Food Sensitivities Vs. Allergies Vs. Intolerances By Ingrid Young

I love food!  Food is delicious, nourishing, and healing. Our bodies are made to seamlessly absorb nutrients from the food we eat so that we can perform our daily activities with ease. But what happens when the food we eat no longer fuels and heals and starts to hinder our health?  There are a few reasons why this happens.  One of the simplest reasons could be a food intolerance or sensitivity.   Food intolerance, sensitivities and allergies are based off the reaction the body has when it comes in contact with food.  

Food intolerance is when our body does not have the digestive enzymes to break down foods we eat. A common example of food intolerance is lactose intolerant. This is when the body cannot fully breakdown the sugar “lactose” in milk. Symptoms of food intolerance are bloating, gas, nausea, diarrhea, abdominal pain, heartburn, and/or irritability.  You can experience these symptoms immediately or over a course of a few days.  Food intolerances commonly run in families.    

Food sensitivities activate an immune reaction. White blood cells react to food and chemicals and release pro-inflammatory "mediators" into the bloodstream. This immune reaction is non-threatening, and symptoms are similar to food intolerances.  Symptoms include bloating, diarrhea, nausea, migraines, acne, eczema, joint pain, runny nose, brain fog, mood swings and can be felt between 3-72 hours. Most commonly, food sensitivity reactions are often delayed, and most people go on without realizing their symptoms are due to what they ate. 

Food allergies elicit an immune response that is histamine-driven and is mediated by IgE. Reactions are immediate, within 15-30 minutes after exposure. Symptoms can be asthma, wheezing, hives, rashes, dizziness, swelling of lips, face, or in the body.  Unlike food sensitivities, food allergies can be life-threatening and in severe cases result in anaphylactic shock.  Common food allergies are nuts/ seeds, shellfish, wheat, soy, and certain fruits and vegetables. So the next question is how do you know if you’re experiencing a food intolerance or sensitivity?  Elimination diets such as the Whole30 can help identify food intolerances and sensitivities reactions.  In the office we use muscle testing to identify specific food that can be hindering your health.  I like muscle testing because it is quick and noninvasive.  I also like doing the Coca pulse test because it can be done at the comfort of your own home.  

Coca Pulse Test 

Before taking the test, make sure you’re in a relaxed and calm state. An agitated state, in which your pulse is abnormally raised, will make it difficult to perform this test with accuracy.  The test is best done on an empty stomach, at least 2 hours after eating or drinking anything, or preferably, first thing in the morning before breakfast. 1.   Get your base heart rate. I like to do this first thing in the morning.  Take your pulse before you get out of bed for one full minute.  Record that number. 2.   When you’re ready to test the food, take a bite of food. Chew it if you like, but don’t swallow it. Let it rest in your mouth so that you can taste it for thirty seconds. 3.   With the food still in your mouth, take and record your pulse for a full minute again. 4.   Spit out the food and rinse out your mouth with water. Make sure to spit the water out. Wait 1-2 minutes before trying another food, or until your pulse has returned to its base rate. If your pulse increases or decreases by 6 points over a minute with a particular food in your food, this is your body indicating a stressful reaction to the food.  If your pulse remains steady, this indication no reaction to the food and its safe.  

To learn more about functional nutrition, come join my Navigating Nutrition a 5-week online nutrition course and support group. We’ll discuss topics such as how to improve digestion, emotional eating, how to regulate blood sugar levels, and the importance of staying hydrated. Together we will create personal and practical ways to improve your health through nutrition.  

Classes start online October 6th at 6pm-7pm.  To learn more: https://healingartsnyc.com/new-events 

What people are saying… 

"Loved the class! It was intimate so you could ask all of your questions. It was informative with additional links, book recommendations and insightful learnings. It was practical with valuable tips on how to eat better (Ingrid gave us feedback after reading our food journal). It was doable since only 5 online classes of approximately an hour, hour and a half each, in the comfort of your home, after work. Ingrid is sweet, cheery, knowledgeable, patient and receptive. I can’t wait to hear about her next class!"  - D.R. 

To reserve your spot email us at info@healingartsnyc.com 

Class Schedule: 

October 6th - Week 1 - Blood sugar / Emotional eating  

October 13th - Week 2 - How to Grocery Shop/ Reading labels/ Meal Plans  

October 20th - Week 3 -  Macronutrients/Portion/ Explanation of different diets 

October 27th - Week 4 -  Hydration / Sleep + Stress + Exercise   

November 3 - Week 5 - Digestion / What's going on and how to improve it ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

$60 a class or $215 for all 5 weeks 

Won’t be able to make all 5 classes? Don’t worry, we can give you the recording of it. 

Option for extra 1-1 sessions with Ingrid Young to further personalize your nutrition, supplements, exercise, sleep and lifestyle plan.

Blue Apron, Fresh Ingredients Delivered to Your Door

When giving dietary changes to my patients I know it can be overwhelming for them sometimes. Blue Apron delivers healthy ingredients to your home to take out the stress (thinking) and is a good tool to use during this transition time or all the time!



You go to blueapron.com and pick out your meal, either 2 person or family meal (4 people) and they deliver all the ingredients you need to make the meal. Food is 'farm to door' for they work directly with artisanal purveyors and hundreds of family-run farms that support sustainable practices. Meals are anything but boring. Steak tacos with mole verde sauce, lemon glazed catfish with ginger collard greens, to only name a few. They accommodate a variety of dietary preferences - e.g. vegetarians, pescetarians, or if you don’t eat red meat, fish, shellfish, pork, or lamb - and personalize your menu each week based on your preferences.

The lowest commitment level is 2 meals a week and you have to sign up for weekly deliveries that can be cancelled any time, 6 days ahead of schedule. If traveling, you can skip a week as well. Price per meal is about $9. They deliver nationwide, Tuesday - Friday in most locations, and select locations are eligible for Monday and Saturday deliveries. Delivery is always free and their refrigerated boxes are packed with ice packs and insulated liners to ensure that ingredients will stay fresh for the full delivery day, even if you’re not at home to accept the delivery.

Wheat is a Genetically Modified Poison!

Eating gluten-free is hot right now. Many grocery stores and restaurants have gluten-free options but what exactly is gluten, why are people choosing to stay away from it and why do many of my patients who have food sensitivities eat wheat-free diets and not necessarily gluten-free diets? Burning questions, I know!

Gluten is a protein found in grains that include wheat, oat, spelt, rye, and barley and some people have a true allergy to it where their body cannot digest it so when consumed, their digestive track becomes inflamed, the intestinal wall damaged and over time celiac disease forms. Celiac disease is diagnosed by blood tests and examining a small piece of tissue from your intestinal track to see if it's damaged.

But a lot of people who feel that gluten may be an issue for them go for the celiac disease test and it comes back negative, yet they know they somehow feel better if they don't eat gluten. So even though there is no true gluten allergy causing a disease there could be a gluten sensitivity causing symptoms. That is why I muscle test to see if gluten is a problem for the body to digest and once off gluten their symptoms become dramatically better. Symptoms helped by not eating gluten when indicated by the muscle testing (also known at Nutrition Response Testing) include acne, constipation, diarrhea, gas, acid reflux, headaches. A lot of the times patients inform me about weight loss that occurs as a result as well.

Sometimes though, when testing the body, I don't find gluten as a problem for the body to digest but wheat itself is a problem. Whereas the other grains, oat, rye, spelt, etc. are okay for the patient to eat. So why would wheat be an issue but not gluten? The answer is because it has been genetically modified and the body looks at it as a toxin instead of a food. So for some bodies it is a "perfect, chronic poison," according to Dr. William Davis, a cardiologist who has published Wheat Belly. Davis said that the wheat we eat these days isn't the wheat your grandma had: "It's an 18-inch tall plant created by genetic research in the '60s and '70s." This thing has many new features nobody told you about, such as there's a new protein in this thing called gliadin. It's not gluten. The gliadin protein is an opiate. This thing binds into the opiate receptors in your brain and in most people stimulates appetite. Opiates include chemicals like morphine, heroin and opium.

So when people stop eating wheat, just like when people stop eating gluten, they tend to lose weight. My patients have also found relief in digestive issues, fatigue, headaches, acne, severe PMS and brain fog. When making food options while staying off of wheat you know if it's gluten-free then it won't have wheat so buying/ordering gluten-free is an easy way to go about cleaning up the wheat in your diet.

Besides staying off of the bread, pasta, bagels, pretzels which are obvious white flour/gluten containing foods one should be careful of gravies, soups and salad dressings which tend to use wheat as a thickner. Soy sauce has gluten in it as well and so a lot of my patients go to a health food store and get gluten-free soy sauce and bring that to the restaurant when ordering sushi or sashimi.

Formaldehyde Toxicity

A common chemical that I help patients detox in my office is formaldehyde. Now you may be asking yourself, "isn't that what they use to preserve dead bodies?" and the answer is yes! Formaldehyde has been classified as a known human carcinogen (cancer-causing substance) by the International Agency for Research on Cancer and as a probable human carcinogen by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Even with formaldehyde labeled as such it is used in new clothes, new cars, new carpets, new mattresses, new etc. It is that new clothes smell. Industries use formaldehyde as a fire deterrent. So if the warehouse catches on fire products are less likely to burn if they are sprayed with formaldehyde. Solution: wash all your new clothes once and when getting a new carpet or new couch air ventilation is key because it will eventually gas off.

Formaldehyde is also found in nail polish, wood pressed furniture, hair dye and straightener treatments, other treated lumber, and cigarette smoke. People who consume diet food will also need to detox formaldehyde for better health for aspartame (the artificial sweetener that is used instead of sugar) is a chemical that the body doesn't know how to breakdown so it turns it into formaldehyde where if enough aspartame is digested formaldehyde builds up in the body. Formaldehyde is also in vaccines as a preservative including flu vaccines. A great alternative to the flu vaccine is flu nosode which is a tincture we sell in the office that provides homeopathic aid in relief of flu symptoms. Formulated specifically for this year's flu strain it can also be taken as prevention against the flu or as an alternative to getting the flu shot.  If you already received the flu shot and are having symptoms of any sort let me know and we can help the body detox from it. 

Formaldehyde toxicity can cause headaches, migraines, skin rashes, allergies, asthma, and any type of ears, nose, throat symptoms. Best way to avoid it is to wash new clothes once and notice if you get symptoms while shopping too long in a store and make note if it's after 15 minutes of being in the store or 60 minutes, etc. and cut the time you shop so you are within your range to not get symptoms until you are healthier to handle exposure to formaldehyde at a later date. Also use natural hair dyes and nail polish and don't eat or drink anything with aspartame in it. Formaldehyde levels in homes can also be reduced by ensuring adequate ventilation, moderate temperatures, and reduced humidity levels through the use of dehumidifiers.