Tired, In Pain or Overweight? You Could Have a Hidden Food Sensitivity

May 1, 2012

By Anna Varriano

Low energy, fatigue, depression, irritability, hyperactivity, skin problems such as eczema and psoriasis, joint pain, headaches, migraines, sinus issues, repetitive throat clearing, problems losing weight, and digestive issues such as bloating, gas, constipation and diarrhea. Perhaps you, or someone you know, suffers from one or more of these symptoms and have come to accept them as par for the course. But they don’t have to be.

Did you know that the above symptoms (and many more) potentially all have something in common? This article sheds a bit of light on this issue and what you can do about it.

When you hear the words ‘food sensitivity’, do you think of a situation where someone eats a particular food – maybe a strawberry, or a shrimp, or a baked good – and then immediately breaks out in hives or a rash, or worse yet, has a life-threatening anaphylactic reaction where their throat closes and their tongue swells up within seconds or minutes of consuming the food and they have to use an Epi-pen to save their life? A food sensitivity doesn’t usually trigger those types of obvious, immediate symptoms. Chances are you likely won’t even associate the food with the symptom it is causing. This is because it’s a delayed reaction – in fact, the body can be adversely affected by the offending food for up to 72 hours after it’s eaten!

The result of this type of sensitivity often manifests itself as on-going symptoms or health issues, that usually aren’t obviously related to what we’re putting in, or on, our body. That is why they are often referred to as “hidden” sensitivities.

Many of us often become de-sensitized to, and ignore the symptoms caused by food sensitivities, accepting them as part of our every day life – like chronic sinus congestion, or skin rashes that never really go away, despite all the lotions and potions we’ve tried (I had one of those skin rashes. Avoiding wheat finally got rid of it!). So, it’s important that we pay attention to these symptoms and take action to address them. You see, symptoms aren’t a bad thing – in fact, we should be grateful for them because they are the body’s way of getting our attention; making us aware that something isn’t right and that we need to change something that we’re doing.

Unfortunately, instead of getting to the bottom of our symptoms, many of us turn to short-term, band-aid solutions that will give us some relief – like having a couple of extra cups or coffee to deal with our fatigue, or taking a couple of ibuprofens for yet another headache. But you know what? Our fatigue isn’t due to a coffee deficiency – and our headache isn’t due to an ibuprofen deficiency. In fact, chances are that if all we do is rely on band-aid solutions, over time, our symptoms will get worse. Hidden food sensitivities can also make it difficult for us to control our appetite and lose weight – and they can cause us to retain fat.

The underlying reason why food sensitivities can lead to so many problems is that they cause inflammation in the body.  Consider the fact that the average person eats the same 15 foods on a weekly basis.  If these include one or two or three foods that they’re sensitive to, there’s going to be constant inflammation in their body – and even inflammation that you can’t see or feel plays havoc with your health.

It’s sometimes difficult to ‘expose’ hidden food sensitivities – especially if we consume packaged and processed foods since most of them contain many of the foods that are commonly the source of food sensitivities – including wheat, dairy and soy – as well as additives and preservatives that can also disrupt our health and trigger symptoms.

I’ve had some clients who have told me that they’ve tried elimination diets, where they completely avoid the suspected offending food from their meals and snacks for several weeks to see if they notice any difference. Sometimes this can provide answers, but in many cases it doesn’t.

If you experience any of the symptoms listed at the beginning of this article, have difficulty controlling your appetite or losing weight, or perhaps have other  ‘unexplainable’ symptoms that you’ve just learned to live with, you may wish to consider food sensitivity testing. I offer a non-invasive test using a medical device called an MSAS Pro.

I’ve had great results with this system, even in those situations where we’ve had to find the needle in the hay-stack, so to speak, in terms of identifying the offending food or ingredient (it is also possible to test for chemical and environmental sensitivities).

If you’re interested in this type of testing, please contact me at info@perfectresonance.com.  You can read more about it in the Solutions section of the website.

Take control of what you can!

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