Adverse Food Reactions

Food reactions are often overlooked as a contributor to chronic health issues including inflammation.

Adverse reactions to food can be broken down into three categories: allergies, intolerances, and sensitivities.

Identifying Adverse Reactions to Food

If you suffer from a food allergy, you are likely aware of the allergy and already avoid trigger foods. However when it comes to intolerances and, or sensitivities, the screening or testing methods vary greatly, therefore If you or your healthcare practitioner suspects that you have a food intolerance or sensitivity, the 'gold standard' way to identify the foods that cause negative symptoms is eliminate those foods from your diet for a certain period of time, then reintroduce those foods one by one, paying close attention to your body’s reaction.

The Institute of Functional Medicine has a comprehensive set of resources including the following:

• Comprehensive Elimination Diet,
• Weekly Planner
• Food Plan/Shopping Plan
• Food Reintroduction Symptoms Tracker, and
• Diet, Nutrition, and Lifestyle Journal

It is one of the best ways to discover your adverse food reactions

An elimination diets removes the foods most likely to irritate your body and contribute to chronic inflammation and focuses on nutrient-dense foods such as vegetables, fruits, healthy fats, and meats all for a period of 21 days. Once you start reintroducing foods you’ll be able to see exactly which foods aggravate your body.