Elimination Diets What Is Food Sensitivity?

By Wendy J. Hilliard, DC, Regional Wellness Manager

Knowles Apothecary Wellness

. http://www.knowleswellness.com/

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Elimination Diets What Is Food Sensitivity?

What is food sensitivity? Food sensitivity can be described as the inability to process certain harmless foods due to a lack of proper digestive components such as specific enzymes. As a result, inflammation, irritation, or disease processes can occur within the body systems.

Food sensitivities are different from food allergies, which involve the immune system, can be detected by an allergy test, and usually cause extreme reactions such as someone experiencing anaphylactic shock when eating nuts or becoming significantly congested from drinking milk. Food sensitivities are different in that they do not involve the immune system. They are subtle, insidious, and cannot be detected through testing.

Symptoms of food sensitivity can include eczema or psoriasis, rashes, acne, migraine headaches, asthma, weight gain, irritable bowel syndrome, Candida (yeast) infections, or even insomnia. Some foods that are at high risk to cause food sensitivity include wheat (gluten) containing food like pasta, barley, and oats; dairy foods; white sugar; egg-containing foods; nuts; caffeine; and processed foods with artificial ingredients. Because there is no specific test for food sensitivity, elimination diets are used as the preferred testing method.

What is an elimination diet? Exactly what it sounds like. Elimination diets are used to determine if there is food sensitivity in the body. A typical elimination diet involves cutting out all high risk food categories from the diet for a two-week period. During this time, it is highly recommended to eat only fresh foods and avoid anything that comes out of a box or can. After two weeks, a food category is reintroduced by two separate servings in a 24-hour period, for example having two servings of dairy in the same day. Any new symptom that occurs is recorded daily in a journal. A waiting period of at least five days is observed before the next food category is reintroduced. Food sensitivity is determined based on the pattern of symptoms experienced by the individual compared to the food category being introduced, by a process of elimination.

Elimination diets must be conducted under the supervision of a health professional. During an elimination diet all food labels need to be carefully reviewed to ensure no high risk food category is accidentally ingested. Also, nutrition must be carefully monitored to ensure the individual is getting enough nutrients through the foods they are eating.

It may be astonishing what an elimination diet can tell you about your health.