Edited March 30, 2023

I've been wanting to do a post about having some labs run because I was getting headaches at every meal, no matter what I ate. 

I did a food sensitivity lab that showed salicylic acid was reactive. What is salicylic acid? It's a compound that is found in all plants. It's a plant hormone, if you will. Now, when you do a food sensitivity and foods come up sensitive, you eliminate them. Ummm. It's rather hard to take out vegetables and fruits. The plan here becomes avoiding those with the highest the amounts of salicylic acid. Unfortunately, the ones that are highest in them are the cancer-fighting ones called cruciferous veggies. Ugh. Those are heavy in my cancer survivor protocol.

What I've done is limited the amounts, but still eat cruciferous veggies. I've upped my fruits because they are lower in salicylic acid than many veggies. By being careful, and also working on my mineral imbalances that showed up on a different lab I also did, I have been able to eliminate my mealtime headaches! 

It is so great to eat without fear again. Does it blow that I can't have pork, beef, sweet potatoes, cauliflower, shrimp, almonds, and all of the other foods that came up as problematic? You bet your bippy it does! But it's limited term, and I will reintroduce them when the elimination period is done. I'll pay attention to how my body feels when I eat the offending foods and know if I have to keep those out awhile longer while my body re-calibrates. I'm happy to have this information so I can heal the sensitivities.

Doctors don't do these kinds of labs. :( But in my practice, I do. I have seen the power of food. It helps or it harms. It makes sense to know what your body is not liking, right? You don't have to have symptoms to have a food your body is rejecting. Harm still happens inside of you. It will continue to get worse, and then you will eventually have symptoms when it's gotten worse.

Food sensitivity testing is something I do yearly. Your body is always changing, and so are its food as medicine requirements. Did you know that eating the same food over and over can actually create a sensitivity? Ugh, right? Getting a variety of foods will help you keep your favorite foods off of the do not eat list. It's not a guarantee, but eating something all the time can set you up for a rejection by your body. You can get symptoms you might not realize are being caused by food.

Here's an example of food creating symptoms. I share this so you know that health coaches aren't perfect, and they struggle too. Beef comes up on EVERY food sensitivity lab result for me. I love beef. It doesn't love me. I rarely eat it because of this knowledge, but when I do splurge on a burger or a steak there is a price. My RA spikes up and the joints that scream first in a flare are just a little worse than usual. Walking on my feet is more painful. My wrist swells up and gets hot. My ankle aches. I make the choice so I'm not complaining, just pointing out how your usual symptoms may get worse, or you may get symptoms that you aren't attributing to the food you ate. Reactions can come right away, or be a few days out from the ingestion of the offender.  

Food IS medicine, but not all food is good for everyone. Knowing yours can only help you feel great!  

The lab FDN-Ps run are so good! They actually take the food molecules of the 170 foods and substances they test and put it directly in your blood sample. They watch how your blood cells respond to know how reactive you are to each item. Very cool. And very accurate. You don't have to have eaten the food for it to show up in the test like many other food tests.

Meanwhile, I am looking forward to March when I can begin to introduce some of my very favorite things back into my diet. If you want to find out your own food sensitivities, reach out. I'm happy to do a food and diet package for you. It's not going to give you a complete picture, but it is a really powerful tool that can change your life.

Be well everyone.