Food sensitivities can be a real nuisance. For one, you may not really even know that you are sensitive to a food that you have been eating on a regular basis. That's because many people have digestive symptoms like bloating, gas, heart burn, constipation or diarrhea regularly, and don't realize that these are not the norm. You don't have to have these gastrointestinal symptoms on a regular basis! It's very likely that you are eating something that your body is sensitive to, that could be causing these symptoms regularly. Sensitivities are not full blow allergic reactions, but they are still causing some sort of reaction internally - whether that's an immune reaction that's causing inflammation in parts of your body (think achey joints, soar muscles, fatigue, headaches, brain fog, eczema, post nasal drip and nasal congestion), or another type of reaction that's causing GI distress (a very common culprit that goes undiagnosed: lactose intolerance).
Although there are a variety of food sensitivity tests available, most test for specific antibodies such as IgG, IgA, or IgE antibodies. And although this is beneficial in identifying some potential sensitivities, no one test can give you a full list of all the foods that might be causing inflammation or distress in your body. That's because the body can react in different ways -- it could be producing IgG antibodies in response to a food that it sees as a threat, but it could also be producing IgA antibodies in the mucous membranes of the gut lining. Or, you could have an outward allergic response in which the body produces IgE antibodies but not the other two types. And in some cases, like lactose intolerance, the body doesn't produce any of these antibodies but you still suffer from GI distress.
So what's a person to do? How do you get to the bottom of these pesky intolerances and find out what could be causing you to feel bloated, suffer from headaches, and overall feel unwell? The gold standard is following an elimination diet with a structured reintroduction. An elimination diet is one in which you 100% eliminate a set group of foods, and after a period of time (ranging from 3 weeks to 3 months), you begin to reintroduce foods, one at a time. The time of elimination varies but the goal is to allow your body's inflammatory responses to have enough time to cool down and the antibodies that were generated from the offending foods to dissipate. Once they have done so, you carefully reintroduce one food (consistently for a period of 3 days, 2x per day, and watch for symptoms like those mentioned above). Then you wait a few days, and try another food in the same way. If you don't see symptoms, it means your body is no longer sensitive to that food (or wasn't sensitive to that food in the first place). If you do see symptoms, you need to eliminate that food again for another 2-3 months. After 6-7 months of full elimination of the offending food, your body should be able to tolerate it again. If it can't, it's likely that you have to eliminate it long term.
What foods are typical to eliminate? There are a few that hit the list every time as they are the most common to cause reaction. Those are: gluten, dairy, coffee/tea, alcohol, eggs, corn, soy, processed/refined sugar, and shellfish. There are also a number of variations of the diet where you cut out additional groups of food that you know cause problems (for example, a low FODMAP diet is a variation where you eliminate most of these foods plus a number of fruits, vegetables, legumes and nuts).
It may seem overwhelming to follow an elimination diet, but with enough planning and information, a set of easy enough to follow recipes, and the determination to get to the bottom of your health concerns, it's very do-able. It's also very helpful to have a coach or a professional helping you out through the process to guide you with foods you can eat (and there are actually a lot, believe it or not). In fact, my husband and I are following an elimination plan right now to get to the bottom of some persistent issues. We are in week one, but I have to say, after getting over the initial hump of cutting out coffee, I feel pretty good. We've been eating a ton of fresh fruits and vegetables, and grilling more protein on the grill. As I write, I'm snacking on some incredibly sweet and juicy cherry tomatoes, and I feel less bloated today than I have in months.
If you are curious about getting to the bottom of some persistent health concerns yourself, reach out to me. I'd be happy to discuss what's going on and help guide you through getting to the bottom of it through the functional medicine lens!