So many people struggle with symptoms that can point to inflammation: pain, achey joints and muscles, food cravings, IBS-like symptoms, headaches, bloating, fatigue, and many more. Often these annoyances can go on for years before someone gets relief, and often after visiting many practitioners in different specialties. Yet, did you know that all those symptoms can be related to what you're eating?
When we think of foods causing problems, it's usually the big things we think of, for example when someone is allergic to peanuts or shellfish and they get a severe reaction that can literally take their breath away and actually can be fatal in certain circumstances. These are "true" allergies and are usually related to the IgE part of the immune system. It's been said that the immune system is like our Armed Forces, with many branches that protect us from attack in many different ways. The IgE branch is the one that often gives us information about emergency reactions like the example above.
However, there is another category of responses to foods that are not true allergies, but rather a food sensitivity. Food sensitivities are usually related to the IgG part of the immune system. When we eat foods that our immune systems are responding to in this way, the reaction can be delayed by many days or even weeks, so you may not ever associate the headache, painful joints, skin rash, or fatigue with something you ate a while ago. These are often the symptoms of inflammation that can cause people to feel really unwell but not have a known, direct cause to point to.
Another thing that can happen when we eat foods we're sensitive to is weight gain. The inflammation in the cells and tissues can actually cause several chemical agents to be released that make us feel bloated, gain weight, retain fluid, or foil weight loss efforts in other frustrating ways.
The good news is that you can find out what your food sensitivities are. IgG food sensitivity testing can offer a fairly clear picture of the foods that might not be your friends. This is done with a simple blood test, and the results can point to specific foods that may be wreaking havoc with your system and causing you to feel sub-par. Worth asking a qualified provider about if inflammation symptoms have been a persistent problem.