Arthritis Food Allergy – Natural Arthritis Relief

Arthritis food allergy isn't the most common reason for joint pain, but a lot of people have it and don't know. Here are food allergy symptoms and info about food allergy tests to help you feel better.

A common myth about food allergies, or food sensitivities is that you know you have them. Millions of people are eating the very foods that make them hurt and don't know it.

Food Allergy vs. Food Sensitivity

A true food allergy usually:

Has life threatening implications
Symptoms appear quickly after eating the food
Must be treated with medication immediately
The person knows which food they are allergic to and can avoid it

With a food sensitivity, there are big differences:

There is not a typical "allergic reaction" of swelling, difficulty breathing, or hives
Symptoms can occur hours or days after the food has been eaten
Figuring out which food you're sensitive to is difficult
The sensitivity can cause almost any symptom, from tummy pain to arthritis to skin problems

Whenever someone comes to me for help and has all over body pain or arthritis, food allergy is the very first thing I look for. When I was in school, our clinical nutrition teacher said, food allergies don't cause everything, but they can cause anything.

Is your arthritis food allergy related?

How can you tell if your arthritis could be related to food? Here are some symptoms of food allergies or sensitivities:

Do you have pain in many joints?
Does it hurt every day?
Does the pain stay the same regardless of activity?
Do you also have skin problems like acne or eczema?
Do you have GI issues, like indigestion, constipation or diarrhea, gas and bloating?
Do you have muscle cramps or twitching?
Do you have dark circles under your eyes?
Do you feel like your brain is in a fog much of the time?
Do you have emotional ups and downs that are out of proportion to the events in your life?
Do you wake up tired or have low energy throughout the day?

What you'll notice about this list is that food allergy symptoms can affect any part of you.

This is because when you have food sensitivities, they can cause leaky gut syndrome. This is when your GI tract is inflamed and has tiny ulcers or sores in its lining. These injured areas prevent your food from being broken down properly, and bits of the food proteins can escape your gut and get into your bloodstream. This causes an immune response.

Figuring out if you have food sensitivities

There are a couple of ways to find out if you have food sensitivities.

The first is an elimination diet. This is where you eat only non-allergenic foods for a month and see how you feel. If you feel better, then you know that food sensitivity is causing part of your problem. You then add back foods one at a time, noting how you feel for the week after you start eating them again.

This is definitely an easy way to get started.

The disadvantages are that it's time consuming, and you must be very diligent about what you eat for the entire elimination.

Now personally, I'm going to tell you that if you hurt all the time, I think you should be careful about what you eat anyway.

The second way is to get a food allergy test. There are different types. The skin prick test will tell you if a food causes a reaction, but not how severe.

There are blood tests that look for allergies (they look for antibodies, and you'll know your test was this type if it says IgA, IgG, or IgE anywhere).

Then there are blood tests for food sensitivities that look for an immune response from your white blood cells.

I have used the ALCAT test successfully with many people. This test looks at white blood cell activity and picks up even minor sensitivities to common foods like black pepper, zucchini, romaine lettuce, and garlic.

Are you ready to find a solution to your arthritis? Food allergy may be the answer!

For other pages related to this topic

Is there an arthritis diet?

What are the inflammatory foods?

What food should you avoid with arthritis?

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