Food Allergy Testing

Category: HEALTHY AGING Hits: 1816

Unexplained headaches, fatigue, skin problems, depression or weight problems? The culprit might be a food intolerance/sensitivity. 

You have probably heard of food allergies but the term food intolerance/sensitivity may be new to you. It must be emphasized that food sensitivities are not the same as food allergies and they affect your body in different ways.

When you eat something to which you are allergic to, your body reacts immediately and you feel symptoms such as uncontrollable sneezing or your sinuses rapidly congesting. Some people eat a food and experience an uncomfortable swelling in their throat while others may feel nauseous or break out in a rash. An almost certain sign of an allergic reaction is the speed with which these symptoms develop, usually within minutes of eating something to which you are allergic.

More people are sensitive, rather than allergic to a food. If you are sensitive to a food, your body may not react for several hours or even the next day. Food sensitivity symptoms are deceptive because you would not normally associate them with foods you have eaten. Headaches, chronic sinus congestion, aching muscles and joints or feeling drained of energy are all symptoms of food sensitivity reactions.

Some doctors think that food sensitivities can even affect your mind. They may cause mood swings or affect your mental clarity. Irritability and a short temper may also be the result of food sensitivities. Food sensitivities are often related to food addiction and can be a cause of weight problems for a reason you wouldn’t suspect.

Food addictions often occur with foods that are highest in sugar and fat. Addictions cause your body to crave these high calorie foods, even though you know they are bad for you and cause excess weight. Thus you end up in a cycle of compulsive eating. Food sensitivities can also cause you to retain water,further adding to your weight problem. Hereditary factors can make some people more likely than others to develop food sensitivities. Additionally, clinical experience has shown that there are several life-style factors which we know contribute to developing food sensitivities. Some of this information may be new to you. However, you do have control over all of these factors that do not serve your good health.

Food sensitivities may begin when your body does not efficiently digest the foods we eat. When, on a regular basis, incompletely digested food enters your blood stream, your immune system reacts adversely. The effects of these reactions can produce unpredictable symptoms in different parts of your body.

Your eating habits may also be a major contributing factor in the development of food sensitivities. When you eat too much of certain foods or eat them too often, sensitivities can appear. Eating too fast and not thoroughly chewing your food or eating while emotionally upset can have the same results. Eating over-processed foods, such as canned food and refined flour can also result in sensitivities.

Through your commitment to making the life-style changes, you can achieve a greater sense of well being and a fuller appreciation and enjoyment of life. We will help you make and keep this commitment so that when you have reached your goal of improved health, you can take pride in your accomplishment. You will be amazed at your new positive outlook on life and your improved self image.

Lose Weight Without Counting Calories

A whole new way to think about dieting: If diet and exercise aren’t getting the weight off- sensitivities to the foods you’re eating may be the culprit. Men, women and children all over the world are considering the possibility of hidden food allergies or food intolerances as the missing link to weight control, and medical research is beginning to explain why.

Studies Show Four Weight Loss Breakthroughs 

1. Hidden Poisons In Everyday Foods Cause Weight Gain

Hidden reactions to everyday foods can contribute to weight problems in surprising ways starting with water retention. Laboratory testing has shown that partially digested food can easily pass through a compromised intestinal lining (leaky gut) and get into the bloodstream, ultimately ending up in tissues, causing irritation and inflammation. The body responds by retaining water to dilute the effect of the food sensitivities. As long as foods causing these sensitivities are eaten, excess water and weight will be retained.

2. Internal Inflammation May Dramatically Affect Weight

Chemicals involved in sensitivities to everyday foods may slow metabolism. For example, prostaglandin E2 has been found to inhabit the body’s ability to burn stored fat. A side effect of food sensitivities may be to reduce the body’s ability to burn fat which unfortunately makes weight control nearly impossible. 

3. Food Allergies Lead To Food Addictions And Binging

A study published in The Lancet, one of the world’s most respected medical journals, reported that partially digested components of common food allergens act similarly to morphine-like opioid drugs (Oct. 27, 1979). Eating the wrong foods can actually produce a temporary “high.” Then, when the “high” fades, one begins to crave the same allergenic foods to get that same feeling again.

4. Food Allergens May Increase Appetite And Decrease Metabolism

Research in the New England Journal of Medicine, 1997, vol 337, reported that excessive amounts of opioid chemicals found in partially digested food allergens increase appetite and decrease metabolism. Unfortunately, the more you eat the wrong foods (which could be perfectly healthy foods but not properly digested), the more you are unable to lose weight. 

The Right Food Is Your First And Best Medicine

Eliminating foods from your diet that are causing intolerances can help reduce the inflammation that the food is triggering and alleviate bloating and water retention; overcome food cravings and addictions; boost metabolism; and enhance the ability to burn fat. Since the immune system only remembers the foods that were a problem for approximately two months, in most cases, these foods can be gradually re-introduced into the diet.

Eating the right foods may also get rid of the inflammation that can cause or aggravate other conditions such as migraine headaches, irritable bowel syndrome, arthritis, chronic fatigue, diabetes, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, otitis media and more.

It is estimated that 40%-70% of the population suffers from at least one food intolerance.