Food Sensitivity Testing Vancouver

This may surprise you, but eight common foods – milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, soy, wheat and shellfish – cause 90 percent of all food allergies. Chances are, half of those items make common appearances in your daily diet. They could, however, be elevating up your cortisol, decreasing your immune strength, and keeping you from achieving your wellness (and weight loss!) goals.

Allergies versus Food Sensitivities


While the cause of true food allergies – the kind that produce severe or anaphylactic reactions — involve IgE antibodies in the immune system, food intolerances or sensitivities can arise when we consume the same foods day after day with little variety. This dietary stagnation causes the body to become “sensitized” to the food. In common parlance, the terms “allergy,” “sensitivity” and “food intolerance” are often used interchangeably, but sensitivities and intolerances are not true IgE allergies.

Food sensitivities or intolerances usually involve a different set of immune system antibodies called IgG antibodies. Symptoms are less intense and typically do not appear immediately, but rather within 12–72 hours, after eating the offending foodstuff. Heartburn, headaches, difficulty getting out of bed in the morning, looking tired even after sufficient sleep, an inability to lose weight, bloating and relentless water retention can all be related to food sensitivities or intolerances.

Because the connection between the symptom and a specific food can be difficult to pinpoint, those who suffer these discomforts often go on feeling worse and worse as their immune system takes a constant beating.

Many of us with food sensitivities don’t even realize how bad we feel until the problematic foods are removed from our diet. Then suddenly getting out of bed becomes easier, our energy, mood and concentration improve and joint pain, headaches and sinus congestion disappear. Here’s a handy chart on common symptoms associated with food sensitivities. You may be nodding your head to more than a few of these side effects: 

Symptoms Commonly Associated with Food Sensitivities and Intolerances 

Digestive:


• • • • Gas
      • 
Bloating
      • 
Abdominal cramping
      • 
Loose stools
      • 
Indigestion or heartburn
      • Constipation
      • GERD (reflux)
      • 
Blood in the stool
      • 
Lactose intolerance
      • Inflammatory bowel disease
      • 
Irritable bowel Syndrome

Skin:

• • • • Eczema
      • Psoriasis
      • Acne
      • Hives

Mental/Emotional:


• • • • Irritability
      • 
Anxiety
      • Depression
      • Food cravings
      • Insomnia

General:

• • • • 
Joint pain or stiffness
      • Arthritis (rheumatoid)
      • Fatigue
      • Difficulty getting out of bed in the morning
      • Headaches
      • Migraines
      • Malaise
      • Weight gain
      • 
Water retention
      • Puffy eyes
      • Dark under-eye circles
      • High blood pressure
      • Cellulite
      • Difficulty losing weight

Nasal/Immune system:


• • • • Sinus congestion
      • 
Ear congestion
      • 
Post-nasal drip
      • Seasonal allergies
      • 
Hay fever
      • Asthma
      • Chronic ear infections
      • Itching in the ears
      • Itchy mouth
      • 
Runny nose
      • Watery eyes
      • 
Sneezing

At Bay Wellness Centre, we perform IgG Food Sensitivity Testing with our patients so that we can remove the offending foods, heal the gut lining, and resolve symptoms.

Book with us to discover the foods that are causing symptoms for you today!