A majority of folks have asked me how they would know that they are experiencing a dietary or digestive issue. The top sign is not a gastro-intestinal one, so people don’t always catch it early. Here are the top 10 signs of a dietary issue (in order of frequency):
- Brain Fog, or other decline in brain function
- Migraines
- Chronic Fatigue (unexplained low energy levels)
- Gastrointestinal Issues (Gas, Bloating, Nausea, Diarrhea, Constipation, Frequent BMs)
- This includes IBS- Irritable Bowel Syndrome and SIBO- Small Intestine Bacterial Overgrowth symptoms which can be seen by chronic bad breath, GI issues, nutrient malabsorption, and frequent BMs)
- This includes food intolerances which seems to occur after damage to the gut microbiome (“leaky gut”), for those people with a genetic vulnerability to some health issue.
- Joint Pain (or other unexplained chronic inflammation)
- Skin conditions (rash, dryness, flare-up)
- Nutrient Malabsorption (Unexplained weight gain or loss)
- Loss of immune tolerance
- Mood swings (including anxiety or depression)
- Any Autoimmune Condition (Diabetes Type II, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Hashimoto’s, Graves’, Celiac, etc.)
The type of diet that can cause these signs involves consuming some ingredients that a body can’t digest appropriately. The challenge is that our digestion is bio-individual. What someone else can digest easily, you may not be able to. Reasons for bio-individuality are difference in genetic vulnerability, environmental factors, and microbe exposures – even identical twins have bio-individual digestion.
To resolve this there are 2 schools of thought:
- Elimination Diet Trials – guess what could be your issue (dairy, gluten, nightshades, lectins, etc.) and eliminate them from your diet for a given period of time to see if conditions improve. Recommended Trial time is 6 weeks for EACH ingredient. So this takes time, structure, and some knowledge of how to balance your nutrition with missing ingredients. Alternatively, you can adopt an existing diet trial that removes common sensitivities – Paleo, Keto, Gluten Free, Pegan, Vegan, etc. My book, RIGHT Diet for Autoimmunity, provides a vegetarian journey without gluten, dairy, or refined sugar.
- Food Sensitivity Testing – Take a blood test and wait for results. The results will indicate which food ingredients are triggering issues within the body’s immune system. This option costs several hundred dollars, but provides immediate answers – often times with a 98% accuracy. Nutritional therapists, Health Coaches, and Functional doctors are able to refer you to the right test/lab as there are many options to choose from.
If you experience any of these signs discussed, FIRST go to your medical practitioner to rule out more SERIOUS issues. Then seek the guidance of a health coach, nutritional therapist, or functional doctor to assist you with elimination diets and/or food sensitivity testing. Any time you make dietary changes, you still want to ensure you are still getting the recommended dietary allowances of essential nutrition. Contact me and I can set up your testing and nutritional consult. Some of the labs I can help you with are published on my site.
