By Barbara Sealock
For health problems ranging from digestive issues to sleeplessness, weight loss problems, and a host of other symptoms and conditions, food sensitivities may be to blame.
Despite the connection between food sensitivities and health issues, food sensitivities are often overlooked in diagnosis. Yet eliminating troublesome foods from your diet can often relieve your symptoms and even cure some conditions completely. Food sensitivities vary from person to person, depending on whether their immune system produces an inflammatory response to any given food that results in a symptomatic reaction. Some people may be sensitive or allergic to common foods, such as apples, bananas, certain vegetables, eggs, gluten, peanuts, dairy, and grains. Others react to different types of food.
Gluten has become off-limits for many people in the U.S. in recent years, partly due to GMOs, growing methods, and modifications or hybridization of gluten products, causing a spike in digestive ailments such as Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) and Crohn’s disease. Switching to gluten-free foods may be a healthy solution, although avoiding the sugars and other additives in gluten-free products may also be necessary, so reading food labels carefully is crucial to making the right choices for yourself.
Testing for food sensitivities and allergies can be as simple as a finger prick blood test—a reliable method for determining which foods may be compromising your health. Instead of applying traces of the foods directly to the skin to see if there is a reaction, the foods in question are tested directly in the blood sample. The following guidelines can help you determine whether you could have a food sensitivity or a food allergy:
A food sensitivity has a gradual onset and may only happen if you eat a lot of the food or eat it often. It is not life threatening but can cause a wide range of symptoms and conditions, such as nausea, stomach discomfort, bloating, gassiness, diarrhea, constipation, body fatigue, achiness, brain fog, difficulty losing weight, a stimulant effect, sleeplessness, depression, or sinus flare-ups, among other problems.
A food allergy can cause a sudden response to a particular food. Even just being near the food can trigger a reaction. An allergic response happens every time the food is eaten and can be life threatening.
How can you identify food sensitivity? Some experts advise being mindful of how you feel after eating specific foods, keeping a food journal, and writing down all mental and physical changes that occur. Stay away from whatever food you suspect may be causing a reaction, and see if you feel any better when you do so.
The finger prick blood test evaluates more than 96 foods and food groups. When the offending food is eliminated, positive results can happen quickly. Inflammation, headaches, and autoimmune conditions can level off or disappear, weight loss may become easier, thyroid function can improve, and energy levels increase.
While food allergies are less common than food sensitivities, the diagnostic, depending on where you go for testing, may be a skin scratch test in which a small amount of the food to be evaluated is applied to the skin. Any inflammation or redness usually indicates an allergic response. Several foods may be tested at the same time, and a blood test for antibodies can provide further information.
A third testing option may be a food challenge, in which increasing amounts of the food in question are given to the person and monitored by the doctor for symptoms.
However, according to Dr. Shawn Bladel of Eastland Chiropractic, who uses the finger prick test for both food sensitivities and food allergies, there are good reasons to see a chiropractor to help sort out food issues. “An M.D., nutritionist, or medical specialist is interested in symptoms and diseases, but a chiropractor is interested in how the body heals itself and helping the cells to heal naturally without drugs or pharmaceuticals.”
Studies of how food affects humans show the importance of identifying sensitivities and removing those foods from the diet. Now, more than ever, smart food choices that support your immunity are crucially important to your health. Healthy substitutions become easier once you discover how much better you feel without those foods you now avoid.
For more information on nutrition and food sensitivities, please contact Shawn Bladel, D.C., at Eastland Chiropractic & Lifestyle Center. Dr. Bladel offers food sensitivity testing through the lifestyle program “Nourish.” Eastland Chiropractic & Lifestyle Center offers a variety of lifestyle programs in addition to chiropractic and physical rehabilitation services. To find out more, contact them at 309-662-8418.
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