Moderation is not on my mother's side of the family's vocabulary so it requires extra effort on my part.

I'm almost positive I don't have any food allergies. I ate everything under the sun without any issues before. No stomach/bowel issues at all. But I did start a candida/leaky gut diet just to see if it would help and also to boost my immune system. I'm reading certain foods cause "inflammation" although I think that relates to inflammation of the digestive system. I think I will go back to a normal diet soon, but will continue skipping the alcohol.

Inflammation occurs when the biochemistry of the body, gets skewed to the inflammatory cytokines made from the fats we eat.

http://chriskresser.com/why-fish-sto...ce-of-omega-3/

If too many Omega-6's are taken in (fried foods, trans fats) then inflammatory Cox-2 is fueled in excess to cause all sorts of grief. The chart on this link uses the older term eicosanoids, --cytokine and prostaglandins are two other terms used in this biochemistry interchangeably.

The healthy way is to balance 3's to 6's so that Cox-1 can do the job of maintaining the lining of the GI tract, lining in the lungs (to prevent upper respiratory infections, and other tissue disease).

NSAIDs (ibuprofen, naproxen), and aspirin, block both Cox-1 and Cox-2. This is how over time ulcers form in the intestine and stomach. Excess insulin also stimulates Cox-2 formation, and this is why sugar and excess carbs are inflammatory as well.

This is a complex biochemistry and even today many doctors do not understand it. Even this chart which is simplified is complex to understand.

There are books written about this for laymen, by Dr. Barry Sears PhD biochemist. His first book was Enter the Zone, and began the Zone Diet.

This book of his goes on to further explain "inflammation".
http://www.amazon.com/Anti-Inflammat...ds=Barry+Sears

So if a person consumes high %'s of omega-6 fats, and sugar/starches they will develop tissue inflammation.
The ratio to aim for is Omega-3 to 6 in a ratio of 1:1 or up to 1:5. Testing on children with ADD was done over a decade ago to show they had a ratio of 1:25 .... and this is why using fish oil and flax oil works to reduce ADD. This is what I did in our home about 20 yrs ago, for my son, and for my husband and myself.

I take fish oil supplements. Are they typically balanced at the factory?

until 3 months or so ago, i was a serious fun-loving boozer (vodka). i knew it was doing my legs and feet harm but i didn't care until one day i woke up and a/ could no longer feel my toes at all and b/ numbness had spread up my right leg and started in on my fingertips. i have zero will power over booze, so i called the doc and got a scrip for antabuse, wherein you throw up if you take a sip of alcohol.
about a month ago, mrs. d pointed out that antabuse itself can cause neuropahy, so i've stopped taking it, but i no longer crave vodka the way i did.
a single antabuse pill lasts two weeks, although you're supposed to take them every day. if i start to feel that crave again, my plan is to pop a single pill, which will keep me straight for the next two weeks.
the new numbness has stabilized but not gone away. i fear i've done permanent damage. that being the case, i would strongly advise you to do anything and everything you can to continue to stay clean and sober.