Testing for Food Sensitivities & Repairing the Gut

Inflammation is part of our bodies’ “built-in” defense mechanism. It is the biological response that occurs when the body detects an intruder and perceives it as a threat. Inflammation can be ACUTE, meaning short-term and usually as a result of injury or illness, or it can be CHRONIC, eluding to long-term inflammation that can continue for years and may be linked to various diseases. Inflammation can cause pain and symptoms of varying types and degrees, however, it can also be “silent,” meaning that these sign are not always present or physically noticeable. Inflammation happens when a physical factor triggers an immune reaction. When the physical factor is food, as it most commonly is, there are two immune system reactions that can take place: a food allergy or a food sensitivity. A food allergy is more SEVERE and causes SPECIFIC symptoms to arise, making it easy to detect, whereas a food sensitivity implies that you feel better when you avoid a certain food than compared to when you consume it. Most of the diseases people are suffering from are coming from the intestinal tract, from eating things that don’t work well for them, and from bacteria imbalance in the gut’s microbiome (referred to as “dysbiosis”). Food sensitivities are HIGHLY common and, unfortunately, much more difficult to test for. The symptoms of food sensitivities are often less extreme, or even silent, making it HARDER for an individual to not only recognize them but easier to ignore or interpret them as a “one-off” event. So many people are living a life that they are COMFORTABLE with because they know NOTHING different and have become ACCUSTOMED to it. So HOW do we know if we have a food sensitivity? We must consider and explore some of the root causes, not just how to treat the symptoms; in particular, we have to examine the food that we are eating and where the greatest source of irritation is coming from. When we look further into food, we see that, oddly enough, the most common nutrient is also the most common irritant. The good news, however, is that food is also our best MEDICINE and can be used as a form of PREVENTION and HEALING — you just have to filter out what food is friendly and what food is harmful for YOU. The best way to test for a food sensitivity is through the ELIMINATION diet. This diet involves REMOVING the TOP 5 most common allergens from the diet for 3 weeks. These include GLUTEN, DAIRY, SOY, CORN, and EGGS. After 3 weeks, you SLOWLY REINTRODUCE these foods, ONE allergen at a time. When you reintroduce, it is IMPERATIVE that you eat that food SEVERAL times a day for 2-3 days and OBSERVE how your body responds. If you have a reaction during the reintroduction period, you know, by process of elimination, that that specific allergen represents a food sensitivity for you. After doing this process with one of the allergens, you repeat the same reintroduction period of 2-3 days with a different one of the allergens. You MUST make sure that you are reintroducing no more than ONE allergen during each 2-3 day period, otherwise you will not be able to determine which allergen is the one causing the reaction. After you have gone through each allergen’s reintroduction period, you will then know what sensitivities you have and what food you should avoid. The elimination diet is NOT a long-term solution and should NOT be treated as such. It’s sole purpose is to help you understand what foods are causing inflammation, damaging your body and disrupting your overall health. It is a THERAPEUTIC diet and is useful primarily as a MEANS to restore your health. As you go through this process of eliminating and reintroducing, it is RECOMMENDED that you keep a food journal detailing what you ate, how it made you feel, your mood and emotions afterwards, and any symptoms that arose as a result. By doing this, not only are you obtaining pertinent data, but you are also creating SELF-AWARENESS, making it more likely to notice any underlying reasoning or revealing patterns in WHAT and HOW you are eating. Not only is DIET a key factor, but we must also look at our GENES and our ENVIRONMENT. There is a discord between these three factors and many diseases and illnesses today stem from the digestive tract, or our gut (sometimes referred to as the “second brain”). The digestive tract is the inner tubing where the outside world comes in, and the gut functions BEYOND digestion and absorption. Over 70% of the body’s immune cells reside in the GUT and they are CONSTANTLY surveying and determining if something in your body might damage you. The “microbiota,” or “microbiome,” of the gut environment is comprised of TRILLIONS of intestinal bacteria. To put this into perspective, we have 10 TIMES as many bacterial cells in our gut than the number of human cells in the body. This enormous population of bacterial cells is responsible for maintaining immune and metabolic homeostasis, and protecting against pathogens. Moreover, 90% of the body’s neurotransmitter serotonin, the "happiness hormone", is produced in the gut, affecting our mood and emotions, as well as our immunity, making the health of our gut EVEN more powerful. What we are eating is feeding this gut flora, and when the gut bacteria composition is altered it results in what is called “dysbiosis,” an imbalance of healthy and unhealthy bacteria, which has been associated with many inflammatory diseases, autoimmune disorders and infections. Throughout years of evolution, changes in our food accessibility, and the high amounts of processed foods in our food supply, our microbiome has become compromised and about one-third of the indigenous species of bacteria is slowly going extinct. When we are missing this microbial diversity, our immune system enters a state of alarm and attacks itself. As these microbes shift, we as humans shift. Two factors that reduce good gut bacteria are STRESS and SUGAR. Stress results in digestive issues and gut imbalances, as it disrupts the parasympathetic nervous system and the production of enzymes responsbile for breaking food down. It also increases the amount of cortisol, the “stress hormone,” in the body, leading to stubborn belly fat, intensified food sensitivities, elevated blood sugar and mood swings. Sugar also hinders our gut health, as bacteria in the gut eats the sugar and the sugar feeds on yeast in the gut, causing “candida,” which can spread and cause yeast or fungal infections as a result. In order to RESTORE gut health and provide optimal nutrition to the gut flora, we must REINOCULATE it with beneficial microbes. We can use FOOD in order to accomplish this, as diet is what modulates the microbiome the best. This consists of consuming nutrient-dense, high-quality, natural whole foods, with large amount of fruits and veggies that contain both phytonutrients and polyphenols. PHYTONUTRIENTS have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits that activate the longevity gene and protect our genes from damage. POLYPHENOLS, by contrast, represent the pigmentation and colors found in foods, and are one of the nutrient groups that have been found to modulate inflammation and provide cell signaling to the rest of the body. Focus on the things that you can ADD in to fuel and repair the good gut bacteria including PROBIOTICS, FERMENTED FOODS, and FIBER. It may also be helpful to find ways in which you can manage or reduce stress levels, whether than means reducing the stressful activity itself, changing your perspective on cortisol, or incorporating more calming lifestyle activities into your routine in order to create more balance. If you frequently experience inflammation, recurring digestion issues, or have symptoms related to food sensitivities, I HIGHLY recommend using the elimination diet approach to EFFECTIVELY experiment with finding the ROOT cause. Keep in mind that FOOD IS INFORMATION and you have to LISTEN to the signals that your body is sending you as you go. Track your progress through the use of a food journal and make sure you focus on repairing the gut afterwards, as ENVIRONMENT plays a role as well. Be patient with yourself and know that it will NOT be easy, but it WILL be worth it. Your current and future health is paramount and it is DIRECTLY correlated to your SATISFACTION with life.

Xx, Leah Kutsch P.S. Keeping IIN Touch