Hidden Food Sensitivities That Keep You Fat & Sick
More and more of my clients are testing positive for hidden food sensitivities. If you're eating whole, healthy foods, but are still struggling to lose those last ten pounds, you may have hidden food sensitivities. If you really, really "crave" certain foods and find yourself completely unable to stop eating them, you may have hidden food sensitivities. If you've been diagnosed with Irritable Bowel Syndrome, you probably have food sensitivities. If you suffer from migraine headaches, this may be a real issue for you worth investigating.
Let me give you a dramatic example from my personal experience. While I was working on my own weight loss plan and consistently monitoring my weight and body fat daily, I had a moment of weakness and decided to eat three slices of pizza from the Cheeseboard in Berkeley. Great stuff, quality ingredients! Well, after having been off of gluten and dairy for almost 30 days, my body revolted.
I started intensely craving bread and dairy. After the pizza, I wanted ice cream so badly! I hadn't felt the need in a really long time. I pushed past the craving but the next morning, I had a piece of sourdough toast and some melted, organic cheddar. That night for dinner, I made some whole grain pasta as a side dish. On day 3, when I went to weigh myself, I had put on 7 pounds! Most of that weight was water, but still, my pants no longer fit, and I felt and looked bloated and puffy. My bowels were out of whack for nearly 5 days. True story.
Post Pizza Blues!!
When most people think of food allergies, they think of dramatic, potentially life threatening symptoms such as anaphylactic shock or giant hives that pop up right after eating certain foods. These allergies are known as "IgE" immmune responses. The kind of allergies I'm talking about are much more subtle and can take days to show up. These "IgG" immune reactions are difficult to pinpoint. In my case, it was obvious that gluten and dairy had caused me grief because I'd been off of them for so long. When I reintroduced them, the effect was noticeable. Most people are constantly eating foods that they are sensitive too and don't even realize that they are carrying extra water weight, or that the quality of their lives are less than optimal.
The top offenders are gluten, dairy, soy, corn, eggs, and peanuts. You could try a modified elimination diet and then reintroduce each food one by one to find out if any of these are problematic. But if you are feeling a little undisciplined and impatient for results, then I would recommend getting a blood test!
I'm so pleased that there is now a blood spot test available for food sensitivity testing. It tests for the 30 most common IgG food allergies and includes: gluten, corn, dairy, soy, beef, eggs, tomato, peanuts and more. It's only $160 which includes a half hour phone consultation with me to go over the results and do some menu planning. I will mail you the kit, which involves a simple blood spot test. (You'll be using a single use lancet just like a diabetic would to check their own blood sugars; it's very easy!) To order, email me: sylvie@realfoodnutrition.com.
Once you discover that you have food sensitivities, you must keep those foods out of your diet for a minimum of 3-6 months so that your gut lining can heal. There are nutritional supplements that you can take to speed up the process and I will help you to craft a personalized program. If you do it right, you may be able to reintroduce certain foods and eat them for the rest of your life, problem free on a rotating basis. This may or may not be true for you with gluten. For some folks, gluten is a life long poison that they must learn to avoid.
The good news is that there are more and more tasty alternatives out there! Next week, I'll post some ideas for delicious gluten free, dairy free, egg free menus. I just got my test results back and unfortunately, it looks like eggs are not my friends right now. I am a big fan of eggs in general for people that are not sensitive to them, provided the eggs are free range, pastured & organic! But that's a different story...Until then, get out there and enjoy the remaining summer sunshine!
Yours in Health,
Sylvie Nalezny, MA, CNE
Let me give you a dramatic example from my personal experience. While I was working on my own weight loss plan and consistently monitoring my weight and body fat daily, I had a moment of weakness and decided to eat three slices of pizza from the Cheeseboard in Berkeley. Great stuff, quality ingredients! Well, after having been off of gluten and dairy for almost 30 days, my body revolted.
I started intensely craving bread and dairy. After the pizza, I wanted ice cream so badly! I hadn't felt the need in a really long time. I pushed past the craving but the next morning, I had a piece of sourdough toast and some melted, organic cheddar. That night for dinner, I made some whole grain pasta as a side dish. On day 3, when I went to weigh myself, I had put on 7 pounds! Most of that weight was water, but still, my pants no longer fit, and I felt and looked bloated and puffy. My bowels were out of whack for nearly 5 days. True story.
Post Pizza Blues!!
When most people think of food allergies, they think of dramatic, potentially life threatening symptoms such as anaphylactic shock or giant hives that pop up right after eating certain foods. These allergies are known as "IgE" immmune responses. The kind of allergies I'm talking about are much more subtle and can take days to show up. These "IgG" immune reactions are difficult to pinpoint. In my case, it was obvious that gluten and dairy had caused me grief because I'd been off of them for so long. When I reintroduced them, the effect was noticeable. Most people are constantly eating foods that they are sensitive too and don't even realize that they are carrying extra water weight, or that the quality of their lives are less than optimal.
The top offenders are gluten, dairy, soy, corn, eggs, and peanuts. You could try a modified elimination diet and then reintroduce each food one by one to find out if any of these are problematic. But if you are feeling a little undisciplined and impatient for results, then I would recommend getting a blood test!
I'm so pleased that there is now a blood spot test available for food sensitivity testing. It tests for the 30 most common IgG food allergies and includes: gluten, corn, dairy, soy, beef, eggs, tomato, peanuts and more. It's only $160 which includes a half hour phone consultation with me to go over the results and do some menu planning. I will mail you the kit, which involves a simple blood spot test. (You'll be using a single use lancet just like a diabetic would to check their own blood sugars; it's very easy!) To order, email me: sylvie@realfoodnutrition.com.
Once you discover that you have food sensitivities, you must keep those foods out of your diet for a minimum of 3-6 months so that your gut lining can heal. There are nutritional supplements that you can take to speed up the process and I will help you to craft a personalized program. If you do it right, you may be able to reintroduce certain foods and eat them for the rest of your life, problem free on a rotating basis. This may or may not be true for you with gluten. For some folks, gluten is a life long poison that they must learn to avoid.
The good news is that there are more and more tasty alternatives out there! Next week, I'll post some ideas for delicious gluten free, dairy free, egg free menus. I just got my test results back and unfortunately, it looks like eggs are not my friends right now. I am a big fan of eggs in general for people that are not sensitive to them, provided the eggs are free range, pastured & organic! But that's a different story...Until then, get out there and enjoy the remaining summer sunshine!
Yours in Health,
Sylvie Nalezny, MA, CNE
Posted by Sylvie Nalezny 2009 at 9/2/2010 10:28 AM 
Categories: Food Allergies, Weight Loss
Tags: food allergies food sensitivities IBS irritable bowel syndrome migraines how to test for food sensitivities weight loss and food allergies
Categories: Food Allergies, Weight Loss
Tags: food allergies food sensitivities IBS irritable bowel syndrome migraines how to test for food sensitivities weight loss and food allergies
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