Food sensitivities are the sneaky, super inflammatory cousin of Food Allergies! Food Allergies get a lot of attention because they are very scary and cause obvious symptoms like rash, anaphylaxis and possibly death! Yikes!!
Food sensitivities on the other hand are much less talked about, a lot less obvious, and are much more common than their cousin, Food Allergies.
It is estimated that 1-2% of the population has Food Allergies, whereas about 20-30% of the population has Food Sensitivities. That’s something to pay attention to!
Food sensitivities are sneaky because you don’t always have immediate or obvious symptoms. It can take days for symptoms related to food sensitivities to manifest. By that time you probably long forgot what you ate 3 days ago. This makes it really hard to identify that a particular food is what caused you to feel so bad.
Some Common Indications of Food Sensitivities are:
- IBS-D (diarrhea predominant)
- Crohn’s Disease
- Ulcerative Colitis
- Leaky Gut
- Heart Burn, GERD, Acid Reflux
- Fibromyalgia
- Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
- Migraines
- Insomnia
- Rheumatoid Arthritis
- Chronic Sinusitis
- Eczema
- Cyclic Vomiting Syndrome
- Known Food Allergies
- Autism Spectrum Disorders, ADHD
- How about that stubborn extra weight that you just can’t seem to take off, no matter how much you diet or exercise?
Did I leave anybody out???
The Difference Between a Food Allergy and Food Sensitivity…
Food Allergies:
- Food Allergies are typically limited to affecting the airways, skin and digestive tract.
- Food Allergies are an IgE immune response.
- Food Allergies can cause a response when a single molecule of the offending food item has been ingested.
Food Sensitivities:
- Food Sensitivities can cause inflammation in any organ or organ system throughout the entire body! Whoa!!! Meditate on that for a second!
- Food Chemical Sensitivities may be dose dependent. That means you might not have a response unless you eat a certain amount of the offending food. That adds to the difficulty of identification.
- Food Sensitivities cause inflammation via multiple different types of Mediators released from immune cells: IgG, Histamine, Prostaglandins, Cytokines, Leukotirenes, Platelet Aggregating Factor, Eosinophil Chemotactic Factor, Myeloperoxidase, Eosinophil Cationic Protein, Serotonin, Dopamine, and more….What a mess!!!
The complexity of these various types of responses makes Food Sensitivities difficult to test for.
If you want to know what foods are creating these various types of mediator based inflammatory responses, you need a test that can efficiently measure them.
That is the Mediator Release Test or MRT for short.
What makes MRT Food Sensitivity Testing Superior to IgG & IgE Testing?
The difference is like fishing with a pole v.s. fishing with a net. If you have one pole with one type of bait, you might catch one fish that liked your bait. That doesn’t mean that there are no other fish in the pond.
If your food sensitivity test only looks for IgE or IgG mediated cell responses to specific foods and you get a negative result, it doesn’t mean that there are no other types of inflammatory reactions happening when you eat those foods. Refer back to the paragraph above titled “The Difference Between a Food Allergy and Food Sensitivity” and review item #4. You have to be looking at all of those responses if you want to truly test a food sensitivity to a particular food. That’s what the MRT Food Sensitivity Test does. It casts a wide net to look for these “End Point” Mediator Released Reactions. That’s HUGE!!! That’s what makes the MRT Test superior to many of the highly advertised Food Sensitivity tests available.
There are other tests that aim to measure these end point mediator responses, but the approach is different and there are variables that allow some of these mediator responses to go unmeasured, therefore they “fall through the cracks” and may be presented as non-reactive “safe” foods to the consumer.
Keep in mind, you also have to listen to your body…our bodies are smarter than any laboratory test available, so if you know a food doesn’t make you feel good, don’t eat it! Lactose intolerance is a good example of this. Lactose intolerance is not a mediator response, it is simply a inefficiency of lactase enzymes to break down the sugars (lactose) in dairy. This causes fermentation and fermentation is what causes symptoms of lactose intolerance. This is called a Food Intolerance!
What do you do when you know what foods are causing inflammation?
The first step is to give yourself a rest from the inflammatory foods and focus on the non reactive foods. By doing this, you will reduce your overall inflammation which will allow some space for healing. If done properly you should experience relief and a reduction of many of your symptoms. This in turn will reduce your body’s overall stress burden. Doesn’t that sound good?
That’s just the beginning. There are specific steps that you will need to follow if you want to achieve lasting results. The wisest option is to work with an knowledgeable Functional Nutritionist that can help you create a Plan intended to nourish and support your body’s specific needs.
Addressing Food Sensitivities may not be the last step for you in getting your IBS or Chronic Inflammation under control.
Often times food sensitivities can be secondary to other functional issues or imbalances such as, nutritional deficiencies, digestive issues, microbial imbalances, infections, toxic exposures etc…
In addition to your MRT Testing you may need to identify and address those issues as well. A specially trained Functional Nutritionist or Functional Health Care Practitioner can help you investigate into these types of things and work with you to correct those issues.
Call Hollie 843-707-7033 to get your MRT Test Kit. Or Schedule a Free Discovery Session to learn more:
Blood Draw Appointment
You will need a blood draw for the MRT Test. Labcorp and Quest do not draw for the MRT Kits. We have an onsite and mobile blood draw service that can accommodate you at The Holistic Wellness & Detox Center. To schedule, please fill out the service request for Phlebo On The Go by clicking on the Purple Button below:
Call or click here to schedule a Free 15 minute Discovery Session
To learn more about how Food Sensitivity testing at Happy Tummies might help you get to the bottom of your IBS or other Chronic Health Issues!
