Good morning! Today’s post is going to be kind of different from the norm, not that I think that I have a norm, but if I did this one would be different. Mr. Hungry was gracious enough to let me share his results from his recent food sensitivity panel.
What are food sensitivities?
I often tell my clients there are three words we use interchangeably: allergy, sensitivity, and intolerance but they mean very different things:
Allergy- Anphaltic Response- IgE antibodies- hives, epi pen, etc
Intolerance- Immediate physical response (typically diarrhea) from lack of ability to digest that food, like a lactose intolerance.
Sensitivity- Inflammatory response promoted by increase in IgG antibodies. Symptoms onset slowly. Severity of symptom depends on level of sensitivity and frequency of exposure.
What are the symptoms of food sensitivities?
Depending on how a person’s body deals with the inflammation and potential stress response from the inflammation symptoms can include Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), headaches/migraines, chronic upper respiratory infections, depression, ADHD, Acne, Eczema, Asthma/chronic congestion or allergies, Autoimmune disorders, Weight gain/obesity. Mr. Hungry has had a long track history with many of those symptoms including IBS, headaches/migraines, Asthma, and chronic congestion.
Results
We tried the doctor’s office route with a full workup which basically told us he was most likely sensitivity to baker’s yeast and that he has inflammation in the GI tract so he should drink tumeric smoothies. Okay great, after removing bakers yeast and taking Rebound he was still having symptoms. Back to the MD that said come back if you have another “flare.” Oh and by the way you may have Crohn’s Disease with symptoms that aren’t that bad yet. Um, WHAT?!?! For the life of me I don’t understand how it can be okay to make a statement like that then send someone on their way. Regardless, I knew that I wouldn’t be able to help him unless we got the test done. It’s like I tell my clients all the time, I could be telling you to eat something I believe to be healthy, but that isn’t healthy for your body.
How to deal with the results:
I go over these tests with clients ALL THE TIME, almost every day and yet I still had a minor panic attack when I saw egg yolk as his highest category paired with bakers yeast, brewers yeast, all dairy, and wheat/gluten. As soon as I started writing down ideas I felt better, with a game plan it wouldn’t be so bad. I made Mr. Hungry come into the club to go over his results with me so he could focus and not freak out. Of course he was disappointed… he could live off of eggs, dairy, and bread and be perfectly happy, but his body wouldn’t be happy. I’m so proud of him though for making it work the last couple week’s with vegan grapeseed oil mayo, brown rice tortillas, and tons of meat he is making the best of a not fun situation. In a couple weeks I’ll check back in and report some of his wheat free, gluten free, dairy free, egg free substitutes and how he is doing!
Additional Reading and Resources:
Food Sensitivities- You May Not Know You Have Them (Life Time Flourish Blog)
6 Way’s Food Sensitivities Can Influence Weight Loss (Life Time Flourish Blog)
Could it be something you ate? (Experience Life Magazine)
[…] A huge Costco bag I figured I could make some use out of and I did by making Mr. Hungry a food sensitivity friendly breakfast or […]