Food Sensitivities: Part 3
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If you have read our previous two posts on what a food sensitivity is, read below to learn how it can cause damage to your gut and lead to other health problems.
How do Trigger Foods Damage My Body?
When your body responds negatively to particular foods it’s because of the molecules in the food, but it’s also affected by the health of the entire digestive tract. This is why when your digestive tract is already damaged you may have a sensitivity to foods which otherwise would not affect you adversely such as in times of extreme stress.
The function of the gastrointestinal tract is to:
- Digest and break down food into smaller particles
- Absorb vital nutrients
When foods we are sensitive to are consumed, the lining of the intestinal tract becomes compromised and thin making it difficult to properly digest food. The digestive tract/intestines span the length of a tennis field when completely unraveled. How amazing!
How Can I Reverse the Damage Caused by Years of Consuming these Foods?
Good news! You have already taken the first step towards feeling better and improving your symptoms by reading our blogs and taking an interest in a healthier lifestyle.
The best way to reduce inflammation and calm down your stomach is to stay away from potentially irritating foods.
- No diary
- No wheat
- No corn
- No soy
- No peanuts
- No coffee
- No sugar or artificial sweeteners
Following this elimination diet for several weeks will allow you identify your food sensitivities. Removing all of these foods allows the gut to recover and rebuild from the damage. This is not a lifetime ban! In many cases, these foods can be re-introduced after your digestive system has had some down time and healed.
What Does My Future Look Like If I Continue to Eat the Way I am?
These unknown sensitivities, if you continue, will trigger systemic inflammation and weaken the immune system. Constant exposure to these allergenic foods overworks and confuses the immune system.
Our gut is a very sensitive environment that can be easily disrupted, the more of these trigger foods that are consume, the more damage caused to the gut. Our stomach has a tight protective lining filled with “villi” which help us absorb vitamins and minerals our body needs. These can be damaged leading to a permeable lining, meaning molecules will be able to leak from our stomach to the blood stream. This condition is called “leaky gut” (see our post for more on that). Over consuming these foods can also lead to development of an autoimmune disease.
Both of these conditions are avoidable by following the proper diet for YOU. However, if you have reached this point, there are steps you can take to reverse the damage and feel great again!