“Fat” that comes with food sensitivities is a characterized by bloating and fluid retention that many people experience when they ingest these top seven food allergens. Eating foods that interfere with our body’s chemistry causes tissue swelling, abdominal bloating or even facial puffiness that may have the appearance of real fat. In fact, it’s not unusual for a person to look ten to fifteen pounds heavier due to these nasty reactions.
The foods that people react to most commonly are also the most prevalent in the Standard American Diet (SAD, for short) They are dairy, wheat, corn, sugar, soy, eggs and peanuts. Many patients assume they aren’t “allergic” to these foods because they don’t experience the immediate histamine reaction we associate with an allergy, like hives, throat swelling or vomiting. Another complicating factor is that these type of reactions often cause delayed symptoms, meaning that you may not feel badly for 12-36 hours. This makes such sensitivities extremely difficult to identify, particularly if your sensitivity is to a food that you eat on a daily basis. If you are constantly consuming wheat or dairy, for example, and having a low-grade reaction, you may not recognize this as your body’s distress signals. Instead you might assume they are totally unrelated chronic problems, like a eczema, migraines, fatigue, joint pain, or heartburn.
Virtually any food can cause these reactions — even “healthy” foods like citrus or bell peppers. Typically an individual will develop sensitivities to the foods he or she eats most often. Unfortunately the top seven – dairy, wheat, corn, sugar, soy, eggs, and peanuts – are the basis for most processed foods so most Americans are frequently exposed to them. If we eat such foods on a daily basis, we may experience a near-constant state of reaction — including bloating and fluid retention. More serious, it may cause inflammation to the lining of the gut, upset your metabolism, create nutritional deficiencies, and blood sugar imbalances. This can lead to food cravings, low energy, depression and even PMS!
When you eat reactive foods, they enter your bloodstream incompletely digested… as bigger particles that your body doesn’t recognize as food. This not only causes indigestion and gas within the gut, but may trigger release of cytokines and chemicals like adrenaline and histamine that set off an inflammatory response. As fluids rush into afflicted cells and are held in your tissues, swelling and abdominal bloating occur. Due to the fluctuation in endophrins that occurs in this “flight or flight response, you may find that you crave the foods your are most sensitive to. The only real way to heal the gut is to eliminate these food triggers from your diet.
Elimination Diet to the Rescue!
One of the best ways to determine if you are having food reactions is an elimination diet. Plan for a minimum of 3 weeks off all of the most common seven food allergens: dairy, wheat, corn, sugar, soy, eggs and peanuts. You will not be cured by that time, but you can determine which of these seven you are reacting to by adding them back into your diet one-by-one and seeing which one(s) you have a reaction to.
Another way to find the food culprits is to have your physician test you for IgG food sensitivities. The elimination diet is the “gold standard” to determine what foods you are sensitive to but some patients prefer to have the data on paper before they start. I use laboratories like, Genova Diagnostics, Metametrix, and US Biotek for this type of testing.
Be aware that avoiding staple ingredients like wheat, dairy and corn syrup may require you to limit restaurant and packaged foods and to prepare most of your meals yourself. I also recommend drinking plenty of water and getting regular exercise. Exercise will stimulate your metabolism and boost your energy level. It will also help flush excess fluids, burn calories and suppress your appetite, allowing you to experience even faster results. Finding you have hidden food sensitivities may require you to adjust your eating, but when the inches start coming off and you feel better than you have in ages it will be worth all the effort!
Read my article on How to Do an Elimination Diet
I experience swelling in my fingers and toes after eating cashews and almonds. Is this considered a food sensitivity?
Hi Jen,
Yes indeed, the swelling could certainly indicate a food sensitivity – join pain and/or swelling are common signs
Dairy, wheat, corn, sugar, soy, eggs and peanuts – these foods have all been messed with geneticly – antibiotics in the cows and chickens to make them fatter, GMO… is it any wonder why we get inflammation as our food is being poisoned.
Just found out i am alergic to 5 of 7 of the foods on the list except soy and eggs.of which soy i do not eat in any form.
also I’m alergic to rice, wheat, corn, glutens, peanuts, tomatoes chicken , shrimp and pork just to name a few.
I count this as a blessings in disguise.
my weight is falling off nicely!
Hi Debra,
It’s amazing what food sensitivities can do to your body! So glad you found out what is going on and that you are experiencing success.
Best on your healing journey!
warmly
Dr Jill
I have eliminated wheat, gluten and processed foods from my diet and in two months dropped 15 pounds! I hadn’t been able to lose weight for years! My joint pain, heartburn and sluggishness has totally gone away also. It’s totally worth the hard work that you have to go through to change your diet…amazing!
Good for you, Jen!
It’s hard but so worth it in the end, isn’t it!? I’ve been gluten, dairy, egg, nut, soy, corn, grain, sugar, alcohol free for 10 years now and beat Crohn’s disease and cancer and in great health! I don’t miss any of these foods since I feel so well.
warmly
Dr Jill
I have so many issues with my skin. The dr. did the test on my back. The one for grass didn’t come out, so she put grass juice I guess on my back. That has been over 3 months ago. I still feel it. Now my skin feels like it has something crawling on it. I am miserable. I am 66 years old.Can’t lose weight no matter what I do. Also, always hunger. Just don’t know which way to go with this. I highly suspect I have thyroid problems. Have been checked. Always say I’m negative. I don’t think the extensive test has been done. Please advise me.
Thanks,
Wanda
Skin tests will show classic allergic IgE mediated reactions but will not show the IgG food sensitivities related to your symptoms. If you can get your doctor to order US BIotek 96 food IgG testing serum that will help you, otherwise, you don’t need a blood test to do the Elimination Diet – LINK HERE.
warmly
Dr Jill
Is the IgG testing the best way to identify food sensitivities? I tested positive (high) for egg, cranberry and (moderate) for milk, whey, coffee, sugar, sesame seed. Is it important to avoid foods with low reactions as well? I have stomach pain from nightshades also but oddly these didn’t show up on the test – maybe not IgG meditated??
I experience swelling 24/7 all over my body and abdominal bloating with no explanation. Sometimes the bloating looks worse and sometimes it looks not as bad. Is this likely to be related to food sensitivities?
Swelling and bloating I meant. Sometimes it looks worse than others and sometimes it’s massive swelling but it’s always there.
yes, it may be related to foods or other issues…
Hi Dr. Jill,
My daughter has Hashimoto’s and her doctor checks her thyroid numbers regularly and everything is good. She’s not in myxedema coma or anything like that. But she’s having some major issues going on that doctors can’t tell us what it is.
Her whole body is disproportioned. She’s only 114 pounds, but she looks like she’s 150 pounds or more. Her chest looks normal, she has a very small frame. And then it gets down to her stomach and she majorly balloons. She bloats out bad to the front, but what’s more concerning is she bloats out really bad to the sides too. So not just bloating but severe distention. And her belly button is huge, probably from the bloating and distention. And then her legs are HUGE. They are meeting at the top which they have never done before. She’s always had very thin legs with a thigh gap. And they look enormously big, both front and back of her thighs. And then when you get to her butt, it looks smushed. I can assure you I’m not imagining it. It’s like all the bloating and swelling is pushing down on her butt making it look flat like a pancake and smushed. You can really tell it when she wears jeans. I’ve never seen anything like it and it has us both very worried, but we can’t get any answers from doctors functional or otherwise. They literally have no idea what’s going on and have ran all kinds of tests.
I came across this article and it made me wonder if it’s possible that all of this could be related to food sensitivities or is that a stretch?
Thank you in advance.
Hi Lisa
Hashimotos’ can be related to gluten exposure in sensitive individuals… the first thing I would try is 100% gluten-free diet for 4-6 months to see if that helps. Or you can do a comprehensive elimination diet off gluten, dairy, egg, soy, corn, sugar, alcohol, and peanut.
warmly
Dr Jill
Hi Dr. Jill,
Can food allergies cause severe swelling in the breasts or is this likely to be unrelated?
Breast swelling may be due to estrogen dominance, many environmental chemicals are estrogenic but generally foods will not cause this. High consumption of soy protein might
Hi,
I have Hashimoto’s and I know that some people with Hashimoto’s are gluten sensitive but not all. My doctor is running an Alletess food sensitivity test. We know for sure I have a leaky gut. So I’m wondering if it comes back sensitive to gluten, how do I know if I’m actually sensitive to gluten versus just being sensitive like all other foods I eat as a result of leaky gut? Does it make a difference if it’s a mild, moderate, or severe reaction? I heard about a woman who reversed Hashimoto’s without giving up gluten but her food sensitivity test did reveal gluten sensitivity as a result of leaky gut. So I guess my question is, how do you know if gluten is contributing to the Hashimoto’s or if like that woman, it wasn’t a factor contributing to the Hashimoto’s at all and she was only sensitive to it as a result of leaky gut?
I recommend all patients with Hashimoto’s avoid gluten
Hi Dr. Jill,
How severe is the bloating associated with food sensitivities? Can a food sensitivity alone make you look like you’re 6 months pregnant or is the bloating from food sensitivities generally mild?
Hi Jennifer,
Bloating may be severe but more likely SIB or SIFO causing the problem…
warmly
Dr Jill
Hi Dr. Jill,
Do you find that everyone with Hashimoto’s who goes gluten free (even if it didn’t cause the Hashi’s) still notice at least some improvement in symptoms and lab work?
I have Hashimoto’s caused by overuse of antibiotics/Candida overgrowth. I have severe swelling everywhere that gets worse after I eat. So every time I eat, my stomach and legs (the two areas that do it the most) will swell. The severity of the swelling depends on what I ate. I know I can’t be sure that gluten is causing the swelling. But I also know that Candida isn’t going to cause severe swelling in the legs after you eat so it sounds like a food reaction? Will going gluten free for sure help me or could I just be wasting my time? Does everyone with Hashimoto’s have a problem with gluten even if it didn’t cause the disease?
Most patients with Hashi’s can benefit from a gluten-free diet
Hi Dr. Jill,
My daughter has Hashi’s and her antibodies were around 1000-1100. We’ve been gluten free for just 3 weeks and her antibodies are lower than when she was diagnosed! They’re 638 and when she was diagnosed they were 663! And that’s only 3 weeks with a cheat day. Her bloating and swelling is also significantly reduced on a gluten free diet. We didn’t realize til we had the cheat day just how bad gluten affects her and makes her bloat. She looks several months pregnant when she eats it, gets headaches, and brain fog and can’t think straight.
It’s great news that her antibodies have come down drastically! What’s concerning is no matter what we do, we cannot get her low ferritin level up. And it is causing fatigue and major hair loss. It was in the single digits for the longest and then it went to 26 when supplementing but then went back down to 24 and now it’s 19. Even on the gluten free diet. Meanwhile her B12 that was 380 went all the way up to 672 on a gluten free diet and with a multivitamin with B12. It doesn’t make sense. Anything that is going to affect iron absorption is also going to affect B12 absorption. Low stomach acid, food sensitivities, gut infections all those things aren’t selective to iron. They affect absorption of everything. So why did her B12 go up significantly but not her iron? She is taking iron with Vitamin C. Her periods are not heavy. I wouldn’t call them super light, but they’re definitely not heavy either. Ever since she’s had this iron problem (it’s been going on for years), she had 2 stool tests done which showed no gut infections. She’s never had low iron before prior to being diagnosed with Hashi’s. She was diagnosed with both at the same time. Do you know what could be causing her not to be able to absorb iron but yet she’s able to absorb B12? Her doctor has no idea and has referred her to a hematologist and the hematologist doesn’t know either.
If there is villous atrophy or small intestinal bacterial overgrowth it will affect her ability to absorb nutrients and iron
I’m 32yr old female and have always had a cough and “anxiety” and heart racing issues. My cough I figured was a permanent result of my choices as a cannabis toking teen. When I was 23 and pregnant I had high blood pressure and my health was crappy ever since. I noticed my cough would be worse after food or starbucks specifically and lately (32) I hit a brick wall. I started to notice a pounding heart beat at night in my head and it wouldn’t let me sleep. My body was in reaction mode all the time. I would get either a rapid heartbeat or pass out and sleep after eating and wake up with a headache. I was always out of breath after eating and a random at home BP check turned up my high blood pressure was back! I’m 32! I had a suspicion there was something going on with milk and cheese because I had done a “diet” of slim fast for 4 days and I felt like I was going to have a stroke. I cut whey, lactose, milk, cheese and just a week later and my BP is completely back to normal! I can’t believe more web pages do not list high BP as a side effect of a food allergy because if you look hard enough it shows up as being a possible cause. Most of these pop up articles do not even mention it.
you are quite right, Sarah!