Food Sensitivities: Are They Making You Fat?

Food sensitivities have received a lot of press lately.  From lactose intolerance to gluten-free foods, those with food sensitivities are met with more choices than what was available just five years ago.  After all, you don’t have to go very far to find coffee shops, restaurants, bakeries, and grocery stores stuffed to the brim with foods for every sensitivity imaginable.

If you’ve been ignoring these trends or not paying attention to the news about food sensitivities, then it’s time to wake up – because food sensitivities might be making you fat.

Surprised?  First, it’s important to note the distinction between food sensitivities and food allergies.  Allergies can cause immediate and severe symptoms, some of which can be fatal in rare cases.  Food sensitivity, on the other hand, only causes discomfort, which isn’t apparent until several hours after you’ve consumed the offending food.  For example, if you’re allergic to gluten (Celiac’s Disease), consuming gluten will damage the small intestine, leading to several health conditions.  If you’re sensitive to gluten, you may experience bloating, fatigue, and other symptoms a few hours after eating something with gluten in it…

And one of those symptoms could be weight gain.

If you’re allergic to a food, you know it – but if you’re sensitive to a food, you might not make the necessary correlation between your symptoms and the offending food.  You might blame your fatigue on not getting enough rest the night before, or weight gain on getting older.  Yet food sensitivity can cause inflammation within the body, as well as disturb your metabolic processes – this can all lead to weight gain and even obesity.  It’s precisely why some researchers are calling for a more nutritional approach to treating to Type-1 diabetes, rather than pharmacological.

In addition to causing obesity, it’s also though that food sensitivity can exacerbate the aging process, due to the release of toxins during inefficient digestion.  Therefore, it’s in your best interest to determine if you have a food sensitivity and create a nutrition plan based on your results.

At Cobb Wellness and Aesthetics – serving the greater Atlanta – specializes in testing clients for food sensitivities and creating nutrition plans around these findings. Cobb Wellness and Aesthetics is owned and operated by Dr. Linda Kelley, an expert in anti-aging and nutritional medicines.

For more information about food sensitivity, schedule a consultation at Cobb Wellness and Aesthetics today. Simply fill out the form in the top right corner or call 770-649-0094.