Investigating Food Intolerances

Many people struggle with identifying specific foods that might be underlying symptoms. One day a glass of milk appears to cause digestive upset, and another day it doesn’t. It can be very challenging to uncover “food triggers” for various symptoms.

The reason it can be so difficult is because it can take anywhere between 10 minutes and 2-3 days for symptoms to arise with food sensitivities. We call food sensitivities a “delayed response” immune reaction, in contrast to the immediate anaphylactic reaction we see with food allergies. However in both cases, the immune system is producing antibodies against certain foods treating them as a “foreign invading bacteria”. This means that our immune system can often be “tied up” fighting our food rather than the bacteria it SHOULD be fighting. This turns a “healthy” food into a potentially unhealthy food that is triggering symptoms and causing inflammation.

As a naturopathic doctor, I am always trying to help patients towards eating the right foods for their body. Many patients come to me to investigate food triggers for digestive symptoms like gas, bloating, constipation, diarrhea or stomach pain. However many people do not know that there are often “food triggers” underlying many other symptoms:

• migraines
  
• weight gain / fluid retention
  
• eczema / skin rashes
  
• asthma
  
• rheumatoid arthritis / autoimmune issues
  
• acne
  
• ADHD
  
• recurrent infections / poor immunity
  
• anxiety /depression / OCD (some cases)
  
• inflammation
  
• chronic pain
• chronic sinusitis / congestion
  
• and many more…

Investigating food sensitivities and “food triggers” underlying specific symptoms is something almost anyone can benefit from — especially if any of the symptoms on the above list are experienced.

There are 2 ways I go about investigating food triggers with patients:

1. Elimination Diet - Eating a “clean” diet for 4 weeks, then reintroducing one food at a time and monitoring for a return of symptoms.
   
2. IgG Food Sensitivity Testing - A blood test looking at antibodies produced against different foods (see photo above)

If you struggle with any of the conditions above, I’d encourage you to start looking into food triggers for your symptoms. Making sure you are eating the right foods for your body is the single most beneficial thing you can do for your health.

Warmly,
Dr. Noelle DeVos