YOU SAY YOU’RE EATING HEALTHY? YOUR SURE?

What if you eating something generally thought to be healthy like broccoli, but in YOUR body it causes inflammation. Now it’s no longer healthy.

Every individual is different, and every individual reacts differently to each food. The food you eat will either enhance your proper body chemistry or disrupt it and cause inflammation. In fact, in once study 95% of the people tested show that at least one food they eat regularly caused an inflammatory reaction in their body. A common misconception is when we experience a symptom, we tend to attribute it to something we just ate, or at least ate within the last 24 hours. In actuality, it can take up to 72 hours for a symptom to manifest, so the headache you have today, might have been from the orange you ate 2 days ago! That makes figuring out your problem foods really tough!

Patients regularly come into my clinic and say they have had their allergies tested but never their food “sensitivities.”

Many people are familiar with the IgE classification because it gets the attention from allergists because they have a protocol on how to deal with it. It also has an immediate response with anaphylaxis or death. You would know by now if you have any of those and IgE only accounts for 1% of the immune response. Is understanding 1% of your immune response enough for you? These could kill you quickly, but there is more to look at than just the IgE response.

On the other hand, IgG represents 70% of the immune response That irritating excess weight, fatigue, or acne could be a sign of an immune response and inflammation. Chronic inflammation can lead to serious illness like cancer, auto-immune disease, and heart disease. There is a lot of evidence that chronic inflammation predisposes you to cancer and the longer you have that inflammation the higher the risk.

The lab I utilize has been doing allergy testing exclusively since 1978 and for over four DECADES they have helped people across the world pinpoint the foods triggering inflammation. There are 4 types of IgG responses and this lab tests all 4 with reproducible, reliable, and relevant results.

How I judge ANY LAB is by the reproducibility. What does thismean? I send the same patient’s blood, drawn the same day and put different names on the requisition sheets (I’m blinding the lab from seeing I’m sending the same blood) . When the results come back, they should look exactly the same. Otherwise, I question the laboratories results. I do this type of testing with all of my laboratories.

Food Sensitivity 101

There are several different types of food reactions; some have sudden onsets while others can occur more slowly and subtly.

Food Allergies

Food allergies are an immediate reaction arising from activation of the immune system after ingestion of food(s). This is also known as IGE mediated hypersensitivity. The most common symptoms are swelling and redness of lips, skin and face, throat, lungs and gastrointestinal tract, resulting in angioedema, hives, wheezing, shortness of breath, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and even death.

The most common foods that cause these food allergies are cow’s milk, eggs, nuts, fish, shellfish, wheat, strawberries and soy. This may occur with any food at any time in one’s life.

Food Intolerances

Food intolerances are unpleasant reactions to food typically due to maldigestion of food. Many food intolerances are a result of a deficient enzyme that aids in digestion. The most common example of food intolerance is related to lactase deficiency. Lactase is an enzyme found in the villi of the small intestine, which aids in the digestion of milk sugar known as lactose.

The second most common cause is fructose intolerance - the sugar found in fruit and vegetables. The most common source of fructose, which is pervasive in the food industry, is high fructose corn syrup. This additive is used to sweeten processed foods and beverages. The most common symptoms are abdominal distention, cramping, gas, bloating and diarrhea.

If Identify or suspect you are lacking in any enzyme used in digestion, I recommend a high quality enzyme supplement.

Food Sensitivities

Food sensitivities are a delayed hypersensitivity reaction resulting from malassimilation of food. This is a non IGE mediated immune response. The exact mechanism is unclear, however, there is evidence to suggest that it is related to the dysregulation of T-cell lymphocyte antigen processing. The food is not completely digested (macromolecules) and it is believed that it results in an antibody-antigen complex, which in turn results in a series of inflammatory reactions.

The most common symptoms are similar of both food allergy and intolerance such as nausea, vomiting, abdominal discomfort and diarrhea. Other symptoms include head and joint aches, heartburn, swallowing difficulties, constipation, fatigue, mood swings, insomnia, weight gain or loss, and fatigue. The onset of symptoms occurs between 2 hours to 72 hours, (3 days). On average, it takes 72 hours for food to be eliminated from your system. The most common foods attributed to this are cow’s milk, brewer’s and baker’s yeast, wheat, barley, eggs, potatoes, fish and shellfish.

You might not notice these reactions, or you might notice something, but not realize it's a reaction to your food (yes, even your nutritious, organic food!). Some symptoms could include:

• Ear Aches
• Mood Swings (Anxiety, Aggressiveness, Irritability)
• Fatigue
• Dark Circles Under Eyes
• Asthma
• Canker Sores
• Sinus Problems
• Acne
• Eczema
• Brain Fog
• Bloating
• Excess Weight
• Headaches/Migraines
• Seizures
• Joint Pain
• Skin Problems

I’ve had patient’s that have been to the top hospitals and research institutions in the world with still no answers for their symptoms. In a few cases, when we identified their food sensitivities, their symptoms completely resolved.