Food Allergies and Sensitivities

There is a lot of confusion as to why healthy foods like wheat, eggs, milk, nuts, strawberries or just about anything may be bad for you. I know many people who suffer from food allergies or sensitivities because they refuse to believe this could be possible. But as the autoimmune population grows (over 300 new autoimmune diseases are being identified every year), more and more people are claiming to be "allergic" to certain foods. Who doesn't know someone who is lactose intolerant, allergic to some nut, or feeling a lot better on a wheat free diet?

If you have a true food allergy (by current medical definition), your body has an IgE immune response when exposed to the offending food. An IgE response is quite dramatic (like the throat swelling, or sharp stomach pain) and occurs soon after exposure. Most medical doctors will run IgE tests to determine food allergies (although I'm not sure why, because it is usually quite obvious if you have an IgE immune response).

What is called a food sensitivity by some and a food allergy by others is typically an IgG or IgA response to consumption of offending food. Symptoms can be vague and vary from weight gain, weight loss (less common), bloating, brain fog, joint and muscle pains, increased hay fever/allergies, headaches, and much more. Many food sensitivities do not cause digestive symptoms, which is why many people refuse to believe their health problems could be related to eating healthy foods. Symptoms do not typically occur immediately(usually several hours to a day after consumption) so identifying the offending foods can be difficult. Several methods can be used:


1) The gold standard for identifying this type of sensitivity is with the elimination diet. The problem with this type of diet is, most elimination diets use brown rice as their non-allergenic food. I have found that some patients are sensitive to rice and some will develop new sensitivities to almost any food upon repeated exposure due to poor gut health. If there is not a single food that you are certain is not causing an immune response, it is almost impossible to determine the foods that are causing immune responses.

2) If you suspect a particular food, you can take your pulse before consuming it, and then again after you consume the food. If your heart rate increases after consumption, you are likely sensitive to that food.

3) Many alternative care providers will use a technique called muscle testing. Although I find this to be very accurate, it is impossible to scientifically support this method.

4) The IgG and IgA blood testing is quite expensive and only works if your immune system is functioning properly (unfortunately most people who have this type of sensitivity, have altered immune function). I find this bloodwork can be a good basic guideline, but not the best method.

5) Sometimes certain health problems are associated with specific sensitives. Wheat sensitivities have been linked to Autoimmune Thyroiditis, Ulcerative Colitis, and Chron's Disease. Corn sensitives are common in people with brain fog. Milk sensitivities are almost a given in a child with ear infections, and very common in people with allergies.


If the cause of a food sensitivity is genetic (like with Celiac Disease) your body will never become capable of digesting that particular food because it lacks the ability to do so. Consuming the offending food will damage your intestinal linings which results in additional food sensitivities because the enzymes used to breakdown food are no longer being made by the damaged tissues.

Any deterioration/damage of the intestinal lining can cause a non-genetic type of food sensitivity. Intestinal deterioration can be caused by many things from poor diet, celiac disease, yeast/bacteria imbalance, and parasites just to mention a few. If you have heartburn, you have gut deterioration, and whether you realize it or not you have food sensitivities. When your intestinal wall deteriorates it is not capable of secreting enzymes to properly digest the foods you eat which will cause the walls to deteriorate even more. Eventually because of the intestinal wall damage, food leaks into the blood (often referred to as leaky gut) and your body will create antibodies against that food in an IgG or IgA immune response. In this type of food sensitivity or 'allergy', you will likely be able to eventually consume the offending food again without having an immune response when the intestinal lining improves.

There are many supplements that help to improve the intestinal lining, but it is almost impossible to completely repair the intestinal lining without removal of the offending foods.