Understanding Food Sensitivities
There is not a one-diet fit all, because each and every one of us is unique based on our genes and how the environment has shaped us and continues to shape us.
A food that is good for your best friend may not be beneficial for you. Why is that? For one, the food system today is not what it was 1,000 or even 100 years ago. Processing, pesticides, hybridization, genetic modification, and accessibility of nonlocal foods for 12 months a year are all recent additions to the human diet, and have had an impact on each of us in different ways.
Another reason you may not do so well with a certain food is because your immune system does not like it. There are many known and unknown reasons for why this happens. It could be related to some of the issues I stated above, as well as gut issues based on stress, poor diets, infections, antibiotics and other pharmaceuticals, just to name a few. We all have a different microbiome, different bacteria living in our intestines, and because of this we handle foods differently. But we don’t want our immune system wasting its energy on the food we eat!
Most of us are aware of instant food allergies, such as anaphylactic shock or hives. This is an immune response from the IgE antibodies that roam our immune system. Most of us are unaware that there are multiple immunoglobulins (Ig) that keep watch on our system. Food sensitivities differ from food allergies in that the body is sensitive to them thus leading to an activation from the IgG antibodies. Instead of an instantaneous reaction, IgG can take 2 hours to 2 days to show symptoms. These appear to us in general ways such as fatigue, acne, bloating, constipation, diarrhea, headaches, itchy skin, dry skin, brain fog, and more. Food allergies show up mainly in our body’s delicate tissues such as digestive tract, respiratory, and skin, thus affecting the health of our digestion, respiration, immune and hormonal systems.
It is hard to pin point the culprit because how is anyone supposed to correlate two actions that happen that far apart?! The most common delayed food allergens are: gluten, eggs, yeast, and dairy. However, there are likely other less suspicious culprits. The only ways to know is by either eliminating the food for at least 28 days and then reintroduce it to see how you feel, or to do a delayed food allergy blood test for clearer and quicker results.
It makes sense that 80% of our immune system sits right next to our intestines, this is like a border crossing where outsiders are trying to enter our precious inner landscape, and we don’t want to let just anyone across! The tight junctions of our microvilli and the beneficial bacteria that live on them do a great job keeping the bad guys and the undigested particles out. However, when the bacterial micro biome is out of balance or the tight junctions are no longer tight, due to issues stated above, then unwanted or undigested foreign objects can enter our beloved body. Fortunately, we have the immune system as a second line of defense to attack these invaders.
Once a food has been identified, the recommendation is to eliminate it for 56 days because 28 days is the half life of IgG antibodies. For severe sensitivies it is recommended to keep these foods limited to 2-4 times per month after the clearance period. During the clearance time it is crucial to work on healing the gut, because if food sensitives are present than so is disbiosis in the digestive tract to some varying degree.
I need to make a point here that often when we experience uncomfortable symptoms we see it as a bad thing. A shift in perspective can help us understand that symptoms are messages from our body telling us something is out of balance. Regular bloating after eating is not your body betraying you, rather it is telling you it is unhappy. Use this as a message that you need to do something different and help the digestive tract heal. The body is designed to work magnificently, and when we treat it well it will indeed exuberate energetic health! Often this means eliminating foods that are doing more harm than good.
I recommend getting a delayed food allergy panel done if you feel that you are eating well yet still experiencing signs that the body is not happy. Sometimes we just need to know what foods are the issue, so we can cut them out, let the gut heal and immune system calm down. Often times we can include them back in the diet thereafter, symptom free.
Upon inviting post-allergenic foods back into the body we have to remember that the symptoms may be delayed up to 2 days, so introducing one at a time in a 3 to 4 day period to find out how your body is now handling the food.
Elimination diets based on guesswork can be done too, but in my personal experience and those who have also gotten these panels done, you will see there are allergies to foods you would have never guessed. I love coconut and consumed it on the daily, thinking I was doing my body a huge favor, when in actuality it was a top allergen of mine! Meanwhile, dairy was not an issue for me and I would have spent weeks meticulously avoiding it unnecessarily.
You will most likely need to work with a health care specialist to obtain your IgG results. A holistic nutritionist such as myself has access to these labs as well as naturopathic doctors.
Also keep in mind that not all labs are equal. Some will come up with more false positives or false negatives than others. A lab that I trust and use and has been recommended by others is Alletess
Common signs of food sensitivities/allergies:
fatigue, inflammation such as sinusitis, arthritis, phlegm, dark circles under eyes, itchy eyes, dry/burning eyes, asthma, seasonal allergies, chronic ear infections, autoimmune conditions, acne, eczema, migraines, burning or stiff muscles, aches and pains that come and go for no reason, chronically swollen lymph nodes, history of appendicitis and tonsillitis, frequent heartburn and acid reflux.
https://drgruenn.com/sites/default/files/Delayed%20Food%20Allergy.pdf
