Is a Food Sensitivity to Blame for Those Nagging Symptoms?

iVillage.com: Always Tired? Stomach Upset? Try This Diet to Find Your Food Sensitivities

It’s a common misconception to think that if you don’t break out in hives or stop breathing, you’re not really affected by a certain food. But, more than 37 million women suffer from food-triggered fatigue, joint pain, digestive upsets, headaches and other uncomfortable symptoms every day. If any of this describes you, you could have undiagnosed food sensitivity, says Elson Haas, M.D., director of the Preventive Medical Center of Marin in San Rafael, California.

Another myth is that you are born with your food sensitivities. Truth is, sensitivities build up after years of eating tough-to-digest staples day after day. The biggest culprits, according to researchers: wheat, milk, sugar, eggs, corn, soy and peanuts. If your digestive tract is somehow sour on one of these foods, yet you’re still eating them on a daily basis, the overexposure can irritate and damage your intestines, causing partially-digested food to sneak into your bloodstream, says Dr. Haas, author of "The Detox Diet, 3rd Edition." “Your immune system attacks those errant food particles, triggering massive inflammation -- and that suppresses the function of your thyroid, pancreas, liver and adrenal glands, causing body-wide mayhem.” Bigger deal than you thought!

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Is a Food Sensit...

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How to Tell If Y...

To find out if you might have a food allergy, ask yourself if any of these statements are true:

__ I have at least 10 pounds that I can’t seem to lose with normal dieting and exercise.
__ I often have a puffy face, or slightly swollen hands, feet or ankles.
__ My stomach often looks bloated.
__ I struggle with PMS/mood swings/bad skin.
__ I suffer from heartburn, indigestion, gas, diarrhea or constipation.
__ I often get headaches/colds/sinus infections.
__ My joints or muscles ache almost every day.
__ I’m sensitive to dust, dander, pollen or other airborne irritants.
__ My metabolism is so sluggish, I gain weight easily if I’m not careful about what I eat.
__ No matter how much I sleep, I am tired.
__ If I avoid my favorite foods, I get awful cravings.

If two or more of those statements were true, you might have a food sensitivity, say researchers at Connecticut’s University of Bridgeport. Test time!

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How an Eliminati...

In a nutshell, an elimination diet works like ripping off a bandage. Instead of tweaking your diet slowly, week after week, trying to figure out which foods agree with you and which ones don’t, you simply knock out the top seven troublemakers for one solid week, then gradually add them back one at a time. If your symptoms come back, you’ve identified a food sensitivity.

“Some people feel headachy, stiff or tired for the first few days,” says Brenda Powell, M.D., an integrative medicine physician at the Cleveland Clinic Wellness Institute. “But soon they notice that they have a lot more energy, they’re clear-headed, their aches and pains have eased, and they feel a lot healthier and happier!”

Bonus: If you have food sensitivities, you’re lugging around at least 10 pounds of trapped fluids -- bloating and tissue swelling caused by those allergy-like food reactions, say Stanford University researchers. “Remove troublesome foods from your diet, and you’ll flush out that fluid in the first week,” says Dr. Haas.

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Starting an Elim...

First, some good news: An elimination diet is not a calorie-restricted diet, so you don’t need to weigh or measure anything, says Dr. Powell. “So eat until you’re comfortably full, and snack between meals to stave off hunger pangs.”

Just pick and choose from the tasty meals listed here -- ignoring any that don’t appeal to you, and repeating the ones that you enjoy. You can make ingredient substitutions if you wish, as long as you strictly avoid the top seven troublemakers (dairy, wheat, corn, sugar, soy, eggs and peanuts). Drink eight glasses of water daily -- and enjoy herbal teas, seltzer or mineral water if you’d like some variety.

You’ll notice that both honey and maple syrup are included in this plan. “The fact is, honey and pure maple syrup are plant extracts,” says Dr. Haas. “They’re natural, unrefined sweeteners, so they don’t cause the problems that heavily-processed white sugar does.”

Eat only the following for one week...

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Elimation Diet B...

Make sure to eat everything after each bullet. Some of the meal pairings sound odd, but each is designed to pack in the healing nutrients and calories (so you won't go hungry). The result: enough energy for all the cellular repair that's happening, WITHOUT any allergenic foods.

-Hot oatmeal or cream of rice with rice milk and honey; fruit salad with bananas, apples and raisins
-Puffed rice or millet with rice milk; a glass of apple juice and a handful of sunflower seeds
-Fruit smoothie made by blending rice or almond milk with banana, fresh pineapple and ice
-Fruit salad (apples, pears and strawberries, sprinkled with cinnamon and cashews); spelt or rice bread with almond butter
-Grapefruit drizzled with honey or maple syrup; spelt or rice toast topped with almond butter and thinly sliced pear
-Rice cakes topped with apple or pear butter; glass of almond milk
-Half a cantaloupe filled with blueberries and sprinkled with cinnamon
-Rice or spelt bread topped with almond, pear or apple butter; glass of coconut, rice or almond milk

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Elimation Diet L...

-Tuna salad made with chopped celery, onion and vinaigrette dressing; green beans topped with your favorite spices; spelt or rice bread
-Homemade chicken and vegetable soup; rice cakes; mixed salad with olive oil and vinegar
-Colorful salad topped with chopped chicken and vinaigrette dressing; baked potato drizzled with olive oil, salt and pepper
-Bean salad made with cooked brown rice, black beans, mild onion, red pepper and seasoned to taste
-Broccoli soup (made with broth, not milk); steamed brown rice seasoned with olive oil, salt and pepper
-Turkey (hot or cold); tomato and onion salad with vinaigrette dressing
-Steamed vegetables seasoned with salt, pepper and olive oil; steamed brown rice topped with baked fish or chicken
-Baby spinach topped with garbanzo beans, sliced chicken breast and vinaigrette dressing

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Elimination Diet...

-Split pea soup; green salad with vinaigrette dressing
-Baked salmon; sauteed asparagus seasoned with olive oil, lemon juice and salt; chopped peppers (red, orange and yellow) drizzled with vinaigrette dressing
-Grilled swordfish; sweet potato drizzled with olive oil and honey; green salad with vinaigrette dressing
-Baked chicken or turkey; steamed broccoli drizzled with olive oil, garlic, salt and lemon juice; steamed brown rice; shredded carrots mixed with raisins and topped with vinaigrette dressing
-Poached halibut; chopped zucchini, red peppers, garlic and onion sauteed in olive oil and topped with basil; dried figs or plums for dessert
-Grilled pork; baked acorn squash drizzled with olive oil and honey; nondairy ice cream (such as Rice Dream)
-Baked chicken; oven home fries; steamed baby peas and pearl onions seasoned with olive oil, salt, garlic and pepper
-Broiled lamp chop; roasted veggies tossed with olive oil and herbs (such as oregano, thyme, basil, ginger and tarragon)

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Elimination Diet...

-A baked apple topped with cinnamon, raisins and honey
-Raw veggie sticks, plus a handful of almonds or sunflower seeds
-Popcorn spritzed with olive oil and seasoned with salt
-Your favorite fruit, plus a handful of walnuts or pumpkin seeds
-Organic fruit or vegetable juice
-Wheat-free crackers
-Pistachios or pine nuts
-Homemade popsicles (make with organic fruit juice)

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Must-Have Recipe...

Dr. Powell's Vinaigrette

-1?2 cup extra virgin olive oil
-3 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
-2 Tbsp. water
-1 tsp. dry mustard
-1-3 cloves garlic (whole pieces for flavor or crushed for stronger taste)
-Salt and pepper to taste
-Oregano, basil, parsley, tarragon or any herbs of your choice, fresh or dried

Combine all ingredients in a glass jar and shake well. Refrigerate.

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Test Time

After your body has been allergen-free for one week, the slate is clean. So now it’s time to test the troublesome seven -- dairy, wheat, corn, sugar, soy, eggs and peanuts -- to find out which is your personal trigger.

Every three days, add one of these foods back into your diet, starting with one modest serving (4 ounces of milk, one slice of wheat bread or one egg, for example) the first day, two servings the second day and three servings the third day. Watch for signs of trouble, such as cravings, heartburn, gas, headaches, irritability, bloating, congestion or trouble concentrating.

If you develop symptoms, you’ve found your trigger -- the food you’re smart to eat in limited quantities (or avoid entirely) so you can stay at the peak of health. No reaction at all? Keep that food in your diet rotation and begin testing another one to rule that food sensitivity in -- or out!

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