Food Sensitivities: Signs You Have a Food Sensitivity - Paula Owens

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Food Sensitivities: Signs You Have a Food Sensitivity

Food Sensitivities: Signs You May Have a Food SensitivityFood sensitivities are increasingly common nowadays.

Food Sensitivities: Signs and Symptoms

Do you experience any of these symptoms? If so, it may be related to the food(s) you’re eating.

  • Skin conditions including rashes, hives, eczema, itchy skin
  • Headaches
  • Ringing in the ears
  • Bloating, puffiness
  • Water retention
  • Insomnia, interrupted sleep
  • Fatigue
  • Bowel and digestive ailments, leaky gut
  • Dizziness
  • Bedwetting
  • Unexplained anemia
  • Sinusitis, mucous-type cough
  • Heart palpitations, increased pulse
  • Brain fog
  • Behavioral and attention problems
  • Anxiety, depression, mood disorders
  • Constipation or diarrhea
  • Hypertension
  • Chronic histamine issues
  • Weight gain or unexplained weight loss
  • Dark circles underneath the eyes
  • Muscle aches, joint pain
  • Inflammatory bowel disease, Crohn’s, colitis, gastritis

What is a Food Sensitivity, Food Allergy and Food Intolerance?

Food Allergy is an IgE reaction of the body’s immune system to a food or food ingredient that it recognizes as “foreign.” A true food allergy can cause tingling in the mouth, hives, swelling of the lips, face, tongue and throat, trouble breathing, dizziness, fainting or anaphylaxis. It can also cause nausea, vomiting, cramping and diarrhea, signs and symptoms that can also happen with a food intolerance. Food allergies tend to be higher for children, African-Americans, males and those with asthma.

Food Sensitivity is a non-IgE reaction (IgG, IgA, IgM) in which an individual experiences an adverse reaction to a food, a food ingredient, additive or nutrient. A food sensitivity involves the digestive system and the immune system, and even brain function. You can probably eat small amounts of the food without an immediate reaction, however if you continue eating foods that your body considers harmful, inflammation increases, gut function is compromised, and your immune system is affected.

Food Intolerance (similar reaction as food sensitivity) is when you body is intolerant to a specific food, and unable to breakdown, assimilate, digest or absorb a food, food ingredient or additive. (i.e. lack of digestive enzymes, pancreatic enzymes, bile or hydrochloric acid (HCL).

Food Sensitivity FYI

— A study reported in The Lancet found that when sensitive foods were eliminated from the diets of migraine sufferers as many as 93% of them found relief!
— Food sensitivities are one of the leading causes of obesity and weight loss resistance.
— 60-80% of the population is sensitive to one or more foods.
— Eating the same foods over and over, day after day after day is one of the most sure-fire methods to developing a food sensitivity or food intolerance.
— Food sensitivities are a primary root cause of fatigue, ADHD, mood disorders and emotional problems.
— Food sensitivities have increased tremendously in the last ten years. What’s to blame? The industrialization of our food, the influx of processed foods and harmful toxic chemicals, GMOs, glyphosate and pesticide exposure has been linked to the increase of food sensitivities.
— Do you crave certain foods? Are you addicted to any specific food(s)? Chances are high that you’re sensitive to that specific food.
— Hidden food sensitivities are unique to each individual.

The Most Common Food Sensitivity Triggers

Foods and chemicals on our food that are responsible for 90% of food sensitivities

  • Milk and dairy products (except for organic, grass-fed butter)
  • All grains
  • Gluten
  • Peanuts, peanut butter and tree nuts such as almonds and walnuts
  • Eggs, specifically the egg white
  • Sugar
  • Artificial sweeteners
  • Corn, corn products, high fructose corn syrup
  • Soy and soy products
  • Vegetable oils
  • Yeast and brewer’s yeast
  • Fish and shellfish
  • GMOs, glyphosate and pesticides
  • Preservatives, additives, food dyes and colors

Food sensitivities are unique to each person. Aside from the top offenders, you can be eating the healthiest foods, and these may be the very foods that you’re sensitive to and are problematic for you.

“One man’s food is another man’s poison.”

At-Home Food Sensitivity Coca Pulse Test

☑️ Watch this 4 minute video for a simple technique to help you discover if you have hidden food sensitivities.

Years ago, Dr. Arthur Coca popularized the “pulse test” for food allergies. He found that some (but definitely not all) allergic individuals have a significant increase in their resting pulse rate after eating a particular food allergen. Others have observed that eating certain trigger foods causes them to retain fluids, which manifests as a significant weight gain that doesn’t disappear by the next morning (like most water-weight gain) caused by inflammation.

The Solution. Once you detect and rule out the specific food sensitivity, eliminate the specific food for a full 12 weeks, and  then reintroduce the food.

What you can expect. Endless health benefits: Better sleep, less belly bloating and brain fog, relief from headaches, joint and muscle pain, a surge in energy, less anxiety and depression, lower cortisol, flatter abs, healthier digestion and elimination, weight loss, and clearer, healthier, younger looking skin.

When you eliminate the foods you’re sensitive to, specifically dairy, gluten, wheat, artificial sweeteners, soy and sugar, you may experience withdrawal symptoms similar to withdrawal from other addictive substances like caffeine, nicotine, drugs and alcohol.

To avoid food sensitivities, it’s important to get into the habit of rotating all foods every day, add diversity to your diet, and read the list of ingredients on all products.

Eat a diversity of nutrient-dense organic foods. On a rotation diet, a food is only eaten once every 4 days. So, if you have eggs on Monday, you will not eat eggs again until Friday. Keep a daily food journal of everything you eat for one week. This can help identify foods that may be posing a problem for you.

Food Sensitivity Testing. If you continue to experience persistent health issues without relief no matter what you do, you may want to consider a thorough screening even if you get a negative result on the at-home self-test. You may consider a food sensitivity test (a non-IgE reaction test) such as an IgG, IgA or IgM test that is completely different than the IgE food allergy test, the skin prick test. It’s important to realize that these tests come with many false negatives and false positives. 

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