Functional Medicine Corrects the Underlying Cause of Food Sensitivities
Have you ever had a reaction to a certain food you’ve eaten? Do you suffer from recurring stomach pain, bloating, or diarrhea and wonder if it’s caused by something in your diet? Perhaps you suffer from a GI disorder (IBS, IBD, Crohn’s, colitis), autoimmune disorder (psoriasis, Graves’ disease, Hashimoto’s disease, RA, MS), skin issues, chronic inflammation, chronic pain, and other health concerns.
Did you know that all of these could be the result of your body reacting to the foods you eat?
It’s estimated that as many as 80 percent of Americans have negative reactions when they eat certain foods. Three common types of reactions are due to food sensitivities, food intolerances, and food allergies. Many people use these terms interchangeably. However, they are three very different issues. This article will focus on food sensitivities and the functional medicine approach to overcoming them.
Understanding the Difference Between Food Sensitivities, Intolerances, and Allergies
To understand the difference between the three common food reactions, you have to understand what takes place within your body when the offending food is present.
An antibody or immunoglobulin is a protein produced by your body’s immune system when it detects harmful substances, called antigens. Antibodies attach to these foreign substances so that the immune system can destroy them.
The five major types of antibodies are: IgA, IgG, IgM, IgE, and IgD antibodies. Classic food allergies, such as a peanut allergy that causes one’s throat to swell, are mediated through IgE antibodies. When a person ingests the food to which they are allergic, IgE antibodies are created. The reaction is acute and can be severe. There’s usually no mistaking that a reaction occurred and what caused it.
Food sensitivities, however, are regulated by the IgG antibody. These types of reactions are much more common but tend to be much milder and are often delayed. Also, people who have food sensitivities tend to react to multiple different foods. This can make them very difficult to pinpoint, because by the time they’ve had the reaction, time has passed, and they’ve eaten many other things. And it’s possible to have eaten other foods during that time are also causing a reaction.
Food intolerances are different in that they are not an immune response. Food intolerances occur then your body is unable to break down the foods that you eat due to specific enzyme deficiencies. For example, a lack of the lactase enzyme can result in the body having difficulty breaking down the lactose found in dairy products. This is known as lactose intolerance.
The remainder of this article will focus on food sensitivities.
Symptoms of Food Sensitivities
The symptoms of food sensitivities can vary widely from person to person. Here are some common symptoms:
- Gas
- Bloating
- Constipation
- Diarrhea
- Stomach pain
- Nausea
- Heartburn
- Headache
There are other symptoms and conditions that one might not think are caused by food sensitivities:
- Autoimmune disorders
- Brain Fog
- Skin conditions
- Chronic Pain
- Fatigue
- Anxiety
These outward symptoms are telling you that something is not functioning properly within your body. In order to overcome them, you need to determine what is really going on.
Food Sensitivities are an Indication of a Bigger Issue
It is not normal for your body to react to the foods that you eat. When this occurs, it’s an indication that something is not functioning properly. The food sensitivity itself is not the actual problem, rather it is the symptom of something else. The key to overcoming food sensitivities is to uncover and correct the root problem that’s causing the sensitivity.
In many cases, the root of a food sensitivity has to do with gut permeability.
Your GI tract is lined with cells called enterocytes whose job is to absorb the nutrients from the foods you eat. These enterocytes are held together with proteins known as “tight junction proteins.” In a healthy gut, the tight junction proteins create a barrier that keeps foods in your GI tract where they belong.
For many reasons, however, these proteins can break down and leave gaps or spaces between the enterocyte cells. When this happens, proteins from foods and endotoxins from the gut bacteria can pass through the weakened barrier. This exposes your immune system to things that it might not otherwise see and causes it to attack what it thinks is a foreign invader. This reaction is what is actually causing the symptoms which we classify as food sensitivities
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Using a Food Diary to Track Food Sensitivities
Many physicians take an “observational” approach to helping their patients determine the foods that are causing digestive issues. They ask patients to keep a diary of foods and symptoms and to avoid eating items that seem to cause problems. Not long ago, this was the only method available to most people.
This method is inaccurate, inefficient, and ineffective. As stated earlier in this article, most people react to multiple foods, and the reactions can be delayed for as long as 48 hours after ingestion. Also, the list of foods to which you react will change over time. Remember – it’s not the foods themselves that are the problem, it’s the gut permeability that is causing the reaction.
The best way to determine which foods are causing a reaction is to test.
We don't guess, we test.
Testing for Food Sensitivities in Wausau, WI
Food sensitivity test kits can be found in drug stores and ordered online. This might seem like a convenient, DIY way to overcome digestive issues. Unfortunately, this is not recommended for several reasons.
When a patient comes to me with a history of digestive issues, the very first thing that we do is to conduct a thorough health history. The answers that are uncovered during this step will determine if I even suspect that food sensitivities are a part of the health concern.
Secondly, most at-home test results are based on the presence of IgG antibodies. Testing for IgG antibodies alone is actually considered outdated. We use the more sophisticated LRA (Lymphocyte Response Assay) which measures reactive antibodies (IgA, IgM, and IgG) as well as immune complexes and direct T-cell activation.
Finally, identifying the offending foods is only the first step in overcoming food sensitivities. It is not as simple as generating a list of foods to avoid for the rest of your life. Again, the food sensitivity itself is not the actual issue. The actual issue is gut permeability, which is causing you to react to certain foods. Until you correct the problem in your gut, you will continue to experience the symptoms of food sensitivities.
Functional Medicine can Overcome Food Sensitivities and Gut Permeability
Most issues related to food sensitivities can be treated using a functional medicine approach: fix the underlying reason that the sensitivity exists – the gut permeability problem – so that the food sensitivity will go away.
After identifying the list of foods that are causing the reaction, we will implement a rotation diet. This is different than a simple elimination diet. Yes, we will have you eliminate the problematic foods from your diet, but at the same time, we will have you rotate through a specific list of foods that you can eat. This will lessen the chances that you will develop sensitivities to new foods during treatment.
Another critical component is the introduction of nutraceuticals and medical foods into your diet. These can serve many purposes, including reducing inflammation, restoring normal gut flora and bacteria, and feeding and healing the cells of the GI tract.
In most cases, we can resolve gut permeability issues within 12 to 16 weeks.
After the issues are resolved, we will work with our patients to re-introduce foods into their diet that they were previously sensitive to. In most cases, patients can get back to a more normal diet over time.
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Understanding Functional Medicine in Wausau, WI
I have had many patients come to me with chronic GI complaints including diarrhea, constipation, gas, bloating and abdominal pain, just to name a few. Some of them have been diagnosed with certain GI conditions including IBS, IBD, Crohn’s and colitis, but many have never been diagnosed. Some have been to GI doctors and have found some symptomatic relief through prescription medications, but the true problem is never fixed.
Functional Medicine practitioners have been nick named “health detectives.” That is because we look past a list of symptoms and dig deeper to uncover the true, underlying cause of health conditions. The reality is that genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors have a tremendous influence on our health. By working to understand why your body is not functioning as it should, we can work correct imbalances to restore health.
When your body functions as it was intended, symptoms disappear and medication may become unnecessary.
Here’s an analogy that helps to explain the functional medicine approach to treating disease. Picture sitting in your home on a rainy day and water begins dripping from the ceiling. You know that something is wrong because you see the puddles forming on your table and chairs – that’s the symptom.
To address the symptoms, you grab buckets. The buckets keep your table and chairs dry – this is like taking a medication. The medication does what is intended – it addresses the symptoms. However, if you don’t keep using buckets (i.e. taking the medication), the furniture will keep getting wet (i.e. symptoms will return).
The key to a long-term fix is to figure out WHY there is water dripping from the ceiling. It requires digging into things to uncover what is really going on. In this analogy, the underlying issue is that there is a hole in the roof. Once you fix the hole (i.e. root cause), the roof functions as it was intended, the furniture will no longer get wet (i.e. symptom), and you no longer need the buckets (i.e. medication).
Likewise, when you fix the gut permeability issue (i.e. root cause), your GI tract will function as it was intended, you will no longer have stomach issues (i.e. symptoms) and would no longer need to avoid certain foods or take OTC or prescription medications.
We have helped many, many people resolve food sensitivity and gut permeability problems. We may be able to help you too. Please contact us for no-cost functional medicine consultation at our Weston, Wisconsin clinic. Virtual appointments are also available. Prior to coming in, we will ask you to fill out an in-depth questionnaire so that we can come to your appointment prepared to have an in-depth discussion about your health concerns and the path forward.
