It’s not easy to spot a food sensitivity, especially nowadays with many of our meals cooked by someone else. It’s hard to pinpoint a specific ingredient causing an adverse reaction if we aren’t even sure what’s going into our meals.
Symptoms aren’t very particular either, and that they tend to be typical of many other conditions. But that doesn’t mean we can’t keep an eye out for them. Knowing what to look for can help you identify any problem foods you might be regularly consuming.
Here are a few food sensitivity symptoms to watch out for;
1. Bloating
Most noticeable signs of food intolerance or sensitivity are digestion-related. Bloating is just one example of this, but there are many non-digestive signs of food sensitivity that might surprise you.
2. Fatigue
Fatigue can be a common symptom of food sensitivity; likely due to the extra effort, your body has to put into digesting any foods you’re sensitive to. If your body is working extra hard – just like after eating a large meal – it’s not a shock that you’d be feeling lethargic.
3. Unexplained Weight Gain
Found yourself ballooning up lately? It could be due to an unnoticed intolerance to refined carbs, added sugars or highly processed meats. Your body might be responding with increased inflammation, resulting in added water weight from these foods.
4. Dizziness
Fermented foods are often the cause of unexplained dizziness in those intolerant of them. If wine, cheese or cured meats are making you light-headed a few hours later, it might be a good idea to get checked for food sensitivity.
5. Mood Swings
Our moods are governed by a complicated balance of hormones, and whenever we experience pain, discomfort, or the body identifies and internal threat, that has a domino effect throughout your body. It makes sense then, that mood swings can be caused by a food sensitivity.
Food Sensitivity – It’s not instantaneous
Bear in mind, symptoms are often delayed, appearing several hours to a few days after consumption compared to an allergy which is much more rapid.
The best way to determine if it’s a food sensitivity is through either an elimination diet or a professional food sensitivity test (with an elimination diet following). An elimination diet is great, but it can take quite a long time before you start seeing results (i.e. relieved symptoms) since you’re working from suspected problem foods rather than foods that have been identified as causing an issue.
