What are food sensitivities?

Food shouldn't make you feel sick.

One of the biggest frustrations clients have time and time again is knowing what they should eat and not eat to feel better.

So many people struggle with low energy, brain fog, and lack of focus.

Plenty deal with digestive issues like bloating, constipation and diarrhea, even stomach aches, nausea and heartburn.

These issues can be super frustrating to have to deal with on a daily basis.

Truth is, we all react to different foods individually.

Some people do just fine eating roughage like lettuce or kale, while for others raw fiber creates bloating, gas and even painful stools.

Others can enjoy dairy in one or more of its different forms. For some, milk and yogurt cause gas while cheese is fine. For others, any dairy can cause digestive distress like constipation, heartburn, and gas.

Grains, especially grains with gluten, are a common complaint for many people. Even those who don’t have Celiac Disease (a serious autoimmune disease) can have a gut sensitivity to gluten causing brain fog, headaches, fatigue and even digestive issues like diarrhea and constipation.

For some legumes like beans or lentils can cause digestive issues like bloating, gas and constipation, and may also create brain fog and fatigue.

This is all to say that the foods you eat are often the culprit for why you feel crappy after you eat.

Truth bomb: This is NOT okay!

You should never just “deal with it”.

The food you eat should make you feel energized, clear-headed and satisfied.

So what can you do about food sensitivities?

There’s a lot to unpack here, including how you eat and how well you chew, the health of your gut microbiome, adequate stomach acid, liver and gallbladder health, parasites, and more.

But the best place to start is with WHAT you are eating.

Food sensitivities have a number of causes, but we won’t dive into those here.

In order to identify a food sensitivity, you have to test.

The most common way of testing for food sensitivities is fairly simple: Eliminate the food for 30 days, and see if symptoms improve. Then, reintroduce that food slowly to see if symptoms or issues return.

For example, if you suspect gluten is the cause of your headaches and brain fog, you might eliminate all gluten from your diet for 30 days.

You may notice your brain fog disappears and you have fewer headaches. Great! After 30 days, you reintroduce a little gluten in the form of sourdough bread, and the brain fog returns.

Now you have a pretty good idea of what has been causing those issues for you, and can do something about it!

Eliminating the culprit food may solve the majority of issues for some people.

For most though, removing offending foods is the start of the healing process.

Food sensitivities are often a signal that other things in your body are out of balance. Autoimmune issues, parasites, mold exposure, low stomach acid, sluggish bile, hormone imbalance and dysbiosis in the gut microbiome can all lead to sensitivities.

Note: We are NOT talking about food allergies here. Allergies are a totally different thing.

So the good news is that there are things we can do to fix these issues!

You don’t just have to suck it up and live with it. You also don’t have to figure it all out on your own.

I know what to do, and I’ve got a plan.

So if you’re ready to stop dealing with food sensitivities, brain fog, headaches, and digestive issues, let’s get to work!

The best way to get started is to set up a free 15 minute discovery call with me to see how we will work together.

Ready? Let’s go!