Intuitive Eating With Food Allergies/Sensitivities
Intuitive eating is all about giving yourself full permission with eating ALL foods. But what does that mean for those who have food allergies or food sensitivities? I got this question in my recent Intuitive Eating Workshop that I did over on Instagram and realized this is a common question that people get stuck with. So, that being said, I felt the need to answer this question to the best of my ability to, hopefully, shed some light into how you can still eat intuitively despite not being able to physically consume all foods. Let's dive in!
This is a big conversation. But first, to start off, we have to talk about the difference between a food allergy and a food sensitivity. There is a difference. With a food allergy, you have a total body response of the immune system to that food either through ingestion, or in more severe cases, even just being around certain foods. Food sensitivities, however, are generally less severe and cause discomfort with eating certain things. With food allergies, you really can't eat even a small amount of that food whereas with food sensitivities there's a chance you can tolerate a small amount of that food perfectly fine.
Food sensitivities can be due to the lack of a specific enzyme to digest that food (such as with lactose-intolerance where you lack the enzyme lactase), dysbiosis (imbalance of gut bacteria resulting in SIBO or IBS) or even stress.
INTUITIVE EATING WITH A FOOD ALLERGY
It is estimated that around 15 million people in the U.S. have some form of food allergy. There's no doubt that food allergies are a serious matter in a person's life and aren't to be taken lightly. I talk a lot about honoring your body's cravings and allowing yourself full permission to eat ALL foods without guilt or moral superiority. But with a food allergy you really can't do that, can you? Your life is at stake with eating certain foods.
So with a food allergy, the concept of "eat all foods" doesn't apply to foods you're allergic to of course. But, you can still apply the concept to all other foods. Do you have foods that you aren't allergic to that you restrict or don't allow yourself to have? Do you have foods that you feel guilty eating or feel you have to "work off"?If you're new to intuitive eating and what I'm talking about here, something that may help is checking out my 10 day free email course that goes into all things you need to know with eating intuitively. It'll be really helpful if you feel like food is ruling your life.
INTUITIVE EATING WITH FOOD SENSITIVITIES
Now for a bit more discussion on intuitive eating with food sensitivities which is probably more of you out there. This is a bit more of an involved and complicated conversation. Like I mentioned above, food sensitivities aren't just derived from one single source for everyone. There's numerous reasons for someone having a food sensitivity. I do acknowledge that food sensitivities are a real thing, but I also can't help but mention that many people's food sensitivities can be easily reversed with small changes to their life and environment.In my practice, I've helped women who have real symptoms of sensitivity to eating certain foods be able to eat those foods again by making a few adjustments to the way they're eating, what their day looks like around the time of eating, and changing their mindset with food. I'm not saying that it's always as simple as meditating before a meal, but that can be a huge step in the direction towards being able to eat those foods you're sensitive to again!
UNDERSTANDING THE MIND-GUT CONNECTION CAN HELP IMPROVE FOOD SENSITIVITIES
The mind is an amazing thing. But up there with how incredible our minds are is how incredible our gut is! Current research is finding so many links between the health of your gut and the health of your mind and vice-versa. Your gut's health depends on your mental health and your mental health depends on your gut's health. Some people even refer to the gut as your second brain. The largest nerve in our body, the Vagus nerve, runs the length from our brain down to our digestive system and, likewise, is the main connection between the two.
So why do I mention this when we're talking about food sensitivities? Well, one thing I've found is that, for many women, once they do the work to decrease stress and improve their mental health, they find their symptoms are much improved. This is why, when women I work with mention having digestive trouble be it constipation, diarrhea, reflux, cramping, or bloating with meals, I always turn the conversation to talk about the methods they have in place to combat stress. And this isn't just stress at work or stress at home...another main cause of stress with women that affects their digestion is the stress of dieting, of a poor relationship with food, of living in fear of eating certain foods.
SOME DISCOMFORT WITH REINTRODUCING FOODS AFTER RESTRICTION IS EXPECTED
With that, as you're working on your relationship with food, adding in foods that you maybe restricted for months or years such as eating more gluten-containing products, dairy products, etc, you may find that you have some discomfort with eating them. Your body became adjusted to eating minimal amounts or no amounts of these foods and, like most things, if you're not used to digesting them it may take some time to process and digest them well. But my advice is this...don't lose hope! Keep expanding the foods that you're eating (as long as you don't have a confirmed allergy) and keep trying to accumulate your digestive system to being able to eat those foods again.
If you're having a really hard time with reintroducing foods into your diet and experience "sensitivity" symptoms, here's a couple of suggestions to make the transition time a bit more comfortable...
PAUSE & INHALE- Always, before a meal, start with a pause and a deep inhale/exhale. Taking the time to pause and really establish that mind-gut connection makes a big difference with digestion. Again, your gut health depends on your mind health and by taking time to calm your mind before eating your digestive system will be more ready to eat and do what it needs to do to digest properly. Inhaling, also, instantly gets your body into "rest and digest" mode. If there's one thing you start to add into your normal eating routine, this is it!
GINGER & PEPPERMINT TEA- Ginger root naturally promotes digestion and peppermint improves discomfort with digestion. Stock up on both of these teas to help with both better digestion as well as discomfort after eating something that you may be sensitive to.
DIGESTIVE ENZYMES- Digestive enzymes are naturally apart of your digestive system and are used to digest protein, fat, and carbohydrates. For some, if symptoms are a result of a lack of these naturally occurring digestive enzymes, supplementation may be helpful at relieving symptoms.
MOVING YOUR BODY- Movement is essential for healthy digestion. When we're stationary, digestion slows down, so by doing things to move your body daily you can help improve digestion and, therefore, improve symptoms of discomfort.
I hope this conversation helps. Here's the key takeaways:
There's a big difference between a food allergy vs. a food sensitivity and therefore treatment of the two and the approach to management of the two is very different.
Food allergies are often life-long while food sensitivities can be improved.
Stress management is HUGE when it comes to decreasing food sensitivities. As is healing your relationship with food and decreasing stress around eating.
Food sensitivities may be the result of a history of disordered eating or dieting.
Continuing to try to introduce foods that you're sensitive to can help to move you towards not having issues with digesting those foods in the future as well as using foods and supplements along the way.
So let me know...can you relate to any of this? Do you have a food allergy and struggle with a "peace with all foods" approach when you really can't have peace with all foods? Or do you deal with food sensitivities and are scared to work those foods back into your diet? Comment below and share your story.