Do you suspect certain foods don’t agree with you? 
Do you have a food allergy, sensitivity or intolerance? 

There’s a lot of confusion around this subject.  Both food allergy and intolerance/sensitivity are where your body’s immune system reacts inappropriately to a food, or more specifically a protein in food.  Even food contains proteins to varying degrees.  Instead of tolerating the food as something harmless, it mounts an immune “attack”, generating antibodies to the food in the process. 

But there’s a big difference between allergy, food sensitivity and intolerance.  

Food allergies are easy to identify.  Within 2 hours of eating the food you’ve got a noticeable reaction.  Most often a rash or your throat or lips swelling up.  Allergies can be severe and life-threatening.  They are easily identified by hospital tests.  Typical tests are where the skin  on your back is pricked numerous times and a single test food is applied to each puncture to see if it reacts.    IgE blood tests can also identify allergies.  Allergies  are to do with a type of antibody called IgE.  Surprisingly, people with food allergies can take specific actions to lower their reactivity.  Eating foods and nutrients that dampen down this excessive immune response and make you resilient.  I once had a client who was an agricultural consultant.  He visited farms for a living, instructing farmers on better methods.  He came to me during winter because he felt it must be possible to conquer his hayfever (IgE reaction against pollen.  From May to October he was usually murdered by hayfever, living on anti-histamines and still struggling.  He did what I recommended.  And transformed his next summer at work into ease and comfort instead of the old story of redness, itching, sneezing and misery. 

Food sensitivities are different.  They’re harder to identify because symptoms are triggered from several minutes to 48 hours after exposure to the food.  Food sensitivities are where IgG or IgA antibodies are triggered.     

It is quite common for people to react badly to certain foods not because they have a sensitivity but simply because their digestive system is not working efficiently. So they can’t tolerate a particular food.  Having an under-functioning digestive system can cause both food sensitivity and intolerances (see below).  

Let’s talk about about intolerance that’s really just  faulty digestion.  For example lactose intolerance.  Lactose is a natural sugar found in milk.  If your small intestine is damaged or lacking friendly bacteria called lactobacillus then it can’t produce enough digestive enzymes to break down lactose.  If you have bacteria/yeast overgrowth in your small intestine which this causes lactose intolerance.  The lactose intolerance I see in my practice is usually developed over time and is usually fixable by supporting your digestion, temporarily removing the problem sugar (lactose) and supporting gut healing.   However, people of East Asian, West African, Arab, Jewish, Greek, and Italian descent might be genetically lactose-intolerant.  Their bodies just cant make the enzyme (lactase) that digests lactose and there might be a case here for long-term digestive support in supplement form.  

Then there are the people who can’t digest or tolerate high protein foods like e.g. beef.  They just feel awful after it.  The higher the protein content in the meal, the worse you feel.  This is usually related to hypochlorhydria – a fancy name for inadequate stomach acid.  By the time somebody is 50 years of age they have 50% likelihood of hypochlorhydria.   This sets them up for muscle loss, immune issues and other so-called age-related frailties.  You absolutely can help support your ability digest the protein you need for long-term health.  And I show you how.  

You’ll probably have noticed I haven’t even mentioned coeliac disease and non-coeliac gluten sensitivity so far.  That’s coming soon.  I grew my knowledge and ability to help people struggling with this exponentially after I discovered a serious gluten sensitivity myself.  In my case, the main effects were cognitive and social – resulting in many decades of being unable to read situations, get along with people, connect, and function in a world of normal people.  Learning that the 2 most common symptoms of coeliac or non-coeliac gluten sensitivity are fatigue and brain issues was a game-changer (side note: I healed my brain).  If you think you have an issue with gluten you’ve come to the right place to get help.    

Common causes of poor digestion that lead to food sensitivities and intolerances include:

• Not chewing – your stomach has no teeth and so will not be able to cope with large chunks of hard-to-digest food (eg meat, fish, eggs, cheese, beans)
• Inadequate stomach acid – this can lead to bloating and (ironically) acid reflux, especially after protein-containing food.  Protein cannot be digested properly without the acid. Pain, bloating, acid reflux, IBS, constipation or diarhoea can ensue.  Nutritional intervention and one-on-one self-regulation coaching is a game-changer here.  Why?  Because it’s not just about getting enough nutrients in.  If you’re living in chronic stress you’re diverting energy from health and repair and putting all your resources into getting ready to run, fight or hide.  Most of us spend around 70% of our time living in stress.  This pushes the genetic buttons that eventually cause disease.  Most of my patients see a reduction in their “triggerability” within weeks.  Reduce your reactions to the circumstances and challenges in your life and you liberate energy to heal.   I show you how.    
• Poor gallbladder function/pancreatic insufficiency – this is where not enough digestive juices (enzymes, bile salts) are pumped into your intestine to continue the digestive process. This can also cause symptoms. Typical symptoms might include pale or floating stools or discomfort after eating fatty foods. If you don’t make enough stomach acid, then the flow of pancreatic juices from the gallbladder will not be triggered.  You’ll have problems further down your digestive system.  
• Dysbiosis – when you have inadequate good bacteria in the gut and overgrowth of pathogenic bacteria or yeasts, food intolerances usually follow. This is because pathogenic species produce irritating by-products that damage your gut wall. This causes leakage.  It allows undigested matter to pass from your small intestine into the blood stream. There the immune system mounts an attack on the “foreign” matter. Only fully-digested food should be permitted to pass from the gut into your blood. If your symptoms are worse after eating refined foods, sugar or alcohol or if these are regularly in your diet, you could be dealing with dysbiosis.  Your gut health can dramatically improve with the right intervention and support.  

Want to take action to live with more comfort and ease?  
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