You might think that a food allergy would only present itself by causing you to throw up, but in fact a food allergy or intolerance can affect your wellness in a number of ways, weight gain being one of them.
Beth Blair began to investigate her own wellbeing when she couldn’t take the years of itching anymore, from a tiny rash she had on her thumb. Blair says she read many books, articles and websites, and made the decision to start eliminating foods to see if that would help. She says, ‘My doctor recommended an anti-itch cream, but I didn’t want to fight the symptoms, I wanted it to disappear—for good.’
Blair noticed that the rash intensified when she drank beer, and when she gave up her weekend pints the ‘rash got a little better but it didn’t go away.’ Knowing that gluten is a common allergy, she decided to eliminate wheat from her diet, and her rash completely disappeared in two weeks. She consulted a registered dietician, telling her what she had done so far and mentioning ‘I thought I had been allergic to eggs years ago, but now I eat them every day.’
Her dietician told her that it is important to pinpoint allergies during weight loss, as certain foods can prevent your body from losing weight, and recommended taking a ‘food sensitivity panel’ in order to do this. Blair said that she also learned that food allergies can also cause inflammation and the growth of unhealthy bacteria, as well as weight gain.
Though Blair had found two triggers of food sensitivities, her test results revealed 28 in total, the most severe of which being eggs, pineapple, and yeast. These were followed by cow’s milk and banana, and on the mild side of the spectrum were soy, yogurt, chicken, peanuts, cashews, garlic, and, most surprisingly to Blair, green beans and peas. This caused Blair to eliminate anything containing yeast from her diet, replacing all baked goods, pretzels, and bagels with whole foods like meat and veggies and snacks of celery and cream cheese. She also switched from eating eggs every day to having a few strips of bacon and avocado or leftovers from dinner.
Blair says that in terms of actual weight loss ‘the scale only moved down a smidge,’ but her stomach wasn’t bloated at all and ‘I felt like I had dropped five pounds overnight.’ Blair’s dietician recommended that she rotates which of the mild sensitivities she avoids every four days, but ‘At this point, I “feel” thinner from these little changes and I’m thrilled to finally know what was triggering that annoying little rash. Sometimes it’s the little changes that lead to a better quality of life.’
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