It happens to some of us, maybe more than we know. We can, for years, eat things like ice cream, bread, pasta, cheese, etc, and then one day, those same foods begin to cause pain. Discomfort. You think your GI is out to get you. Or its a "getting older" problem. Odds are, its something that's been lurking for some time and it has finally manifested in a way that got your attention. Food sensitivities. I want to discuss how to do your own testing and find ways to feel better.
Some people—myself included—can clear up their symptoms without giving up a single food.
Put another way, millions of people are convinced that they can’t eat dozens of foods when, in reality, few (and, in some cases, none) of those foods are actually a problem for them.
Let’s start with a few definitions.
What are food sensitivities?
Some people use the term “food sensitivities” as a catchall to describe a wide range of adverse symptoms that can be brought on by eating certain foods.
Other people define sensitivities more narrowly. For them, food sensitivities are what’s left over when the following problems are ruled out
- Food allergies: When the immune system mistakenly treats a component in food as if it were a germ. This can lead to a wide range of allergic responses: hives, swelling, vomiting, diarrhea, and life-threatening drops in blood pressure.
- Food intolerances: The inability to process or digest certain foods. For example, someone who is lactose intolerant doesn’t have adequate amounts of the digestive enzymes needed to break down lactose, a sugar present in dairy products.
- Celiac disease: An autoimmune reaction that triggers gut inflammation and diarrhea when someone consumes gluten, a protein found in many grains, most notably wheat.
Still other people use the word “sensitivity” interchangeably with “intolerance.” They throw around the term IBS (short for irritable bowel syndrome)—trying to indicate that something in the diet is making someone feel sick, but they’re unsure of the culprit.
It’s all pretty confusing, so let’s make it simple.
For the purposes of this story, I’ll borrow a definition from the American Academy of Allergy Asthma & Immunology: “A food sensitivity occurs when a person has difficulty digesting a particular food.”
I want to take this opportunity to stress that there are food sensitivity tests that you can have done by medical professionals. I have had food sensitivity testing done. While it can be informative, the information regarding what kind of testing and how to read your tests is a post in itself. For today, I want to focus solely on the Elimination diet, which is easily done at home using a journal.
Zero-cost ways to test for food sensitivities—at home
When clients come to me with GI symptoms, I use two different tools to help them connect what they eat with how they feel.
Tool #1: Food journaling
For roughly a month, my clients keep track of:
- What they eat and drink
- How they eat (for example, wolfing down fast food while driving to an appointment vs. slowly savoring a home-cooked meal)
- How much they eat (until just satisfied versus stuffed)
- How they feel, and especially bothersome symptoms such as diarrhea, headaches, bloating, and stomach pain
- How they sleep
- Their stress level
Once they have 30 days of data, we take a look at their journal entries in search of patterns.
To highlight those patterns, I like to bring a client’s attention to days when they experienced vexing symptoms, such as stomach upset. Then I ask:
“What do you notice in your journal in the 2 to 3 days leading up to that flare up? See anything interesting?”
If applicable, I also draw attention to any stretches of time when they had no symptoms at all—and I’ll ask the same question:
“What do you notice in the days leading up to this good stretch? Did you do anything differently during those days that you didn’t do in the days leading up to the flare up?”
This journaling exercise helps people identify sensitivities as well as see they may not have as many sensitivities as they thought.
For example, after looking over their journal, a client might say, “Whoa, I accidentally had dairy on Sunday, and I didn’t have any diarrhea the next day. That’s really weird. But I did have diarrhea just about every day this other week—and I was eating perfectly then. But I was super stressed out. Do you think there’s a connection?”
Tool #2: The elimination diet
Elimination diets work a lot like a science experiment to help people identify foods that lead to a wide range of bothersome symptoms. And they do pretty much what the name suggests: exclude certain foods for a short period of time—usually three weeks.
After three weeks, clients then slowly reintroduce specific foods one at a time, each reintroduction spaced a few days apart. As they do so, they monitor their symptoms for possible reactions. Unlike food sensitivity blood tests, elimination diets are the gold standard for identifying food sensitivities.
The problem with elimination diets? They take time and effort.
Do I wish I had a fancy, high tech, super science-y way (like a blood test) to give clients a definitive answer? Absolutely. I do. Because a fancy blood test is easier (for most people) than food logs and elimination diets.
Right now, however, this trial and error approach to testing out different foods is the best we’ve got. And, it works. Because we've seen it work, time and time again. Not just the Nutrition coaches at Iron Flag, nutrition coaches worldwide have had success with it as well.
Now, the hard part is the time and patience it takes to do this. As stated earlier, its not like a simple blood test where you get the results in a few days and Bam! magic, you have answers. Rather, you get to be the scientist in this case, and really get to dial in the changes you see and more importantly feel, with certain foods. Example, I love True Foods Kitchen. And every time I ordered from there, I got their cauliflower. Delicious. But I would feel ridiculously bloated after every meal from there. The last few times I ordered, I didn't get the cauliflower. Results? No bloating. I realized it wasn't me eating too fast or too much, it was that dish. So I don't have to stop eating from my favorite place, just order differently.
When we journal, it helps to keep the following questions in mind. Because your digestion is directly connected to the points below. Nothing in our bodies happens in a vacuum. It is all connected. While we inherently know this, we often don't act like we do. We tend to see things independently, which clouds our vision when connecting the dots. So when you journal, keep these in mind -
- How long does it take you to eat your meals?
- What’s your sleep like?
- Do you usually eat at home… or do most meals happen somewhere else, say in the car?
- How would you describe your stress level
Knowledge really can be life-changing.
Our psychological state and our ability to manage our stress has a much bigger impact on digestion than most people realize. Reread that sentence. The more we know, the better we can live.
If doing a food sensitivity test is something you'd like to try, hit me up at guy@crossfitironflag.com. I'm happy to discuss it with you to help you eat and live better.
Stay strong,
Guy
