Conditions such as eczema, headaches, behavioural and digestive disorders, arthritis, and even difficulty losing weight, can all be exacerbated by dietary triggers. I find that many people question whether their diets could be compromising their health, however they have no idea how to determine what the specific cause might be. It’s important to distinguish that there are generally three types of food reactions: allergies, intolerances, and sensitivities, and different ways of identifying and managing them. Determining how your food choices are impacting your health can be a powerful step in self-healing.
Allergies are the most severe type of immune response to a food. An allergy is characterized by a severe inflammatory (IgE) reaction that typically occurs immediately after consuming a food. These reactions can range from milder symptoms such as urticaria (hives), to a more severe anaphylactic response. Allergic reactions can be lifelong, and need to be strictly avoided. I find that most people are already aware of what their true allergies are, however you can also get a referral from your GP to an allergist to undergo an assessment such as a skin prick test to help determine both food and environmental triggers.
Digestive reactions that occur shortly after consuming a food are what I typically refer to as food intolerances. If you experience bloating, diarrhea, or heartburn almost immediately after a meal, it is usually an indication that your body is simply not breaking a food down very well, often due to a deficiency in the enzyme needed to digest the food. This can be seen in the example of a lactose intolerance, where the small intestine does not produce adequate amounts of the enzyme lactase, which is needed to digest dairy products. Like allergies, food intolerances are often easy to identify since they occur so quickly after a food has been eaten.
If you find that you’re having digestive reactions to most of the foods that you’re eating, I usually take this as a sign that we need to focus on improving the overall function of your digestive system. Sufficient stomach acid, pancreatic enzyme production, healthy bile flow through the liver, and a healthy microbiome are the four cornerstones to optimal digestive activity. Naturopathic support for these systems can often yield quick and remarkable results.
The more challenging type of dietary reactions to identify are food sensitivities. Like allergies, food sensitivities stem from an immune reaction (IgG) that is inflammatory in nature, however the body is typically slower to respond. You may eat yogurt for breakfast two days in a row and feel fine, but experience a headache three days later. From my observation, these reactions tend to occur when the body has reached a threshold of inflammation, sometimes triggered by multiple foods. Joint pain, chronic sinus congestion, headaches, rashes, and persistent digestive disturbances (even going back to childhood), are all symptoms that I have seen improve when food sensitivities are avoided. Unlike allergies, these types of reactions don’t always persist for life, and sometimes after a good break from a food, it can successfully be re-introduced back into your diet and not elicit the same type or degree of response.
Food sensitivities can be identified by a helpful experiment performed at home. First, think of a food that you suspect may be problematic. If you are not sure, I often suggest starting with gluten-containing grains, eggs, or dairy, which all contain proteins that tend to be more difficult for the body to process. Keep in mind that lactose is a sugar in dairy, however eating lactose-free foods does that remove the proteins (casein and whey), which are more of a trigger for sensitivity reactions.
Next, eliminate the food from your diet for two weeks. It is important to avoid even trace amounts of the food you have selected during this period, since even a small quantity could trigger a delayed immune response. At the end of the two weeks, try reintroducing the food. Consume two servings in one day, then wait for five to seven days to see if any reactions arise. If you do notice that any of your symptoms are flaring up, this could indicate a food sensitivity. I usually recommend avoiding food sensitivities for three to six months before trying to reintroduce them. Working with an ND to incorporate a gastrointestinal healing protocol during the elimination period can be helpful as well. In addition, it is important to continue to avoid any foods that have been identified as true allergies.
Blood tests ordered by naturopathic doctors are also available for diagnosing food sensitivities, and can be helpful if you suspect that you could be reacting to multiple foods. I usually recommend this type of testing only following a thorough investigation into other possible causes of your health concerns, and after making sure there are no barriers to healthy digestive function. Ideally, we do not want to be eliminating too many foods from our diets, since this can be challenging and stressful!
Bothersome health symptoms can often persist for years, with short-term treatments providing limited results. One of the key principles of naturopathic medicine is to identify and treat the root cause of symptoms to allow the body to truly heal. It is reassuring that even chronic conditions can sometimes be substantially improved or even completely resolved when food sensitivities are addressed.
If you are wondering about the impact that diet, digestive health, and food sensitivities could be having on your health, I encourage you to book an in-person or virtual (Ontario) appointment to discuss further.