet to make sure that you are covering all your nutritional bases and that you're not getting too much of any one thing. I checked with pediatrician Sandy Newmark, M.D. to see if eating the same foods daily could pose a health problem for children. He said that he had seen no research that suggested any such danger, but he agreed that a variety of foods is best, for children as well as for adults.

It may be possible, however, to develop intolerances to foods you eat often - you may find you are less able to digest them than you used to be or that you react badly to some of them. But with certain exceptions (lactose intolerance, gluten intolerance) food intolerances are highly individual and mysterious. In some cases they are triggered by physical or emotional stress or exposure to environmental toxins. Lactose intolerance stems from a deficiency of the enzyme lactase, which is needed to help digest lactose, a sugar in milk. Individuals with this problem develop bloating, abdominal pain and, often, diarrhea when they consume milk. Gluten intolerance is caused by an abnormal immune response to gluten, the major protein in wheat and some other grains. These problems have a genetic basis.

Some people react to natural substances like the histamine in foods such as cheese, some wines and certain fish, particularly tuna and mackerel. Eating a food with a high level of histamine can lead to what seems to be an allergic reaction but is really just a response to the effects of the compound, sometimes called "histamine toxicity."

I encourage you to vary your diet - include as much fresh food as possible, minimize your consumption of processed foods and fast food and eat lots of fruits and vegetables. If you follow my anti-inflammatory diet, you'll get the vitamins, minerals, essential fatty acids and dietary fiber you need for optimal health.

Andrew Weil, M.D.

问：最近，我被告知，如果每天都吃相同的食物，例如每天午饭都吃一个水煮蛋，这样过一段时间后，你的体内就会因此产生毒素。这是真的吗？即使吃营养好的食物也会对身体有害吗？

答：每天吃相同的食物，尤其是健康食品，不会对你的身体造成副作用，当然，你的身体也不会因此而中毒。但是，为了确保摄取所有的基础营养，也为了确保不过量食用某类食品，丰富饮食的品种也是相当重要的。我曾与儿科医生仙蒂·纽马克博士联系，询问道，儿童每天吃同样的食物是否会引起健康问题，他回答说，他还没有见过任何研究表明这类危险的存在，但是，他也赞同，无论是儿童还是成人，保证饮食的多样性都是上上之举。

但是，如果你经常吃相同的食物，你就有可能对这些食物产生不耐症。或许你会发现食物比过去更难消化，或许你会对这些食物产生不良反应。但是，除了一些特例（如乳糖不耐症，麸质不耐症），食物不耐症因人而异且很难抓住病因。在一些病例中，食物不耐症的发作往往伴随着物质或精神的压力，要不就是暴露在环境毒素之下。乳糖不耐症的病因是缺乏乳糖酶，这些乳糖酶是消化乳糖的必需物质，牛奶中的糖就属于此类。患有乳糖不耐症的人会引起腹涨，腹痛，喝牛奶时经常会有腹泻的情况发生。麸质是一种蛋白质，它是小麦和其它谷物的主要成分，对麸质不正常的免疫反应则是麸质不耐症的最终病因。麸质不耐症有遗传因素的存在。

一些人对某些天然物质有特殊反应，如食物中的组织胺，包括芝士，特定的酒和鱼，特别是金枪鱼和鲭鱼。食用高组织胺含量的食物可以引发类似过敏的症状，事实上，这只是临床观察上的反应，通常被称为"组织胺中毒"。

我建议，你应该丰富你的饮食种类，尽可能的多吃蔬菜，减少加工食品和快餐食品的摄入量，多吃瓜果蔬菜。如果你遵照我提出的"抗发炎饮食食谱"来选择食物，你将会得到理想健康状态下所必需的维他命，矿物质，适量的脂肪酸和膳食纤维。

安德鲁·威尔医生
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