Is your health problem a food sensitivity?
It’s one of those days, you just can’t concentrate on what you are doing, your brain feels switched off and you can feel a tension headache coming on. We have probably all had one of these days at some time in our lives where we feel like we are operating on low battery power. We all live in a busy world and often we can put symptoms such as lethargy, headaches and ‘brain fog’ down to being over-worked, lacking certain vitamins or not getting enough sleep. But what if its something else? What if it’s the food that you are eating which is the problem?
Food sensitivities can create symptoms in the body that are not just related to digestion (bloating, flatulence, heart burn, constipation or urgency to go and tummy ache) but headaches, lethargy, low mood, skin issues and even joint pain. Although many with food sensitivity will have digestive issues, any other part of the body can also be negatively affected causing inflammation and pain.
Many people will use the words allergy, food intolerance or sensitivity interchangeably, even though they are actually different things. The symptoms that you get after eating a problematic food may be the same or similar, but the internal reactions in our bodies are different.
Firstly, lets look at the differences.
Food Allergy
Food allergy is an almost immediate reaction that involves the immune system and can cause rash, swelling, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, abdominal pain and if severe may cause the inability to breath. These occur when the body produces IgE antibodies to a particular food, and histamine and other pro-inflammatory immune mediators are triggered. An example would be a peanut allergy that causes swelling, hives and difficulty breathing. This requires the individual to take anti-histamine or use an epi-pen when they have a reaction.
Food Intolerance
Food intolerances are more common than allergies and may cause abdominal pain, bloating, diarrhoea, gas, constipation and heartburn. Intolerances DO NOT include your immune system and are caused by enzyme deficiencies that break down the sugars or proteins in food. A good example is lactose intolerance where the enzyme lactase is not produced efficiently by the small intestine to break down the sugars in dairy. This usually results in digestive issues and complaints. If dairy is the issue, supplementing with lactase enzymes before eating dairy may help or eating lactose-free products.
Food Sensitivity
Food sensitivity, like allergy, also involves the immune system but is not an IgE reaction. Food sensitivity can occur when circulating immune cells react to a food or food-additive and produce pro-inflammatory mediators (chemicals) into the blood stream. This inflammation circulates throughout the body causing various unpleasant symptoms including digestive dysfunction (bloating, gas, loose stools and stomach ache), as well as skin issues like dermatitis, eczema or psoriasis. They can also cause symptoms such as headaches, fatigue, low mood and likely increase and worsen inflammation in the body.
With food sensitivity, it is important to understand that an array of immune system cells can be triggered and are then circulated all over the body creating inflammation, which really explains why someone with food sensitivity will often experience multiple symptoms. To complicate matters, food sensitivity may not be limited to just one particular food; multiple foods may be creating problems. Secondly, sensitivities may also be triggered by a food additive such as preservatives or sweeteners which are regularly included in packaged and processed foods. Fructose, which has replaced sugar in many processed foods, can often be the culprit. Even health products such as supplements may contain fillers and emulsifiers that may negatively impact your health if you body has sensitivity.
Food sensitivities can be difficult to diagnose as the reactions are often delayed as well as dose-dependent and symptoms may occur a few hours later or even a few days later. An example would be gluten sensitivity that can cause symptoms such as fatigue, brain fog, digestive discomfort and joint pain.
So how do you determine if your symptoms are food sensitivity related? To be honest, it’s a tough one. If you look online for answers, it all gets very puzzling due to the confusion around the difference between intolerance and sensitivity. Most of the information provided is only on allergy and intolerance, because food sensitivities are still not fully understood by the health industry (both conventional medicine (GPs) and complementary therapies).
Some things to consider if you think you might have a food sensitivity.
Avoidance Diet
Investigate your current diet by keeping a food and symptom diary for up to seven days. Consider the foods you are eating each day and any negative symptoms. Here you need to be very mindful, as symptoms can often present many hours after eating a particular food. If you think that dairy causes digestive issues, avoid it and you should see a change in a couple of weeks. However if you see little change, you need to question whether it is dairy or another food source.
It can be most helpful to look at your diary and note down what you are currently eating most of each day and start by eliminating these foods. For example, if you start every morning off with toast and eggs and drinking a milky latte, then gluten, eggs and dairy could be sources to consider avoiding first.
Foods that are often the culprits (but not always!) are wheat, gluten, dairy, eggs, fructose and aspartame. So if you seem to be including these foods into your daily diet, it might be a good idea to avoid these until you can identify which one(s) are the problem.
Avoiding certain foods can take a little bit of time to get used to and to get right. It’s really important to check food labels on products and when eating out in restaurants ensure that the kitchen knows what you can’t eat. We are lucky to live in a time where we have so many options for those of us who are avoiding particular foods. You can still enjoy an array of different foods; try new ingredients and recipes and still avoid the ones that you need too for a period of time.
However, the downfall of avoidance diets is that some will find them limiting and difficult to stick to for a long period of time. Confusion also lies around when to starting eating a particular food again and see if you still have sensitivity. It can be scary to re-introduce if symptoms are better, in the fear that the symptoms will return and worsen. This is when it’s important to see a qualified Nutrition Practitioner (mBANT) to help you with an effective and safe reintroduction programme. Sometimes they will also advise on testing for food sensitivities to identify the sources.
Functional Testing
Testing for food sensitivity can be beneficial, as it can take the guess work out of the equation.
Here you need to be wary and take care, because many tests offered on the high street and over the internet are flawed and the accuracy of results are not diagnostic at all.
Many laboratories will offer IgG food sensitivity testing. The problem with this is that they are not always accurate and also do not take into account other immune pathways involved in food sensitivity reactions. IgG testing solely tests IgG antibodies but does not consider any other antibodies or immune mediated reactions involving white blood cells, which can trigger a variety of symptoms and inflammation. A test that I use in clinic is Mediated Response Testing (MRT) to determine the severity of sensitivity to certain foods. This test measures both antibodies and white blood cells (2 immune pathways), which may provide better insight into how an individual’s immune system is reacting to common foods and food additives.
If considering testing for food sensitivities, I would suggest staying away from those offering at home finger prick testing and hair analysis with results in a few days. It is best to go through a qualified and registered Nutritional Therapist, as they can advise you on the most credible testing facilities, analyse the results with you, and create a tailored diet / lifestyle program while also supporting you through any necessary changes.
Having a food sensitivity can affect your day-to-day life through symptoms that cause discomfort, pain and inflammation. Just because when you eat a particular food and don’t keel over and die on the spot, it doesn’t mean it’s not damaging your body and negatively affecting your overall health and daily life. It’s not always easy, but there are ways of identifying foods or food additives causing sensitivity, eliminating these for a period of time and regaining your health.
If you have symptoms outlined in this article that are worrying you, always see your GP in the first instance for their advice.
Photographed by Irving Penn, Vogue, January 1993
