Why Do Food Sensitivities Matter?
By Dr. Tim Fargo, Chiropractor
Let me begin by saying that the topic of food allergy and sensitivity is fraught with confusion. In the medical community, the term “allergy” implies that certain mechanisms are being employed by your body to produce an immune response to food and environmental agents. From their perspective, unless a food or environmental agent provokes a response from a particular part of your immune system (IgE), then you are not considered to have an “allergy” to that thing. The unfortunate part of this is that there are multiple mechanisms by which the body mounts a response to foods and environmental agents and thereby demonstrates its displeasure with the exposure. What this means is that, from an orthodox allergist’s perspective, unless IgE is involved in the response, you don’t have an allergy. This leaves a very wide range of responses unaccounted for. The plain truth is that your body can mount a defense to, and show its displeasure with, an exposure even though it is not a true “allergy”. To be correct, then, we will call these responses “sensitivities” rather than “allergies”.
When you consume foods to which you are sensitive, some or all of the following might occur:
1) You might well experience the typical phenomena associated with allergy, like coughing, sneezing, runny nose, watery eyes, itchy skin, rash, etc.
2) You might also experience things like acid reflux, indigestion, diarrhea, constipation, and other things related to your digestive system.
3) Alterations in your hormones such that you have menstrual and fertility issues. This is because food sensitivities and allergies have an impact on your liver which is responsible for detoxifying and excreting excess estrogen and progesterone in your bloodstream.
4) Changes in brain chemistry can occur such that you will have reduced production of melatonin which can impact your sleep and reduced production of serotonin which can result in people feeling stressed, anxious, and depressed.
5) Increased inflammation results in pain in any part of the body which is already predisposed or irritated.
6) Weight gain and bloating are a common result.
7) Depressed immune function which makes you more susceptible to infectious agents like viruses and bacteria.
8) Fatigue.
It should be apparent from the list above that the consequences of food sensitivity are both wide-ranging and potentially severe. We have had many patients over the decades who suffer from headaches, joint pain, bowel issues, ADHD, and a host of other complaints, which were then resolved with the identification and elimination of offending foods. Identifying food sensitivities is important for your long-term health and is not particularly difficult to do. If you, or any member of your family or friends, is suffering from any of the issues mentioned above, then I would suggest you schedule a consultation to speak with one of our clinicians at Chiropractic Health and Wellness and we would be happy to explain the process by which we can identify your food sensitivities. It is quick, painless, and relatively inexpensive to identify the things that may be sapping your body energy and impacting both your short-term and long-term health.
