Food Sensitivity Testing & Restrictive Diets
We receive many calls from people interested in food allergy or food sensitivity testing. This continues despite negative media attention about every 5 years claiming that there is no scientific evidence to support food sensitivity testing. In these media articles, patients claim that the test results caused them to fear food or make lifestyle changes that were unhealthy. And in my 18 years of clinical practice, I see this harm too. But I still requisition food sensitivity testing for my patients and find these results, at times, invaluable. Here’s why.
I’ll come right out and say it: I’m a healthy middle-aged woman who thought that her experiment with a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) would validate her choice to regularly enjoy things like nutty muesli, whole-grain toast, and the odd beer, without consequence. This experiment was a useful wakeup call.
The answer to this question can help you stick to the most difficult healing work: Exercise, dietary regimes, reframing your thoughts and perspectives about life, healing a chronic illness, spiritual growth. In other words, what is so meaningful to you that through pain or discomfort, you’d still want to do the work? This is what you’ll use to find the strength to continue choosing the healing work each day.*
Perhaps you had a routine physical exam and blood testing with your Medical Doctor or Naturopathic Doctor and discovered that your blood sugar was uncomfortably high. Maybe you’re concerned about your family history of diabetes or heart disease and already recognize that prevention is key. It’s a common scenario in my office, perhaps because an estimated 22% of Canadians have pre-diabetes. For the most part, type 2 diabetes is a lifestyle illness, but not always in the way we think it is.
Insulin is a hormone produced by our pancreas that helps sugar (i.e. glucose) enter our cells. It has a major impact on our metabolism and how our body gets energy. When our muscle, brain and tissue cells stop responding to insulin this causes a condition called insulin resistance. If our cells become resistant to insulin then our pancreas needs to create even more insulin to get the glucose inside those stubborn cells. This can become a slippery slope