Hot Tips for Food Sensitivities!
Food Reactions
👋 Hey there! If you’re wondering if foods might be triggering you ⬇️⬇️
Lots of people get this confused, but do you know how many different types of food reactions there are?
👉👉there are 4️⃣
🚑 Food allergies trigger an immune reaction that can be life-threatening.
🤷♀️ Food sensitivities trigger more gradual reactions that can be harder to recognize.
🥛 Food intolerances occur because of an inability to digest certain foods (like lactose).
🍞 Celiac disease is an autoimmune reaction to gluten.
Of all the types, food sensitivities are the most confusing.
Signs
Could food sensitivities be to blame? ⬇️
Here’s what people think food sensitivities look like:
💥 GI Distress
💥 Stomach Pain
💥 Loose Stools
Here’s what food sensitivities actually look like:
🧐 Tiredness
🧐 Brain Fog
🧐 Joint Aches
🧐 Feeling Bloated
🧐 Skin Rashes
🧐 Behavior Changes
🧐 Moodiness
Truth is—food sensitivities can show up as any of those ☝️things.
The reactions can take hours or days to show up, making it tricky to pinpoint a cause.
If you want to better understand if foods are a trigger for you…
Testing
You aren’t going to like this, but TRUTH IS…
❌ There is no perfect way to test for food sensitivities.
(I’m not talking about food allergies)
Here are your options:
1️⃣ The Elimination-Challenge Diet
2️⃣ Food Sensitivities Blood Test
3️⃣ Combination of Both
For the Elimination-Challenge Diet, you remove all suspected foods until you feel better and then reintroduce them one at a time to see which are problematic.
Some people notice dramatic results 🎉
But some people just get more frustrated because the diet can take a long time, and the results are not always obvious.
The blood test looks to see if your body is creating antibodies to a long list of foods.
👉👉 Combine these 2 methods together, and you might discover a simple solution to feeling better!
Root Cause
💥 Let’s figure out why!
Did you know there might be fixable issues that are driving food sensitivities or making them worse?
That’s right:
Research 📚 has linked food sensitivities to changes in:
👉 Gut Microbiome
👉 Intestinal Permeability (“Leaky Gut”)
👉 Gut inflammation
So…
Gut support makes a lot of sense.
Food Sensitivities
If you deal with food sensitivities ➡️READ THIS 👇👇
Just because you react to a food now does not mean you will never be able to eat that food again.
You read that 🧐 right.
Some people are able to optimize their gut & immune health and then happily eat foods that used to trigger them—without a problem 🥳
To be clear: I am talking about food sensitivities and NOT true food allergies here.
Here are some ways to support your digestion & immune system to help calm reactivity:
✔️ Eat an “anti-inflammatory” diet, meaning whole foods that are rich in antioxidants
✔️ Support the gut microbiome with probiotic-rich foods
✔️ Chew your foods thoroughly and eat mindfully
This is only a tiny glimpse of all the things we can do to support people with food sensitivities because the solution is highly ✨individual✨
Food Swaps
💥The top 2 food sensitivities I see in my practice are easily: gluten (wheat) & dairy (milk). 💥
These are also extremely common foods!
So here are some of my top recommended food swaps…
🥨 For Gluten:
● Sandwich → Lettuce Wrap
● Wheat Tortilla → Corn Tortilla or GF Mission/Siete/Egg Life Wrap
● Pasta → Spaghetti Squash
● PLUS most items come gluten-free (pasta, bread, pancake mix, etc.)
🥛 For Dairy:
● Milk → Almond, Coconut, Macadamia, Cashew or Oat Milk
● Creamer → So Delcious Coconut Creamer, Nutpods, Kalifia Oat/Almond/Coconut
● Butter → Olive Oil or Coconut Oil or Avocado Oil
● Parmesan → Nutritional Yeast
● PLUS you can find dairy-free cheese, yogurt, & ice cream!
Please contact me if you are interested in food sensitivity testing. It can make a world of difference!
Rachel Oppitz, ND
