Food Sensitivity & Weight Loss

Food Sensitivity & Weight Loss

If you’re a food lover, having food intolerances or sensitivities can be super frustrating and a huge test of willpower. It’s really hard to stay away from foods you love just because they may be giving you a reaction-maybe bloating, a stomach ache, headache  skin rash or the reason for NOT losing weight. Although these symptoms may appear to be temporary, eating food you are sensitive to causes longer term damage internally. One aspect of food intolerance that is not talked about much is its connection to weight loss, or lack thereof. Weight loss cannot occur without addressing and healing your food problems first.

What’s Happening in the Body

When we continue to eat foods our body cannot digest or are sensitive to, your body sends out a histamine response. When a histamine response is triggered our cortisol (stress hormones) is released and causes inflammation–which we do not want. We only want cortisol to be released when we are actually going to need it in real ‘fight or flight’ scenarios. Back in the day, it was common that cortisol was released when we were trying to hunt and or outrun animals, not because we were eating something our body perceives to be problematic. The more cortisol in our body, the more fat storage will occur, especially around our mid-section. If the body perceives we are in danger, it will hold on to fat, particularly around our most vital organs that are in our midsection. We are physiologically built to hold onto fat to nourish our bodies during stressful times.  You can see how triggering cortisol, because of eating foods our body cannot tolerate, can send a conflicting message and keep us from losing a few or more pounds.

 

Aside from creating inflammation and elevated levels of cortisol, eating food you are intolerant to can also exacerbate intestinal health and leaky gut. Most, if not all, food intolerances present because your intestines have tiny holes (or for the visual…paper cuts) in them due to stress and/or irritation leading to leaky gut. The ‘leakier’ the gut, the larger the ‘paper cuts’ and consequently, the more undigested foods flow into your blood stream which leads to more inflammation. Another way to say this, is the more intestinal issues (permeability) you have, the higher the histamine response, the more inflammation, the more fat retention. It’s a nasty cycle that not only keeps us away from foods we want to eat longer, but perpetuates digestive issues and trouble losing weight.

Healthy Nest Nutrition Solution

Instead of being frustrated at our bodies intelligent attempt to keep us alive let’s use this knowledge to stay away from foods we are intolerant to so that maybe one day we can eat them again, and maybe even when we are a few pounds lighter!

 

Healthy Nest Nutrition talks a lot about intestinal impermeability, or otherwise called leaky gut, and what to do about it. We have a tool-box of ideas and tests to help you identify which foods are problematic and how to deal with them so that you can meet your health goals-including natural forever weight loss.

 

Please feel free to connect with us about your food intolerance & sensitivities. We are here to help. info@healthynestnutrition.com

Related Posts