Identify and eliminate food sensitivities for a healthier life

Tuesday, March 05, 2013 by: Marie Saffy
Tags: food sensitivities, elimination diet, allergens

(NaturalNews) While you may not have a full-blown food allergy, it is likely that you may have a food sensitivity that has gone undiagnosed. Because reactions to foods or food additives are often delayed and not severe, it can be difficult to determine what is triggering mild symptoms, such as headaches, bloating, constipation, gas or fatigue. However, it's important to discover what your body is rejecting, as even a slight intolerance can cause a toxic buildup and inflammation that leads to greater health problems, including chronic disease, down the road.

The eight major food allergens

More than 160 foods can cause an allergic reaction, but these eight foods cause up to 90 percent of food allergies, so one or more of these is likely to be the culprit of your intolerance.

1. Milk
2. Eggs
3. Fish
4. Crustacean shellfish
5. Tree nuts
6. Peanuts
7. Wheat
8. Soybeans

Try an elimination diet

There are several ways to eliminate potential food allergens from your diet. You can either eliminate them one at a time for at least two weeks and add them back in to see if you notice a difference, or you can start out by eliminating every food you suspect could be a trigger food and slowly add them (at least two days apart) back in one by one to test for adverse reactions. It's important to remember that some foods may cause a reaction up to three days after consumption, so it can be difficult to determine what your body is telling you. Keeping a food journal and recording how you feel can also help, but may only be effective if reactions are more immediate.

Other types of food and food additive intolerance testing

With the countless additives and preservatives that are in our food today, it is likely that you may be intolerant of one or more of these, in which case an elimination diet will not be effective. There are several tests that can be done to determine which foods and food additives you are sensitive to. Release Testing (MRT) is a blood test that identifies food, preservatives and additive triggers. Many chiropractors and naturopaths also use a method known as applied kinesiology, which uses muscle strength and weakness to test for allergies and sensitivities. Electrodermal Vega testing is another option, which looks for abnormal electrical charges in the body to determine what foods or additives will create a condition in the body in which disease can develop. Once these intolerances are identified via testing, you can eliminate the triggers and slowly add them back into your diet after a period of time to confirm that the test results were correct.

Can intolerances be cured?

After eliminating trigger foods for several months, some people have success re-introducing these foods into their diets in very limited amounts and can tolerate consuming them ever so often (ie: once a week or a couple times per month). Others find that it's best to permanently eliminate these foods. Most conventional medical doctors would say that there is no foolproof cure for allergies, but some alternative health therapies, including Nambudripad's Allergy Elimination Technique, claim to eliminate allergies. This technique exposes the patient to small amounts of the allergen while receiving acupressure or acupuncture treatments in order to reverse negative reactions.

Sources:

http://aafa.org/display.cfm?id=9&sub=30
http://www.alive.com/articles/view/16433/food_allergies
http://acupuncturenutrition.com/mediator-release-testing-mrt-faq/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com
http://www.naet.com/

About the author:
Marie Saffy is a business writer and marketing consultant based in Pennsylvania. She has worked in a variety of industries and her work in the mental health field ignited her passion for natural healing. She believes that living naturally is the only way to achieve true wellness.