Food Intolerance and Excess Weight
By Annemarie Furfaro

You could be overweight and not feeling well for the most simple of reasons – the food you're eating may not be right for you.

Food is more powerful than any prescription weight loss pill, because the food that you eat can significantly contribute to you being thin or over weight, healthy or feeling ill. You do not get fat because of a lack of exercising, that's a myth. Dieting is frustrating and almost never brings long lasting results. The reason you may be gaining weight is because you are eating the foods that are not right for you, that is, foods that you cannot tolerate. Fortunately, discovering your intolerant foods or food sensitivities, based on your own unique biochemistry, is as simple as the Food Allergy and Chemical Sensitivity/Intolerance Test. By completely eliminating the reactive foods from your diet for 3-6 months, you should be able to reintroduce most of them (approximately 86%) back into your diet and remain symptom and weight-gain free.

Excess weight has a dramatic impact on health. Obesity is the second leading cause of preventable death. No single subject has dominated our culture more than weight-loss. It is a multi-billion dollar industry. We want to lose weight so that we can feel good, look good, and be healthy. Most of us have figured out by now that diets don't work. Some people are so desperate they resort to surgeries such as gastric bypass and liposuction. Not only are there physical consequences – overweight and obesity are known risk factors for high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease, stroke, hypertension diabetes, arthritis, chronic fatigue, sleep apnea and some forms of cancer – sadly, there are social consequences as well.

The majority of adults in the United States are overweight (Body Mass Index, BMI over 25-29.9), with an increasing number being medically classified as obese (BMI over 30). Unfortunately, this trend is transferring to our children due to genetically modified and over processed foods laden with growth hormones, food colorings, and additives. We now suffer from a new epidemic, childhood obesity.

“ What is food to one man may be fierce poison to another.” Lucretius, circa 75BC

For centuries we have known that consumption of certain “reactive” foods can have profound effects on physical and mental health. This is even more evident in today’s world given the huge variety of foods we now consume. Most people who have food intolerances and chemical intolerances are unaware of them and are unaware of the conditions that result from them. These may include:

The Differences between Food Allergy and Food Intolerance

There is much misunderstanding about these two terms and they are frequently confused. Many people speak of food allergies when what they describe is more likely to be food intolerance. Most theories have these in two separate categories, but research shows food allergy and food intolerance overlap considerably.

Food Allergy. A food allergy is an immune system response. It occurs when the body mistakes an ingredient in food – usually a protein – as harmful and creates a defense system (antibodies) to fight it. Allergy symptoms develop when the antibodies are battling the “invading” food. Food allergy is a rather fast response by the body’s immune system to a perceived invader. The most common food allergies are peanuts, tree nuts (such as walnuts, pecans and almonds), fish and shellfish, milk, eggs, soy products, and wheat.

Signs or symptoms of food allergy are typically immediate, dramatic, and visible. The amount of food necessary to trigger a reaction varies from person to person. Symptoms may include: rash or hives; nausea; vomiting; stomach pain; diarrhea; itchy skin; shortness of breath; chest pain; swelling of the airways to the lungs; anaphylaxis anaphylactic shock, which requires emergency intervention; coughing: sneezing; migraines; watering eyes. If you are experiencing any form of an allergic response, immediately seek the attention of a Doctor.

Food Intolerance. Symptoms of food intolerance vary greatly, and can be mistaken for the symptoms of an allergy. While true allergies are associated with fast-acting immunoglobulin IgE responses, it can be difficult to determine the offending food causing an intolerance because if the immune system is involved, the response is likely to be IgG mediated and takes place over a prolonged period of time. Thus the causative agent and the response are separated in time, and may not be obviously related.

A deficiency in digestive enzymes can also cause some types of food intolerances. Lactose intolerance is a result of the body not producing enough lactase used to break down the lactose in milk. Gluten intolerance results in damage to villi in the small intestine, which makes it difficult for the body to absorb water and nutrients from foods. Another type of food intolerance is an intolerance to food chemicals such as salicylates or salicylate sensitivity. Salicylates are chemicals that can occur naturally in many foods. Salicylate sensitivity causes many symptoms, the most common of which are: hives, stomach pain, head aches, and mouth ulcers. Salicylate sensitivity has even been linked to ADD and ADHD.

Food intolerance or food sensitivity is a negative reaction to a food. Food intolerance, unlike food allergies, is unlikely to be life threatening. It is a digestive system response that occurs when something in a food irritates a person's digestive system or when a person is unable to properly digest or breakdown the food. It can be caused by the absence of specific chemicals or enzymes needed to digest a food substance, or to the body's responses to certain food constituents (chemicals) both natural or artificial. The good news is that delayed-onset food intolerances are commonly reversible.

Annemarie Furfaro, owner of Healing Arts For Wellness, is a Certified Hydro-Colon Therapist, Certified Lymphatic Drainage Therapist, and certified in Theta Healing, a spiritual counselor and healer, and an Ordained Minister in the Melchizedek Order. She offers many services at the center. Visit www.healingartsforwellness.com or call Annemarie at 336.708.2233.