Work With Your Doctor To Check For Food Allergies And Sensitivities

If you are having difficulty losing weight and/or you gain weight easily, you could be suffering from a food allergy or an intolerance that is contributing to your weight issues.  You may be thinking, "I don't have food allergies.  I don't get hives, my face doesn't swell, I am not sneezing".  Most people associate food allergies with threatening responses to the allergen.  This is not always the case.  You may be surprised to learn that food allergies and food intolerance can cause weight gain and the symptoms are so vague that you could easily miss or dismiss them.  This is a serious problem and while we do not have absolute numbers, it is believed that there are millions of people suffering from weight gain as a result of food sensitivities.  If you are steadily gaining more and more weight and you have difficulty losing weight, then you should consider this information seriously.

According to allergy specialist Dr. Lawrence E. Gelber, MD, Richmond, VA, "Food allergies are a year-round problem occurring whenever an allergic person is exposed to a sufficient amount of an offending food."  Rather than an allergy, you may simply have a low tolerance or intolerance for certain foods. ^[4]  The following describes the two types of allergic responses:

• A Type A allergic response is known as the 'classic allergy', where the allergic response appears immediately upon contact with whatever it is you are allergic to. These types of allergies can often be life threatening. Symptoms may include hives, coughing, asthma, breathing difficulties, and/or projectile vomiting.
• A Type B allergic response or intolerance is known as a 'delayed allergy' that can present symptoms anywhere from one hour up to four days after consumption or contact with the allergen. Type B allergies are typically not life threatening and can present as headaches, fatigue, dizziness, abdominal pain, nausea, diarrhea, joint and/or muscle pain, irritability, skin rashes or irritations, itchy ears, ear ringing, puffy and/or dark eyes, and/or as a myriad of sinus problems.

Symptoms of Food Allergies and Intolerance

Food allergies and intolerance that relate to weight gain are generally marked by symptoms of gas, bloating, headaches, and/or cramping. When you eat a food that you are allergic to, the food binds to the cells that line the wall of the intestines.  These cells release histamine and other inflammation-causing chemicals that can cause discomfort and weight gain.  Allergies can also cause the body to release insulin, which in turn can cause low blood sugar, which is also known as hypoglycemia.  Over time, eating food that you are allergic to can contribute to significant weight gain.  Eliminating or reducing the offending foods can make weight loss and weight management much easier.^[4]  Many times that is made more difficult because often you will crave the very foods that you are allergic to.  Dr. Marilyn Glenville, Ph.D. says, "If you are allergic to a food, your body can react by storing it away instead of using it for energy.  If you eat a lot of foods to which you are allergic, there will undoubtedly be weight gain".^[1]  By eliminating the food allergen from your diet, your cravings for that food will disappear and you will not feel the strong urge to eat the foods that are causing you to gain weight.

According to Dr. Robert C. Atkins, M.D., allergies and intolerance can often develop as a result from eating the same food on a frequent basis.  Dr. Atkins, in his book Age-Defying Diet, suggests that sometimes the intolerance can be lessened by avoiding the food for several months.  In some cases, the offending food must be eliminated permanently. 

Common Food Allergies and Intolerance

According to the International Food Information Council, the eight most common food allergens include milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, soy, wheat, fish, and shellfish.  Other common food allergens include: artificial colors and preservatives, berries, chocolate, citrus fruits, tomatoes, and yeast.  As noted on http://www.foodintol.com/wheat.asp, there are four main types of food intolerance (dairy, wheat/gluten, yeast and fructose) which tend to be quite common.

Could You Have a Food Allergy or Intolerance?

So, how do you know if you are suffering from a food allergy or intolerance? According to Dr. Glenville, "A good clue is when you crave a particular food that you eat frequently. Once a food allergy exists the food becomes mildly addictive and you can feel compelled to eat it".^[1]  Another indication of a food allergy or intolerance is when you suffer from chronic symptoms such as respiratory, gastro-intestinal, neurological, and/or skin disorders.  Thus, your favorite foods and the foods that you crave the most could be the very foods that are causing your symptoms and weight gain. 

Diagnosing a Food Sensitivity

Identifying a food allergy or intolerance is not an easy task.  You could be suffering from one or multiple food intolerance. You will need to play detective.  Keeping a food journal of what you eat and how you feel upon eating can help you identify symptoms that are associated with a food intolerance and the associated food(s).  Once you have identified a possible food culprit, you can use an elimination diet to confirm a food sensitivity.  An elimination diet includes food avoidance and then reintroduction.  If you think that you are suffering from a food allergy or intolerance, then you should seek a board-certified allergist to get a proper diagnosis and treatment.

There are several methods that are used to test for food allergies and intolerance.  One of the most widely used methods is a skin test, where an allergist places extracts or mixtures of a specific food on or just under the surface of your skin.  The reaction of the skin to the food determines whether or not you have a sensitivity to that particular food.  While a skin test is not 100% accurate, it does provide a good starting point.  Once you have had a skin test, the next step is to eliminate the suspected food allergen(s) from your diet and gradually add them back into your diet one-by-one to see how your body responds.  It usually takes seven to ten days for foods to leave your body.  If you decide to try this on your own, make sure that you avoid a suspected food for 10 days before eating it again. 

Other more controversial methods that are used to test for food sensitivities by doctors that practice complementary medicine include:

•  Cytotoxic Test: which was promoted during the early 1980s by storefront clinics, laboratories, nutrition consultants, chiropractors, and medical doctors.  Advocates claimed it could determine sensitivity to food, which they blamed for asthma, arthritis, constipation, diarrhea, hypertension, obesity, stomach disorders, and many other conditions.  However, controlled studies never demonstrated reliability, and some studies found it highly unreliable.^[5-8]
• ALCAT (antigen leukocyte cellular antibody test) Testing: which is said to measure how blood cells react to foods "under conditions designed to mimic what happens when the foods are consumed in real life." ^[9]
• Hair Analysis
• Applied Kinesiology: which is the study of the principles of mechanics and anatomy in relation to human movement.

Beware of Hidden Food Words

If you determine that you do have food allergies or intolerance, then you should probably try to avoid or limit those foods that you are sensitive to. The most common food sensitivities are to milk, eggs, wheat, soy, peanuts, and corn. The following provides a list of hidden food words:

• Milk words: artificial butter flavor, butter, butterfat, buttermilk, calcium caseinate, casein, cheese, cream, curds, dried milk solids, lactalbumin phosphate, Lactose, milk protein, milk solids, rennet, sodium caseinate, sour cream, sour cream solids, sour milk solids, whey, yogurt. 
• Egg words: albumin, dried egg, egg, egg white, egg yolk, eggnog, mayonnaise, ovalbumin, ovomucoid
• Wheat words: enriched flour, farina, flour, gluten, graham flour, high protein flour, modified food starch (unless specific food other than wheat is listed), wheat, wheat bran, wheat germ, wheat gluten, wheat starch, whole wheat flour
• Soy words: cereal (unless specific food other than soy is listed), miso, soy, soy flour, soy nuts, soy protein, soy protein isolate, soy sauce, soya, soybean, tamari, textured vegetable protein, tofu, vegetable broth (unless specific content is listed), vegetable protein (unless specific content is listed)
• Peanut words: mixed nuts, peanut, peanut butter, peanut flour, peanut oil
• Corn words: corn, corn flakes, corn flour, cornmeal, corn oil, cornstarch, corn sugars, corn syrup, grits, hominy, popcorn, succotash

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Sources:

1. Natural Alternatives to Dieting, Dr. Marilyn Glenville, Ph.D., The Natural Website for Women

http://www.marilynglenville.com/dieting.htm 

2. Understanding Food Allergies May 2006 http://ific.org/publications/brochures/allergybroch.cfm

3. Food Intolerance and Food Allergies - Symptoms and Diagnosis, Foodintol, The Food Inolerant Consumer

http://www.foodintol.com/

4. Food Allergy and the Elimination Diet, Lawrence E. Gelber, M.D.

5. American Academy of Allergy:  Position statements—Controversial techniques. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology 67:333-338, 1980. Reaffirmed in 1984.

6. Chambers VV and others. A study of the reactions of human polymorphonuclear leukocytes to various antigens. Journal of Allergy 29:93-102, 1958.

7. Lieberman P and others. Controlled study of the cytotoxic food test. JAMA 231:728, 1974.

8. Benson TE, Arkins JA. Cytotoxic testing for food allergy: Evaluations of reproducibility and correlation. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology 58:471-476, 1976.

9. The ALCAT test: A simple blood test for food and chemical sensitivities (Flyer). Hollywood, FL: AMTL Corporation, 1995.