5 Root Causes of Food Sensitivities

Why do I have food sensitivities?

Many things can cause the gut and immune system to be off-kilter. Including:

Breakdown in digestion-

When the body cannot breakdown and digest foods, the gut lining can become irritated. Your stomach, gallbladder, pancreas, and small intestine play a delicate symphony in order to extract all that we need from our food, while getting rid of the waste. When there is any alteration in digestion at all (from stress, medications like Proton-Pump inhibitors, NSAIDS, too much or too little exercise, or increasing age), we can’t absorb all the nutrients we need, and the gut has to work harder to absorb as much as possible. 

Infections-

Infections in the gut are one of the most important, yet overlooked, keys to our health. Many people can have chronic gut infections for years or decades and never know the root of their health concerns. Certain infections like h. Pylori, parasites, candida, SIBO, and other pathogenic bacteria can rob our body of nutrients. They also damage the gut and create enormous amounts of GI inflammation. When the gut is inflamed from infections, the immune system is activated; therefore, more diligently looking for foreign invaders. Note- you don’t have to have GI symptoms to have GI infections*

Inflammation-

Up to 80% of the immune system’s cells are located within the gut. When the immune system detects invaders, it will sound an alarm of inflammation all over the body in order to stop, or degrade the invasion. Many people have chronic, widespread inflammationstemming from their gut. 

Bacterial imbalance- 

The gut is host to about 100 trillion bacteria. There are thousands of different families and all must be in good balance for proper metabolism, good mood, robust immune function, digestion, and overall health. When bad bacteria begin to overgrow, the terrain of the gut is changed, like weeds taking over a garden. This can stimulate an immune response and damage the gut, leading to food sensitivities.

Toxins- 

There have been over 80,000 toxins introduced to our environment since WW2. Most of the toxins have not been properly tested to see how they react in humans long term, and none have been tested to see how they react with one-another long term. When the body cannot properly detoxify the harmful substances, they build up in the body, and can cause chronic immune system activation.